One of the biggest stars in film teams up with a group of comic heavyweights for a new dystopian comic series in Arcbound. In a future where Earth has become a barren wasteland, Zynitec harnesses the unmatched energy of Kronium to assert its dominion across the stars. When Kai, a rising star Mediator in Zynitec’s army, is betrayed by his own and left for dead, everything he thinks he believes is thrown into question – and leaves him to discover what it truly means to be human in a world where the boundaries of technology and identity blur.
Star of major Hollywood films including Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises and the Venom series – Tom Hardy already has a high level of clout with comic fans. The team assembled around him is also enough to make them salivate with Absolute Batman co-creator and longtime Batman writer Scott Snyder teaming with Frank Tieri (Wolverine, Deadpool) and multimedia artist Ryan Smallman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Together, they oversee this opening chapter in the Arcbound universe.
There are several elements in this series that readers of classic sci-fi stories about dystopias and harvesting new worlds will be familiar with. But under the deft hands of Snyder and Tieri, it becomes more of a character study which is where this opening volume flourishes. Kai is a presented as loyal follower to the Zynite Army, but he is a bit older and more grizzled than other characters you’d typically see in this role. This brings some depth to him which is developed further by the presence of his wife Kyra. When he is eventually betrayed by the Zynitec, his whole world view thrown into chaos which allows Snyder and Tieri to explore these familiar themes from a less trodden perspective.
The art is also a big factor in this opening volume’s success. Ryan Smallman has plenty of experience working across various films and video games, so he is well suited to building a potentially complex world from scratch. Despite this being one of his first full scale comic works, he proves to be a natural. His action-packed cartoony style is reminiscent of Ryan Ottley (Invincible, Amazing Spider-Man) and the late Mike Wieringo (Fantastic Four, Sensational Spider-Man) in the best possible ways. His rather bloody action sequences are full of violent energy, and he has a great sense for how to design a memorable character.
This is a highly promising opening chapter for the Arcbound universe which will please fans of all the creators involved. From Hardy’s initial ideas – Snyder, Tieri and Smallman have built an exciting world that has tons of potential. A strong recommendation for anyone seeking quality sci-fi comics!
Arcbound Volume 1 is out 27 January from Dark Horse (9781506748146, p/b, £26.99)
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