Detail from Orbital v8 cover by Serge Pelle
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Orbital v8: “Contacts”

Orbital reminds me a lot of “Valerian.” It’s heady sci-fi with lots of crazy alien designs, including their ships and cities and worlds.

Serge Pelle's artwork on Orbital often reminds me of Mezieres on Valerian

It’s also, at least in this storyline, a little far out there. This eighth volume in the series is the conclusion of the story in which the neuronomes, which are sort of living ships, landed on dozens of alien worlds’ ammonium lakes, and slowly started to explode, killing tens of thousands at a go.

The main government of the galaxy is left trying to figure out what to do, and their best chance is to send our two protagonists, Caleb and Mozake, to a far off world to attempt to clear out the problem — basically, that the living ships are infected with a virus and are being killed, one by one.

That’s how you get a book with two main storylines — one focusing on solving the mystery of the Neuronemes’ destructive tendencies, and one focusing on the politics surrounding any reaction to these events. It’s the hawks versus the doves, and the evidence continues to mount on the hawks’ side. How long can the doves hold out?

So, yeah, there’s a lot of talk in this book of living ships, alien worlds, and interstellar history. Although there’s lot of action, it’s not the kind of stuff that would sell a summer blockbuster movie. As a sci-fi comic, though, it’s perfect.

Previously, in “Orbital”:

Orbital v1 "Scars" cover by Serge Pelle
Orbital v2 ("Ruptures") cover by Serge Pelle
Orbital v3 cover by Serge Pelle
Orbital v4 "Ravages" cover art by Serge Pelle
Orbital v5 cover by Serge Pelle
Serge Pelle draws the cover to Orbital v6
Orbital v7 "Implosion" cover by Serge Pelle

I recommend you read them all, in order. There is a bit of an overall story arc that develops as the book goes along. They start off sort of standalone-ish, but that doesn’t last. The book’s scale and scope grows dramatically, from a revolt in a mining colony to a political thriller to an agents-on-the-run kind of thing.

And, now, it’s two agents versus a “race” of ships, with millions of lives at stake.

The Living Credits

Cover to Orbital v8 by Serge Pelle
Writers: Sylvain Runberg
Artist: Serge Pelle
Letterer: Design Amorandi
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Published by: Cinebook
Number of Pages: 59
Original Publication: 2019

What’s Going On?

The Neuronomes are spread out over multiple planets, occasionally blowing up and taking out whole worlds with them.

The leading experts in Neuronomes are Mazoke and Caleb, so they’re put to the task of solving the problem. To do so, they’ll take a treacherous trek to the other end of the galaxy, explore an ancient world’s ruins seeking answers, and try their best to defeat to solve the mystery, find a solution, and defeat any enemy in the way.

In many ways, this is a fairly cerebral book. At times, it’s downright trippy. There are some bizarre creatures and landscapes explored in this volume. But Sylvain Runberg is careful to tread that line carefully. The book always feels exploratory, and when things get weird, they don’t go so far as to become self-parody.

Serge Pelle paints a beautiful alien landscape in Orbital v8

He also keeps the tension high — there’s the constant ticking time bomb with the Neuronemes, and plenty of chases and action pieces throughout the book. And when the scenes shift back to the government, the arguments are well reasoned, understandable, and incredibly tense. You can feel the pressure ramping up as the book goes on. You root for the side you know is right, but aren’t sure if they’re doing the right thing at the same time.

The whole plot of living ships and those who are aligned against them brings both an alien quality to the story and a grounded feeling. After all, Runberg can explain the issue with a comparison to medical human issues we all understand. Throw in a bit of technobabble and you have a plot!

As a bonus, it’s a plot that gives the artist — Serge Pelle — a chance to shine brightly. Show anyone a few pages from this book and they’ll want to read it based strictly on the art. It’s a very strong selling point to bring new readers in. Runberg is smart to write to his artist.

Runberg’s Plotting

I love how Runberg structures this book. He juggles the storylines with finesse and great timing.

There are, ultimately, four or five different stories to keep track of all at once. The landing party on the far-off planet splits in two. The sister Caleb left behind is still scrambling to survive on a world that’s suddenly hostile in the name of scoring political points. The main government is having its feuds over how best to handle the situation, and the Neuronemes have set this all up to get just that reaction.

The whole book is an incredible pressure cooker.

Alien political face-off in Orbital v8 by Sylvain Runberg and Serge Pelle

No individual scene overstays its welcome in this book. Runberg does an amazing job in leaving a scene before it gets old. He can raise the stakes, pose a big hairy question, and then skip to something else. The open loop will be enough to keep you turning the page, looking for answers. When he returns to it a few pages later, it’s a satisfying conclusion — but then he just opens up another question to keep the story going.

He also knows how to alternate the style and tone of these scenes. He knows when it’s a good idea to go from desperation to something that offers a bit of comic relief. He knows how to get the exposition done without boring the reader.

Serge Pelle drawing an aerial chase/fight scene in Orbital v8

That’s the hardest part of this book to deliver. Runberg is running with some big, hairy concepts in this book. You can boil them down to something simple, but keeping the technical details straight and explaining it in a way that doesn’t patronize the reader on one end, or lose the reader in an eye-rolling huff at the ludicrousness of it all, is a real challenge. That’s Runberg’s biggest success in this book.

It does, at times, get a little more high concept than I usually enjoy. But he keeps in mind that the fallout from that information it the most important part. Knowing what they know, what will they do next? They are forced to make moves that don’t seem prudent or wise, but the time pressure and the ludicrous number of lives on the line help to propel them forward. There’s no time to slow down, only to run after the next complication.

I’m being a little vague on the details here for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t want to spoil anything. Second, I read books 7 and 8 back-to-back for this review, and it’s a little blurry to my memory in some spots as to which revelations were in which book.

There’s a big fat question left at the end of the book. There’s a solid conclusion to the main story of this book, but an event coming out of it is unresolved. The good news is that it would indicate that there’s more “Orbital” coming. I can’t imagine them ending the series on that note. It feels more like a set-up for the next two books, or perhaps the two after that.

The Art of Pelle

It’s just a joy to look at, page after page. I love this style.

Pelle has a smooth vision for the future, with lots of round lines and soft geography. But every panel is a full illustration, not just a necessary step in the story. He’s not satisfied with just getting to the next thing. It feels like he luxuriates over every panel, ensuring each has its share of detail and something that’s visually interesting.

He can draw it all and he has to, for this book to work. His alien character designs are interesting, his humans look like humans, and then he can handily draw all the spaceships and future tech that a book like this needs.

Serge Pelle draws great scenic action in Orbital v8

From a story perspective, his ability to frame the action and five figures and machine movement is strong. A lot of designers lack that animator’s touch, and vice versa. Pelle is so strong, I believe, because he can merge the two. And even in the quieter moments, he knows how to move the comic’s virtual camera to capture the scene’s tone very well.

And he knows color and uses it strongly throughout theories.

He’s just a remarkable artist who should be a bigger superstar.

I’ve said it over and over in my reviews of this series. Pelle does amazing work, and it’s a great fit for a book like this. Look at the panels I’ve excerpted in this review — how can you NOT want to open this book for a read?

Recommended?

Yes, this is a great series and it continues to delight. Runberg’s writing is only getting stronger as the books go on, and I think he’s showing stronger technical mastery of his craft with each volume. Practice makes even better, right?

Pelle should be an artistic superstar. This guy’s style grabs you and doesn’t let you go. It draws you into every world and than drags you through the story because, hey, why wouldn’t you want to look at what he’s drawing? It’s all so great.

The book is also available on Izneo and Comixology.


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