Is it bad that I just want this comic to ditch its salvage crew, and just give us a Nat Geo style look at the moon of LV-223? Like last issue, I continue to find things to marvel at the design in this comic. However, I was far less interested in the story about Captain Foster and her crew as they start of the issue traipsing into a downed human vessel that’s become occupied by xenomorphs who immediately attack them with teeth, claw and their trademark acid spit. Despite any shortcomings with the story though, Paul Tobin speeds us through some story beats that lesser writers might have drawn out for a few more issues. Not long after the xenomorph attack, Captain Foster tells her crew about her actual intentions in making the voyage. The response from the crew is understandably one of shock and anger, and her lie and the distrust some of her crew most now feel towards her is definitely going to lead to bad things. Additionally, Tobin intros two Chekov’s guns comic, one a black mutanagenic goo called accelerant that the characters immediately puts to use, and another a badass alien rifle that Galgos finds in a downed alien vessel.
Some of my disinterest with this issue probably just has to do with the large number of characters (something I also deal with in the classes I teach), a problem I think the moon’s combined fauna have already started to help with as they whittle down the characters. At the moment, it seems that Paul Tobin intends to focus future issues on Captain Foster, Galgos, Francis, and Elden, making for a nice variety of personalities that I hope get to play against each other some more. Of the four, Galgos is easily the least interesting, appearing as nothing more than the group’s muscle who is easily distracted by an alien rifle, ‘his new toy’ as another character says.
Juan Ferryera continues to impress me with his artwork this issue, channeling his inner H.R. Geiger as he conceives of animals and technology that are always nightmarish in design. I was really fascinated by the alien sharks that come up mid-issue, their Russian doll jaws and sinewy mouths sure to burn themselves into the minds of some readers.
The last page warrants checking out the follow-up issue, if only to see what Ferryera comes up with next. That, and to see just what the hell that Geiger gun can do.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Paul Tobin Artist: Juan Ferryera Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: Release Date: 10/15/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital