“Homeward Bound but in space” is how comic creator Pornsak Pichetshote (Infidel, Dead Boy Detectives) describes his new fluffy (literally) space adventure, Man’s Best, and the first issue of the delightful new BOOM! Studios series certainly lives up to that expectation. With absolutely gorgeous art from Jesse Lonergan (All Star, Hedra), Man’s Best #1 injects the comic landscape with a thoughtful science-fiction adventure grounded in a heartfelt world of hope, loyalty, and of course… man’s best friend.
Warning: Contains spoilers for Man’s Best#1 ahead!
Pornsak Pichetshote’s catalogue of comics veers to the horror side of fiction, with devastatingly terrifying comics like Infidel and Sandman Universe: Dead Boy Detectives artfully merging the horror genre with real-world commentary on sociopolitical issues. So, in many ways, Man’s Best feels like a big swing for the horror writer, and he hits it out of the park from page one, successfully blending intense heart with explosive action, all while decked out in cybernetic armor. An adorable exploration of the real intensity of close friendships, and how crises can rupture these connections, Man’s Best is as emotional as it is suspenseful.
BOOM! Studios
Man’s Best focuses on three animals – the feline leader Athos, loyal retriever Porthos, and grumpy bulldog Lovey – who are the cybernetic experiments of Dr. Winters, living aboard an exploratory space vessel, the Starship Horizon, that is hoping to terraform a planet for human habitation. Winters loves her three pets, they are her emotional support animals and live in her room, but she is also hoping to use them as weapons to support their planetary terraforming. Athos has an impressive helmet that shoots laser beams, while Porthos has a powerful energy shield, and Lovey uses a jetpack with a weapons arsenal attached, all in the hopes of taking down “Klangers,” large robots that apparently exist throughout this universe.
Man’s Best #1 perfectly sets up the delightful, heart-filled series by giving just the right amount of exposition without getting too lost in the nitty-gritty of humanity’s current struggles or the vessel’s mission. The focus, as it should be, is on the animal adventurers, and it is a delight to see how Pichetshote has framed the relationships between the three best friends, who have very unique personalities. After their ship crash lands on a mysterious planet, and confronted with their owner Dr. Winters being lost on the planet, the three friends and comrades begin the greatest adventure of their lifetime.
BOOM! Studios
Readers of Man’s Best will surely see inspiration from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s WE3 (and Rocket Racoon’s backstory from Guardians of the Galaxy whose director James Gunn was inspired by WE3) and that is not a mistake. Speaking on AIPT’s podcast, Pichetshote discussed how he was actually one of the editors on WE3 and used his work on that series as an influence for Man’s Best. WE3 was part of a “stew” of inspirations alongside other animal relationship-focused comics like Bryan K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon’s Pride of Baghdad and Garth Ennis and Michael DiPascale’s Rover Red Charlie.
In my opinion, what sets Man’s Best apart from some of these other excellent thought-provoking animal tales, is that Man’s Best is so accessible to readers of various ages. On its surface, a young reader could open up Man’s Best #1 and appreciate the adorable art, exciting action, and heartfelt emotion of Athos, Porthos, and Lovey from the first page. Yet, an adult reading this comic can also easily peel back the layers of the protagonists’ energetic adventure to reveal the incredibly thoughtful reflection on how crisis can change friendships, the cost of blind loyalty, and the true power of hope. Of course, many young readers will also appreciate Man’s Best’s commentary, but the fact that they wouldn’t need to to still enjoy this comic is what I appreciate.
BOOM! Studios
What makes Man’s Best so special, besides Pichetshote’s excellent writing, is Lonergan’s perfectly stylistic art and panel layouts, which provide a true sense of magnitude and wonder. Lonergan has so effectively illustrated the animals’ expressions without sacrificing the pure animalistic aspects of their design, drawing the reader into the animal’s emotions while keeping a fascinating distance from the reader’s human perspective. Jeff Powell’s lettering is also pitch-perfect, using italics, bolding, and bubble positioning to center the words and sounds without drawing focus away from Lonergan’s gorgeous art.
Pornsak Pichetshote says in his interview with AIPT that he wanted to make sure Man’s Best felt in some ways like classic sci-fi works by authors like Isaac Asimov or Ray Bradbury, where the expansiveness of space was a call for action and exploration. By so wonderfully juxtaposing the pure existence of cats and dogs with the unknowable vastness of space, Pichetshote and Lonergan successfully evoke the excitement and fun you felt as a child, looking at the night sky clearly for the first time and dreaming about the fun you could have dancing between the stars. Man’s Best #1 is a truly wonderful debut issue, with an immense degree of heart, hope, and action, sure to draw any reader in and keep them coming back for more.
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