What happens to people when mecha come and fight on their planet? What happens after the mecha leave? This is an interesting take on the mecha genre that I don't think has been explored before. Quite good.

It is interesting reading translated books because you get to read a type of comic you would not normally see, but it does not come without complications. I am pretty certain that, like all forms of media, the language used drives a lot more than the speech; it has an effect on pacing, layout and design. From a very simplistic perspective consider Manga that is designed from right to left, not left to right so the language used has an immediate effect on the end product. This is nothing so distant, being a translation of a French comic* but I knew straight away that this was not originally written in English. I cannot put my finger on the reason and I did not even know it was a French book until afterwards when I read the credits, but there is a distinct ‘distant’ feeling I get when reading anything translated, no matter how well it is done.

To be frank, it actually helps rather than hinders this book as a lot of the story relies on the concept of distance and difference in order to make is point. If you just wrote a ‘movie tag line’ version of this book it would probably read – “Robotic Meka pilots shot down over a distant planet and then trapped without a hope of rescue strive to survive alone, hunted by their enemies and the people they fought to protect.” But really nothing like that would do this book any justice given that the backdrop of the story is hardly what the book is about.

I would not even say this is a book written on two levels, some comics do that very successfully; you have an outer story which is generally a massive fight or ongoing war and in the background runs the real story. Yes there is that going on, but if you are reading this for giant robot fights then you are limited to half of the 1st issue and then the last few pages of the 4th one, so prepare to be disappointed. Honestly, describing what this is really about is extremely difficult, a bit like trying to describe a taste or colour to someone else without comparing it to things they already know. The best way I can begin to explain it is that is very immersive, it draws you in by giving you less information at all times than you would actually want and making you feel grateful for the bits that you get as it leaves you begging for more.

You actually leave this book knowing almost nothing about the characters; a meka pilot and co-pilot, one a bit experienced, the other gifted but green and in fact you only get the merest hints at the reason for the conflict as you pick up on tiny parts of their conversation. In some ways it makes it incredibly real, neither of them have that plot dump conversation where they tell the other person stuff that they would clearly already know, purely for the benefit of the reader; but it does make for frustrating times as the book ends and the amount you know could be written on the back of a stamp.

Again you get this feeling when you simply look at the comic that it is not a standard book, elements of the character design and symbolism that we would take utterly for granted in main stream comics simply are not there. The best way I can describe this is the mouth shapes, none of them feel entirely normal, but I am certain this is because they are forming words that would look more natural in French. I could me mistaken and reading far too much into it, but it is my best way of describing it. The art generally is wonderful; realistic where necessary, implied and stylised where not. I have a small issue with it in that certain moments really are not clear and it tends to be the really vital moments which get lost in a rush of motion. Otherwise it is superb and the overall appearance is not dissimilar to All-New X-Factor in the tall slim character form, but I would be pushed to really explain why I see that connection.

There is a lot about this book I would love to know more about – why does a simple splinter immediately cause gangrene? Who really are their enemy? How big is their empire, how many planets? But part of the reason why I enjoy this book is that unknown quantity; knowing too much would probably spoil it as putting it into writing would be less rewarding than letting the reader fill in the blanks themselves. Overall this is a really stylish book, well scripted, beautifully formed and very engaging. If I had a single genuine complaint it would be the lettering, which is painful to read compared to standard blocky text, but for people with better eyesight than me, or more likely those reading this in print rather than scrunched up digital format, I will be surprised if you had any negative comments to make. Other than the fact that only four issues means it is all over far too fast.

* Ok for me it is not distant, but I suppose it is pretty equidistant for our American audience.