Review: Cluster #1

Cluster #1
Written by Ed Brisson
Art by Damian Couceiro
Colored by Michael Garland
Published by BOOM! Studios

BOOM! Studios has quickly made a name for itself among comic book fans as a home for thought provoking, creator-owned titles, as well as books based on licensed properties. From Irredeemable and Mouse Guard to Escape from New York and Robocop, BOOM! Studios has earned a reputation for quality and creativity.

The latest title to launch from BOOM! is Cluster, a science fiction action epic that tells the story of a distant future where convicts are given a choice: a life sentence in prison or 15 years in the Military Inmate Deployment Service, where you fight for your life against an alien race called the Pagurani. If you don’t get yourself killed, you get your freedom back.

Take one part The Dirty Dozen, one part Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, add a dash of Starship Troopers, and you get a pretty good idea of what Cluster is all about. And while none of the ideas are exactly original, the presentation is so good you don’t really mind.

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Brisson, know for his work on the Sons of Anarchy comic, jams a lot of story and plot into the first issue and doesn’t waste a single panel. The world he has created in Cluster is a gritty, harsh place that will leave the reader almost feeling claustrophobic. He has made the characters and situations feel real even though they’re taking place in a prison on another planet. Samara “Sam” Simmons is the book’s “hero,” and after just one issue, I can already see that I’m going to like learning more about her and following her story. Sam’s tough, doesn’t take any crap and has layers and a history we have only barely glimpsed.

Bringing this desolate vision of the future to life is artist Damian Couceiro, a name I wasn’t familiar with before now. His style is grainy and coarse, like the story being told, and is incredibly effective for this type of comic. Like the overall plot, Couceiro’s character designs aren’t on the cutting edge of originality, but they don’t need to be. It’s more than enough that visuallya the art is a perfect match for the tone and vibe of the script. It’s rare to find a comic where the two are in synch as much as they are in Cluster, even less after only one issue.

Between the two of them, Brisson and Couceiro have created something that is more than the sum of its parts. Yes, when you finish the first issue of Cluster you will have a slight case of deja vu. But once you get past that, you will find that Cluster is a journey worth taking, even if you have been on a similar one before.

The Bottom Line: Cluster #1 treads on a lot of very well-worn plot devices and story beats to introduce us to a version of the future we would never want to visit. At it’s core, Brisson and Couceiro are telling a story that is driven by the characters and their motivations. The fact that it’s also a well done, hardcore science-fiction tale is just a bonus.

If you are a fan of quality space opera, grab a copy of Cluster #1 and enjoy. I have a feeling that the first issue hardly scratched the surface of the story the creators are going to tell, and I don’t plan to miss a second of it.

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