Sea Of Stars #3: This All Ages Space Adventure Gets Better And Better!

Three issues in and my love for Sea of Stars shows no signs of letting up at all. This space-bound Finding Nemo meets the Lion King really hits everything just right, a delightful, spectacular all-ages sci-fi adventure.

For the backstory, here’s the reviews of issue 1 and issue 2. So far we’ve met young Kadyn and his dad, Gil, seen their life in space and the accident that sent Kadyn into space. Dad and son, far far away from each other, with dad willing to do anything to reunite with his son.

But, as we find out right at the start of Sea of Stars issue 3, Kadyn is having the time of his little life, exploring those strange new powers he seemed to get from the accident, accompanied by the alien versions of Timon and Pumba to his Simba.

Yes, real space magic, the sort of things whispered about and long gone. Suddenly Kadyn’s idea that space was boring has gone right out the window, and while he’s enjoying himself all is well. But, behind the laughter and the joy, there’s the sadness that hits at the slightest memory of his dad, who Kadyn obviously thinks died in the accident.

There’s a great moment early on that shows me that Aaron and Hallum have a real handle on Kadyn, really understand the emotional life of a kid like this.

Yes, that memory of his dad triggers the tears for sure, but the very next moment, with the turn of the page, we get this…

Kids this young just can’t do sadness all the time, it comes and goes and that’s just perfectly done here, without needing a huge explanation, it’s part of the delightful economy of storytelling that Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum are doing, alongside Stephen Green and Rico Renzi, whose art and colors make this a real technicolour delight.

There’s so much movement, so much emotion in Green’s artwork, the joy and sadness captured so perfectly, the body language and flow of the panels and pages making this eminently readable. And there’s a touch of the great Kevin Nowlan about moments in the artwork… that angularity of the lines at times, the skill of the figure work. It’s a joy.

And then those colors, oh those beautiful, vibrant colors, with a palette going to the purple that can then explode into brightness for Kadyn or the reds of his father’s pages.

So, we have so much fun with Kadyn chasing quark sharks but there’s plenty of mystery still there, not the least of which is what’s happening to him and why he might just be very, very important.

And then there’s his poor dad, very much still alive and desperate to find his son, but more immediate things keep cropping up; trying not to die for a start, what with the crappy tech, the irritable spaceship computers, and crash-landing on a planet with a particularly nasty bit of flora and a not all that welcoming committee.

There’s so much going on in Sea of Stars, the twin strands both full of action, adventure, peril, and mystery, and it’s all so magnificently done, with all involved showing just how great storytelling can be done in the space of the few pages of a monthly comic.

Sea of Stars really is a wonderful series, hitting everything just right, a note-perfect tale of a dad and his son, lost to each other in space. It’s one you really need to be picking up right now.

Sea Of Stars Issue 3 – Written by Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum, art by Stephen Green, colors by Rico Renzi, letters & design by Jared K Fletcher. Published by Image Comics