Battlestar Galactica’s reboot was a godsend for most science fiction fans, especially fans of the original show. As it was show about a world, where life has ended on earth and the most resilient of humankind was left to rebuild what was to be a new “Earth”. This a major theme in dystopian science fiction, as humans have been slowly eradicating the earth for centuries, and now science is catching up with science fiction, and this soon may be a reality. As the History Channel show, Earth without Humans  indicates and details, the earth will go on, with or without us.

The new comic, Native Lands, by James Cavanaugh and Cecilia Latella, is a story very much in the vein of Kass Morgan’s trilogy, The 100. The unique twist that Cavanaugh and Latella, gives to the genre, is that the inhabitants on the spacecraft have gained unique abilities. Abilities that have made this group of people to be called “The Gifted”. People with exceptional abilities or “powers” on a spaceship being forced to rebuild their lives on a strange new world, is nothing but high stakes drama.

In the opening scene of the comic, a member of the crew is being forced to recall, the disaster which has brought them up to this point, a nuclear disaster that wipes out New London. The premise is much like Snowpiercer, where “The Gifted” are considered patients, and don’t necessarily have the same freedom as the rest of the crew, much like the back of the train in the movie. The staff, acts a lot like, has more freedoms and possesses certain attitudes about “The Gifted”, is very much like the front of the train in the movie. We are introduced to Emma and Bastian, both”Gifted” and both very interesting characters, whose abilities are tested by the staff within a few pages.

We get a few flashbacks to the disaster of New London, and introduced to a slew of new characters, types you might find on any flight and some you never imagined you would. Cavanagh’s storytelling is at top form within this story, as the premise and character development is well planned, and one can tell, it is a big overreaching arc, that only if you follow, you will eventually be let in. Latella’s illustrations, feel so intimate in not only setting and but also in character.

Overall, if you like super powered beings and space operas, or if you can imagine a story where the X-men are in space, then this is the story for you, as for me, it is the book I never knew I wanted until I read it.

Story: James Cavanagh Art: Cecilia Latella
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: BUY NOW

James Cavangh provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review