Advance Review: ‘Giga’ #1 Entertains And Establishes A Rusty Futuristic Dystopia Full Of Mystery

First issues of any brand new all original comic book series have a hard job enough to do before trying to scream and shout to get your attention. But writer Alex Paknadel, artist John Lé, colour artist Rosh and letterer Aditya Bidikar do a grand job of introducing the primary players, our hero, and guide us through this futuristic –  albeit stagnant – society and balance all of this without sacrificing any story. It read like a much longer comic book that it is; which is a compliment, given how much it does include. 
The world of Giga #1 has seen its fair share of war, but war of a very different nature to most. It was fought amongst technological titans; giant mechas with their own conscience and their own secrets for why they went to battle. Imagine if the Transformers were far bigger – Galactus big – and we mere ants under their feet. Or worse, as discussed in the opening pages of this sci-fi series and as put forward by Evan Callhoun, our hero.

Many secrets still uncovered in Evan’s era led to the inevitable rise of a mythologised past and an accompanying religion that doesn’t feel too far removed from the ancient mythologies of our own history. In this information-starved, stagnating world – as with our own science-blind ancestors –  the humans are good at creating worthy stories to fill in the blanks. The broken down mechas have long since given up their fight and remain inert in this dystopian future. For the most part. 
Paknadel has already shown us his fascination with technology and its impact on society in his previous Vault Comics’ series, Friendo. I’ll be interested to see how his use of technology informs his plot and comments on our present, too. After only one issue, I am hooked on. 

John Lé is a new name to me, but his artwork — as well as the colour art of Rosh — gives of an appropriately rusty tone that is often contrasted with the greenery of the natural world. Lé individualises every character on the page, which always helps when trying to establish a new world such as this one. It also aids in implying a motivation for each main cast member as well. With too much having to be established, it makes for a much more entertaining read when you can recognise faces in a comic which adds more and more new names with each turn of the page. The end result: it never feels rushed or over-egged.
Of course, the central mystery has to be why these giant mega-structures fought their centuries long war in the first place, but the smaller mysteries introduced into this promising debut issue are more than enough to pull you in even further. Page by page, an extra layer of plot is added and even more surprises too.  
Giga #1 will be out from Vault Comics on Wednesday October 21st.