Free Plant #8 // Review
The Great Sun seeks to spread his light across the universe whether it likes it or not. The meritocratic autocracy of the Orouran Empire must continue to expand if it is to truly combat the darkness which lurks on so many planets across the universe. It’s a long and bloody task, but it’s worth it to beat back the darkness and bring a kind of peace to things. The struggle continues in Free Plant #8. Writer Aubrey Sitterson concludes the two-part “Expansion Protocols” story with guest artist Tyrell Cannon. Sitterson is clearly reaching for a dark satire that feels remarkably sinister.
The Interplanetary Development Alliance needs a couple of thing: it needs workers to produce goods and it needs markets in which to sell those goods. The only way to continue to expand is to colonize. And the only way to colonize is to engage in warfare with indigenous populations of organic lifeforms. There is a very specific strategy for doing so which maximize the use of resources. It's very important to be able to expand in efficient ways. However, there may be some horror that lies in viewing the whole process from behind the protective comfort of a comic book page.
Sitterson is working with concepts that have a very high face value. The themes that are being addressed here really wouldn't have to be presented in a science fiction context in order for them to be be explored. That being said, the science fiction and a fantasy horror that's being presented, for the page certainly does have its own ridiculously amplified impact. It's clearly the sort of thing that is an uber-capitalist’s orgasmic dream. It's also kind of a fun spoof of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 franchise. There's a remarkable density about the script that can feel a bit superfluous in places. But it's still kind of fun.
Canon has a little difficulty exploring the immensity of an interplanetary for-profit war machine operation that is overwhelmingly organized, and inhumanly efficient. The huge expanse of worlds and the huge expense of space between them is rendered in some respectable detail for the comics page. The horror of it all doesn't quite come through nearly as vividly as it could, though. The yawning abyss of deep space and the breathtaking diversity of different types of life which would invariably exist on a scattering of planets across the galaxy. You really should have some awe-inspiring intensity about them. Cannon does some work in capturing some of the beauty and the horror of this. But so much of the spirit of those emotions are lost in the details.
“Expansion Protocols” has been fun. It's been an interesting to issue departure from the rest of what's going on in the series. It would be interesting to see this particular pair of issues expanded into a whole line of comics in theory. There would be a lot of potential in exploring this concept in a little bit more depth. And certainly the rough outline of the reality of what's being brought to the page here would expand in a multitude of different ways if it were allowed to be the basis of a longer series. As it is, as a to issue story, it doesn't quite have the ability to be any more than a rough outline of a concept.
