Wasted Space, Vol. 1

This tepid sci-fi tale aims to make a statement about the perils of religion and unchallenged dictatorship by referencing cultural icons such as Firefly, but it only suffers in comparison. Billy Bane is a washed-out evangelist whose message led to the ascension of the brutal galactic dictator Devolous Yam. Often drunk or high, Billy is positioned as an antihero whose innate sense of right and wrong is dormant but not dead. In practice, however, it’s hard to see why this dissolute vagabond should take the lead over Molly Sue, the young woman who spurs him to action and whose conviction and divinely inspired visions actually drive the plot. The story is not carried particularly well by the roughly penciled panels by Hayden Sherman. Though the simple, bold colors cast emotional inflection on the narrative, nuance is lost in the rawness of the drawings, to the point where, in some panels, it’s hard to tell what’s supposed to be going on. Readers looking for an irreverent lark might find this book worth their time, but those who want more heft to their high-stakes science fiction will be disappointed. (Nov.)