Told by doctors you only have a few months to live, but this makes you the prime candidate to be the first person to land on Mars. Would you go? This question is answered in Traveling To Mars #1.

From two-time Eisner and Harvey Award nominee Mark Russell and hot new talent Roberto Meli comes a compelling new sci-fi series. Traveling To Mars #1 hits shelves at your local comic book shops on Wednesday, November 9.

Traveling to Mars tells the story of former pet store manager Roy Livingston, the first human to ever set foot on Mars. Roy was chosen for this unlikely mission for one simple reason: he is terminally ill and therefore has no expectation of returning. Roy is joined on his mission to Mars by Leopold and Albert, two Mars rovers equipped with artificial intelligence, who look upon the dying pet store manager as a sort of god. Against the backdrop of not only his waning days but those of human civilization as well, Roy has ample time to think about where things went wrong for both of them and what it means to be a dying god.

A riveting story of planetary exploration and of finding meaning in your final days.

Amazingly told via a mixture of narrative journaling and speech bubbles, Traveling To Mars has you pondering the questions in the mind of Roy Livingston as your own. Would I leave Earth to become the first person to land on Mars, knowing I couldn’t return which shouldn’t matter if I was terminal anyway?

Russell allows me to car deeply about what is going on in Roy’s life and his mission. However, not all can be good and they creative team allows for more to be answered in future issues of this new Ablaze series.

Meli’s artwork lends itself perfectly to Russell’s writing and gives you great details when needed. Colors by Chiara Di Francia mesh smoothly with Meli’s lines to bring you into the world of the comic book. Lettering by Mattia Gentli is outstanding with a great separation between what is narrated by Livingston and what is being spoken by characters in the book.

Books based around a space race or intergalactic travel have always been at the top of my wishlist and the creative team nailed this one. Thoughtful, meaningful, caring story with space travel with inventible twists and turns coming in future issues.

Pickup the first issue of Traveling To Mars #1 Wednesday, November 9 and be sure to remember to grab the follow up issue on December 7.