Project Arka: Into the Unknown by Romain Benassaya (writer) and Joan Urgell (artist). Based on Pyramides by Romain Benassaya. Translator: Mark Bence. Humanoids, 2023. 978-1643377025.s120pp.
In 2182, the Arka III and several other colony ships leave the earth to colonize a planet twenty-four light years distant. But when Eric, the second in command, is awoken by his captain, they’re at a different place than they expected. Their ship has landed. The AI didn’t revive them. And outside is total darkness — they seem to be on a barren plain with no stars overhead. And the plants and insects in the ship’s garden, which supplies their oxygen, seem far evolved from when they started their journey.
It’s not too much of a spoiler to say the crew and passengers have been asleep much longer than planned, and of course they didn’t make it to that planet. Saying anything else would ruin the story.
Urgell’s art is wonderfully realistic, and I particularly enjoyed the pages that take place in the garden, and the others when a small crew takes a shuttle to explore the world outside.
