Later this month, Top Shelf Productions will release Cosmic Cadets, Book 1: Contact!. The new sci-fi graphic novel from IDW’s Top Shelf imprint comes from the creative team of writer Ben Crane, artist/letterer Mimi Valdez, and colorist Priscilla Tramontano. Ahead of the book’s release, The Beat is pleased to present an exclusive preview of the graphic novel, which follows the children of a spaceship crew as they find themselves in the middle of an intergalactic conflict.

Here’s how Top Shelf describes Cosmic Cadets, Book 1: Contact!:

Humanity has gone to the stars, and the ESS Khonsu and its crew are leading the charge to explore the galaxy. As the son of the ship’s captain, Jimmil might not always live up to his mom’s expectations… but right now he and his friends might be the galaxy’s only hope.
 
After they’re stranded on a strange alien planet, they’ll have to do what their parents couldn’t: explore the surface, discover the secrets of the terrifying race that lives there, and try to prevent a full-scale war!
 
Working together, these Cadets will discover that sometimes being a hero means learning to see new perspectives, and sometimes bravery means admitting when you’re wrong.

Cosmic Cadets is the first Top Shelf work for Ben Crane or Mimi Alves, and the first major comics work for either creator. Crane is also a prose writer, whose novel A Man of Lies is due out from Pegasus Books in July. Along with their comics work on the webseries Rapture Burgers, Alves is a storyboard artist and animator.

Check out the exclusive excerpt of Cosmic Cadets, Book 1: Contact! below. The graphic novel is due out in bookstores on Tuesday, April 25th.