Another month, and another issue of Greg Pak’s creator-owned property Mech Cadet Yu is released by Boom! Studios. How do you follow up an ending as jaw dropping as the one in the previous issue?
Summary
Yu and the rest of the cadets head to a new base in hopes of finding a new plan to stop the alien invasion.
Writing
After the events of the previous issue, the team has no choice but to relocate. After receiving such a devastating blow, Yu and his friends deserve to find a bit of hope in this war against aliens. As they arrive at the main headquarters of the Earth forces, Yu and Park soon discover a new weapon which will turn the tide. Unfortunately, they also quickly discover this new solution doesn’t come without a heavy cost.
Greg Pak seems to know exactly what needs to happen when you tell a story with giant robots. It can’t always be constant fight scenes, there also has to be moments where you show just how much the robots and their pilots mean to one another. This helps to show the bond which is formed between the characters and their machine. Pak hammers in the emotion by showing what happens when this bond is challenged which serves to not only advance the story but allow for some intense moments.
Artwork
Once again Takeshi Miyazawa’s artwork finds a way to mess perfectly with Greg Pak’s story and deliver some intense moments. A certain scene in particular would not have been as hard hitting if not for Miyazawa’s being able to perfectly capture the pain on the characters face.
Thanks to Triona Farrell, the coloring not only helps with the impactful visuals but also helps to nail the sensations which are taking place in each scene. The effect work on the holographic display for the alien mother ship lands perfectly with Farrell’s color work.
The lettering by Simon Bowland harnesses the emotional impact of the pain and drama so it all hits home. The different style between the humans and robot speech is made noticeable but not in a way which makes them feel inhuman.
Conclusion
This issue serves as a great jumping on point and will also help to showcase why Mech Cadet Yu was one of the best books to come out of 2017. Pick it up and see for yourself what you are missing out on.
