Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Simone Di Meo
Colorist: Mariasara Miotti
Cover Artist: Simone Di Meo
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
In a big wide Universe, the only other form of life humanity found was dead giant space titans. These colossal beings have been a mystery for years, their corpses scattered around the cosmos while human miners salvage the bodies for resources. One man tried to find the answers behind the mystery, and now We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #6 shows what happens next.
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Review:
Previously, the last issue showed that Captain Malik was able to succeed in his trip to the domain of the space gods, and returned transformed into, let’s call him “Space Malik”. The big question is how did this happen and, better yet, why did he die like all the rest? None of these questions are answered, but they are lightly tapped into for this comic.
The true priority of this comic is showing exactly what happened years after Space Malik returned, and what his re-emergence as a giant space god had on humanity in this interstellar story. However, don’t expect to catch up with any of Malik’s old crew anytime soon, Al Ewing throws readers decades later with a brand new protagonist who couldn’t be more different than Malik.
Following Space Malik’s return, the comic compares and contrasts the old space colonists’ lifestyles with the new ones years apart. When Space Malik first emerges, some grisly humans are all ready to start scavenging the body. Whereas the new Worshippers (yes, that’s their name) venerate the body like a holy monument. They even built an epic space settlement around him called Malik’s Flight, which is well illustrated by Simone and Mariasara.
Now, the main character of this comic issue is Ambassador Marlyn Chen, a sassy, arrogant, cunning, eloquent, and duplicitous woman. She’s entertaining to read but I wouldn’t say she’s likable, at least not yet. She even remarks herself as being shallow, and shows she holds no reverence for the space gods. It seems Al Ewing is trying hard to contrast this character with the gritty and grounded Georges Malik.
She travels on her own personal, luxurious spacecraft towards Sagan Beacon, a space station on the borderlands of human space colonies in Malik’s Flight. There Chen meets with the leader of the Worshippers to discuss potential business opportunities while taking in all the epic sites. This is where the art by Simone Di Meo and Mariasara Miotti’s colors truly shine.
The colony is well drawn and beautifully colored, so much so it’s worth getting wallpaper for your phone or laptop. The comic does a good job setting up how the Worshippers venerate not only the space gods but also their very act of transforming Captain Malik into one of them, or so they think that’s what happened.
However, one thing about this comic is that it’s mostly setup. It does a lot of world-building to set up this new paradigm of frontier space colonists, but nothing exciting happens. It’s basically an introduction of Marlyn Chen, this new faction of Worshippers, and what Chen’s main goal really is, and it’s an ambitious one to be sure.
Final Thoughts:
We Only Find Them When They’re Dead #6 re-introduces readers to this cosmic setting of space titans with a familiar face and plenty of new ones. The new protagonist, Marlyn Chen, is an entertainingly shady character, and we’ll see if she becomes likable over time. The comic has a lot of epic visuals thanks to Simone Di Meo’s art and Mariasara’s colors, however, the story is less of a thrilling tale and more of a slow introduction to all of the new players.