Review - Cosmic Scoundrels #1 (@IDWPublishing)

"But just like excrement, appearances can be deceiving..."

Life in space is hard enough just trying to survive relying on the basic resources necessary. Survival is further compounded by the need for money with which to get some of the aforementioned resources necessary for sustaining human life. You can either work hard for the money or steal it--the latter is definitely more entertaining. In Cosmic Scoundrels #1 from IDW Pulishing, Love Savage and Roshambo want to entertain readers. The issue is written by Matt Chapman, illustrated by Andy Suriano and lettered by Suriano with Comicraft.

Space-faring bachelor scalawags Love Savage and Roshambo – along with a little mothering from their ship’s AI, Mrs. Billingsley – shuttle from job to job and continually find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Despite their best efforts to look out only for themselves, they usually end up involved with alien crooks, shady black market baby schemes, and space sickness-inducing drugs. They’re on the loose and on the run – from everyone!

It's very apparent from the first few pages that Chapman is going for a tone that's essentially irreverent. Love Savage and Roshambo are two characters who Chapman writes with a nod toward the zany in that their adventures can be better described as misadventures. Chapman provides both characters with an abundance of rapid-fire, vapid dialogue--all of which constantly reminds the reader that these two are pretty whimsical in their approach to life. The story showcases a series of capers to help characterize them as such and Chapman doesn't hesitate to infuse the book with plenty of instances that are comically entertaining. The issue falters a bit in its delivery, in that Love Savage and Roshambo are supposed to be riotous dude-bros but a lot of their jokes fall a little flat.

Suriano's artwork is very aggressive and in your face. Part of this aggressiveness is a sense of incompleteness in the illustrations, in that Suriano looks to have sketched out panels before loosely inking/coloring them. The linework also has a detached sensibility to it as Suriano seems content to illustrate things in a way that's pretty rough in its appearance. There's some pretty interesting looking characters though as Suriano does a pretty solid job of filling out the space of Cosmic Scoundrels #1 with a sense of otherworldliness. The colors are fairly vibrant throughout the issue and reinforce the fact that there are some different characters floating through the universe.

Cosmic Scoundrels #1 is a buddy comedy in space that mixes in a light criminal aspect. Love Savage and Roshambo are partners completely confident in their abilities to break the law and get away with it, having a great time in the process. Chapman's script aims for a lot of buddy-buddy humor and entertainment even if some of it doesn't really land well. Suriano's artwork is brisk and rough around the edges, perhaps mirroring the personalities of the two main characters. Cosmic Scoundrels #1 has a lot of potential and could be appealing to those looking for something that's a little off-kilter.

Cosmic Scoundrels #1 is in stores now.