Hardcore Mindgames: Finesse masked under a heavy handed title

More than a year after throwing this book down in frustration, I picked it back up. It was a review copy of an up and coming title, it is now getting ready for it’s first release anniversary

Initially, I felt this title was uninspired and heavy handed. The plot unfolds on a satellite filled with corruption and crime syndicates. They call the satellite ‘Hardcore Station’ which sounds pornographic, like a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) porno, with a cameo by Rutger Hauer to give it some SciFi credence.

Turns out it needed to be heavy handed, and aspirational (if not inspirational).

Written by comic book industry veteran and author Jim Starlin, the book is a series of chapter by chapter climaxes (pun) intended to drag a reader through some dirt. Any complaint I experienced has evaporated.

So what was the problem the first time I tried to read this? CONTEXT.

This title associates directly to a short run comic series of the same name from 1998 that I was absolutely NOT aware of. Insert crickets noise here. Gimme a break, do you know how vast the DC universe is? ;) 

Sooo everything is crystal clear now? THE PLOT- Xenos is an alien humanoid hiding out on Earth running a successful psychiatry program using his advanced telepathic abilities. Lured back to his former home to investigate (telepathically) his father’s unseemly death. What follows is a very fast paced, well written detailed (but not heavy) scifi novella. A prequel to a potential book series that I will absolutely read.

I do not think I will ever search out the comic. Wikipedia scared me away. A character named ‘Captain Comet’ made me throw up a little.. 1998 we forgive you.

Suggested read equally for fans of Rick and Morty or Asimov, though admittedly, Asimov never tread down some of these corridors ;)