Farscape: D'Argo's Lament

Written by Keith RA DeCandido
Art by Neil Edwards and Juan Castro

When I originally saw that Boom was going to be publishing comics based on Farscape, I decided that I'd read the issues that were continuations of the series, and that had a high degree of involvement from Rockne O'Bannon, the series creator. The ancillary titles, such as the D'Argo comics set between episodes of the show could be skipped, as they 'didn't matter', in my thinking.

My opinion of that changed when I started reading D'Argo's Trial, which I've been enjoying quite a bit (despite my unwillingness to pay full price for it). So, when I saw this book at a used book store, I figured it was worth the risk. And now, I know I was right the first time.

This story is set back when D'Argo was first learning to pilot his ship Lo'la (not that it factors into the story), and he and Jool go off on a supply run. In typical Farscape fashion, they quickly get caught up in a battle for supremacy between two mob lieutenants on a planet where Moya's crew bumped off their leader a year previous (and in a short story by DeCandido also included in the book, more about which later).

It sounds like a good enough set-up for a good Farscape story, although a lot of important elements are missing, notably proper characterization of D'Argo and Jool. Their blossoming friendship was a key component of the episode that supposedly precedes this story, yet that is not touched upon at all here.

The art in the book is pretty bad. The aliens seem to be naked squid and snail people, and backgrounds are barely rendered. The art appears very rushed and stiff, completely unlike the excellent work done on the Trials mini-series.

The story included in the back reads like straight-up fan fiction, where DeCandido has taken the Return of the Jedi Jabba the Hut plot, and translated it into a Farscape story. When Chrichton impersonates a Peacekeeper officer, his fake name is not even given, just used by the narrator a few paragraphs later.

My final complaint is that the covers of the original issues are not included in the hardcover. I hate when companies do that, especially when each issue had two or three covers to begin with. Looking at them on-line, I see that they would have been the best art in the book.