THE NEW SPACE AGE #2 – New Comic Review

The New Space Age #2, by Mad Cave Studios on 1/28/26, picks up the “magic plus rocket science” premise and tries to turn it into a functional team book.

Credits:

• Writer: Kenny Porter
• Artist: Mike Becker
• Colorist: Kevin Betou
• Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
• Cover Artist: Mike Becker, Kevin Betou (cover A)
• Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
• Release Date: January 28, 2026
• Comic Rating: Teen
• Cover Price: $4.99
• Page Count: 32
• Format: Single Issue

Covers:

Analysis of THE NEW SPACE AGE #2:

First Impressions:

This issue feels like a decent proof-of-concept test, not a full launch, with strong character hooks fighting against choppy pacing. The core idea of magic-powered starships plus rejected rescue drones still works, but the script keeps rushing the big moments and soft-selling the fallout. You get enough charm to keep reading, but not enough confidence that your time is being used well.

Recap:

In the first issue, Mark Mitchell is an astronaut at Icarus Station III in 2055, risking his career in a mid-crisis rescue because he refuses to leave anyone behind, a promise that comes from childhood trauma. Years earlier, his brother Joey vanished in their rural field after they saw an impossible glowing crop circle burn the ground, and nobody believed Mark about what really happened. As an adult, Mark spends decades chasing weird signals, then realizes the crop circle patterns match arcane symbols his escape-artist friend Stacey “Padlock” Pulkowski studies in old grimoires, which tells him the “aliens” are teaching magic, not tech. By the end, Mark proves the magic works by lifting off the ground in his room and convinces Stacey to help him build a ship powered by belief and symbols to find Joey and bring him home.

Plot Analysis (SPOILERS):

Mark and Stacey start this issue fully committed to building their magic-powered starship, but they quickly run into a practical problem, neither of them is an engineer. While they work through trial and error, the story cuts to Bobby West, a talented tech guy trying to sell his rescue drones to the military as life-saving tools. Bobby pitches his drones to General Irving as a way to save soldiers and civilians in dangerous zones, but the General only cares about weaponizing them, then kicks Bobby out when he refuses to play along. That rejection leaves Bobby frustrated and directionless, and it opens the door for Mark and Stacey to recruit him.

Mark and Stacey approach Bobby as exactly what they are missing, the engineer who can turn their magic theory into a working ship, and they show him enough of the concept to hook him. Bobby, still stinging from the military meeting, latches onto their project as a chance to use his skills for something that actually saves people instead of killing them. The trio gets to work on The Stargazer, blending Bobby’s engineering with Stacey’s symbols and Mark’s obsession, and we see pieces of the ship and its systems come together through a montage of tests and refinements. The focus stays on Mark’s impatience to move faster, which creates tension as he pushes timelines that the design and the magic can barely handle.

When the ship is finally ready for a test, Mark insists on a first flight that goes beyond what the others think is safe, because he cannot stand waiting any longer to chase Joey’s trail. Bobby raises concerns about the stress on the systems and the risk to everyone involved, while Stacey tries to mediate between Mark’s desperation and Bobby’s caution. The test flight goes forward and quickly turns rough, with the magic-powered systems and Bobby’s hardware pushed past their limits, which puts both the ship and crew in real danger. The near-disaster underlines that Mark’s emotional drive is now a technical liability for the team and the mission.

After the crisis, the group regroups to assess damage, argue over responsibility, and decide how to move forward, and the rift between Mark’s urgency and Bobby’s caution deepens. Stacey finds herself stuck in the middle, trying to keep the mission alive while the two men pull in different directions, one toward safety and one toward speed. In the final scene, Bobby quietly sends an email behind Mark and Stacey’s backs, reaching out in a way that suggests he is willing to undermine their trust if it gets him the security or validation he could not find with the military or with this unstable project. That secret message turns a hopeful partnership into a time bomb, setting up the next issue around whether this team can survive betrayal from the inside.

Story

The pacing in this issue leans too hard on time jumps and montage-style progress, so big milestones like recruiting Bobby and building The Stargazer feel rushed instead of earned. Scenes start with strong hooks, such as the military pitch or the test flight, but they end before the emotional or thematic beats fully land. Dialogue is at its best when Bobby collides with the General or clashes with Mark, because the conflict is clear and tied to values, saving lives versus using tech as a weapon. The overall structure hits all the expected beats of “assemble the team, test the ship, reveal the crack in the alliance,” but it relies on shortcuts where a few extra pages of interaction would have raised the script from functional to compelling.

Art

The art sells the difference between grounded tech and wild magic, with clear designs on Bobby’s drones and a distinct look for The Stargazer that blends hard edges with mystical elements. Panel composition during the pitch meeting and test flight is clear enough that you always know where characters are, what the machinery is doing, and how the danger escalates. Color choices help separate military sterility, workshop chaos, and the more ethereal magic effects, so each setting feels like its own space in the story. The issue could use a few more standout splash moments to make the test flight feel like a true event, but baseline clarity is strong throughout.

Characters

Mark stays locked into his core motivation, he is still the guy who will rush protocol and safety alike if it means one step closer to Joey, and that consistency keeps him readable even when he is making bad calls. Stacey continues as the skeptical believer, half stage magician and half occult consultant, and her role here is mostly to bridge Mark’s impulsiveness and Bobby’s practicality, which works but does not deepen her much. Bobby gets the most development in this issue, his rejection by the military gives him a clear “save lives, not take them” stance, and joining the team feels like a natural next move for someone who wants his work to matter. His final secret email, though, complicates that setup in a satisfying way, turning his idealism into something more human and messy.

Originality & Concept Execution

The core concept, aliens effectively giving humanity a magic operating system and one crew trying to turn that into a starship, still feels fresh and weird in a good way. Tying that to a guy who designs rescue drones instead of weapons sharpens the theme around how tech gets used, even if this issue only scratches the surface of that conflict. As an execution of “build the magic-powered ship and test it,” the issue hits the expected beats but does not take many structural or thematic risks, which keeps it from matching the punch of the premise. The twist of Bobby quietly undermining the team suggests future payoffs that lean into paranoia and conflicting ideals, which could bring the execution closer to the concept’s full potential if the next issue follows through.

Positives

The biggest strength here is how clearly the issue lines up motives and conflicts so you always understand why everyone is making their choices, even when those choices are terrible. Bobby’s arc from idealistic drone engineer to frustrated recruit to secretive potential traitor gives the story a functional spine, something concrete for readers to track amid all the magic talk and tech jargon. The art does its job without confusion, especially in the military scenes and during the test flight, which matters when your premise depends on mixing symbols, circuits, and very fragile human bodies. If you care most about seeing the cast move from “we have a wild idea” to “we are really building this thing and it might kill us,” this issue gives you that progress in a clean line.

Negatives

The script keeps sprinting past moments that should be tense or emotionally heavy, which makes the whole issue feel more like a recap of important events than a story that lets you sit in them. The test flight, which should be a centerpiece, feels like it resolves too quickly, with limited sensory detail and limited fallout beyond some arguing and a setup for next time. Stacey is underused compared to Mark and Bobby, which is a problem when she is supposed to be the occult expert whose knowledge makes this ship possible, and here she reads more like a referee than a driver. If you are looking for dense character work, deep worldbuilding, or a sense that this issue could stand alone as a satisfying chapter, you will probably come away feeling shortchanged.

Art Samples:

The Scorecard:

Writing Quality (Clarity & Pacing): [2.5/4]
Art Quality (Execution & Synergy): [3/4]
Value (Originality & Entertainment): [2/2]

Final Thoughts:

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THE NEW SPACE AGE #2 does enough to justify a slot on your pull list, but not enough to demand one. The issue advances the main quest, adds a useful wild card in Bobby, and sneaks in a last-page decision that could set up real drama. At the same time, it reads like a fast-forward montage of what should be the meaty middle of a sci-fi mystery, trimming the very scenes that would make the stakes hit harder.

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