Helena Crash #1

Fabian Rangel, Jr. (w) • Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (a & c)

From writer Fabian Rangel Jr (Space Riders) and artist Warwick Johnson-Cadwell (Tank Girl) comes a new pulse pounding, caffeine fueled, sword swinging, machine-gun firing, car crashing sci-fi adventure comic! In a future where coffee is illegal, Helena is a courier, delivering black market goods to anyone who can afford her services. When Rojo, a ruthless crime boss, asks her to assassinate his rival, the alien mobster known as White Demon, Helena finds herself in the middle of a gang war! To survive, Helena must use all of her skills, and seek help from her friends to stay ahead of her enemies!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:

• Pour yourself a cup of coffee and get ready for HELENA CRASH!
• With a variant cover by HEADLOPPER’s ANDREW MACLEAN!
• Variant cover by Warwick Johnson-Cadwell!

MINI REVIEW:

AMBER LOVE 22-MAR-2017 The first thing I noticed was the name Rangel, a writer that hit my radar years ago with work from 215ink. Fabian Rangel Jr is probably best known for that space opera he did not so long ago, Space Riders. He also has a knack for finding the wildest artists to partner with — and so I was blown away by Warwick Johnson Cadwell. Naturally, it reminded me of Tank Girl and then I realized, DUH!, he worked on Tank Girl.

Helena looks like the kind of character with all the elements I find appealing: she’s got decent fashion sense, covered in tattoos, has a sexy highlight in her hair, and LOVES coffee. Maybe she’s my dream girl or who I wish I was. Not sure.

She’s a courier out to obtain and deliver rare goods. Like in one of my favorite prophetic movies, Demolition Man, a lot of shit we love today is illegal in the future. Rangel and Cadwell manage to take this over-the-top, outrageous visual style and still immerse me into the pages through their descriptive combination. A scene like Helena resting in a comfy chair and savoring a hot cup of coffee (again, illegal) and then describing the joys of the aroma and powers of the olfactory sense… It’s magic on the page. 5 stars for sure.

So this brassy Hispanic woman is offered a job but it’s a line she doesn’t want to cross. The cliffhanger for issue one ends with her turning down the job. But clearly, she’s not getting away so easily. That Luchador mobster, Rojo, has got her in his sites.

The back matter pages give some history to the Rangel/Cadwell team up and will be space for a letters column. There’s also Rangel’s suggested playlist and his coffee of choice.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.