The Katellan year is 12544: the year the human race was destroyed by an intergalactic warlord and Earth’s time ceased to have any meaning. Abathor thought he had eradicated every trace of life from Earth, but Dr. Forcilla of the race of Makers knows differently. The Makers, scientists and scholars from a distant planet, draw hope from an ancient prophecy: one day humans will reappear to take revenge on Abathor and rid the universe of his reign of terror. Working from scraps of human genetic material rescued from Earth, patching missing DNA with the Makers’ own genes, Forcilla at last sees his dream come true in Halle, who he hopes will be the cornerstone of a new race of humans. 20 years later, Halle is ready to strike out on her own. Breaking away from the Makers, she sets out in a stolen ship (with an interesting passenger) to find the mythical planet Zendra, rumored to be the last remaining human outpost in the galaxy. Both more and less than human, Halle struggles to learn the range of her powers and to understand who and what she really is, always conscious of Abathor’s growing influence, threatening everything she has learned to hold dear. Montiel’s drawings are, in my opinion, more focused on exploding equipment and female anatomy than is necessary for a story that is as much about identity and growing up as it is about battles and intergalactic dominion, but this probably won’t bother most readers. The story as a whole would benefit from less stilted dialogue and drawings with more accurate reference to the facts of human anatomy (admittedly almost a myth in Halle’s age) but its interesting concept will keep readers engaged until the end.
Zendra 1.0: Collection
ISBN: 9780967368399
by Martin Montiel, Jose Carlos Buelna, Stuart Moore
art by Martin Montiel, Jose Carlos Buelna, Victor Olazaba, Mostafa Moussa, Victor Llamas, Jay Leisten
Penny-Farthing Press, 2002
