Our Starry Universe #1 is a comic written by Andrew Abarca with art by Alé Garza, Pow Rodrix, Mostafa Moussa, Nei Ruffino, and letters by Tom Martin. A woman finds herself struggling to survive after her ship was attacked. This is a sci-fi story starring a woman attempting to navigate a crisis while accompanied by a talkative AI. Our leading lady is Jesika, a Hispanic woman who apparently makes her living on the wrong side of the law. With her at all times is SARA, a Semi-Artificial Reaction Assistant.  The story begins with Jesika waking up after the attack and she is immediately forced to get up and moving as the situation gets worse. This is very introspective story as it deals with themes of mortality and uncertainty as Jesika goes through many emotions. There is no real action here but there is some gore. This pace is slower than the average comic as nearly every move Jesika makes is documented which helps us feel what she does. This is an intense story with creeping dread as there are some unanswered questions. The dialogue is mostly modern English with Spanish words and phrases thrown in with some frequency. No wordy pages here. This is a debut comic that introduces us to an interesting woman in a troubling situation and you’ll be on the edge of your seat wondering what she’ll do next.

            The art here looks soft and smooth with a bit of a shine to it as lighting and shadows have a huge presence here. This is colored well but the range of colors isn’t the largest as most of the environments are the silvery-grey of spaceships but Jesika does stand out. While there are some glimpse of outer space the majority of this comic takes place inside the ship. The cold, steely look of the ship help add to the feelings of isolation and stress. The expression level here is slightly above average with Jesika going through a gamut of emotions as she struggles in this story. Her face is full of well-drawn features and most of her different looks come across clear, though some may throw you off. The hair physics are something to pay attention to here. Not really action here besides some aggressive button mashing. Jesika is wearing something that you might see on a show like Star Trek but shows a bit more chest. There are some suggestive shots and a hidden nude moment here.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like sci-fi stories starring a woman who engages in crime and is in a tough spot while currently on a spaceship along with themes of isolation and imminent danger this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. For a gory moment.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I didn’t know exploding felt so…pleasant.”

 

Purchase Link: https://www.apoapsu.com/shop/p/our-starry-universe-cover-a

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apoapsu/our-starry-universe-comic/description

Indiegogo Link: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/our-starry-universe-redux/x/26236710#/

Unboxing Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6X_3r-jy0

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 1, for 4% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 1

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 1 except for a single moment where it jumps to 4

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 2

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 2

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”