I was given the honor of receiving the first two issues of Jason Lenox‘, Jason Palmatier‘s, and Dennis Fallon‘s series titled, “Lords of the Cosmos.” What drew me to this series is the tagline, which goes as follows:
“A nod to the glorious mayhem of 1980s comics and cartoons, LORDS OF THE COSMOS is the tale of the exotic planet Aiden, a planet lost to space and time. Here, all manner of escaped super villains, heinous inter-dimensional demons, exiled Earth gods and ancient bio-wizards battle on a hostile world controlled by a sentient, planet-wide machine. If you grew up with Saturday morning cartoons, Heavy Metal Magazine and action figures galore, this comic is a wish come true!”
Being a child of the ’80’s, I remember those days of waking up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons. I remember watching the movie, “Heavy Metal,” and realizing how awesome the animation was, and how inappropriate it was for my young a$$ to watch…but the music and violence were a spectacle to hear and see! So as I’m reminiscing the good ol’ 80’s, I’m looking at the cover for Issue 1 of “Lords of the Cosmos,” and I see this terrifying, villain-looking guy, with a half-metal face, body armor, and a left hand that has three tentacles. If this is the main villain of this series, then readers will know that they’re in for something great!
Issue 1 contains four stories, and the main story is titled, “Umex Rising.” This story is written by Dennis Fallon and Jason Palmatier, penciled by Jason Lenox, digitally inked by D.F. Marin, lettered by Dave Sharpe, and edited by Norman Benford. On the first interior page, readers will see the guy on the cover, holding a decapitated head with the spine attached to it, as well as a decapitated body with two additional heads on the steps, leading to the cover-guy’s throne. The story hasn’t started yet, and already the violence; the carnage, has begun in this story. Yes…he’s the main villain! His name is Umex, and he wants to take over the planet of Aiden…
What makes this first story great, is that the introduction to the planet of Aiden is executed well. Readers will see that it’s a peaceful place, ruled by Gemspire, “a city of wonders.” Readers will be introduced to King Yuril and Queen Tarim and what they stand for. The setting expands, as we explore the outskirts of the planet Aiden. The farm lands, the industrial sectors, the lands where bio-wizards reside…readers are taken from the peaceful lands to the ones that are polar opposite to those of Gemspire. Because peace and prosperity can’t go on everywhere on a planet, can they?
But far away from Gemspire, there’s the “Fortress of Axiom,” an unholy castle where Umex and his disciples gather together. Now that the peaceful part of this story has been told, let’s see what the villain, Umex, is all about. He is on the cover, after all. Which leads the readers to the part of this book where we see “The Disciples of Umex.” This part of the story is both really cool…but there’s so much to take in! The twenty-two Disciples of Umex (twenty-three counting Umex himself), are all introduced in eight pages, HOWEVER, with the illustrations of the characters, there are narrative boxes with the character’s names and a brief description of them, so this is a nice way to introduce all these villains to the readers in one sitting. Consider purchasing this book and seeing for yourself to see what I’m describing here, and the artwork by Lenox is so detailed!
The second story is titled, “Eyes of the Machine,” and it’s written by Dennis Fallon, pencils and inks by Joe Freistuhler, and lettered by Dave Sharpe. This story features antagonist Biowizard Omega 12, and she’s on a mission to kill the disciple of Umex known as “Bonesaw.” This is a short, five-page story, so I won’t spoil it here, but Bonesaw is one terrifying mofo! A major revelation is discovered in this story as well.
The third story is titled, “Betrayal in the Mystic Lands.” The creative team behind this story is brought to you by writer Jason Palmatier, art by Zach Brunner, and lettered by Dave Sharpe. This story is four pages long, but it tells a lot about the origin of Horn-Spire, and how he became the evil Cy-Corn. Tragic story, but is there hope?
The fourth and final story of this book is titled, “Tales of the Nightsea,” written by Dennis Fallon, pencils and inks by Dave Newbold, and lettered by Dave Sharpe. This story is also four pages long, and it features the disciple of Umex named Shredtooth. This is an aquatic adventure you’ll soon not forget!
The final pages of this book has pin-ups, variant cover artwork, and the action figure photos of Umex. Overall, this book was awesome! From cover to cover, readers will see how the villains run the show, and it’s phenomenal! For once, it’s nice to see a universe from the perspective of the villains, and not only that…they’re not the ones who lose the battles at the end of the stories! As for the tagline of the 80’s references, I can see this fitting well in that decade. It has a strong reference that remind me of the villains from “Masters of the Universe,” and the violence found in movies like “Heavy Metal,” “Robocop,” “The Road Warrior,” and many others!
Overall, “Lords of the Cosmos” was a fun book to read. The stories by the various writers were presented well with the settings, plot, and the characters, especially with the inclusion of their background stories. What made this issue great were the three backup stories that followed the main story. Not only did they introduce three of the main (villain) characters, but readers will see what these foes are all about, and what they’re known for. Excellent job by the creative teams for bringing this series; this universe, to life. The art throughout this book is phenomenal, the attention to details needs to be seen, because describing it with words won’t do it justice. My rating for “Lords of the Cosmos #1,” is 4.7 out of 5 Geek-Heads, I highly recommend this premiere issue, and if you’re an 80’s kid like me, then you’ll truly appreciate what this book has to offer! You can purchase the digital copy of “Lords of the Cosmos #1” on ComiXology by clicking HERE. If you prefer a print copy, you can purchase it by clicking HERE.
Lords of the Cosmos is © 2019 Ugli Studios. All rights reserved.
Heavy Metal is © 2019 Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. All rights reserved.
Masters of the Universe is © 2019 Mattel/Filmation. All rights reserved.
Anything Geek Culture 