STONE STAR

Creatures and giant robots battle in space.

In this graphic science fiction series opener, Dail, a brown-skinned, humanlike orphan with oversized ears, is a thief on the asteroid Stone Star, which is currently moored on the purple planet Quell. Arena fights between monsters and gladiators (armed with weapons and huge mechs called effigies) upon the Stone Star are broadcast throughout the galaxy, showing some warriors’ climb to fame and victory while others meet a violent end. Dail’s best friend, Kitzo, a green-and-blue–skinned creature, is forced to fight a monster in the Death’s Door Brigade, and Dail’s effigy, Durn, jumps in to intervene. In the process, Dail discovers latent powers that could make him one of the fiercest gladiators in the universe. Told in quickly moving episodic chapters, Zub’s tale is intricate and complex, dropping readers right into its unfamiliar interstellar world, building it along the way but doling out exposition in, at times, frustratingly small pieces. However, the breakneck action and recognizably fun science-fiction tropes more than make up for this stumble. A tantalizing cliffhanger should entice further interest in this series, with its shades of Star Wars and The Hunger Games. Dunbar’s art is rendered with an impressive cinematic flourish, augmented by blazingly beautiful colors by Grundetjern.

Promising.