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MINISTRY OF SPACE #2 (Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Chris Weston
Colors: Laura Depuy
Production: Michael Heisler
Price: $2.95 US |
Though they combine to elicit a remarkable sense of realism, the art and the script are different in tone. Weston's art fills the reader with awe, but Ellis's words don't have the same kind of impact. The script is understated and subtle. There aren't any non-visual moments that slap the reader in the face, but the story and characterization impress with their intelligence and inventiveness.
In 2001, an aged Sir John Dashwood is brought to the orbiting Churchill Station where he could face a retribution he's avoided his whole life. He reflects back on the aftermath of his historic, trailblazing journey into space, the cost he had to pay for it and how it served as the catalyst for the construction of a British empire over the heads of an entire planet.
Just look at that stunningly detailed artwork. Tell me this book wasn't worth the wait. It is by his work on Ministry of Space by which all of Weston's other comic-book endeavors will be judged. I'd swear that space station floating on the first page is real. The design is more than plausible. One isn't struck by Weston's artistic work, but by the achievement of the characters. He's not content to just offer us realism in the technology, though. The characters look true to life as well. And if that weren't enough, I've never seen DePuy's colors look more crisp or lovely.
Dashwood is seen by an entire world as a hero, but there is a select few -- the reader included -- that knows of his darker side. Still, one can't help but admire the character's vision and determination. Dashwood could very well be a villain, but he's a remarkable man nevertheless, and I'm fascinated by him. Ellis shows us that though our leaders may have skeletons in their closets, that they may commit crimes in the names of our countries, that doesn't mean they're not great men in another fashion.
Perhaps what impresses me most about Ministry of Space is how well Ellis has merged a sense of wonder with strong elements of cynicism, even bitterness. I think it's in that contrast in which the key to the book's realism lies. Ellis both celebrates human achievement while condemning the paths we take to attain them. Ideas are lauded, while acts are reviled.
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