Ether‘s Matt Kindt and David Rubin deliver a wildly fun and gripping adventure with Space Scouts.
Published by Dark Horse Comics, Space Scouts comes from the team of Matt Kindt and David Rubin. The story takes place in outer space, where a reluctant young girl with gifts finds herself en route to the center of the universe to compete in a reality show to become the next “Space Scout” — an esteemed team of intergalactic guardians. And that’s not all: the winning candidate gains power enough to completely transform not only their own and family’s fortunes, but the entire people of their worlds.
Our main character Ember of Venatu is well-developed and fun to read. She’s far from a hopeful young girl. Her cheeky and cynical outlook is refreshing for the genre, and it shows in the decisions she makes throughout issue #1.
The last-man-standing, battle-royale style of storytelling has been done to death in recent years. With a glut of similar tales—Dark Horse’s own Masterminds among them—it’s tough for new entries to stand out. Yet Space Scouts manages to carve out its own niche. It’s fast-paced, wildly fun, and consistently engaging.
Both Kindt and Rubin have created and developed a captivating sci-fi world. It feels vast in scale and scope, yet it focusses on character — I particularly liked Ember’s relationship with her parents. Plus, the various other contestants that Ember finds herself pitted against are all unique aliens. No two characters are the same. This oversized debut offers readers a bit of everything: an emotional heart, plenty of high-octane action, and exquisite world-building. This is a series readers will absolutely want to keep an eye on. Plus, it’s only a 3-issue run, and it’s a whole lot of sci-fi fun. You can’t really go wrong, right?
Space Scouts #1 debuts November 05, 2025 from Dark Horse Comics. You can grab your copy here.
