The Adventures Of Captain Cosmic #1 - Frontier Comics

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN COSMIC No. 1, February 2018

Brought to life by 247 backers pledging £3,444 on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform back in April 2018, Andy W. Clift’s narrative for Issue One of “The Adventures Of Captain Cosmic” certainly must have pleased those bibliophiles anticipating “a classic, good vs evil, space adventure superhero comic in the vein of the Silver Age.” Indeed, this twenty-page yarn is absolutely packed full of numerous nostalgic nods to this particular period in American mainstream publishing, such as a parental robotic subordinate worrying about its adolescent ward, an utterly outrageous plot featuring a maniac miniaturising entire planets, and a dynamic conclusion which sees the self-assured adult hero rescued by his adolsecent side-kick; “Oh Boy, I better do something quick! Before Dad becomes a permanent member of the Krazy Kena Toy Club!”

Furthermore, the author’s ability to imbue all of his characters with precisely the sort of campily cut vocabulary a reader might expect whilst watching an episode of William Dozier’s Sixties live-action television series “Batman” should surely raise a smile or two from the book’s audience. In particular, the titular character’s frequent reference to Kid Cosmic as “Chum” smacks of thespian Adam West’s delivery of the word to Burt Ward’s Boy Wonder, and resultantly some readers will soon find it rather difficult not to imagine the space age protagonist actually being played by the late great American actor.

Ultimately however, this periodical’s significant success rests upon its storytelling. The tongue-in-cheek tone is set the moment the brilliantly named Prime Consoler Zoltan of the Commonwealth of Worlds “calls in the only people that can help” and continues to deliver Stan Lee styled tropes throughout the comic until its very end. In fact, considering the book’s plot is reminiscent of Superman’s bottled Kryptonian city of Kandor and Hanna-Barbera Productions’ Space Ghost, as well as quite possibly even a suggestion of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s villainous Kivas Fajo, then it’s debatably difficult to think of a sci-fi influence the self-confessed “cartoon maker” doesn’t tap into during this tale.

Similarly as striking is Clift’s art-style, which quite splendidly manages to capture all the hallmarks of Jack “King” Kirby’s much-lauded look when it comes to pencilling any panels set in outer space. Likewise, there’s a solid, strong-jawed look to Captain Cosmic himself, with the colourfully-costumed crime-fighter proving particularly well-pencilled whenever he gets the opportunity to smack one of Kena’s robots right into next week.

Written, Drawn and Lettered by: Andy W. Clift