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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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Runners: Bad Goods
Wang populates his book with tons of odd looking sci-fi beings.
There's only one human on aboard Roka Nostaco's ship and even he's got
this strange laser arm. All the imaginative creations Wang has in
Runners are easy to appreciate because of his uncomplicated art
style. The panel construction doesn't draw attention to itself and the
sci-fi setting isn't used as an excuse for a lot of tricks or special
effects. The action moves along easy so both space dog fights and
quiet moments of communication are both effective.
The book is always light and readable space-faring fun but there's a
certain amount of gravity Wang attaches to his cast. A flashback to an
earlier version of Nostaco's crew doesn't feel like unnecessary
myth-building but becomes the most affecting part of the book. Wang
introduces a question of morality into the courier job Nostaco's crew
does that makes the book feel deeper.
It's wonderful to see a creator who can balance both the surface
elements a genre story while adding something more underneath. Wang
creates some of the most exciting sci-fi comics seen in a while with
Runners.
-- Ian Brill
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It's a triumph that Wang's cast of characters in Runners is so
easy to relate to. It wouldn't seem that a fellow with six eyes
protruding from every side of his head who travels around in a space
ship would seem so relatable on a human level. Yet the six-eyed alien,
Cember, and the rest of the crew on The Mosquito are rich characters
as well as being weird looking aliens. Wang showcases a real talent
for comedic timing in comic storytelling that creates situations both
genuinely funny and dramatic through the characters' interactions. The
plot of Runners is fine space cowboy material but the book
excels to something else because of many memorable humanistic, or
rather humanoidistic, moments.