ENGINEWARD

George Mann and Joe Eisma’s zodiac-themed comics series Engineward goes interstellar

Just like Jedward, only with zodiac-themed interstellar weirdness. So just like Jedward.

STARTING WITH CANCER and ending with Gemini, each issue of George Mann’s new limited series from Vault Comics, Engineward, is themed around a specific star sign. Centering upon a far future, frontier-like colony world, “where humans have taken their problems to the stars,” the Joe Eisma-illustrated 12-parter combines his long-time interest in both space opera and folklore.

“It’s less that I have a specific interest in the zodiac and more that I was looking for an interesting aspect of mythology that might be preserved and reinterpreted by future generations,” he says, revealing that the title refers to main protagonist, Joss.

“She’s an ‘Engineward,’ a kind of engineer who repurposes scavenged technology and components from the wreck of a previous colony ship that failed to stick the landing,” he explains. “She’s at the heart of things in the shanty town where she lives, trying to make people’s lives better. It all starts when she discovers the head of an ancient AI amongst the wreckage and activates it, discovering the truth about its original mission. So, she and a small crew she puts together set out on a quest to get to the truth.”

Pitted against them are the Celestials, a 12-strong ruling cabal who are descended from the colony ship’s original inhabitants. “They’ve each taken the mantle of one of the zodiac symbols and have even manipulated their own bodies to mirror the traits associated with those signs,” says Mann. “We’re going to see Joss and the gang heading out to the wilderness of the planet, Hellen, where they’ll encounter a human cult that worships the atom, a remnant of a previous alien colony, face down attacks from the Celestials and uncover a conspiracy hidden for hundreds of years.” SJ

Engineward #1 is published by Vault Comics on 15 July.