Port of Earth #1

~ sirmarkus80

I once again took advantage of my local store selling Image Comics issues for $2 a piece.  I picked up Port of Earth for two reasons:

  1. I liked the cover
  2. I liked the concept.

Aliens come to Earth, not as conquerors or friends, but as business partners.  The idea has merit and I haven’t seen anything exactly like it before.  Zack Kaplan does the writing and Andrea Mutti does the art.

The Cover

IMG_20180215_212233

The cover depicts the port structure that the aliens visit to refuel when they come to Earth.  It’s very well detailed, but sparse in colour.  Lots of grey, white, and a very faint light blue.  It looks really neat, and with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, it depicts the juxtaposition of alien and human environments.  It draws the eye in with the detail in the ships, and the sparseness of the colour really adds to it.

The Art

The art is very similar to the cover.  Lots of detail, and very sparse and muted amounts of colour.  While not as visually striking as the exterior, the interior of the book looks great, and does a great job of providing a fitting atmosphere for the story being told.  I get a feeling that something big and dangerous is right around the corner, and the book, even in its lighthearted moments, instilled this in me.  Either that or I’ve watched way too many alien disaster movies.  You be the judge.

The Story

The story begins with first contact.  Aliens arrive on Earth with a business proposition.  They solve our energy needs, and we allow them to build a port, a refueling station on Earth.  The deal begins innocently enough, but then we learn the aliens aren’t vetted, the Port of Earth is essentially a gas station that any intergalactic traveller can use… and some of them are not nice.  After an altercation in which several humans and aliens are killed, the Earth Security Agency is established to deal with aggressive aliens that have illegally left the port in a non-lethal manner.  We then meet up with two E.S.A. agents as they begin their rounds, being filmed for a news program.  The issue ends as the two agents get a message that an alien is on the loose.  A dangerous one… and it’s near them.

The issue is well written, being a #1, there is a lot of exposition, but I found that to be the best part.  Kaplan does a great job laying the groundwork for the story, and I finished the issue wanting to know more about this whole universe.  I would completely recommend this as a buy.  Seriously, if you can find it, pick it up.