I got the first issue a few days after my birthday but nevertheless, I consider it to be my best present I got this year. Being a big fan of New Frontier, I have been looking forward to more of this series for a while now and that this story is a continuation of the so far latest NF novel is something I welcomed a lot. On top of that, the very first New Frontier comic by Wildstorm is my top favourite comic book and getting the continuation in the form of a limited series in comic form was very exciting news to me.
Now that I have read the first comic of the new series, I am still very excited. I must admit, I prefer Mike Collins art, especially Mike Collins Calhoun. Nevertheless, I like Stephen Thompson`s work too in spite of some flaws. Most of his art is excellent but the faces, that is pretty much a mix of hit, miss and something in between. It doesn`t bother me very much because there is a lot of Thompson`s art I like. It has flaws but at the same time, it has character. His art is certainly not bland like the Calhoun on the “No Limits” cover. Character with flaws is something I prefer to boring and uninteresting. I can imagine, with more experience, Thompson could become a great comic book artist.
I like it that Thompson looked for his own interpretation of the characters. I don`t think his Calhoun is “strikingly handsome” (PAD in “Before Dishonor”) and I miss that but his Calhoun is certainly interesting and showing all the other characteristics mentioned in the books. Calhoun on the cover has a strong presence and shows the piercing look PAD described sometimes in the novels very well.
It was interesting to see some of the NF characters in comic form for the first time and must say, so far it is only Calhoun I have some problems with. Nevertheless, I am confident that I will get used to Thompson`s interpretation of Calhoun. It just might need some time. By the way, I laughed when we could finally see Morgan properly after her looks had been cleverly disguised in various ways in Wildstorm`s comic book. After all the teasing about who Morgan is, we have the answer now.
I think PAD set up the story very well. I have followed NF from the very beginning but from what I can see also a newcomer wouldn`t be lost. Of course he would see that a lot happened before this comic book but the most basic information you need for getting a foothold is there. Hopefully this comic will tell an entertaining story also to the newcomer and it might make him curious so that he wants to buy the books as well in order to find out more, filling the gaps.
One of the most important parts is establishing the relationship between Calhoun and Shelby and I think this first issue shows these basics very well. One of my favourite scenes was the look at the special bond between them again, when Calhoun knew immediately that the images he saw were a trick.
The Wildstorm comic dealt with the topic time and the change of time – of what is, what was and what might be. I found it interesting and amusing at the same time that this theme is also part of this limited series. “Paradox” - I love this name for a time ship. Keeping in mind what we learned in the very first NF comic as well as from Voyager and Enterprise, I see a huge potential for this story. I am very curious where this will go.
I know from PAD`s messages that he wanted to write a Mirror Universe NF story in comic form and I think that element is part of this series. If done well, MU stories can be also something I enjoy and in this case, I am confident that the MU element will add an interesting dimension to the story and not have the opposite effect as it happened in DS9 Relaunch.
I liked the part with Robin Lefler, Kalinda and the ghostly Si Cwan. Lefler certainly changed and I must say, Thompson did a brilliant job here with his art, showing first the confident, strong leader and later the more vulnerable Lefler. I wasn`t even that surprised that Lefler is pregnant because it fits so well into the overall story.
McHenry`s apparent fate was disturbing to me but it makes sense. Hopefully he can be helped but I have to wait and see…
In short – a great start and I can`t wait to get the next part!
