As reported here at MajorSpoilers.com, Captain Ginger is coming back to Ahoy Comics!
‘CAT’ TREK
One of the comic companies I enjoy most is Ahoy Comics because they take chances and do things that are often outside the boundaries of other creators! They have produced really fascinating takes on the superhero genre (including The Wrong Earth and Penultiman), supernatural mysteries (such as Black’s Myth), an exploration of comic conventions called Con & On, and even a compelling look at Jesus rooming with a hero who resembles Superman!
Now THAT’S what I call diversity of thought!
One of my very favorite comics will be coming back in November, and that new mini-series will be called Captain Ginger: The Last Feeder!
Here’s the description for the book:
“Back for a two-issue AHOY anniversary special: the ‘wonderfully entertaining series, combining all the tropes and trappings of serious sci-fi with the ridiculousness of cats being cats’ (Comics Beat)! In this all-new epic, Captain Ginger and his crew find themselves scattered across a thousand light-years, facing the twin mysteries of the captain’s long-missing father—and the final fate of the human race. By Stuart Moore (Marvel Crisis Protocol) and June Brigman (Power Pack), with a galactic variant cover by Walter Simonson (Thor, Ragnarok)!”
There have been two seasons of the story so far, and I just love the combination of what we consider “normal” cats with more evolved members of the species who are actually running a starship. The felines are working together to combat a hostile universe. It’s referred to as “adventure with a bite!”
The first four-issue mini-series established the universe, during which the captain had to fend off his second-in-command named Sergeant Mittens, who was attempting to wrest control of the ship from him. That was followed by a six-issue second “season” in which the crew of the ship find out that they indeed are not alone in space!
One of the underlying story threads includes the mystery of what happened to the humans who had apparently started all this! Where are they? What happened to them? Are there any still around?
The art as well as the story grabbed my attention, and I’m not even a cat person! All the various cats were beautifully portrayed, and I believed every panel!
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
In this column, I have often pointed out that I’m a big science-fiction fan, but the notion of cats running a starship really intrigued me. Could they control their cat nature enough to run a spaceship? How would they resolve any conflicts between them? We explored a lot of those concerns in the first mini-series’.
If anyone wanted to catch up in a hurry, there are two collected editions available. The first one is called “Survival Instinct”, and the second “Dogworld” (which gives you a strong idea just what kind of space travelers the cats encounter).
One of the aspects of the comic that really engaged me was the science officer who discovers that he has a terminal illness. It’s odd to say, but that situation really helped me identify with the lead characters since they had to discover what was going on and then deal with it. Nicely done!
Season One was concluded way back in 2019, and the second season was collected in the latter parts of 2020. It’s been a long three years since I last read Captain Ginger, and I’m grateful to Ahoy for their intention to return to that universe!
It’s also great to see that the original team is back! That’s not always possible in the comics universes, but I think someone besides Stuart Moore scripting and June Brigman providing art could have been pretty jarring! That trick doesn’t always work!
THEIR ‘LAST’ JOURNEY?
As much as I would love to see the story come to a satisfying conclusion, there is a part of me that would like to see the ship go “where no cat has gone before” and take on new adventures in the galaxy they inhabit. However, if this is indeed their “swan song,” then I hope it’s a good one that will make me happy I’ve been able to read and enjoy it! However, I’m leaning towards this being the final “cat-astrophe” they have to endure since the subtitle has the word “last” in it—“The Last Feeder,” after all.
I actually hope that Netflix or Prime or some other streaming service picks up this property and turns it into an animated series or uses the current level of CGI excellence to bring it to the small screen! I’ve spent a lot of hours watching other sci-fi that wasn’t nearly as engaging as this tale has been.
In this column, I have often pointed out that I’m a big science-fiction fan, but the notion of cats running a starship really intrigued me. Could they control their cat nature enough to run a space ship? How would they resolve any conflicts between them? We explored a lot of those concerns in the first mini-series.
Now, it’s normal for sci-fi franchises to wrap things up by showing us the crew of the ship going “out there” to explore the rest of the stars, something left up to our imaginations, sadly. I hope they don’t have that in mind for us! What would be the best send-off for Captain Ginger and company? Maybe they could continue to evolve, ending up humans themselves. Or they could find an alien race that would allow them to de-evolve back into feral cats, taking them into their homes so they can live the best cat-lives they can!
This is why I’m the reader and NOT the writer! The best I can come up with are “same old stuff,” cliches that aren’t all that inventive! I’m sure the team on this book know just how to wrap up this series!
Anyway, I highly recommend this comic to you and hope you will catch up in time for the November release of the next mini-series! The fact that I as a dog person can enjoy this comic as much as I do means you are very likely to enjoy it, too!
What do you think? Does a starship populated by various versions of cats sound “fascinating”? Could they even make peace with the dogs they have previously encountered? Or is that some serious wishful thinking on my part? Whatever your opinions, be sure to share them in the space below!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.