It’s CSI in space!

Actually, it’s nothing like CSI in space, but if you’re working at a comic shop, brevity is your friend when trying to sell someone on a new book. Nothing will tank potential interest in a book like over explaining a concept, and The Fuse is one of those book that would be so easy to over-explain. “It’s CSI in space” is true enough to be a quick hit of cultural relevance while leaving the book with some wiggle room to shock and surprise.

There’s a lot at play in this book. At it’s core, it’s a procedural crime series set on a junky energy platform orbiting earth. As with all of his creator-owned series, Antony Johnston marries the core with a lived-in world that hums and glows all on its lonesome. By the time you (and one of the book’s lead characters) arrive on the scene, time has already passed. A world has already formed. Even though it’s our beginning, it’s the middle for most, and it’s that lived-in feeling that I like the most about all of Johnston’s work.

All the world-building in the world would be for naught without the skills of a fantastic artist, and Johnston has certainly found himself a great collaborator. Justin Greenwood was one of the rotating artists working on some of the last half of Johnston’s Wasteland series for Oni Press, and the pair’s great work there certainly shows here. There’s a comfort at play, the sign of two creators who know how to get the best out of each other while putting together a compelling narrative. The series moves with great ease, always moving, never a scene or panel wasted as we jet through our arrival and the subsequent mystery that starts immediately. This means a hefty amount of world building is being carried by Greenwood as his renderings have to speak for the world itself as the story rockets forward. It’s a joy to see these two working together - and in colour for the first time.

Speaking of colour (nice segway, champ! Now hang the biggest fucking lamp you can on it, that’ll be a good editorial choice!), Shari Chankhamma does an astounding job on this book. Whereas John Rauch keeps Umbral in a glowing etherial purple, this series has a relatively muter palate, one that suits the different genres at play here. My favourite bit has to be how Chankhamma plies the more mundane bits of action with colouring like you’d find in everyday life, but let’s the extraordinary surroundings pop with bits light orange-maroon and glowing teal. Recognizable, yet extraordinary - a great statement that suits this book perfectly.

Ed Brisson’s work on this title is - as always - quite wonderful. Crime procedurals live and die off of the conversations that help propel the story forward, and so there are a lot of bits where information is delivered vocally. A bad letterer could pretty much wreck this book single-handedly as a result, but luckily, Brisson is amazing, delivering astounding work that makes this book read even better.

The Fuse ships on February 12th, 2014, and is on your local comic shop’s Final Order Cut-Off list today. That means that at some time this evening, they will no longer be able to adjust their orders without penalty. All comics live and die off their Final Order numbers, and a low number could very well doom a series before it starts. While I doubt that this series will be in any direct peril, if you are interested in the book, let your local retailer know now so that you can (a)guarantee a copy when the book goes on sale and (b) help send a few extra duckets to Johnston and Greenwood. This series and these creators deserve success, and if you can help be a part of that from day one, I’m sure everyone would be quite grateful - and you will be in at the ground floor of one of your newest favourite book.