Kaptara, Vol. 1: Fear Not, Tiny Alien

A space exploration mission with a grab bag of personality types for a crew (muscle head, no-nonsense tech, pretty-boy pilot) crash lands on a planet of oddities in this start to a new series from Zdarsky (Sex Criminals) and McLeod (Infinite Kung Fu). The story plants Keith, the crew’s sarcastic loudmouth, into the middle of Endom, an alien civilization that gets odder by the page. Endom’s rulers are concerned that Skullthor of the Dark Boroughs has been sent to conquer Earth when they want him back to face justice. So off Keith goes with preening blowhard Endomian prince Dartor to save Earth. Along the way, they encounter a Frank L. Baum–like menagerie of curiosities, from a two-legged orb whose surface broadcasts self-help bromides to a race of tiny racist Tea Party trolls. Zdarsky and McLeod pack the pages with off-kilter action, but the cartoonish style is the wrong fit for this adventurous but wildly uneven John Carter of Mars/John Waters SF comedy mash-up. (Jan.)