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Brass Sun Volume 1: The Wheel of Worlds
Writer: Ian Edgington
Artist: I.N.J. Culbard
Letterer: Ellie De Ville
Publisher: Rebellion
Publication Date: September 2026
If you like world-building and you’re one of those readers, like me, that get a kick out of a story that locks together like a set of gears, thenBrass Sunis the one for you. Set aside those plastic building toy sets and get your special reading spot ready, because you may enjoy thsi marvellously intricate tale, as fascinating, if not quite as detailed, as the clockwork worlds it depicts.
Yes, clockwork worlds. This is the highest of high concepts: an entire solar system that is a ticking, whirring, moving mechanism, all joined together by interplanetary spars and drawing energy from a titular brass sun, right at the centre. But something’s wrong: the winters are getting longer and the crops are failing. The sun is winding down, and somebody needs to find the key. And the worlds are divided by conflict and self-interest, as well as the machinations of a sinister influence with access to terrible, ancient tech. Isn’t that a great concept? And it doesn’t disappoint.
This steampunk-adjacent, swashbuckling saga is written by master of intricacyIan Edginton, whose stories in British weekly 2000 AD – such as spooky doomed-ship mysteryLeso often depict mind-bending new worlds. And his art partner is the amazingI.N.J. Culbard(another Ian), whose other most notable work is Wild’s End, with Dan Abnett
This is a doorstop-sized collection of three-fifths of the available Brass Sun material, which is serialized in irregular bursts in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. With more material expected, and two more parts already in serialized publication and ready to be collected, Brass Sun is a great opportunity to experience the kind of storytelling that shows what British comic books can really do.
It centres on plucky heroine Wren, whose father is a mysterious scientist, ostracized leader, and more than a wee bit of a Jor-El type. With little hint of the complexity to come, we start off with a simple protagonist, just an ordinary girl who finds herself vital to the future of the solar system. Wren grows up on the somewhat-pastoral world of Hind Leg, which, as one of the outermost orbs, is the latest to start to freeze and feel the effects of the clockwork winding down. But those in power – and we see themes of power and social class emerge a lot in Brass Sun – don’t want anyone to rock the boat, even as it freezes. The only thing for Wren to do is grab her grandfather’s diary and follow its clues to travel between the worlds and, if all is well, save them by restarting the Brass Sun itself.
This, of course, is much easier said than done, especially for a simple girl from the Shire – sorry, Hind Leg. But of course she’s not alone, quickly teaming up with junior engineering type Septimus –who also moves the plot along by making all the ancient, creaky tech work. And, at various points, they join forces with helpers and acquaintances of varying levels of usefulness and trustworthiness.
This is from 2000 AD, of course, the near-50-year weekly comics anthology that melts thrill-circuits with endless creativity, mostly in the science fiction realm. And its best-known strips are Judge Dredd, obviously, as well asStrontium Dog, Alan Moore classicThe Ballad of Halo Jones, andRogue Trooper, now a movie by Moon director Duncan Jones, and doing the rounds at festivals before a release date is announced.
In terms of how well-known it may be, Brass Sun isn’t the second or even third tier of stories from 2000 AD, which are not the most accessible comics at the best of times, due to their five-strips-a-week anthology format and almost 50 years of continuity that sneaks aboard in fairly nuanced ways. Brass Sun did have a release of early material in North American format, as a six-issue limited series back in 2014, and this book-format reissue is a much more consumable way to understand the story and be ready for – hopefully – future collections of the rest.
This satisfying hardback gives you three massive story arcs: The Wheel of Worlds, in which Wren begins her quest on homeworld Hind Leg, and the two following books, the Diamond Age and Floating Worlds, when the questing really gets under way. We meet priests and nuns, robots with laser eyes, flying pirates and unknowable monsters of the deepest, most polluted atmosphere. It is, to say the least, an absolute bloody joy.
If you’re one of those readers who relishes lots of material, this is it. As above, so below: the story itself is complex and interlocking, as might be deserved by a clockwork universe. There are plot twists and shocks, and some jumps forward in the story (and sometimes back). This is a clever story, which progressively becomes less about the marvellous ticking orrery and more about the complexity of a woman seeking purpose in a cruel universe. The concept, of course, is much more interesting while it’s wrapped in mystery, and that aspect of Brass Sun, while compelling, fades a little as we start to understand what’s really happening. There are also some slightly jarring references to Earth, and specifically New York, and I’m not sure they really work.
Gradually, my interest switched to the human stories, and the effects of these great, swashbuckling adventures on the people experiencing them. It looks like it’s a story about ticking robots and flying pirates, but really it’s about Wren and Septimus. Pick up Brass Sun if you like a complicated story about how complicated people can be.
Brass Sun Vol. 1 is available now from Rebellion Publishing
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