Broken Frontier

Created by Samuel L. Jackson and Eric Calderon, Cold Space from Boom! Studios is a rip roaring cosmic adventure juxtaposing the attitude of Jackson into an established genre. 

Wasting no time, the story starts in the middle of Mulberry's escape from what can only be described as space police. On the frontier of space in the fortieth century, Mulberry is an arms dealer, most likely wanted for various other crimes. He's trying to secure the safety of his latest score but a familiar adversary and his team get the drop on him. Or so they think.

Cold Space is a by the numbers, anti-hero tale that rides past genre clichés with it's charm. Unlike other self-referential tales, Cold Space seems to embrace its possible weaknesses and dives right into them. Having a recognizable figure like Jackson (who Mulberry is obviously modeled after) is a strength as well as a weakness for the title. It’s a strong move in the fact that Jackson has a powerful presence, even on the page, and makes things very fun. It’s not hard to imagine his particular cadence coming from this character's mouth. But, the likeness is so spot on that one can't argue with anyone complaining about being pulled out of the story. Samuel L. Jackson is a cultural icon, not for any particular role so much as him just being himself. So, having him act as the center of this story in a new medium may get in the way of some new readers really embracing it beyond a novelty.

It's a calculated risk, and an unfair one. There is real potential in this story that stems directly from the giddiness that writers Jackson and Calderon imbue in every page. Cold Space is part cosmic sci-fi, part anti-hero action and in the final third of the book switches pace to include western and turf war to this melting pot of story. Its like the cross pollination of ideas had no limits and they saunter through it all with a confidence and swagger that keeps you turning the page.

Keeping it all together is the competent art of Jeremy Rock. His style isn't flashy, but is very expressive in the acting he portrays for the characters. In more than one panel, you can almost see the characters speaking. His art doesn't fall into the common trap of just having someone's mouth ajar and a word balloon hovering above it. There is some real emotion and a very workman-like quality to the book. It’s light on the novelty and heavy on the day to day of this universe. In a strange way, it almost makes the far-fetched scenarios more realistic.

After the success of both Irredeemable and Incorruptible, I think it's safe to tentatively call Cold Space a creative success for Boom! Studios. There is enough on the page to really capture what makes Jackson appealing, sprinkled over an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink type of genre story. There are enough things set in motion to make this a very fun miniseries, but future issues need to step it up. A natural charm already exists within the story, so if they can cultivate a fun space, gangster, western, action adventure, spiced up with bounty hunters, drug runners, and space cops instead of the sometimes inescapable desire for a catch phrase or pun, then this endeavor could have fun merit.

As far as a first comic goes, written by long time fan Jackson, he shows real restraint with the story's structure. Many first time writers have trouble with the pace and layout of a comic. It's often over written or jarringly paced. With help of co-writer Calderon, there are little to no novice missteps, which is an impressive feat that even heavyweights like Whedon and Lindelof couldn't escape in their first funny books.

Cold Space is a pretty fun ride with real potential. Even with its flaws, it’s hard to not fall for the confidence and charm between the first and last pages. When all is said and done, this could turn into a fun collection with that cool guy from Pulp Fiction.