Review of ACCELERATION

Here's another online comic book at Zeroes2Heroes with a Native aspect:

AccelerationThe Future. Outer Space. Arnold Crowfoot arrives on Space Station Callisto orbiting the planet Jupiter. The mission is to test pilot space craft traveling faster than light. Top space pilot Leonard MacLeod wants the fame but his recklessness begins to worry engineer Caitlyn Chan.

Words from the Creator: The objective of this story is to offer a science lesson wrapped up in an exciting story, to look into the future, to see the Canadian flag with stars in the background and see some really cool spaceships!Comment:  Marilyn Thomas, the writer/producer of Shi-Shi-Etko, alerted me to this creation by her brother Steven Thomas. She says it's his first attempt at writing a comic book.

As a first effort, ACCELERATION is pretty good. It's an old-fashioned test-pilot story of the kind you might see in Steven Canyon comic strip, BLACKHAWK comic book, or 1950s space serial. The top pilot makes a mistake, the rookie gets a chance, and the two become rivals.

The Native content is muted. Crowfoot's name, brownish skin, ponytail, and Manitoba origin are the only things that suggest his Native background. There's also Makwa (the Bear), a "weathered transport ship," to suggest that the "Canadian Space Confederation" is a multicultural organization.

The writing and art are unspectacular but solid, which is better than the usual first effort. The only thing I question is the overreliance on aviation tropes. The spaceships look roughly like planes and people call them "planes." The pilots dress exactly like atmospheric test pilots. (Hint: Planes can't fly, and crash helmets and oxygen masks won't help you, in the vacuum of space.)

And ACCELERATION treats breaking the lightspeed barrier like breaking the sound barrier was treated in the 1950s. The ships get closer and closer to "breaking the barrier" as if it's just a matter of pushing harder. There's no mention of the relativistic effects of approaching the speed of light.

For more Native comics at Zeroes2Heroes, see Review of FALA and Native Steampunk Web Comic. For more on the subject in general, see Comic Books Featuring Indians.