Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Sedat Oezgen
Colorist: Carlos Cabrera
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artists: Sedat Oezgen & Carlos Cabrera
Designer: Travis Escarfullery
Publisher: Comixology
Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 10, 2026
Once, Alex Jindari was a police officer. He helped uphold
law and order on Imprimata. But something prompted him to abandon his career
and his world. Why did Alex exile himself from society to mine asteroids? And
how does he enjoy working for the Lexan Mining Corporation? Let's put on our
spacesuits, leap into The Whisper War #1, and see!
Story
Alex lives on Orbital Staging Station G11. Each day, as Alex
straps on his spacesuit, drops down to an asteroid on a tether, and begins
drilling, the unreality of his situation hits him. He used to be a cop. Alex
guesses his work was important. He supposes that he left the police force
before one of the criminals he tried to apprehend shot him. But when Alex looks
in a mirror, he sees a scar he doesn’t remember receiving.
In The Whisper War #1, Alex inhabits a world ruled by
Artificial Intelligence. When a Carabinieri Inspector requests his help, Alex
has no option but to comply. The Algo identified him as the person most likely
to solve a murder. So, reluctantly, Alex returns to his homeworld with
Inspector Seeva Dessin.
After introducing the sweeping events that shaped Alex’s
section of the galaxy, Marc Guggenheim's mystery follows Alex's investigation
through his eyes. As Seeva ushers Alex into the Carabinieri headquarters, Alex
yearns to impress her. The Inspector has a strange way of compelling him to
tell her things he wouldn't ordinarily share with strangers. While Alex finds Seeva
amenable to his requests, the medical examiner maintains a professional
distance from the outsider. After all, Alex is no longer a cop. And he was
never a member of the prestigious Carabinieri.
As Alex investigates a mysterious death on Imprimata, he throws
himself into danger. The former cop who prides himself on getting out before a
criminal shot him risks his life to determine if the person who fell from a building
500 stories high was pushed or leapt. But his bravery isn’t the only reason the
Algo selected him, as the robot medical examiner discovers in The Whisper War
#1.
Art
As warships cruise between planets, assault craft soar over
cities. Soldiers die amid explosions or kill each other with knives and swords.
Then Sedat Oezgen rockets to the present day, where Alex dons a spacesuit that
evokes plate armor. Harnessed to the space station by a tether, he descends to
an asteroid pitted with craters. Then, Alex uses his jackhammer-like drill to
dig for gemstones.
Like the mother-of-pearl nugget Alex unearths, nearby
planets glow with violet, turquoise, lavender. While light infuses the orbital
station’s corridors, yellow and orange dominate The Whisper War #1. They color
the air in the cabin of Seeva’s ship as it hurtles through Imprimata’s
atmosphere. Elevated highways wind between skyscrapers gleaming with yellow and
orange windows as the craft descends. But as the interior lights of Carabinieri
HQ illuminate the vast lobby and crowded examination room, they recall a
battlefield where an explosion ripped soldiers apart. And as Alex and Seeva
interact with Jasper, their faces stare back at them from the medical
examiner's orange visor.
Dave Sharpe places black uppercase letters in white dialogue
balloons, and Alex's thoughts in green-and-white narrative boxes. The dialogue
grows bold for intonation, enlarges for intense emotion, and never shrinks.
Sound effects enhance the action as Alex follows up a lead and makes a
discovery. But the medical examiner's dialogue boxes with lightning bolt arrows
seem destined to prevent the robot from trusting the cop who abandoned his
brothers in blue. Thanks to Comixology and Superfan Promotions for providing a
review copy.
Final Thoughts
After surviving an event that could destroy civilization,
the people of Imprimata get on with their lives. People like Alex Jindari
pursue different professions and wonder why they left their former occupations
behind. But when a society chooses to forget a traumatic event, remembering
what happened and how society recovered leads to murder in The Whisper War #1.
Rating 9.8/10
For more on this series and the creators, see my spotlight on The Whisper War #1.