Drifter is a great starting place for a unique adventure.
THE GOOD
I love new Image #1's. I also give them a shot. I picked up Drifter without any idea of what to expect. The first few pages alone are fantastically crafted. Beautiful art work meets engaging narrative to offer new readers a wonderful hors d'oeuvre for the main course. Protagonist Abram Pollux wakes on a foreign, lawless world, much like the world of Borderlands with hints of Fallout. Fragmented memories, a gun, and feisty attitude Abram draws readers into his quest to find out what happened. With only the barebones explained in this issue it left me wanting more. The story won me over because of mainly the wonderful ending. There is something new here however. Yeah, there are a lot of new sci-fi tales coming out with the protag suffering some type of memory loss or similar event. The atmosphere and the characters help set this book on a shelf different than the rest of the sci-fi books out there.
Let's talk art. I am new to artist Nic Klein. What amazing talent! Artists that complete all artistic duties on a book astound me. Rob Guillory on Chew is one great example. Klein does it all, pencils, inks, and colours; the complete package is fantastic. Reminiscent to East of West the colours create a wonderful scene of sci-fi landscapes and characters look just as edgy and pissed off as they must be living in that world. I am sold on the art 100%.
THE BAD
Now, with all #1's there are certain draw backs right? Either too much or not enough, nothing really gripping, or too many mysteries presented to be effective. This issue definitely does not have enough, but why rush the story? I want to go on the adventure step-by-step with Pollux as he discovers what is going on.
THE VERDICT
I am certain there is more in Drifter than meets the eye. There has to be many mysteries awaiting Abram Pollux as he undergoes his adventure. This issue presents a good basis of characters and location and leaves the reader with a good mystery that is interesting enough to come back for round 2. Being introduced to writer Ivan Brandon and artist Nic Klein with this issue my hopes are high that they will deliver something fun and different for many issues to come. Cheers.
TSR