Title: Captain Cosmic #3
Publisher: Frontier Comics
Creators: Andy W. Clift
Price: £3.50
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Website: https://frontiercomics.bigcartel.com/
“A chill has crept across the galaxy as the villain known as The Phantom Spaceman has returned! Every five years the evil astronaut reappears to try and enact his mysterious plan. Little is known about the Phantom Spaceman’s endgame, as he always disappears before he is caught. Each time he is thwarted, but each time he gets a little closer to his goal. This time, there may be no stopping him! When the Phantom Spaceman reappears and breaks into an advanced Quantum Tech Facility to steal a fantastic new element, the Cosmics are waiting for him, but can they stop him??”
Comments: With this classic-sounding issue blurb, the tone of this series becomes abundantly clear: good, old-fashioned fun. For those of us who have been lamenting the current crop of comics produced by the industry mainstays, the solo efforts of creator ANDY W. CLIFT (responsible for everything in this book from the writing to the art, to the lettering, and more), bring back a feeling of nostalgia that’s been sorely missing.
The tone of this book is reminiscent of classic episodes of SPACE GHOST, or MIGHTOR, or any of the other classic adventure series from the Hanna-Barbera Studios mixed squarely with DC sci-fi books from the 50s and 60s like MYSTERY IN SPACE, or STRANGE ADVENTURES (home of characters like CAPTAIN COMET, ADAM STRANGE, CHRIS KL-99, and the SPACE CABBY). The series follows the adventures of the heroic CAPTAIN COSMIC, champion of the spaceways, and his daughter-slash-sidekick, KID COSMIC. With character designs that could have sprung right off the desk of the legendary ALEX TOTH himself, this is a wonderful book. And the retro feel doesn’t end with the character designs or the art style. Andy goes out of his way to make the book itself look old. Yellowing pages, faux staining around the page borders, the color style…it’s all there. This looks like you could have pulled it out of your parents’ (or grandparents’, depending on your age) old comic collection. And like those old comics, this project is more than ideal to read with your kids.
I first discovered this project on KICKSTARTER, where Andy typically runs campaigns to fund each issue. They come out annually (understandable since it’s a one-man show). But as noted above, the issues are then available on his website for sale after the fact. So don’t worry if you’ve missed out. They’re all there for you to catch up.
I’m all in, and I give this book (and the whole series in general) my highest possible recommendation.
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