Battle of the Planets: Trial by Fire [Paperback]

Because it was released in the midst of a 1980s nostalgia trend that was sweeping the comics industry, it would be easy to dismiss Battle of the Planets: Trial by Fire as just another soulless cash-in. But that would hardly do it justice. Sure, it's geared towards a generation of comics fans eager to relive their youths, but Battle of the Planets is a heck of a lot more interesting than, say, Thundercats or even Transformers: Generation 1. That's because, while Battle of the Planets respects its source material, it's not in thrall to it (and, let's face it, the English-language version of the cartoon was never as good as it could have been).

What this means is that the original team of G-Force--Jason, Princess, Mark, Tiny and Keyop--are all present and recognisable as the highly trained super-teens from the cartoon series. Their Phoenix aircraft is still the most advanced ship ever flown by a teenage crew, their base of operations is still located under the sea and Mr Anderson is still the moustachioed father-figure, while the earth is still threatened by the evil alien Zoltar and the forces of Spectra. From this familiar ground, writer Munier Sharrieff and artist Wilson Tortosa (under the art direction of fan-favourite Alex Ross) tweak the template just a little bit, recognising that their likely audience has grown up, even if the teenagers of G-Force haven't. The result is much more brutal and hard-hitting than anything that would've made it onto children's television, and it's an introduction to some more mature themes that still fit seamlessly alongside the original characters and plots. The end result is a comic that should be a pleasant surprise for anyone expecting a nostalgic retread--dynamic, tightly scripted, epic in scale and--best of all--fun. --Robert Burrow

Before He-Man, Transformers and the Ninja Turtles, kids throughout the world thrilled to the weekly cartoon adventures of a brave band of heroes defending the Earth from the evil Zoltar - a group known as G-Force! Now, join the highly trained teenagers Jason, Princess, Mark, Tiny and Keyop - not to mention the faithful robot 7-Zark-7 - for all-new adventures battling new threats from the evil Zoltar! Written by fan-favourite Munier Sharrieff (Battlechasers) and featuring the amazing cartoon-styled art of Wilson Tortosa, under the art direction of multiple Eisner award winner Alex Ross, whose photo-realistic cover art will blow you away!

Munier Sharieff's writing credits include the fan-favourite Battlechasers. Wilson Tortosa has pencilled Jade and Chastity for Chaos! comics, and the forthcoming Banzai Girl. Alex Ross, cover artist and art director, is a multiple Eisner award winner and painter of the smash-hit Kingdom Come miniseries.