There is a new graphic novel out (produced by Capcom of all companies) that is worthy of note.  I’m talking about Lost Planet: First Colony, a sci-fi action/thriller which primarily takes place on an exceptionally hostile and exceptionally cold planet.  Why is this worthy of note?  Aside from Capcom, there are several reasons.  Allow me to explain.

The art is pretty freaking good.  Yeah, I know – I say this a lot.  That doesn’t make it any less true.  Massimo Dall’Oglio, an Italian artist who has been on the European scene for several year, is responsible – and the man has vision.  Usually, when an artist thinks of frozen aliens (which happens a lot), they go straight to Wompas.  Not so with Dall’Oglio – his monsters are crazy, Resident Evil tentacle wolves, giant snow rock crabs, and mammoth ice tentacle monstrosities.  These things are fun to look at and creative, and the actual style of art (video game meets sketch) puts the ideas into a really cool context.  You should look at the pictures is what I’m saying.

The story is good-complicated.  Izu (of Chronicles of Vergil) took what could be a simple tale of space pirates and darkened it.  Then, added some twists.  Then, darkened it.  Then, some spice by the form of twists.  Voila! A story that takes a good amount of attention to understand but is enjoyable.  Mission accomplished.  Without (many) spoilers, basically, some not-so-nice guys (who may be nice?) end up stranded on an exceptionally unwelcoming planet, and the monsters on the planet think they’re simply defending themselves.  This book references pollution as an evil and underestimating nature as a sin, so expect this and future iterations to be pretty “green.”

The actual dialogue can be a bit comic book campy, but I think that kind of adds to the feel.  Overall, it’s a good read and could very easily turn into something long term.  I recommend picking it up, if you have the chance.