This is the sort of brilliance I first came to expect from Planetary when it debuted late last decade. Ellis takes a concept that seems callous and violent on its surface and he transforms it into some adventurous and wondrous. This is a fascinating story about discovery and the promise of the unknown, dressed up with some trappings of the super-hero hero. While the action sequence is exciting and well choreographed, it's the quieter unveiling of a mystery that really packs a tremendous impact. Even those who have never read an issue of Planetary can appreciate this standalone issue... and not only can they appreciate it, but they should.
Read this comic.
Secret agent John Stone gives his old friend Elijah Snow a tip about an unusual event that's about to pass. Something has been in orbit for a long time, and that orbit is finally decaying, which will bring the answers to a mystery crashing down to Earth. Elijah Snow and his Planetary crew won't be the only ones seeking those answers, though, as the manipulative and powerful Four will no doubt have an interest in its secrets as well. Fantastic figures almost no one knows about rush to the Texas crash site to claim a prize that's been waiting for 150 years.
I want to have John Cassaday's babies. And I don't dig guys, nor do I have a uterus. His covers are a delight, but they pale in comparison with his sequential storytelling. One could argue that his greatest strengths as an artist is the level of detail he instills in every panel, character and object, but I think his work serves the story best here because of the scope he's able to convey. While Ellis tells us of the magnitude of what's about to happen, Cassaday really shows the reader the immensity of it all. I also love the intensity that's to be found on each character's face. Laura Martin's colors add a remarkable depth and lightness to the art as well. Her work just glows, and it reinforces the more hopeful quality that's at the heart of this story.
AS amazing as Cassaday's and Martin's works are, though, it's Ellis's story that boasts the real spark in this issue. The sense of mystery and discovery that serves as the appeal for the first half of this issue is rich and riveting, but what's clever about the story is Ellis's transformation of a couple of terms -- gun enthusiasts and Texas -- that carry negative connotations today into something good and pure.
This story actually has a lot in common with Ellis's 2003 original graphic novel, Orbiter (also published by DC). The plots are rather different, sure, as are the players. But thematically, both books are in the same immediate family. "The Gun Club" is about reaching for the stars, even when those objectives are well beyond that reach. It's about how imagination and curiosity are centuries ahead of science, and about how waiting for science to catch up may be the wise choice, but not necessarily a good one.
