While there have been some pretty intriguing concepts coming out of Radical Comics, the one that really grabbed us has been Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising, the story of an interplanetary civil war in which Earth’s nearest colonized worlds are targeted by their motherworld. In an atmosphere that takes its visual cues from science fiction video games and role playing games and its story sense from a tremendous range of influences, the scope and ambition of Shrapnel has been epic since the first issue.

The female main character is a former Marine with the Earth forces. She was considered a war hero, but she has tried to leave her past behind and gone underground. Her peace didn’t last long, but now she finds herself standing against her former compatriots, leading a small, overmatched band of colonists against the vast power of Earth.

One of the things that is so compelling about the story is that in this distant future, much of the style of combat resembles our past. The mechanical battle suits worn by both sides have become so impervious to attack that armies spread out on a battlefield and confront each other physically, which immediately offers the storytellers a chance to reduce the epic scope of the battle down to one that more intimately concentrates on a small group of core characters.

Shrapnel’s creators, Mark Long and Nick Sagan, teamed up with writer M. Zachary Sherman and artist Bagus Hutomo to tell the tale and the results have been very enjoyable. Fans of Halo or Warhammer will find themselves right at home, and science fiction fans in general should like it.

This is scheduled to be the first of three Shrapnel tales from Radical, and we’re looking forward to the next two.