Colonus

by Ken Pisani, Arturo Lauria (Illustrator)

The a dying Earth has been abandoned, the poor and weak left behind. While Earth's elite survivors colonized Mars, its outcasts--the miscreants, criminals, fringe-dwellers, crackpot scientists, and sociopaths--fled inward, to Venus ("a place fit for scumbags"). Three generations later, the denizens of Venus, strengthened by hardship forged in brutality and hellish conditions, are thriving. Attracted by the successful launch of Venus's second floating "cloud city," the corporate fascists of the Mars Council launch an insurgency for control of Venus... but Braxton, the third generation leader of this colony of outlaws, will fight to save his family dynasty.

Previously published in Dark Horse Presents, this is the collection--and continuation--of Ken Pisani and Arturo Lauria's highly praised sci-fi drama Colonus .
" COLONUS  quenches its audience's thirst for intelligent science fiction via a cocktail of killer art, grounded characters, and unique world building--finished off with a splash of subversion." --Nicole Perlman,  Guardians of the Galaxy  screenwriter 

"The dark dealings of politics in a compelling science fiction setting -- a 'best of both worlds' that is perhaps the ultimate irony in this tale of planets at war!" -- Jane Espenson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica
"Loved it!  COLONUS  is another fresh take on what the future holds for mankind. This is the kind of sci-fi I live for." --Jimmy Palmiotti,  Harley Quinn, Painkiller Jane

"A hell of a story with echoes of Arthur C. Clarke and Greek tragedy, one that gives us an image of our own times." --Denny O'Neil,  Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow 

"Big, expansive, filled with a rich curiosity of distant worlds and people, all of which become vehicles for examining humanity in its barest form." --Michael Moreci,  Hoax Hunters, Roche Limit 

"Bada bing! A mob war in space! Bad ass and righteous--even Tony's crew would not f*ck with these guys!" --Joe Gannascoli,  The Sopranos 

"Fun, smart sci-fi with a striking visual style. We need more sci-fi like  COLONUS  in comics!" --Fred Van Lente,  X-Men Noir, Spider-man, Archer & Armstrong  "Great Sci-fi is hard to find theses days. You're welcome." --Roberto Orci, Star Trek, Transformers, III "Fun, smart sci-fi with a striking visual style -- we need more sci-fi like COLONUS in comics!"-- Fred Van Lente, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men Noir
" COLONUS is sci-fi done right. A satisfying fix for fans of the genre."-- Kyle Ward, Machete Kills

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Dystopia, Graphic Novels

88 pages, Paperback

Published July 5, 2016

About the author

Ken Pisani is an Emmy-nominated TV producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, and comic book author. His Los Angeles Times best-selling debut novel “AMP’D” was a finalist for the 2017 Thurber Prize for American Humor. His original sci-fi graphic novel, "Colonus," published by Dark Horse Comics, won the Geekie Award for Best Comic Book. Ken recently optioned his novella “4 Corners” for television. His new novel, “The Defection and Subsequent Resurrection of Nikolai Pushkin,” (pub date TBD) is a decades-spanning farce based on true events. Read Chapter 1: tinyurl.com/NikolaiChap1

Follow Ken on Twitter @kpsmartypants or visit kenpisani.com

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colonus was a story I accidentally happened upon. I was at a comic shop and there just happened to be a signing featuring Ken Pisani so I picked up a copy and decided to give it a try when I had a moment. I’m really glad I did because I actually really loved this. The only downside was that it was so terribly short. I would have liked another 50 pages so we could really delve into all the backstory and the interpersonal relationships between the characters.

We have a really interesting story about the denizens of Venus versus the corporations of Mars. To be brief, Mars is comprised of corporate totalitarians and they are now setting their sights on taking over Venus. Venus is a colony comprised of outcasts and they don’t take kindly to a corporate invasion. Hence a galactic power struggle ensues. The writing style is really interesting and I felt like these two separate worlds had a distinct flavor to them. There’s also a family drama going on here as well. The family drama isn’t as developed as I wish it could have been since the book was so short. I think that would have been the key to push this one over the top for me.

Overall, I really liked the concept and the writing style. The art was a bit muddy at times and it became unclear as to what was actually happening. I found the art style reminiscent of Hellboy which I supposed makes sense seeing as these are both Dark Horse titles. I just wish this was longer and delved deeper into the characters rather than just the driving action. It just needed that little something extra to push it over the top and make it amazing.

[Nuno R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! The illustrations reminded me of socialist realism art. The plot is vaguely like a dark twist of Le Guin's The Dispossessed, where the capitalists take the initiative, and there is no pacifist central character trying to unite the two worlds. And, in a way, this does feel like an update, a re-reading of the setup we have on The Dispossessed.

Today people are fighting for their political identities, after many years of cynicism and being apolitical. They are fighting for a place in their trench. We are a long way from the 1970's, when you could fight for peace, and be engaged and strongly political and go up against the super powers that were in their trenches threatening to destroy the world.

Right now, the narratives are "the earth is already dead, gone". And what's left is defining your side. The only thing left to answer seems to be: are you a Trump?

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read the summary for this book, the concept was very intriguing. It has to do with humans, having thoroughly effed up earth to such a degree that they had to colonize Mars and Venus, trying to negotiate a partnership to pool their resources and man power to further the development of the human race.

Of course, its not as easy as simply starting a partnership. There is a family dynamic at play, sabotage, subversion, murder, political corruptness, etc... all while trying to get the two colonies to agree to a coalition.

Really cool concept, and for the most part, very well executed by Pisani.

The problem I had with the book was the art. Don't get me wrong, this guy can draw, and there are moments in the book where certain panels are awesome. But for the most part, I personally found it to be kind of muddy, confusing and at times disjointed. I think a big part of the book's plot is leaning on the art to tell the story, however, if you cant tell whats happening it takes away from the story as well as the art.

And the art seems to get darker as the story goes on, probably to match the tone of the story but again, without being able to distinguish whats happening, its hard to properly evaluate.

Check it out if you like gritty sci fi thrillers. Its a quick read and definitely worth a look.

[Kyle Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. The amount of world building and character exploration crammed into barely 80 pages is extremely impressive. The artwork is also gorgeous and quite varied throughout the book, which keeps it visually interesting throughout. I could read several more books in this world, I hope the creators return to it one day.

[Ross Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

great art, good concept, mediocre handling of women, poor handling of race. also the shakespearean family drama was pretty cool.

(it amazes me how much white sci fi authors think adding one or 2 black characters to a story set in the future is progressive. if there was some kind of mass exodus from earth and all the priviledged ppl ended up on mars and the disenfrancished ppl ended up on venus do u REALLY think venus wouldn't end up at least 80% poc? do you REALLY think that?)

ETA: also i get that this was just supposed to be short and character focused but like. the lack of worldbuilding still bugs me. like why is everybody american and speaks english. i want to know about the context of these events within the fictional history.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earth is dead and humans have colonized Venus and Mars. Mars is run by corporations while Venus is now starting to thrive from its citizens' hard work. Corporations being ever greedy are trying to muscle in on Venus. I found the series very dark and a little disjointed. The art and coloring were just bad, with everyone looking like they were carved out of rock.

Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelwiess in exchange for an honest review.

[Tazio Bettin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm. So, the story was nothing special. Shakespearian power/family struggle, with rather bidimensional characters, nothing unpredictable, sometimes even kinda difficult to follow. But that's not helped by the artwork, which in on itself is sometimes difficult to read. I'll always remember how a great artist by the name of Brian Stelfreeze once told me that a comic artist is a storyteller first and foremost, and only after that, an artist, and that I should shut the artist up and listen to the storyteller when I draw a comic page. In that respect, this book sometimes fails, especially in latter pages, where the artist shifts from pens to brushes. He kind of resembles a less refined version of Danijel Zezelj's style. But much, much, much less readable. Sometimes I had to squint and take a good hard look at a panel just to make out what was going on.
Despite these problems, I must say I enjoyed the book. There are some really well done chiaroscuro effects, and the dark, gritty and brooding quality of the pages is really well done.
It's an interesting book, visually unique and different, and for that alone I'd suggest giving it a try. Don't expect a masterpiece, but enjoy the ride. I'd love to see an Alien comic drawn by this gentleman.