Battle Angel Navis – review of the comic “Armada”, vol. 4

If anyone has read my previous reviews of the adventures of a nasty earthling in space, then they know that I didn’t like this lady too much. However, sometimes it is worth giving not only a second or third, but even a fourth chance – because the latest volume of her adventures is the most interesting so far!

 

And no, the nature of Navis has not changed. From the beginning, the character of the main character was the biggest problem for me and the fourth volume does not change anything. Still the last (?) true (??) Earth woman is extremely talented, great at everything she does and loved/admired/hated by everyone she meets. And while she’s come a long way from savage to special agent to outlaw working illegally, her character has only gotten worse. She is still a marysujka , who is impulsive, seemingly non-conformist, and above all obnoxious and surly to everyone, even her friends. Fortunately, other aspects made the latest volume still appeal to me.

1-3

So far, in the Armada cycle , each album has brought a change of style. The fourth volume, collecting four stories, is slightly different in this respect. In the old fashioned way is story one – Controlled Slip – where Navis is involved in illegal races on various planets. The protagonist, of course, is phenomenal in everything she does. On the one hand, she manages to win races thanks to cheating and using artificial intelligence, but when it comes down to it, she takes control of the vehicle herself and does it even better. Story number three, The Hunt, is also thematicin which a team of heroes is supposed to catch wild animals, only to become the hunters’ target themselves. Both motifs sound familiar, but the charm of this cycle is that it sticks to the stories common in pop culture.

2-4

Against this background, the second and fourth stories stand out – they are the most linear and constitute an attempt to summarize the whole before the imminent end. A lot of previously met heroes appear, only to … die after a while. This writer’s nonchalance is quite funny. Nevertheless, the literal cutting out of the background made the stakes significantly increase. This was also achieved by introducing new players – the last representatives of the most deadly race with which the Armada had contact. Space Assassins stared a bit at xenomorphs, because they have e.g. similar physique, but fortunately they were also given some original ideas. They are almost perfectly designed bio-machines with various weapons hidden in every nook and cranny of the body. They can teleport at any time. All this is later contrasted with a not so complicated way of defeating them, but I’ve gotten used to such stupidity. Nevertheless, it is the duels with cosmic murderers that are the most interesting element in the comic, because they are dynamic, well drawn and quite interestingly conducted.

From a big storm a little rain (meteorites?)

In the fourth volume, the conspiracy of the elite, which has been discussed for a long time, is also resolved. At the same time, this summary is wildly unsatisfactory. I hope that there will be some second bottom in this, and what has been presented so far is simply a false lead. Also, in the fourth volume, there are fewer attempts to talk about important topics that previously sounded awkward. I definitely prefer it when the creators take a more entertaining direction of the story.

Fly, keep flying, towards the end

The next omnibus release will bring the last four Armada albums . And although I did not love this story, I absolutely do not regret the time spent reading it and I await the culmination with curiosity. It’s a decent read, constantly throwing the reader to new places and offering an original look at well-known SF themes. Not as creative and smart as the creators would like, but still written and drawn so efficiently that it is worth reaching for them.