A Review: EXILIUM #1

The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of EXILIUM #1 from Cloud 9 Comix. Ben Slabak writes, Salomon Farias draws, Marc Sintes colors, and HdE letters.

In the near future, we have made first contact with alien life. But that contact is with a species on the run from an aggressive enemy. We agreed to assimilate them (which goes about like you’d expect), along with their technology. A few years later our resources are failing, and we need help from the outside. But there’s a big surprise waiting for our heroes out in the big dark.

This is a big first issue, packed with a ton of backstory and build-up to the big event (our ships leaving Earth to go find help). There’s a lot of world to build here, and this issue does it remarkably well, maintaining interest without a ton of action but not resorting to random exposition. Very carefully detailed art helps with this process, giving us amazing backgrounds and varying ways of showing us the troubled recent history of this Earth.

If the idea of a wonderfully detailed science fiction story about humans preparing to move out into a bigger universe appeals to you, I think you’ll really dig this book. Issue 2 is already available as well.

EXILIUM #1 (and #2) is available now on Comixology, or online at cloud9comix.com.

~Mike ( @MikeyGeek )