In the midst of a space battle, two fighters from opposing sides become stranded on a strange planet, Earth.  Now it’s Ranger Cora’s problem, Your Major Spoilers review of Red Vector #1

RED VECTOR #1

Writers: David “DB” Andry and Tim Daniel
Artist: Chris Evenhuis
Colorist: Sjan Wevers
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
Editor: James B. Emmett
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 27th, 2025

Previously in Red Vector: An alien civil war is being fought out in the stars.  Dekk believes that freedom must be ripped from the hands of tyranny while Varseen believes this uprising can be negotiated with and peace found.  On Earth, a national park ranger, Cora Martinez, works close to the border.

EARTHBOUND

Red Vector #1 opens with two spaceships crashing into the desert, right in front of Cora.  Things then flash back to a fight somewhere in space.  Dekk is leading a squadron of fighters, but he’s alerted to something called a Rift being primed.  On a larger shi,p Varseen argues with the one in command that peace is still an option.  To prove his point, he sets out to disable the rebellion’s ships to force them to the negotiating table.  In the fight, his ship and Dekk’s get connected, just as the rift fires.  The two are sent to Earth in an instant and crash into the desert.  Dekk immediately tries to kill Varseen but is knocked out by Cora’s taser.  He awakes to find that Varseen and Cora have been taking care of him.  After some early tensions, Varseen presents Dekk with a plan that can get them both home.

FUN PREMISE, GETS A LITTLE CHEESY AT TIMES

Red Vector #1 gives the readers all the ingredients for a classic space opera.  There’s a big war going on, motivated characters on both sides, a big world-shattering weapon, and an evil guy in a cape.  Then it shakes things up by then stranding the main characters on Earth. While the actual backstory of this conflict isn’t fleshed out here much, the premise works, and there are enough context clues to work out some of the dynamics at play here. Some of the dialogue, though, keeps this from being as enjoyable as it could be.  In multiple spots with different characters, a longer chunk of dialogue is used, and in each of those instances, things get clunky and overwrought.  The worst of these comes from Cora.  While explaining why she isn’t more shocked by the arrival of aliens, she goes into what it’s like seeing immigrants come over the US border.  It’s an admirable and nice sentiment, but it feels completely forced here and a little emotionally exploitative.  Also, the way that Dekk and Varseen come together towards the end of this issue happens so quickly that it diminishes some of the vitriol we’re led to believe exists between these two.

VERY CLEAN AND SOFT

The art in Red Vector #2 lacks a lot of depth, leaving everything looking a bit flat.  In some instances, it looks almost like the characters weren’t drawn into the scenes but rather sort of drawn on top of a panel.  This effect isn’t helped much by the soft, low-saturated color palette. The characters themselves are drawn well, but there’s a lack of integration with the background and setting, which makes this look off.  I didn’t want to give the lettering some kudos, though.  There’s a sequence where one of the spaceships is damaged and the onboard computer voice starts glitching out.  This is conveyed by having pink and blue letters layered on top of each other; it’s effective and unique.

BOTTOM LINE:   IT’S INTERESTING, BUT NOT AMAZING

Red Vector #1 has some fun ideas, and its premise has it primed for some good stuff down the road, but this issue doesn’t hit as strongly as it needed to be a great first issue. Not a lot of time is used to establish any of the characters, making it hard to get invested in them, and when they do get a moment to establish some personality, some cheesy and forced dialogue gets in the way.   Visually, it lacks punch. It’s competently drawn and colored, but the composition and lack of variation make it feel flat.  3 out of 5 stars.

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Red Vector #1

60%

60%

Just Not Enough To Make It Great

Red Vector #1 looks to add a little twist to the traditional space opera equation, but some rough dialog and lack of character development leave the drama feeling flat, which matches well with the visuals.

• Writing

  6
• Art

  6
• Coloring

  6
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
  0