At the end of the previous issue, our hero, Thorby, the orphaned former slave, boarded a ship captained by a friend of his now-deceased adoptive father. This issue sees him being first shunned by the rest of the passengers and crew, then adopted by the Captain and his family, and eventually trained to work the weapons systems. Also, he discovers girls. One thing is certain, each issue covers a LOT of ground.

That being the case, the story sometimes moves at a breakneck speed. When Thorby is first put into weapons training, he’s a hopeless failure who can’t get anything right. By the next page, he’s a prodigy. The part about him discovering girls consists only of a couple of brief references, which are touched on and forgotten which, considering that it’s Robert Heinlein, is probably for the best. If you’ve read his other works, you know he’s maybe not the best candidate for portraying romantic relationships to young adults.

All in all, this is a fun comic and a pretty solid issue. It’s got space travel, some aliens, secrets and codes, and more—all wrapped up in what amounts to a coming-of-age story. If that appeals to you (as it does to me) or if you’re a fan of Robert Heinlein (as I am), then you’ll probably want to check out Citizen of the Galaxy.