Working against him is a shifty corporation called Doors. They are carrying out their own research in the area and similarly discover Europa’s watery secrets. Given to the pernicious, weapon development is their principle interest, and, consequently, moneyed glands are aroused by the potential offered by the mysterious weapons. Eventually, the alien origins of all this are revealed: the coffins host a sleeping alien species that ran amok in the cosmos eons ago, then fancied a few thousand years of kip.
Ocean is an entertaining slice of science fiction. The proximity to truth that underlies the plot helps matters, giving authentic leanings to the comic flow as cosmological wonder parts to reveal aliens and action sequences. A dynamic is certainly created in the marriage of Ellis’s story and Sprouse’s wonderful artwork. Grand images provoke awe, a perfect container for the plot. Visual acumen facilitates fast-paced action, with each kick and sputter accorded due attention.
Alas, it is the plot where Ocean falls down. Although enjoyable, the piece feels rushed. Granted, the restrictions of it being such a short series are apparent: it’s obvious that no great character study is going to be achieved in such a short time; the offerings reflect the limits of a run probably too brief. That being said, changes in structure, different choices regarding characterisation, the omission of redundant ingredients, could have worked to negate those restrictions. The characters are all drawn in archetypes: badass hero, promiscuous engineer, corporate villain, Asian scientist, beardy scientist, etc. The dialogue strains to be witty, and placed beside Ellis’s Transmetropolitan (that brilliant thread of Gonzo-quaking humour and exploding erudition), Ocean looks tired and uninspired.
Other elements reek of the already seen. The ringed structure mentioned before turns out to be a stargate-type construction, enabling one to move instantaneously from one point in space to another. Whether it’s Spader and Russell damaging perceptible spatiality, or Sam Neill going insane on the edge of a black hole, we’ve seen such an object before. The hibernating aliens, a humanoid bunch, it transpires that they are our ancestors. Before they went to sleep, they saw fit ‘to seed the requirements for human life on the young planet Earth.’ Again this isn’t a new concept, even a horrible movie like Mission to Mars posed the idea. In addition, propelling much of the narrative is the antagonistic force of the Doors corporation. Whilst I like the reference to Microsoft (Doors, Windows, see?), it might as well be Alien’s malevolent Company, perhaps swabbed in a different brand of conspiratorial cologne.
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