[Comic Execution] 11/8 – THE EVIL WITHIN, ALIEN VS PREDATOR, ALIENS

Halloween is over. Am I sad? Yes. But it’s not an angry sad. It’s a theatrical sad. It’s the kind of sad that pairs well with gray skies, bare trees and cold wind. But then, if I’m happy about being sad, am I actually sad? Does this make me a perky goth? Because I think I’d rather hang myself with a jump rope. Preferably from a playground basketball hoop.

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ALIEN VS PREDATOR: FIRE & STONE #2

Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Ariel Olivetti

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $4 (Digital)

Originally, I had written an introductory paragraph for this issue about Joshua Williamson’s most recent issue of his serial killer comic Nailbiter and how much I didn’t like the focus the issue had on real-life comic book writer Brian Michael Bendis. I had written this because I’d thought Williamson wrote AvP but, much to my chagrin, I discovered that Christopher Sebela, in fact, writes the AvP comic. And, honestly, I have nothing interesting to say about Sebela, other than expressing my regret at not keeping up with his and Kelly Sue Deconnick’s Ghost comic. Definitely going to be seeking out the trade for that series.

This issue immediately addresses the horrifying cliffhanger from the week before and, let me just say, I feel like Chris Sebela has been taking to heart my tweets about how much I love Accelerated Elden, the antagonist of this series. Watching him wreak havoc on his new foes is an absolute delight and I could pretty much listen to him monologue all day. Two other developments ramp up the insanity of this issue, one of which I won’t spoil. But the other is the delight of the protagonist discovering that he can’t run from Elden anymore, thus forcing him to fight in his own way, adding to the chaos and carnage. Sebela has a lot on his plate in this issue but he carefully manages the non-stop weirdness with tight pacing and compact exposition. I should also add that he manages to make the Predators sympathetic monsters, no easy task that.

The visual half of the comic, via Ariel Olivetti, continues to be one of my absolute favorite things on shelves right now. Elden’s still a beautifully creepy monster, the xenomorphs retain their painfully detailed looks and now that the Predators arrived, we get to enjoy Ariel’s rendering of them, which is considerably more badass than expected. Thanks to the utterly strange foes they battle, the Predators actually seem more human than I expected and Ariel doesn’t shy from this, giving their body language a distinctly emotional heft. The panel dynamics are also quite strong, something I might not have touched on in previous reviews because there’s just SO MUCH. Regardless, there’s not a lot of experimentation with the layouts but there is enough variety and trickery that it really boosts the freshness of each page. Letterer Nate Piekos continues to infuse the action with bolts of energy via consistent, pleasing SFX. I’d like to specifically call out his use of that distinctive day-glo neon green, paralleling the Predator blood that’s spilled in one particular scene. His work is going to be sorely underlooked but I’m extremely impressed.

My personal feeling is that, unless issue #3 of AvP takes a serious hit in quality, not only will this series earn its gold star from Comic Execution, but it will take its place as my favorite modern adaptation of the Alien/Predator universe so far. It’s not just Elden, it’s the xenomorphs and the Predators too, but surprisingly I have to say that I’m enjoying, thanks to Sebela, the conflict that the Engineers add to this soup. I might even go so far as to say that Sebela better understands how interesting the Engineers are than even Prometheus screenwriter Damon Lindelof.

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ALIENS: FIRE AND STONE #2

Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Patric Reynolds
Colorist: Dave Stewart

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $4 (Digital)

Xenomorphs are a lot like bugs. Most people see a bug and think they look gross or frightening and definitely wouldn’t even want to have one crawling on them. Some people, myself included, find bugs fascinating and think that many of them look cool and would love to have one crawling on them. I mean, I don’t want a xenomorph crawling on me necessarily because that would probably be the prelude to my head being ripped open but you get the idea; some people think xenomorphs are terrifying, others think they look cool, and there MIGHT be an overlap but it’s a small one, I imagine. Are you part of that overlap? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.

 

Chris Roberson brings us back to the dire straits of a handful of marooned crewmen at the mercy of an alien planet and the xenomorphs that followed them there. Roberson’s narrative has an organic progress, shifting between from a contemplative character study of brilliant engineer Russel to the drama of survival. When the xenomorphs appear, the resulting slaughter is more depressing than suspenseful; reading AvP means knowing the ultimate fate of all involved and it’s not a good one. It doesn’t help that Roberson establishes everyone but Russell as uselessly stubborn and frightened. And the way he brings this chapter to a close pretty much confirms that Roberson is a sadistic maniac of the highest order. It’s impossible to describe how utterly chilling that last page is, it has to be experienced.

The art is significantly better this issue, as Patric Reynold’s lines seem to be more concise and effective this time around, probably due to the new setting, forcing colorist Dave Stewart to handle them with more delicacy. As a result, the epic splash pages have more heft and the characters look more fully realized. There’s still a stiffness and sloppiness to Reynold’s lines but it’s not so overstated like it was in issue #1. The xenomorphs still don’t look quite as menacing as I’d want during their hunting scenes but as their presence is more controlled here, it’s not as glaring. Sadly, there’s still such a weird sanitized feel to the attacks; besides a blood neck-bite, nobody gets tail-speared or head-punctured, though not for lack of opportunity. If it wasn’t for the last page, I’d think Roberson and Reynolds were going for a PG-13 Aliens comic. Thankfully, letterer Nate Piekos thanklessly amps up the whole affair. Instead of recapping how well he does his job, I’ll just direct you to my review of AvP and say that he’s equally on point here.

While the promise of the last page is a tough one to pass over, I’m just not satisfied with this series. It’s mainly because it doesn’t satisfy the horrifying ultraviolence I expect from an Aliens title, plus it’s hard to maintain an emotional investment in the survival of the camp when you already have a good idea how it’s going to play out; it’s like in a horror movie when all the characters fit stereotypes. It’s a shame I don’t care much about the surrounding story because Russell is a great character whose plans I want to see come to fruition. I just don’t have the patience and I don’t expect my readers to either, so Aliens is over in this column.

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THE EVIL WITHIN #2

Writer: Ian Edginton
Artist: Alex Sanchez
Colorist: Hi-Fi

Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $4 (Digital)

I still haven’t played the game that this comic is based on and, frankly, I am disappointed in myself. As a survival horror fan who has been waiting for a purist experience like this game offers, I have failed myself, which is the worst kind of failure. It’s been received with aplomb by fans of the genre but dismissal from critics, who’ve seen nothing new in its well-worn formula. While I agree that video games as a whole need to find new ways to frighten their audiences, The Evil Within provides enough thematic and aesthetic variation on the genre to justify experiencing. As a weaker but still valid argument, first person shooters routinely get critical praise despite being even more rote than survival horror. But I digress; let’s talk about the comic book, shall we?

Ian Edginton’s script for this issue deepens the mystery of Silver River but also introduces a new, nameless antagonist who pursues them and their new friends through yet more dingy, menacing locales. Much like Silent Hill, it becomes increasingly obvious that the terror of Silver River is somehow tied to the character’s pasts; the main character, Dana, is inexplicably trapped inside the replaying memories of Ruth, a resident of Silver River, and seemingly takes a part of those memories into their current timeline. The way Edginton fleshes out this flashback has a distinctly Jacob’s Ladder vibe to it, evoking the film’s unsettling oddness subtly, probably more so than the game itself does. The characters have just enough color and resonance to make a sudden, unexpected character death have significant weight so kudos to Edginton for not making something like that feel cheap. There might be just a spot too much bickering between characters but it does help establish their personalities so there’s a trade off. Overall Edginton does a solid job of translating The Evil Within from game to comic, not an enviable task.

Artist Alex Sanchez, however, doesn’t deliver a visual product nearly as consistent. But rather than scorn Sanchez, let me say right off the bat that the sudden, page-to-page drops in line quality and dynamics screams “deadline.” The pages where characters are merely passing through the landscape and talking look lethargic and boring, begging the reader to not look closely. Anything resembling a casual inspection of these panels reveals misshapen faces, clumsily drawn bodies and tedious backgrounds. During these parts, the book tries to get by on atmosphere alone, but because colorist Hi-Fi completely blankets everything in oppressive hues and grungy textures, causing it to lose impact almost immediately. It’s one thing to use these textures and tones to enhance a book but what’s going on here is clearly a matter of covering up lackluster art. Which is a shame, because when Sanchez is on top of his game, he lays down some really impressive visuals. Again, this all leads me to conclude that this issue of The Evil Within was rushed and done on the cheap, which fits in with some of the filler content in the script. Letterer Tom Williams doesn’t get to do much and that might have something to do with how cheap his lettering looks. There’s a generic, tacky feel to his lettering, like he took his fonts off Microsoft Paint.

The second issue of The Evil Within marks a significant drop in the overall quality of the work. The writing doesn’t hurt too much but the art is frustratingly inconsistent, looking laughably bad on one page, then magnificently terrifying the next. It really actually feels like two artists worked on this issue, and given that an inker, Bambos Georgiou, is given equal credit in this issue, it does make me suspicious. While a mediocre illustration and a limping story might not doom this book (it has several worthy moments), it’s also a $4 title, and that’s a premium price for a product that’s no longer premium. And, sadly, I know how video game adaptation comics are, so I’ll cynically say goodbye to The Evil Within, even though I really do want the next issue to be an improvement.