| SYNOPSIS: The issue opens with a mammoth, cylindrical object drifting through space. On Earth, the Planetary team travels to Zambia, there to meet Dr. Kwelo, site administrator of a 15-year-old field office that Snow had forgotten and Jakita didn't know about. Kwelo tells them about an alien construct they're monitoring -- the cylindrical object we saw earlier -- 40 times further from the Earth than the moon. It's unreachable by conventional crewed spacecraft, but this being Planetary, they have some experience with unconventional crewed spacecraft. They also have an unconventional crew, consisting of a trio of spooky blue aliens (dubbed "angels") with large, wiry wings on their backs, whose primary purpose is to record. Naturally Snow has decided to send them up to do just that.
The angels board an alien craft -- one of 19 such craft, apparently, that Planetary has
recovered since 1951 -- and head off into space. The ship itself, powered by information, leads The Drummer to make some startling conclusions about the nature of reality. Arriving at the site, sending
their findings back to Planetary via a video feed, the angels find an entire ecosystem "the size of Manhattan." Waterfalls, rock formations, forests, and several different races of humanoid creatures populate the construct, which Dr. Kwelo theorizes "evolved there." In another compartment, the impossibly huge corpse of an alien being is discovered, presumably the vessel's original inhabitant. As Planetary absorbs what they're seeing, they receive word that another spacecraft has entered the area. Its lone occupant figures to be the sole member of the Four we've not seen to this point. "Finally," says Snow. "Jacob Greene."
TO BE CONTINUED...
REVIEW: Nothing like a world within a spaceship to remind us of the scope of this series. (Even if this is acutally the 2nd world within a spaceship we've seen -- Issue #4, anyone?) As if that's not enough, we also get a degree of dramatic tension between Snow and Jakita, ghostly angels, alien ships that run on information, a giant alien the size of an island, and a brain-twisting discussion on the building blocks of the world and -- perhaps -- the true significance of the century babies. All in an issue which remains most memorable for its visuals, particularly of a fascinating ecosystem that calls to mind Planet of the Apes...tell me you don't still see that alien lying across a mountain range, with an army of apemen pouring out of his mouth.
 We also, of course, get our first true cliffhanger, which given the sometimes lengthy gap between issues is somewhat of a relief.
As is often the case, I owe some thanks to a couple of people who tipped me off to a couple of the inspirations for this issue. First, the Arthur C. Clarke novel "Rendezvous with Rama" deals with a cylindrical, interstellar spacecraft hurtling through the galaxy that a team of explorers investigate. And second, thanks to mdg1 of the DC Planetary Message Boards, who posted this link - http://www.essentia.com/discovery/holographic_universe.htm -- which deals with some of the same theories The Drummer presents in this issue.
In short, there's plenty to talk about and plenty of literary and scientific allusions to track down here, which indicates that the Planetary creators have done their job once again.
| |  Random Thoughts:One of the most discussed things about this issue, and that struck me, was Snow's remark that The Four would likely send Jacob Greene, rather than William Leather, to investigate the alien ship. Snow's explanation for his reasoning focuses on Greene being the Four's original pilot and Leather's possible rift with the group -- rather than the fact that Planetary captured Leather in Issue #18. I see three possibilities for this apparent inconsistency: This story occurs prior to Issue #18; Snow's cryptic remarks have another meaning or purpose (Perhaps The Four don't realize Leather has been captured?); or Ellis screwed up. I'm going to go with option 1 or 2 until we learn otherwise.
I might be reaching a bit here, but considering all the grief Snow has given others for withholding technology from humanity, Planetary is doing quite a bit of hoarding of information on its own. I'm not saying they should announce to the world they've got alien recorders and information spaceships hanging out in Zambia, but....
Everyone is comparing the giant alien to Galactus, which is certainly possible, but it's also possible Cassaday had somebody else entirely in mind. Perhaps someone who's actually read the Arthur C. Clarke book can shed some light on the subject.
The importance of Snow and other century babies to the universe vs. the apparent outsider role of The Four should not be overlooked.
Could Jacob Greene be some kind of magma creature -- taking the rock-like Thing's characteristics one step further? I guess we'll find out next month.
Rating: 9/10. Sidelining the team for this one didn't matter. |
