A dream is a wish your heart makes, and reality rips it out and makes it squish.  So much squish.

I was hooked on the first issue of this series; there’s so much fun in every aspect.  The very heavy anime feel only makes it better for me as we deal with airships, strange beings, and a loudmouth protagonist that I can’t stand.  Yeah, Diesel annoys me on every possible level; she’s insubordinate, rude, loud, bratty, and everyone calls her on it. There’s no way to believe that she’s the force for good other than the fact that she’s who the narrative centers on.  Why do I like this so much then?  Because it was obvious that the writer was going to break her, and halfway through the series, we have that moment.

Tyron Hesse is letting the anime influence fuel this series incredibly, even as far as upping the ante emotionally and in maturity.  This is a cute visual style, but in no way is this a kid’s book.  There’s quick and high level wit, archetypes stretched beyond their limits into interesting and nuanced characters, and the blow to Diesel in the final panels . . . holy cow.  It’s rough, like punched-in-the-face-by-your-best-friend rough, but it’s cool because you just gave him your car for free and oh wait that’s terrible.  Yeah, I should talk to someone about how much I enjoyed it.  The thing of it is, this is exactly what we had been set up for in every panel before it, and it’s the crux of the story.  I feel like it’s going to set up such a fun reversal, and I expect to be cheering for our heroine for the final two issues.

On the art side of things, Hesse has a slick, animated style that’s just so darn pretty.  The action is perfectly stylized and even still moments have a breath, a life that pops off of the page.  There’s a fantastic play of color and light; most everything has a bright feel up until the big shocker moment.  On top of the technical attention to detail, the visual gags throughout are spectacular in their timing.  Quick, little shock gags that get me every time. I reread one sequence about three times just to enjoy it again and again.  “Oh goodness,” indeed.

If you want something fun that you’ll absolutely fly through and don’t mind the idea of a teenager losing her entire world in one moment, then you’re a sick, sick person.  You’ll also like this as much as I did. (I didn’t say sick was necessarily a bad thing . . . )  Check it out today.

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