Described simply as a “treasure hunt in space with old school video game graphics,” Nova Phase is a creator-owned six issue digital comic series created by writer Matthew Ritter and artist Adam Elbatiny. A better description is a pixel art space western, and, having personally reviewed the first four issues, each of which is available from www.comixology.com, I can say that it’s not only worth checking out the first free issue, but also the three subsequent issues that are available. Publisher Slave Labor Graphics has also made a print version of the first two issues available for sale through their Website and Amazon.

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As you can see from the sample pages above, the art and overall design is well done (though more 16-bit than 8-bit in my opinion), and I found the writing to be sharp, with intelligent and clever dialog and interactions between the various characters. In fact, I found the overall package to be a less serious take off on the very first computer-produced comic, Shatter, which originally dates to 1985 and was produced on the original Apple Macintosh with MacPaint.

Finally, there’s some 8-bit music inspired by Nova Phase to enhance the reading experience. This music, crafted by Andrew Huang, can be listened to at www.14hoursproductions.com/bittunes/.