Written by: Joe Casey
Art by: Nathan Fox (With many guest artists)
Publisher: Dynamite
As times change and new fans get into comic books, publishers and artists have a tendency to recreate older comics to draw in different audiences. Sometimes, these recreations are simple updates, while others are more in depth. Thankfully, almost all of these comics are quite entertaining and well done. However, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers is more than a simple recreation. Actually, writer Joe Casey (Cable, Uncanny X-Men) took the original characters created by Jack Kirby in 1984 and started a continuing series that draws on the original source material.
Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #6 is at times a more confusing comic because it briefly starts with a crazy apocalypse before immediately switching to a younger and inexperienced Captain Victory who has no clue about his true identity. All this young person knows is that some strange alternate dimensional being is trying to help him rediscover his true identity. As it turns out, this being is part of Captain Victory’s crew, and he has special abilities to help with his hunt across time and space.
While Klavus is helping Captain Victory with his issues, the rest of Victory’s crew is searching for both Klavus and the captain. Unfortunately for the crew, they are also attempting to avoid their superiors at Ranger Center. These superiors have the ability to take control of their ship via remote access, which can make rescue missions quite tricky. Luckily, the ranger crew has tricks that will help with avoiding these superiors.
Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers is made even more interesting by the fact that Casey mixes in these main stories with a brief history of the Galactic Ranger program. Apparently, this program has a long history with the circle of life in regards to various recruits. These rangers, and Captain Victory in particular, constantly go into battle against vicious forces and a new enemy called Blackmass. Most recruits don’t survive the rough process of being a Ranger, so they end up dead and their memories go into other characters.
For a new reader of Captain Victory, this issue is both a great starting point and a confusing read. Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers gives an in-depth history of many important characters, but the jumping around is slightly more confusing when you are still trying to learn the characters. Of course, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers gets more entertaining as you stick with the story, so finishing the issue is very important.
To be completely honest, I don’t recommend jumping into the series at issue #6, but if you do, just stick with the story. Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers is pretty great and well worth the read.
