Space Riders Volumen Uno Review: Cruising to Greatness
Review by Nolan P. Smith
For Mature Readers
(Victor Valley)— Space. It’s been the setting for so many iconic stories throughout the years; all with their own takes on the vast emptiness that is deep space. Star Wars showed us the cool, adventurous nature of going from planet to planet, Guardians of the Galaxy showed us a modern take of the various planets on the creatures that inhabit it. Well, with Space Riders, we get a psychedelic, violent, grungy take at space- and it is a feast for the eyes.
Capitan Peligro (not captain, capitan) is one of the Space Riders- legends throughout the hallowed halls of space. With a crew consisting of a simian warrior and a robot, he travels the galaxy in his skull shaped spacecraft, the Skullship Santa Muerte, running into strange aliens, some friendly, some… not so much. Peligro has been through a lot, and has seen tons of betrayal, which costs the good capitan an eye (don’t worry, this is all in flashbacks, no spoilers here, folks). The story follows Peligro and company through their journey, meeting new faces, coming face to face with old friends, enemies and even cosmic deities. The action is full throttle, the surprises are fast and often, and the characters are ones you can really get behind and root for.
The galaxy and worlds we see in Space Riders are unlike any space adventure you have seen. This is a psychedelic mind trip, filled with foul language, violence, and more- just the way space should be. I was engulfed with Space Riders after the first few pages- there is nothing on the shelves today that can be compared artistically to this book. Artist Alexis Ziritt has such a unique style, I am floored I have never seen work by Ziritt before this. Writer Fabian Rangel, Jr creates a space faring tale of success, failure and retribution, with killer robots and aliens thrown in for good measure.
Space Riders, Volumen Uno collects the four issue series, and makes for an excellent read in one sitting. I haven’t been caught off guard with a comic book in some time- Space Riders completely blindsided me, being one of the most original comic book series this year.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This review was created in conjunction with QBC Toys and More, a local comic book and collectible shop located in Victorville, CA. Featuring new comic books every week, collectibles, action figures, original artwork, and more, QBC has something for the pop culture lover in us all. You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/QBCToysandMore/.
