Space opera adventure! [Proteus Vex by Michael Carroll]

“An alien space opera James Bond.” – Comicsthegathering

For fourteen brutal centuries, the Imperium Ascendant and the Obdurate have clashed in an intergalactic war that spanned planets and peoples. Then the war – and the Obdurate – came to a dramatic end. Now, the galaxies are picking up the pieces. In the midst of this sprawling, dazzling system of galaxies, is Proteus Vex, ex-soldier for the Imperium Ascendant turned super-agent. He’s fast, brutal, and he always gets his prey. But when he is sent to find his former superior officer, Vex finds himself caught up in a deadly conspiracy.

Hit comics team Michael Carroll (The New Heroes, Dreadnoughts, Judge Dredd), Henry Flint (Judge Dredd, Zombo) and Jake Lynch (Judge Dredd) bring you a mind-expanding, colourful story that will plunge you into a series of strange new worlds.

Whereas some may enjoy a sci-fi romp for the imagined science, I like a sci-fi romp best when scheming and plotting abound. Where else do you get that in abundance but in a space opera? Political cowboy dramas in the stars? Sign me up. Written by Michael Carroll and illustrated by Henry Flint and Jake Lynch, Proteus Vex is such a tale. Following Proteus Vex, top agent of the Imperium Ascendant planetary alliance, the reader explores myriad worlds of this galaxy, encountering new alien races while unearthing a conspiracy of war crimes and political machinations. The illustrations are simultaneous pulpy in a style reminiscent of Golden and Silver Age comics  and modern in their detail and technique. All of that to say the art style really tickled my fancy. 

The two parts of the story flowed seamlessly while also feeling encapsulated as one-offs. I have nothing much to say that I liked it. I'm quite invested and interested to see where the story goes next. Will what follows be from a more future point in time, recounting these events as Vex's lore? Will it continue on somewhat chronologically? How much high can the stakes get once you've revealed large scale war crime conspiracies? I'd very much like to know. 5 stars from me.

Proteus Vex (ISBN: 9781786184856) is due for publication April 14, 2022.