Reviewed: Planetary 1-7 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday

[Warning: There is a small speculation at the end of this review on how the series might conclude someday. Don't read it if you're the type that hates spoilers--although I have no idea if I'm right or not.]

The Plot: A small group of superpowerful misfits travels the world investigating paranormal phenomena. Along the way, we learn of connections to other, parallel universes.

I sought out Planetary after thoroughly enjoying the first nine issues of The Authority, also written by Ellis. They share many connections, but they are two very different series.

Planetary reminds me most of the X-Files. The TV show, not the comic book. Some supernatural weirdness happens, and the team is sent to look into it. But they're not there to arrest anyone or see justice done. The three members of Planetary we meet (there is allegedly a fourth member, who we are not shown) are there only to observe, to make a record of what they find.

Unlike Mulder and Scully, there are no warm and fuzzy feelings between the main characters here. The opening scene, where apparent leader Jakita Wagner recruits new member Elijah Snow (who shares a birthdate, and fashion sense, with The Authority's Jenny Sparks), is filled with hostility. Snow has control over temperatures, while Wagner is apparently super-strong and super-fast. The third member of their little triumvirate is The Drummer, an annoying pest who senses remnants of information like a dowser looking for water in an empty, desiccated lakebed.

The actual mission of Planetary is shrouded in mystery. Whoever The Fourth Man is that is controlling their missions, he (or she...?) has unlimited resources and some sort of motive for wanting to document the strangeness of this Earth.

Planetary also has plans, it seems, for Elijah Snow, whose past seems to be a mystery in part even to himself. There are hints that he may not like those plans, once he learns what they are.

The Earth Planetary operates on, by the way, isn't the only Earth involved in the story here. We learn of The Snowflake, a visual metaphor for a multiverse of universes separated by The Bleed, a concept shared by The Authority. There is a definite feeling that the shared concepts between the two series are leading to a definite climax, and a crossover between the two series is planned.

As I say, though, Planetary is very different than The Authority. The stories seem smaller, more personal, while at the same time revealing layers of reality as huge as the concepts explored by Jenny Sparks and crew. The stories of Doctor Brass (a virtual transplant of Doc Savage to the comics genre), a "Ghost Cop" and John Constan--koff, koff--Jack Carter all examine in depth the personalities and motivations of the characters.

The Topps X-Files comic threw out weird plots and ideas, but never really paid much attention to the characters. Ellis is generous with his ideas, and his characters, and Planetary is all the richer for it. It's the reason why Planetary succeeds as a comic where The X-Files failed, despite terrific art by Charles Adlard.

Speaking of the art, John Cassaday is good. He handles a wide variety of settings with consummate skill, including a remote, frozen wasteland filled with dinosaur corpses and the Blade Runner-like streets of 1999 Hong Kong. Some of the action scenes, especially early on in a scene where Jakita destroys a car, remind me of what Geoff Darrow was doing in Hard Boiled, but it meshes well with the rest of the artwork.

It's clear that the world Ellis has created for his characters to inhabit and explore is filled with wonder. Adventurers travel between universes, but pause to wonder at the grandeur and strangeness of it all; it makes them seem all the more human, despite their superior abilities.

Ellis is leaving The Authority, but so far has plans to stick with Planetary. That's good, because there is obviously a wealth of material to be mined here, and Ellis has the singular vision to make it interesting for years to come. Additionally, almost any issue is a good jumping-on point, because while there is an ongoing throughline to the issues, almost each one tells a complete story in and of itself.

My favourite story so far was in issue 4, "Strange Harbours." We meet Jim Wilder, a private investigator in the employ of the mysterious, powerful Hark Corporation. Wilder encounters a sentient Shiftship (a vessel that traverses the Multiverse) and becomes one with its mission to return home. Ellis and Cassaday weave a charming, wondrous tale of a human man who leaves behind his human existence in order to help the Shiftship, with gaining the secrets of the Multiverse as the reward for his selfless act. The Shiftship changes Wilder, and entrusts him with the gathering of six more people to help the ship get home.

The story is important, because it marks the first time Elijah Snow takes command of a situation, as he promises Planetary's help in fulfilling Wilder's new mission. It seems to be an awakening of sorts for Snow, who has been letting life knock him around since well before the events of the first issue.

It seems likely we will see more of Wilder as the series continues; that's just one of the many things I am looking forward to as Planetary continues. If future issues are as well done and intriguing as these first seven, I will be around for the duration.

Be seeing you.

[Spoiler Warning]

A guess at the possible end of the series:

While writing this review, I thought of a wondrous image, one I wonder if Ellis has considered; the more I ruminate on it, the more certain I am that something like this will happen.

As we learn of more and more universes within the Multiverse, as we finally believe that Planetary has begun to understand the Snowflake, the final issue could begin to close on the image of The Snowflake, the visual metaphor for the Multiverse. How elegant, and how fitting, if the camera were to pull back from The Snowflake to reveal...

...An immense shower of Snowflakes, endlessly blanketing the landscape of imagination. Each Snowflake different, each containing a Multiverse of infinite universes, all waiting to be explored, by the Archaeologists of the Impossible.

Whether I'm right or not, the mere fact that Planetary prompted in me such an image is just a small indication of the sense of wonder it inspires.