Planetary #9

Written by Warren Ellis. Art and cover by John Cassady.  A critical story from Planetary's past. In 1997, Planetary consists of Jakita Wagner, the Drummer and... Ambrose Chase, the team's "Third Man" since 1995. And they're all in deep trouble. All three of them are on a field mission to a place where a spacecraft has seemingly fallen out of nowhere. And, in reality, it has ? because it is the first vessel to have been sent into a literal non-reality. When it was launched, there were four crewmembers on board... when it came back, there were five. This is why the Drummer never goes on field missions anymore, and why Planetary needed a new Third Man. 

• This issue is dedicated to Grant Morrison, dealing with the metafictional concerns that are often prevalent in that author's work.
• Jakita's "sh*t" being cut off by the panel border allows the language-restrictions of the series to remain intact but also plays into a developing series of demonstrations that the borders do limit or can be surpassed, from the bloodspatter and previous dialogue by off-panel speakers.
• The director commenting "The black guy always dies in science fiction movies." is a stereotypical reference to how movies in the past have black actors being killed off half way into the story as the movies themselves are being presented to white audiences.
• This story takes place before Elijah Snow joined the team.