Errand Boys #5 - Image Comics

ERRAND BOYS No. 5, February 2019

Only briefly stopping to register the traumatic impact Jace Lopaz’s year-long stint of enforced incarcersleep has had upon the intergalactic delivery man, D.J. Kirkbride’s narrative for Issue Five of “Errand Boys” must surely have delighted its fanbase in February 2019, with its pulse-pounding depiction of the titular characters going on one last “super illegal” romp across the universe. Indeed, the slightly greying Hooman’s ‘tête-à-tête’ with a gigantic Space Manatee, coupled with his half-brother’s desperate attempt to pilot the ‘Bego single-handedly, is undoubtedly one of the highlights of this five-part mini-series, and probably had many of its loyal 1,263 readers wishing more exploits were to follow.

For starters, the action-packed sequence depicting numerous tickbroods consuming the spacecraft’s low-grade methanol fuel additive clearly demonstrates that the “hard-worn scoundrel” is still cursed with his incredible unlucky streak, despite the fact he’s now desperately trying to live up to his promise to Officer Bradley to “stay outta trouble”. Hastily donning a decidedly vulnerable-looking space-suit, the former convict’s complete disbelief that Tawnk has “never actually flown a ship before” also genuinely supplies this twenty-four page periodical with a laugh-out-moment, made all the funnier when an astonished Jace points out that the fourteen-year old extra-terrestrial has spent the past twelve month’s living with his ultra-shady boss, Bear.

Just as entertaining is the “Amelia Cole” co-writer’s subtle suggestion that even after their death-defying brush with the enormous, “mostly herbivorous”, sea cow and successful traversal of the deadly Green Space, things are still not going to turn out all that great for the two siblings. There’s a definite sense of tension in the script when the elder Lopaz both provides the formidable New Ebb security satellites with his ‘stolen’ planetary shield codes, and then later gives his Crystalline employers a noticeably nervous response when asked as to whether the pair “have such customs” as honouring their dead “on our sister planet of Old Ebb”…

Rounding off this comic’s excellent entertainment are Nikos Koutsis’ layouts, which really help imbue much of this book’s shenanigans with plenty of energetic bounce, and a solid sense of fun to boot. Jace’s brush with a ‘water hose’ shooting highly flammable fuel at a cute-looking horde of mini-manatees is particularly well-pencilled, as is Tawnk’s transformation from a ‘chip-on-the-shoulder’ Goth to a deeply-caring, blue-faced half brother.

Written by: D.J. Kirkbride, and Drawn & Colored by: Nikos Koutsis