Writer, Letterer: Lyndon Radchenka
Artist: Steven Kaul

The earth is in ruins, so a team of super-humans search the galaxy for a suitable planet to host the human race. But what does it mean to be human when you’ve been genetically enhanced and thrown across the stars? Infinite Universe debates this question while still being a fun action-adventure story.

Infinite Universe is a philosophical mediation on the place of humanity in the universe. What does it mean to be human? Are you still technically human if you’ve been genetically modified? What if we aren’t alone in the universe? What is our purpose, if any? If we don’t have a purpose, is that liberating? This book is also a commentary on climate change. While it doesn’t directly address climate change, Lyndon Radchenka uses captions to describe how humanity destroyed the earth, and, instead of trying to fix things, is looking for a new planet. Overall, the story is well-paced and balanced. However, one of the issues I have with it is that I couldn’t tell you what the characters’ names were the first time I read this.

Steven Kaul’s art really makes one believe that this book takes place in a galaxy far, far away. He even channels his inner Jack Kirby with a good usage of the “Kirby crackle.” And speaking of Kirby, Kaul’s panel layouts often reminded me of Mitch Gerads’s Mister Miracle with respects to how the panels were framed, in addition to some nine-panel pages. The red and purple colors especially reminded me of the Mister Miracle scenes on Apokolips. However, I felt like some more careful attention could have been applied to the characters. If it wasn’t for the colors, I wouldn’t be able to tell some of them apart.

Infinite Universe is a well-paced science fiction adventure that people need to check out. It takes a page out of Star Trek, with contemplative discussion concerning contemporary issues, while mixing it with the grittiness of Blade Runner and Alien.

Infinite Universe is available to read on Comixology.