Breaking away from the ‘isolated survivor’ themes established previous, Planetoid #3 really begins to come into its own with the latest issue.

The official description from Image:

Having made a stand against the cyborg militia, Silas must now lead the tribes in building a settlement.

Following the end of the previous issue, Planetoid #3 sees Silas and a group of various tribes uniting around a derelict spaceship. This set up injects Planetoid with more personality. Where as it previous focused on just Silas, the introduction of additional characters and races helps establish a greater community. With additional cast, Planetoid now feels more like a living breathing world than a one-shot. Of course, Silas’s goal is still to escape the planet, but the introduction of other people, including frogmen, brings greater themes and narrative to the series.

In terms of writing then, this issue is great. The montage sequence speeds up what would otherwise be a boring process without skipping anything important. My only issue here is that Ricter makes less of an appearance. He’s there, and has some dialogue, but the shift in the issue changes his use. Where as he was originally Silas’s sole companion, offering a simple excuse for exposition, he now serves a more defunct role.

As always, the art is always worth a look here. The detail that goes into everything is fantastic. The additional splashes of colour help break up the color scheme from being monogamous. Whether its a bright blue frog, green algae or just a richer shade of rusty brown or red, the art helps sell this title.

There’s a single page near the end that demonstrates a lot of this. There’s no frame, just a simple kite blowing in the sky. Is it important to the plot? certainly not, yet this simple dialogue-less panel speaks volumes. It shows a soft side to the main character, and suggests hope in a bleak setting. I’m always a fan of titles that can take a gamble on such pages, and Planetoid #3’s risks pay off.

In short, its still too early to tell, but Planetoid is beginning to certainly make a name for itself. It looks beautiful, reads very well and never patronizes or bores the reader.

4/5