Sea of Stars #5 // Review
Kadyn is suffering from a fusion. He's just a normal boy in space who has come to internally possess an ancient alien artifact of great power. He thinks he's made some alien friends. He's about to find out that he's wrong in the final issue of the opening arc of Sea of Stars. Writers Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum end the opening chapter of the new series in a suitably suspenseful culmination of the distance between Kadyn and his father drawn by Stephen Green with color by Rico Renzi. The pulpy sci-fi adventure with a contemporary heart makes a respectable bow as it closes its fifth issue with a cliffhanger
Kadyn has made some friends. The Zzazteks are so happy to have found the artifact that had been lost to them. The fact that it rests inside the body of a small human child is just a technicality that needs to be...rectified. Kadyn's "non-Zzaztek" friends realize that things are going down a particularly dangerous track for the young human. By sheer chance, one of them only happens to run into Kadyn's father, who just happens to have completely given up the will to live. Can his interest be recaptured by a blue alien monkey who doesn't even speak his language? And will it even matter of Kadyn's inner artifact asserts itself in the presence of a Zzaztek shaman?
Aaron and Hallum bring father and son in close proximity to each other as the father is ready to die, and the son is having the time of his life with strange new aliens who seem so very, very happy to see him. It's a nice contrast that alternates throughout the issue with a deft sense of alternation. The two ends of the story come together quite well in a chapter that amplifies the sense of mystery and wonder about the series. The story is hugely derivative of space fantasy stories that go back nearly a century. Still, the uniqueness of Kadyn and company give Sea of Stars a very interesting personality.
Stephen Green's sense of perspective draws the first arc of the series to a close with style. The immensity of the danger in the universe feels overwhelming in places. The overall sense of drama is drawn quite vividly to the page in the interactions between Kadyn and the Zzaztek outcast, who is bringing him to see the shaman. There's a delicate sense of concern that is drawn across her face by very subtle shades with Green's inking. Renzi's color drapes across the page in beautiful blues and purples. Renzi pumps of the radiance of the artifact's effect on Kadyn, which comes across with a sharp impact near the end of the issue.
Kadyn and his father get so very, very close to connecting this issue. With all that's happened since they parted ways in the first issue, it's nice to see them get this close together, but it's beginning to become apparent that Aaron and Hallum are determined to keep them apart. This could get to be a bit annoying as the series continues, but for now, it feels like an excellent dynamic to keep the two heroes apart in an issue that closes the beginning of the series.
