When you read a comic, more often than not it leads to an escape from the humdrum life of the reader. Well with his new comic, EIR, writer Ryan K Lindsay attempts to turn reality into fiction (or is it fiction into reality?) with a story of a young girl taken on an out of this world adventure by a talking helmet. Is this a comic which will shoot for the stars or is it a little too fantasy to catch on?

Publisher: Ryan K Lindsay
Writer: Ryan K Lindsay
Artist: Alfie Gallagher (Art), Triona Farrell (Colourist), Ryan Ferrier (Letterer)
Price: Available on Kickstarter for $1

Our rating: [star rating=”4.5″]

EIR tells the story of Sasha, a young girl who is awoken by a surprise that is a pink talking helmet on her desk. This helmet, whom Sasha names EIR, is here to help his new friend and, by being placed on her head, dresses her in a pink power suit, capable of great powers. What follows is a grand trip across the cosmos as EIR takes Sasha on an action packed adventure to strange new planets encountering all manner of unusual alien creatures, all to escape her current life.

We really enjoyed EIR as it is an incredibly colourful, happy-go-lucky book which is pure excitement and something of a release from the real world. The concept is similar to X-O Manowar with the idea of a super helmet, but EIR utilizes it more for wish fulfillment than war. The characters are interesting, with EIR being the star as this optimistic and funny guide for the lost Sasha, a combination of Black Science’s HAL and JARVIS from Iron Man. The ending is quite a departure from the rest of the book as you don’t realise what has been going on until the end. However, it’s poignancy just makes the entire story even more heartbreakingly beautiful.

As for the art, while the pencils are not always the cleanest, they have a Silver Age Kirby-esque energy to them that brilliantly match the tone of the story, while also adding to its sense of childlike wonder. Meanwhile the colours from Triona Farrell provide the book with a bright, warm look which is no better shown than during the underwater ‘leech’ splash page and especially on the cover – which has a vibe similar to The Pride. n contrast, the opening and closing pages, which are set in the ‘real world’ have a more muted, earthy colour scheme which differs from the rest of the book but allows for a nice contrast between the normal and the outlandish. The stand out of the art team as a whole though turns out to be the final page which, despite any flaws, manages to convey the appropriate emotion and adding to its impact.

EIR is very much a comic of youthful innocence and enthusiasm for a rather grim and grown up world. With a truly engaging story to tug at the heart strings and some fun, lively art, this effort by Lindsay, Gallagher and co. is more than deserving of a read; it should be considered a neccesity.