Luke Owen reviews the first issue of John Byrne’s The High Ways…
“Humanity has not yet reached for the stars, but the Solar System is still a busy, exciting, and sometimes very dangerous place, as young Eddie Wallace is about to discover, when he joins the crew of a freighter that hauls cargo along THE HIGH WAYS. John Byrne’s all-new, space-faring series begins here!”
“This evolved into something a bit more like Dan Dare, the British sci-fi strip so beloved from my childhood and early teens” writer and artist John Bryne told IDW back in November when hyping the first issue of this new comic. And to be honest, it really does feel like that. From its artwork to its pacing, The High Ways often feels like a comic I would have picked up when I was a youngster for 50p at my local newsagents.
While that sounds like I’m damning it with faint praise, The High Ways is actually quite a good little comic book. It certainly isn’t the best title in the IDW line-up and it’s easily not the best released today, but it’s certainly worth a look at if you fancy a nostalgic trip.
The story focuses on Eddie, a young and spirited man who wants to see more of the solar system so he joins a rock-hopping freighter who is on an eight-month mission to one of the outer planets. However upon arrival it turns out their mission was bogus and now they’re on a planet that is 8 months away from anywhere – and that’s where things go wrong.
The only downside to this plot is that the last sentence in that paragraph happens within the last few pages – making this issue nothing more than a trailer for the next one. This means that the majority of the comic is spent setting up the space world they live in with exposition dialogue. It does feel quite heavy at times which can make it boring but it will keep you interested enough to get to the last panel – where the comic gets really interesting. The second half on the book (once they’re on this ship) is a lot better than the first half and Byrne has worked really hard on creating a believable world of space travel. I would have liked to have seen more of Eddie’s shift outside of his sleep stasis, but the banter between all three characters is really well written that it didn’t hamper my enjoyment.
The artwork is good, the dialogue is interesting enough (if overly-wordy) and the whole thing comes together quite well. The High Ways is by no means a perfect comic, but it is a nice step into your childhood comic past. It’s done enough to make me want to read the next issue.
Originally published January 16, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
