With book three of The Mice by Roger Mason in the works I HAD to take the chance at getting caught up on the story so far.
Inside was the tale of a near future Earth where the hierarchy of dominant species has had a reshuffle with the arrival of giant-sized aliens. The remaining mouse-sized humans are struggling to survive amid the factories that are churning out food for the new head honchos on Earth but the rebellious humans are doing their part to disrupt them in every way they can.
The band of survivors turn to guerilla warfare as they attack and hide among the shadowy machinery but the hunt for them is on the rise when the aliens in charge make a discovery about those infesting their world. The outside world is grim for those human survivors but friendships, hope & love somehow manage to blossom among the hardest challenges and this ends up feeling like a real hidden gem of a story that I got lost in pretty quick.
The story & art from Roger had me reminiscing about Sunday mornings watching Land of the Giants re-runs and that hook was enough to get me interested. That escalated into a strange vested interest developing that poured out from the pages and into my eyes, so it’s safe to say the intricacies of what was put together in this new world was exceptional. The almost faceless giants have the scale to impose their will and you can see that the impact the new decision makers are having is something that Roger is revelling in with each page turn.
As that attack & chase plot unravels there’s a sea of ups & downs for the cast of survivors to face but between the slick pacing and the gritty artwork, there’s an instant likability to the whole idea. It fits together so well that there’s an unsettling natural progress to things and while this sci-fi story has some extremes in there, it’s got such a complete feeling to it’s world building that the next part of the story can’t come quick enough. An old-school sci-fi vibe is evident on the surface of these two volumes but underneath that is the beating heart of a classic tale where survival against the odds in an unreal world is swept along with a mix of adventure, horror & hope. I’m just lucky enough to hit it now when there’s a run of two volumes to get stuck into and there’s the hope for more coming soon to cling onto as well.
Check out Roger’s website to get hold of these first two volumes for free digitally just now and keep tabs on Facebook for this and the other titles he is working on.
9/10
G-Man
COMICS ANONYMOUS 