Oh man where do we start with Lost Planet? Since its first entry the series has always been a perfect example of something that has a lot of things I like (monsters, mechs, space) rolled up into a package that just isn’t consumable for me. Lost Planet 3 still had a lot of the same problems that have plagued the series from the get-go but one area that it did improve upon was its storytelling.
Lost Planet 3 is already a prequel for the series and Titan Books’ new graphic novel, First Colony, is set 40 years ahead of it, so we’re really going back in time here. The story centers around a group of individuals who most closely resemble space pirates. This crew’s primary modus operandi is to get rich but they like to do what they can to mess with the behemoth of a mining corporation known as NEVEC in the process. When the crew gets intel regarding some NEVEC owned mining equipment awaiting pickup on a faraway planet they decide to make a break for it and sell it for scrap before NEVEC can return to the planet to collect it.
This planet of course is the titular Lost Planet and I probably don’t need to tell you that things don’t go exactly as planned for this crew.
The art quality varies but the Akrid almost always look stunning in the book.
One of the places where Lost Planet has faltered in the past is in translation. There’s something about the writing in the games that just doesn’t work properly when converted from its native Japanese. In the spirit of the games First Colony is translated and the results are mixed. Sometimes dialog works just fine but there are a few points where the speech feels unnatural and stilted. On top of that there’s at least one character whose name repeatedly gets attached to the wrong person. It gets resolved pretty quickly, but it feels like a pretty glaring issue when you’re trying to figure out who is who early on. Like the game it’s leading into there’s some neat story elements here but overall things feel inconsistent.
From a production standpoint the book is in great shape. Titan’s prints always come out looking nice and this hardcover will look great on whatever bookshelf you choose to put it on.
The big connection to Lost Planet 3 is through the character of Professor Soichi who appears in a much younger form in the book. First Colony does a good job of explaining the Professor’s background and giving you a better understanding of just how he ended up in the position he’s in when LP3 begins. The flawed translation does unfortunately hamper a lot of the book but if you’re die-hard Lost Planet fan or a collector it’s likely not going to be enough to stop you from enjoying the title.
