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"A work of post-post-post-pre-post-submodernist genius!"
Kristofer Straub's Starslip Crisis is quite an achievement. It's successful, intelligent, funny, and the first collection of its comic strips, A Terrifying Breach of Protocol, displays this in all its glory.



Far in the future, there is a spaceship museum called the Fuseli. It's manned by a pretentious art critic/museum curator/starship captain Memnon Vanderbeam. He's aided by alcoholic ex-pirate Cutter Edgewise (the pilot) and inhuman Cirbozoid servant Mr. Jinx. Together they face space pirates, killer robots, and museum directorates while keeping their ship and museum running.



The real... More > pleasures of Starslip Crisis come through the humor and the details (which tend to be humorous too.) While not exceedingly complex, Kris Straub has clearly put a lot of thought into his universe, starting where we've left off in present day and pressing ahead several hundred years into the future.



What these details are isn't too important; what's important is that they're funny. The entire book is humorous, but the clever twists Kris Straub lends to discussion are hilarious. The progression of Earth's society into "the golden age of pornocracy" is both an amusing commentary and a good joke put into passing dialogue. There's commentary on the art field, as Vanderbeam's behavior may remind Liberal Arts students of their college professors in a joking light. The Fuseli's computer is a survivor of a long-ago net crash, and thus it still possess spam E-mails to deliver to the crew. And of course, the space pirates have standard cliche pirate gear, just with upgraded technology.



The jokes almost work better in book form, as ones that build upon each other in the episodic story sections, coming fast at the reader.



What really stands out in Kris Straub's science fiction is the imaginitive emphasis on fiction. Many science fiction authors start with an object of think of ways they can advance it. Straub does this with culural aspect, but in leaps and bounds. As far as the workings of the universe, the humorous angle gives him the freedom to ignore scientific origins and instead leap ahead, allowing the audience to assume that the science was developed, putting greater weight on the fiction. Straub's imagination is what makes Starslip Crisis come alive, with hilarious results. < Less

"Starslip Crisis - Hilarity in space!" Kristofer Straub's A Terrifying Breach of Protocol collects the beginning of his webcomic Starslip Crisis.

Starslip Crisis combines amazing character, futuristic settings, and Straub's amazing wit into one rowdy good time... in a space museum. The extra character information filled me with glee. I can't wait to read the next one - Sparkling Diplomacy.

"seems cool" It looks interesting and cool, i may buy it. GREAT JOB!!