Review - Void Trip #1 (@imagecomics)

"The universe is real big, man."

Philosophical views of life come from a variety of different thinkers. Some of the more traditional thinkers are enshrined in history as such, while some of the more non-traditional thinkers are viewed with a skeptical eye. Fortunately, for a non-traditional thinker such as Ana in Void Trip #1 from Image Comics, she has a relatively captive audience. The issue is written by Ryan O'Sullivan, illustrated by Plaid Klaus and lettered by Aditya Bidikar.

Ana and Gabe are the last two humans left alive in the galaxy. They're low on fuel, they're low on food, and they're low on psychedelic space froot, but they're still determined to make it to the promised land: hippy-paradise, super-planet Euphoria. This is the story of their journey, the friends and enemies they made along the way, and how the universe responded to those who dared to live freely within it.

O'Sullivan is insistent on making sure the reader knows there's a lot more depth in Void Trip #1 than the title may seem to indicate otherwise. The pairing of Ana and Gabe isn't exactly a new one from a characterization standpoint--any stoner comedy has pretty much laid the groundwork for them to exist--but O'Sullivan manages to add a twist to their relationship by making them the last remaining humans. From that, O'Sullivan is afforded some leeway in allowing Ana to wax poetic about the headier things in life. Because the duo is forced to contend with a the weight that comes with being the last of anything, O'Sullivan capitalizes on that in giving Ana more of a reason to be so philosophically high all the time. The dialogue shared between the two main characters is extremely effective at keeping the plot moving along, even if some it does come off a little cliche.

Klaus' art style is extremely clean and precise. It's apparent that Klaus took a very meticulous approach in rendering the characters and their world (galaxy?), effortlessly bringing together the human and non-human characters. The majority of the issue is "narrated" by Ana in a sense and Klaus does very well in capturing her facial expressions throughout her ramblings. The way Klaus illustrates the events in the bar is also pretty awesome, in that he gives the reader a seemingly accurate, visual description of what happens when a user consumes froot. The colors are warm throughout the issue before taking a neon-infused turn in the aforementioned tripping scene.

Void Trip #1 is a very accurate name for the book as it sums up the characters pretty perfectly. Ana and Gabe are on the run and trying to get by, possibly failing to realize that there are much larger things at play that involve them. O'Sullivan's script is pretty enjoyable and engaging, effectively giving the reader enough information to be intrigued and not so much that the reader's hand is being held. The artwork by Klaus is succinct and refined, bringing some order to the otherwise chaotic characters. Void Trip #1 is, honestly, a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out if you want something slightly off-kilter.

Void Trip #1 is avialable now.