You might remember Titanium Rain from a story we ran in April concerning censorship from it’s printer.  We received a review copy of Titanium Rain by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha and sat on reading it.  It was one of those comic books I’ve wanted to read for a very long time, but knew my crappy laptop wouldn’t do it justice.  So, as soon as my shiny iPad was in hand, it was a perfect opportunity to dive in and give it a shot.  The comic is amazing, I didn’t want to put it down.  The story is fantastic and art is beautiful.

To be alive is to be at odds with the world.  Man against nature.  Man against man.The instinct to survive is what has made us who we are.

In year 2031 mankind’s survival instinct is put to the test when a civil war in China spirals into global conflict.  Nations are destroyed.  Millions are killed.  And for many, like US Air Force pilot Alec Killian, survival will mean shedding some of his humanity in exchange for biotech and machine.

Is this the ultimate corruption of nature?  Or the birth pains of a new chapter in mankind’s evolution?

From Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, the team who brought you the acclaimed cyberpunk series,Utopiates, Titanium Rain is a sci-fi war epic for the post-millennial age.  In the spirit of films such as Ghost in the Shell, Innocence, and Blackhawk Down,Titanium Rain follows one pilot’s journey through mankind’s worst, only to discover its best.

The story is a futuristic Top Gun, following bio-enhanced fly-boys who are thrown into a Chinese civil war.  But the brilliance of the series is that it’s not a straight up action/military tail.  Most of the story focuses on man versus nature and the right of people to meddle with God’s work.  On top of that there’s the look at the root cause of the Chinese civil war which is the farm class versus power elite.  This is a socio-political comic book at it’s best.

The story is told from the perspective of primarily one pilot.  Mixed in with his experiences are news reports and a dossier with various tidbits on the war, news, military weapons.  It fills in a lot of the background not told from one person’s perspective.

This is well worth the buy, I can’t recommend it enough.  The quality is top notch and I can’t wait for volume two in August.

Plot: Josh Finney does a masterful job.  While the story is mainly told from the perspective of the character Alex Killian, the backstory of the world is filled in through other means including television programs, news articles and a dossier that shows a lot about the hardware and tech that’s being used.  It’s just brilliant and executed flawlessly.  Rating: 10

Art: I’d say the art is damn near as perfect as the story.  But the art, by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, suffers from the uncanny valley a bit, in that some of the characters come of with a weird “plastic” look to them.  But for the most part everything is amazing.  You feel the action and the detail is absolutely perfect showing damage and just enough tech.  Also of note is the use of panels especially during the dog fights.  The panel layout and use is very nice, and adds to the flow of the story.  Rating: 9.5

Overall: The first volume to the story is top notch. With  each comic sent to me by Archaia, I’ve become more impressed with the companies line of product.  Archaia definitely equals quality and this series is proof of that.  This is the perfect summer read and a must buy.  Rating: 9.75

Recommendation: Buy

Page count: 152 pages    Price: $19.95     Release: Out Now

Archaia provided Graphic Policy with an advance copy of this issue for FREE for review.