Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Nick Pitarra
Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Date: August 2011
Cover Price: $3.50
Title: “Learning to Fall”
Legacy cadets Valin and Dominic made it into the Red Wing and are training in simulators to hone their flying and fighting skills. Dom’s skills are requiring a little more work than he’d anticipated.
Dom seeks help from the General in order to understand his mistakes in combat. He doesn’t have the full grasp of time. The General then explains to him about the different frequencies and slices that define what is time.
Meanwhile, Robert Dorne, who was assumed dead somewhere in the past, is alive and teaching a less advanced culture about irrigation and growing crops. He had crashed into that time while being chased in battle and managed to survive.
One day he’s talking with the leader of the tribe and his temporal homing device lights up. Robert thinks he’s finally going home. Or is he?
Jonathan Hickman is building up the story bit by bit and we can see it’s leading up to something big. Dominic Dorne, and his father Robert, seem to be in a sort of time paradox that loops the story back into itself. We’re given a glimpse of that at the end of this issue.
The art and colors by Nick Pitarra and Rachelle Rosenberg really bring this book alive; whether it’s a full action sequence or just Robert and the chief sitting and talking. They bring the emotions and tensions of the script to the forefront on the page.
Halfway through this four issue miniseries we’re set up for some big events to unfold in the second half. When the series comes to a conclusion, I’m sure I’ll be saying ‘fooj’ and not ‘swiggly’ to what happens!
– The Comic Book Critic
Comic Book Critic Rating: 8.0