Writer Bob Salley
Artist Chris Gevenois
Colorist Fahriza Kamaputra
Letterer HdE
Cover Art Adelso Corona
Salvagers will always hold a special place in my heart. This is the first comic Kickstarter I discovered and thought to myself, “This looks amazing, I hope it’s successful.” I had just heard about crowdfunding and was even more surprised when I saw comic books had their very own section. When I saw Salvagers and read the page I genuinely wanted Salvagers to be successful but was too slow on the draw to give. I did however follow Salvagers and Salvagers creator Bob Salley through his journey and after some time I have purchased from his website as well as give to the latest Kickstarter. Every purchase I have made has been worth it and it has been a pleasure watching Salvagers grow.
Salley’s vision of Salvagers is well defined, in particular with how the newest story arc fits with the first. The first arc, Abandoned Cargo, sets up the Salvagers universe and gives us just enough of a backstory to hook us. In the new arc, Wreck Raiders, Salley dives in to character development while maintaining a consistent storyline that provides the reader a seamless connection between the two story arcs. I enjoy all four of the main characters in the Salvagers universe and the way that Salley gets into Captain Bill’s background while staying grounded in the arc, this is something Salley does well because he did something similar in the first arc with Brigby. All this does is leave me wanting to see the backstory that accompanies the rest of the crew as well because I know that Salley will continue with the arc and sprinkle in the details as needed. It’s not just that the details of the crew are fun to read but their backgrounds are essential to who they are as a crew and Salley knows this detail. The book itself is based on the fact that these are four damaged people/beings and they lean on each other. I love this fact because it gives me a sense of comradery while I read and I almost feel like one of the crew. The way that Salley tells the story is classic and the empathy that he draws for his characters is real.
There are certain styles of art that I happen to appreciate as a comic book fan and the duo of Gevenois and Kamaputra pretty much define that style. Everything flows with unity and all of the characters are well defined. There is a certain style to each character but none of them are over or under powering. I hate when one character is where all the attention goes and everything else looks alike, but trust me, that isn’t the case at all. Not just the characters either, there are some seriously breathtaking scenes of the ship in space orbiting planets that make me feel like I’m floating in space looking over it all. Between the main characters, the secondary characters, and the scenes without characters there is no flaw that I can see in any of the art. I give a nod to the original artist that started Salvagers with Salley, but as the series progresses I wouldn’t be mad to see the duo of Gevenois and Kamaputra stick around for a while.
Other than Salley the only other constant has been HdE as letterer. As I have stated many times before HdE is man among boys in the lettering game and when you have someone that is at the top of his game you keep him around as long as possible. HdE provides the finality that the book needs, he is Salley’s finishing move and the go to man when trying to knock out a comic book.
If you want to check out Salvagers you can read issues 1 and 2 for free at Issuu; or you can catch issues one and two and Deliverance #1 on Comixology for only a $1.00, or $0.99 anyway, and the others for $1.99. I’m sure that Salvagers Issue 5 The Wreck Raiders Part 1 is on its way as well so this will give you plenty of time to catch up. If paper products are more your thing or you want a BA Salvagers T-Shirt than you can check out the Salvagers website, they have a couple of different shirts and all the paperback needs including Wrecked Raiders. You can also find Salvagers on social media, Facebook and Twitter, and can follow Bob Salley on Twitter.
