Debris #1
Written by Kurtis J. Wiebe
Art by Riley Rossmo
Reviewed by Steve Seigh
Maya is ready. The lands surrounding her village have become dried up husks of what they once were and over sized mechanical animals can be found roaming their junk cluttered plains. Beneath the cracked earth slithers a beast of massive proportions. Cutting a swath of destruction in its path, the beast, Jormungand, and others like him are soon coming for Maya’s struggling village. Serving as the villages Protector, Maya must gather all of her strength if she is to defend her home from the impending invasion.
Debris #1 is an impressive book. Immediately you’ll notice the vibrant and atmospheric artwork of Riley Rossmo (Rebel Blood, Green Wake), and how each page comes alive with movement and big action. I’m a sucker for books that place the reader in a dystopian land, devoid of water and lush, green life. I find that this type of setting lends to the hopelessness of the society living within these harsh conditions, and therefore pulls me into their plight much more so than if the society were advanced and well off. I don’t always want to read about civilizations that drive flying cars or have replaced the wonders of mother nature with towering monoliths of human design, feeding the ego of man, throwing logs on the fire of our hubris. Kurtis J. Wiebe and Riley Rossmo have painted a world of bleak circumstances with danger lurking beneath the very ground you stand upon.
Although I’ve got some nagging questions about a few of the terms or names thrown at us in this first issue (Who are the Umbra? What is The Dire?), these are things that I’m sure will be answered in the issues to come. It’s easy and perhaps a bit natural to want to know everything at once, but if you’re an avid comic book reader like I am then you know damn well that sometimes we’ve got to wait for our answers. We have to remember not to lose our patience and to appreciate what we’ve been given. Debris is a very solid first issue and I will most certainly be checking out the next. I’m curious not only to witness the fate of Maya’s village but I’m also looking to see if we’ll have time to develop more of Maya’s personality, which up until this point has remained very stoic.
VERDICT:
Buy it. Debris is a visceral ride that fans of Sci-Fi and big action books are not going to want to miss. At only 4 issues this looks to be a short but very sweet collection of art and writing.
* This review was written while listening to the album Purity Ring‘s album: Shrines
