Alien #1 Review

 

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson

Artist: Salvador Larocca

Rating: 6 of 8

Alien #1

In space, no one can hear you scream - no one, that is, except you. Others might not live to see the scars fester and pop - but you do. For you, the pain's still there and in many ways, it probably always will be. You can only try to move on.

And that's exactly what Gabriel Cruz does, as he ''retires'' from Weyland-Yutani's Epsilon Station. Though others might regard his company with some degree of suspicion and distrust, he really does believe in it.

One such man's Danny, his son. Many years ago, his brother was killed on a mission for the very company their Dad worked for and, understandably, it's driven a very big wedge between them. Sadly, given how the issue goes, it looks like they'll have much less chance to mend it.

After seeing so many films from the outside looking in, it's nice getting a look at the company from a new perspective. We can understand why Danny harbours a grudge against them, but, given what happened, it's a little more difficult to see why their father would stick with them after it. The issue doesn't fully explain that, though it might be because of his steadfast belief in Weyland-Yutani and acceptance in the casualties of war, however close to home. 

Two of the best parts of the issue are definitely how it opens and how it closes. Johnson's writing here is just dripping with incredible poetry and gives us a brilliant sense of Gabriel's horror and, in some ways, his desire to be found even by the cruelest of monsters. Though there's not a lot of the usual horror we'd expect from the series, at least in the present, what we do get is good, though do I wish we had a little more.

For better or worse, most of issue focuses on Gabe's trauma and the divide between him and his son. The former is very effective, well realized by both Johnson and Larocca, though the duo's rift so far isn't as compelling as it could be. 

When it comes to the art, though Larocca does a great job on the aliens, gore and horror, Bishop's face isn't as good as it could be and doesn't succeed in replicating the actor's (Lance Henriken).

Overall, it's a very mixed debut. While the horror's pretty on point and the opening and closing are very good, the rest of the issue doesn't really match up to it - and because of that, I don't recommend the issue.