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Stafford, S. Tyler – Agara Book One

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Agara Book One

Maybe it’s the fact that I’m reading Lone Wolf & Cub again (and if you love comics and haven’t read that series, shame on you), but I’m perfectly content at the moment to let a series take its time in opening up and revealing what’s going on. That being said, the first book of this Agara series came at the perfect time for me. Tyler spends something like the first 20 pages slowly showing this odd alien world and a young alien woman trying to master some kind of mental exercises. She has troubles, the other students get annoyed that they have to start over due to her failures, and a mental battle ensues. From there the story moves to a human man and his teenage daughter. He’s an archaeologist, she’s a mostly indifferent student, and we get to see them go about their days for a bit before he comes across an ancient find that he needs to investigate. Things are slow to get going but, like I said, in this case it’s a good thing, Sure, Tyler could have just said “and that thing over there is ____, while this alien society has been here for ____ years,” but it’s always better to show than to tell, and so far he’s doing a fantastic job of that. And don’t worry, there’s still lots of mayhem here, with some physical fights, some mental fights and some fights that fall somewhere in between. I have no idea how much he has planned for this world, but the mysteries on that first page alone could take a book to explain. The art is mostly gorgeous (although it does look a little rushed here and there) and this is a really solid first book. The one piece of advice I’d offer him is to maybe include a character listing at the start of the next volume, as that can get out of hand quickly in an expansive universe like this. It’s worth a look, is what I’m saying. $12 (also that crappy sample scan is the fault of my scanner, not the comic)

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