Traveling To Mars #1

Traveling to Mars

by Mark Russell, Roberto Meli (Artist)

From Eisner award-winner Mark Russell and hot new talent Roberto Meli comes a compelling new sci-fi series…
Traveling to Mars tells the story of former pet store manager Roy Livingston, the first human to ever set foot on Mars. Roy was chosen for this unlikely mission for one simple he is terminally ill and therefore has no expectation of returning. Roy is joined on his mission to Mars by Leopold and Albert, two Mars rovers equipped with artificial intelligence, who look upon the dying pet store manager as a sort of god. Against the backdrop of not only his waning days but those of human civilization as well, Roy has ample time to think about where things went wrong for both of them and what it means to be a dying god.
A riveting story of planetary exploration and of finding meaning in your final days.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction

36 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2022

About the author

Mark Russell is the author of God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also writes the comic book series Prez and The Flintstones for DC Comics. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I wasn’t too sure at first, after the first five issues I’m quite charmed by this series. Mark Russell’s Traveling to Mars takes us from near future Earth where political climates are collapsing as much as the the environmental ones and towards the planet Mars where Roy Livingston will be the first human to set foot. Though not for peace for all mankind, but so a corporation can be the first to reach the planet and stake claims on the natural gas that had been discovered deep in the planet. We have guitar playing, Pet Store manager Roy—’the guy you imagine when you try to picture all the losers you went to high school with amalgamated into a single human being’—who is on his way to the planet because he is dying of cancer and that saves the corporation from having to figure out how to get him back, thus being the first to claim the gas as legally theirs before anyone else figures out a return trip. Perhaps its all far fetched, but whatever, it is entertaining.

I enjoy how the Mars rovers on the trip also seem to revere him, and it seems to be setting up for a pretty epic series so I can’t wait to see what comes next. Roberto Meli’s illustrations are quite nice too. It is pretty text heavy, especially at the start being most Roy's message to the reader giving a lot of backstory and written in a kind of overly poetic and philosophical way that is fun and catchy. It just fun in a bleak way that I enjoy I guess.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 Stars

[Darth Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big fan of Mark Russell but, uh, this was rough. It just felt...lazy? He's clearly sticking to his satirical schtick, but, man, it was just poorly thought through and not as sharp as his other comics I've read.

[Daniel Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written, robots were very cute too

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Две номинации на Айснера'24 (лучшая новая серия и лучший сценарист). На Земле ближайшего будущего бушует энергетический кризис, а на Марсе открыли большие залежи природного газа. И подсуетившаяся корпорация отправляет в один конец смертника — больного раком ковбоя, чтобы тот по праву первооткрывателя "застолбил" планету и её ресурсы. Дальше обычный комикс переместил бы героя на Марс за две страницы, но здесь идея совершенно другая — комикс именно про полёт к Марсу. Долгий, одинокий, полный остроумных философских рассуждений о смысле жизни, боге и человеческих переживаниях.

Такой подход (на протяжении 11 выпусков) возможен только с крепким сценаристом, и Марк Расселл показывает, что номинацию свою получил не просто так. Судя по своим предыдущим произведениям (God Is Disappointed in You, Not All Robots) религия и роботы входят в число его ближайших интересов, и здесь эти две темы тоже находят большое отражение. Но главным образом комикс, конечно, о людях (самых эгоцентричных существах в известной нам вселенной) и о том, как всё остальное (и боги, и роботы) созданы по образу нашему и подобию и нужны (помимо сугубо утилитарных целей), чтобы мы могли смотреться в них, как в зеркало. И думать о себе, о своей горькой судьбинушке, лучистой пылинке в пучинах безбрежного, безучастного космоса.

Как обычно, прикладываю небольшое превью.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review for issue 1-5)
A couple of decades from now on an Earth roiled by energy-shortage crises, a regretful, terminally ill nobody from Eufala, AL, accepts an offer for a one-way trip to Mars to stake claim to its resources for a company back on Earth. From this premise, Russell gives his main character a lot of time to existentially ruminate on the meaning of life and reconsider what he’s made of his own. That could result in a meandering or miserable tone, but Russell has so far managed a folksy farcical voice that’s typical of his light, irreverent take on contemporary social issues.

(I also really like its variant covers that pay homage to old 70s cosmic Marvel covers.)

“Sometimes the light that shines in our direction never finds us. We only ever see the stars whose light that has had a chance to reach us. It’s not that the light doesn’t exist, just that there’s a point where the universe expands so much that we become unreachable. And that is what makes darkness possible.”

“So I suppose it all worked out for the best. Or maybe given the incredible odds against it landing in the precise spot where it came to rest—every golfball has the right to think of itself as a hole-in-one.”

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally an interest story and I like the art. But I’ve read the first 5 issues and it annoys me how the sole female character, the ex-wife, has no backstory, inner life, nothing. I can’t believe there are female characters being written like this even now. A freaking fish gets more depth than the lady. Can’t with this nonsense.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instantly hooked with this one.

[Minette Bosman Minazarova · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like where this is going, I enjoyed the first issue, but I'm not completely convinced to keep reading. Let's see the next issue.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 1-5 but don't want to clog up my numbers for the year!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

a nice start to a series, still too new to have a collected edition.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disturbing but all too real Late Stage Capitalism take on going to Mars.

[Mee Too · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this issue on hoopla, and i'm glad i did. I think there about 12 issues and im excited to see where it goes.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

#1- "Whoever's reading this should know that I'm not the hero of this story."
Feels original, I will stick with it

[Sarah Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was FANTASTIC. It was funny, interesting, well-paced and SO philosophical. I loved it. This one will stay with you for a long, long time. Read it!