Warlord of Io, Vol. 1

Emperor Zoz of Io has ruled his ruthlessly expansionist empire for 1,000 years, inflicting on the disparate cultures near Jupiter one domineering government. Now Zoz has tired of the endless struggle, abandoning his throne to his indolent, slacker son, Zing, who has the good intentions and easy confidence of youth but is ultimately incompetent. General Grymak, equally incompetent but far more ambitious, deposes him within hours of his ascension and Zing finds himself on the run, fleeing through an empire collapsing along ancient fault lines and struggling to survive the violent chaos he helped create. Turner's Jovian system is no more limited by the actual Jovian system than Loony Tunes was by physics, and the antics here have a similar elevated energy. Turner has less fun with his unsympathetic characters; Zing's poorly considered reforms embody incompetent liberalism, and girlfriend Moxy Comet may be the most carnage-happy supposed pacifist in recent memory. The violent and xenophobic imperial subjects are little better, and the over-all effect is of somewhat nihilistic laughter in the face of inescapable folly. Turner's imaginative CG art gives the dark goings-on a quirky spin. (July)