Sea Of Stars #4: Taking It To The Next Level And Still Superb

A father, a son, and a whole lot of space between them. That’s the set-up for Sea of Stars. Basically a spacefaring Finding Nemo, but oh, there’s so much more to love about it. A perfect all-ages book.

Four issues into Sea of Stars and, since the first three reviews were pretty much super-positive, you can pretty much guess where this one’s going as well.
We’ve had the set-up, the whole dad and kid separated in space, miles and miles and miles away, with the dad doing anything he can to get back. But now, we get the next phase of Sea Of Stars, where the writers start adding the things in to make it so much more than a simple getting the two back together thing, the thing that gives this comic legs.
Last issue, we learned just that little more of Kadyn’s strange new powers and got to see what he could mean to another alien race, specifically, as we learn in the first couple of pages, Dalla the Despised. Something bad happened, meaning the race lost their Lord Quasarro, and Dalla paid for it with banishment.

That was weeks ago, and now Dalla thinks she’s found Lord Quasarro in the shape of young Kadyn, who is, quite understandably, just a little confused by this new turn of events. And anyway, he wants to just have fun with his new pals.
And then things get very strange. And suddenly, all Kadyn wants is his dad.

But dad is a long way away, on another strange planet, being hunted by the population and getting nothing but snark from his suit’s computer.
Again, it’s a fabulous issue, written and drawn with such wonderful touches, with both Kadyn and his dad’s tale done just right, the adventure never letting us forget just what’s at stake here, whether it’s done in the tears of a young boy who misses his dad, or the desperate realisation of dad that he’s going to have to do some terrible things to get off the planet to get back to his son.

Sea of Stars really does tick all the boxes; fun entertaining space romp with lots of deeper meaning, that Disney-esque sentimentality done right, great artwork from Green that draws every last drop of meaning from an expression, meaning Aaron and Hallum don’t have to work too hard on exposition, and some great colors from Renzi.
Hell, even the lettering is done beautifully, with Fletcher’s font choices really adding to the organic, different feel of the comic.
Definitely a stand-out comic for 2019.
Sea of Stars Issue 4 – Written by Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum, art by Stephen Green, colors by Rico Renzi, letters & design by Jared K Fletcher. Published by Image Comics