Hard space sci-fi comic art?

[JQP]

I've been looking for hard-ish sci-fi space comics (space exploration, space colonization, human civilizations in other star systems, etc.) but after looking high and low, I'm not exactly impressed with what I've found. I've found a few things, but I need to broaden my search by drilling down into more mainstream (Marvel, DC, etc.) fare to find runs, if not titles, that fit the criteria.

Any suggestions? I'm looking more for art than writing. I want to see what good artists do with space ships, high-tech of the more realistic variety, etc.

Akira is a pretty good example of what I'm looking for, even though it only spent about 20 seconds in space; lots of great, gearhead-looking design and rendering. There's lots of near-future tech that looks pretty plausible, rather than the usual Kirby-esque hackery (I like Kirby, don't get me wrong, but realistic futuristic tech, it ain't). 2001 Nights would be perfect, if Otomo had drawn it.

It's a style thing, really. Gimenez' work on Metabarons is breathtaking, but the design aesthetic is further afield than I want to go.

Anyhoo I'm rambling so I'll just shut up now.

[GOLGO 13]

Look (Google) for anything Warhammer 40k.

Many, many artists have drawn for them so it will be a mixed bag. But if your looking for grim, dark, desperate with a over-the-top ridiculousness then WH40k is what you need in your life.

[JQP]

Here are a few that I've seen already:

2001 Nights (the design sensibilities are pretty close to what I want, but as far as execution goes, again, it's no Akira)
Alien (haven't checked 'em all, but I will eventually)
Black Science (love the color work, not thrilled about the pencils; edit k that was too harsh - just looking for more realistic style)
Downward to the Earth (thumbs up, this is the kind of thing I'm looking for)
Exo (ditto)
Jupiter's Legacy v2 (good stuff here but it's a pretty short run)
X-O Manowar (2017)(worth checking out)
The Metabaron (2016)(k maybe I should look at Gimenez' Metabarons work again because this is pretty great)
Metronom (friggin' gorgeous)
Orion's Outcasts (really like this one, even if it happens to take place on a low-tech planet)
Seven to Eternity (great, but looks more like fantasy than sci-fi)
Swashbucklers The Saga Continues (good art, better background design than I expected)(original Swashbucklers is inbound)
The Fourth Power (how could I forget this one?)

[JQP]

Look (Google) for anything Warhammer 40k.

Many, many artists have drawn for them so it will be a mixed bag. But if your looking for grim, dark, desperate with a over-the-top ridiculousness then WH40k is what you need in your life.

I like W40K, but for this I'm looking more for 2001. And yes, I need to comb through the zillion Star Wars comics and see what works for me here.

[kjn]

Hardly hard science fiction (even if the term usually makes me break out in hives), more of the space opera variety, but Valérian and Laureline by Pierre Christin (writing) and Jean-Claude Mézières (art). The original comics are much better scripted than the movie, and they were a huge visual influence on both Star Wars and The Fifth Element.

The early books developed quite rapidly in style; The City of Shifting Waters is a good story but a lot more cartoonish than the subsequent Empire of a Thousand Planets. The albums I'd recommend first are Empire of a Thousand Planets, Birds of the Master, and Ambassador of the Shadows.

[MRP]

In the late 80s, Marvel did a hard sci-fi anthology called Open space that ran 4 issues...






you could also check out some classic EC sci-fi stuff for designs.

Have you checked out the ship and tech designs on Fear Agent by Remember, Moore, Opena and company or Descender by Lemire & Nguyen?

If you are looking at Jodoverse stuff like Metabarons, also check out Technopriests.

Also check out some of the stuff from early Heavy Metal, in particular look at Druillet's sci-fi designs (in HM or in stuff like Lone Sloane).

Take a look at the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson adaptation of Alien as well.

You can also look at Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran's Orbiter, or Doran's A Distant Soil (though that's more space fantasy than hard sci-fi).

The Prophet revival at Image by Brandon Graham and others has some wonderful sci-fi tech and ship designs to it.

Also, in the mid-80s, DC did a series of graphic novel adaptations of some sci-fi classics...



others included Hell on Earth by Robert Bloch, Nightwings by Robert Silverberg, Frost and Fire by Bradbury, Demon with a Glass Hand by Ellison, The Magic Goes Away by Niven, and Sand Kings by George RR Martin.

The also did a series of OGNs around that time, many of which were sci-fi themes...

Star Raiders, Warlords, Medusa Chain, Metalzoic and Space Clusters among them (it's the series that also featured Kirby's Hunger Dogs conclusion to his Fourth World saga).

Marvel had a few as well, Walt Simonson's Star Slammers among them (which went on to be developed into a series at Malibu's Bravura and Dark Horse, later remastered at IDW).

Also check out the Dark Horse anthology series Cheval Noir, which featured a lot of Eurocomics and Euro-styled strips, many of which had sci-fi elements, and many of the features from 2000AD (outside of Judge Dredd itself) for sci-fi features of various sorts with lots of ship and tech designs and world building art aesthetics of various styles.

-M

[JQP]

Good find MRP, first time I'm seeing that one. Thanks. (The Merchants of Venus, very droll )

Thanks for your several other suggestions, too. Much to look at.

[JQP]

KJN, will take a second look at Valerian and Laureline, thx.

[MRP]

Some other possibilities come from indy comics of the 1980s....

Border Worlds by Donald Simpson...



Alien Encounters...



Alien Worlds...




more to follow...

-M

[MRP]

Dalgoda...



1984/1994 from Warren magazines...



the adaptation of the David Lynch Dune film with art by Bill Sienkewicz...



-M

[MRP]

I am guessing if you are familiar with Metabarons, you've checked out Moebius's stuff too...



Have you looked at James Stokoe's stuff?



that is from the Avengers 100th anniversary one-shot but he's done stuff for Dark horse's Aliens stuff plus a lot of creator owned stuff, both sci-fi and fantasy based.


Marvel also had a 6 issue run (plus an annual) for a black & white sci-fi mag called Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction in the 70s..



-M

[KOSLOX]

Universal War One?

Also, surprisingly I thought Green Lantern: Earth One was a more grounded take on the concept. It's definitely somewhat more plausible than the regular continuity comics and tries to hew closer to hard sci-fi.

[MRP]

If you are looking for sci-fi art to look at design rather than storytelling, have you checked out the art from some classic sci-fi tabletop rpgs?

Star Frontiers from TSR...



Traveler...



or even board games like Twilight Imperium...



-M

[JQP]

Damn dude, sensory overload! I mean, you know, in a good way.

It'll probably be tomorrow before I can give you a proper reply to all of that (I am only awake because Cuban coffee), but rest assured you've given me a lot to look into.

Edit: I'm a big Larry Elmore fan. It's a pity he didn't do more sci-fi stuff. Absolutely love the SF cover. And his work on Gamma World.

[MRP]

Universal War One?

Also, surprisingly I thought Green Lantern: Earth One was a more grounded take on the concept. It's definitely somewhat more plausible than the regular continuity comics and tries to hew closer to hard sci-fi.

Hardman's sci-fi work is very, very good. I really dug GL Earth One too, and he has done some other sci-fi stuff worth checking out.

-M