Broken Frontier

The first installment of this five issue miniseries introduces readers to a future that we’re told is verging on the apocalyptic: pollution, biological contamination, and the overwhelming greed of large corporations make the world of 2032 a time in which few of us would want to live.

It is here that we are introduced to Dr. Richard Adams and his wife Gabriella, scientists whose work in the field of bio-rejuvenation could prove critical to safeguarding humanity’s future. The couple is recruited by a company named Trinion who promise to provide them with whatever they need to complete their work – but of course, nothing’s quite as it seems…

Unfortunately, while the set-up is present, there’s nothing about this apparently terrible future that really convinces. When we first meet them, Richard and Gabriella are contemplating spending the day in bed in their comfortably furnished apartment, while we later see Richard being given a lift back to the laboratory in a sports car after a visit to what appears to be a gleaming metropolis.

The only significant glimpse we’re given of any civil unrest comes in the form of an uprising on the North Carolina/Virginia border, but aside from a few punches being thrown and a bit of shouting, this sequence wasn’t particularly effective. It felt like it had been added to give a little action to an otherwise very "wordy" debut issue, and its resolution seemed a little too gratuitous in this context.

Still, Broken Pieces is not without its commendable aspects. Micah Kaneshiro’s artwork has a clean, nicely detailed precision to it that is instantly appealing, and the issue certainly finishes on an interesting note that made my opinion of the story go from general ambivalence to genuinely wanting to know what happens next. And that is where Broken Pieces falls apart.

As a single issue, I found it somewhat lacking, and I can’t help but think that this series’ strengths will only really become apparent when the inevitable collected edition is released at some point in the future.