The Fourth Power

Having survived a crash landing behind enemy lines during at the start of an interplanetary conflict, female pilot Exether Mega fights her way through blockades and hostiles as the unsavory truth about her mission is slowly revealed. As an impending war between the Planetary United States and the alien Krommiun race prepares to ignite, Mega is hunted by perpetrators of weaponized super-science. Much like the author’s lauded Metabarons series, this volume features planet-hopping narratives for its three stories–also included are “Murders on Antiplona” and “Island-7”–and had the visual spectacle characteristic of European comics. But while its clean, colorful, “recommended for mature readers” artwork delights the eye, there is very little meat to the tales, a fact somewhat masked by tons of action sequences that go on for page after page. If one seeks a feast for the eyes that does not tax the brain, that’s exactly what is to be had in this far-flung space opera. (Jan.)