By: Elena Mart
Two decades ago, Chin traded Texas’s open skies for Chinatown NYC’s graffiti-tagged alleyways. He arrived chasing dreams of law enforcement, but life steered him toward wrench-turning by day and storytelling by night.
Today, he mends leaky faucets in pre-war brownstones while crafting galaxies where rebels rise from cosmic rubble. “New York teaches you to build something from nothing,” Chin says. “Space Trip is that lesson, set to laser fire.”
A Rebel’s Journey Through Time and Space
Space Trip orbits Steve, a hero split between two eras. The story begins in 1990s Chinatown NYC. Young Steve skins his knee during a game of “Bump Ball,” sparking his father’s ingenuity.
Together, they salvage “spare parts” from a dumpster—gears, wires, and a mysterious glowing core. Their clunky vessel foreshadows Steve’s destiny. Readers don’t just watch—they join the adventure, navigating an interactive maze to retrieve his lost action figure.
Twenty years later, adult Steve confronts The Nine—a shadowy syndicate. They harvest the “Enhancer Gene” to engineer super-soldiers. Their experiments unleash The Cling, parasitic aliens that drain life to feed their hive mind.
Steve uncovers a black-market conspiracy. He rallies a crew of outcasts: a Bronx cyborg mechanic, a hacker in a retrofitted subway car, and a Nine defector.
Together, they storm a prison orbiting Jupiter to free Prisoner 5056, a woman erased from history. “She’s New York,” Chin explains. “Forgotten by the powerful, but never broken.”
NYC’s Soul in Sci-Fi Clothing
Chin’s narrative pulses with themes rooted in city life. The Nine’s exploitation mirrors corporate greed devouring Chinatown NYC’s artist enclaves. The Cling’s hive mind critiques systemic conformity. Yet hope flickers in Chin’s rebels.
Like the author, they build solutions from scraps. A standout invention, the “granny transporter,” is cobbled from microwaves and subway tokens. It nods to NYC’s DIY spirit.
The comic’s moral pulse beats in quieter moments. A closing warning about “stranger danger” echoes Chin’s days guarding the Met.
“New Yorkers know trust is earned,” he says. Steve’s crew—immigrants, ex-cons, lab experiments—embody the city’s mosaic. Family isn’t blood, but who “has your back when the galaxy goes sideways.”
Where NYC’s Grime Meets Cosmic Neon
Chin’s illustrations celebrate the city’s duality. Flashbacks drip with ’90s nostalgia: cracked stoops, flickering bodega signs, dad jokes over scraped knees.
The future mirrors NYC’s essence—alien markets glow with Times Square neon, rebel ships resemble gutted L trains with warp drives, and battles erupt under bridges echoing Manhattan’s skyline.
Creature design steals the show. The Cling is biomechanical nightmares—rusted exoskeletons, veins pulsing like subway maps. Rebel werewolves stalk subplots, their cybernetic claws blending myth and machinery. “Every bolt on those ships,” Chin laughs, “I’ve tightened its real-world counterpart.”
Why Space Trip Belongs in Every New Yorker’s Backpack
In a city thriving on reinvention, Space Trip is a rallying cry. It’s not about shiny heroes—it’s about misfits fighting to protect their blocks. Chin’s leap from handyman to storyteller proves brilliance blooms in basements lit by dollar-store lamps.
For travelers, it doubles as a quirky NYC guide. Spot the Chinatown NYC’s junkyard that inspired Steve’s garage. Explore the derelict Lower East Side subway station turned rebel hideout. “New York’s scars are its stories,” Chin says. “I just gave them aliens.”
