Debris #1

Debris is set in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are a premium and humanity is dwindling. There is an encampment of survivors who struggle to make it in this harsh world. Adding to their troubles of survival are strange creatures that seem to be a mixture of long-lost broken technology and organics. A sort of cybernetic species, if you will. Enter Maya, who has been chosen to protect the camp from these creatures. She is their only hope to ensure their future. But when her mentor, Calista, is killed during an attack, Maya must abide by Calista's final wish and set forth on a journey to find the key to saving the remainder of the populace.

This premise has been seen in variations before. Nothing overly groundbreaking here. The creatures that seem to be made of junk are interesting. There was no backstory to why the world has become this way, why these people are all that is left of what we assume is earth, or even how these robotic creatures came to be. That will be a turn-off to some readers, I'm sure. It would've been nice to learn more about these characters in the first issue so we can learn why we're supposed to care for them. It's hard to worry about whether a character lives or dies if all we get is a lot of action panels with no explanation as to how these situations came to be. Hopefully the second issue sheds light on some of these areas. This is only a four-issue mini-series, so answers need to come fairly quickly.

The art is the selling point to me. I picked it up because I liked what I saw in the preview pages when the book was offered. The style is very similar to something you'd see in Heavy Metal. And it is the perfect style for the rugged, desolate future look this book commands. A lot of sharp points and muted colors to show how bleak this period is.

Overall, I was hoping for a little more out of this. I'm not a big sci-fi fan, but I took a chance with it because the premise seemed a bit new. After reading it, I was disappointed that it had a lot of the same premises that I have seen before. It's not a terrible read, but not much above average either. I'm sticking around since it's only four issues. Those type of books get to their points right away since there's no time to waste. Here's hoping the next issue can resolve some of my doubts.