Plant matter aliens that eat humans on a spaceship that has lost power… what’s the worst that can happen?! Hell, is it good?
Deep Gravity #4 (Dark Horse Comics)
This miniseries had a lot of big ideas, so many in fact that I was convinced it was going to be an ongoing series. I was wrong. Sadly it all comes to an end this month to a riotous climax with some great gore and horror for the science fiction crowd. Though the bigger concepts aren’t being played with, such as the fact that living on the planet can do things to you if you live there too long, I’m still willing to give this series a shot.
Humans are crunchy… who knew?!
Frankly I think writers Gabriel Hardman, Corinna Bechko and Mike Richardson have a great concept on their hands here that’s a perfect mesh of the wonderment of space travel mixed with the extreme fear of the unknown. Stick Guillermo Del Toro on this, give him 90 million and you might have one of the most frightening films of all time. But, alas, science fiction horror is few and far between, so we have this to tide us over until another Pandorum arrives.
The issue opens with our heroes frantically trying to find a way off their ship that’s been violently ripped apart. The thing is drifting into the atmosphere of a foreign planet that will cook them within minutes. Meanwhile a monster chases them for his snacking pleasure! There’s some hokey stuff with a man who traveled three years to tell a girl he loved his feelings, but it becomes clear that’s not the point of the series, but more of a “what now” to be continued sort of thing. The alien gets a ton of time on the page which is good. The thing is basically the best part of what’s going on. This is due to the humans running around in circles growing a bit tired after the last issue.
That can’t be good…
An unlikely hero rises, the characters survive best they can and the alien takes as many as it can before it’s demise. Or does it?! The horror of it all is apparent and ultimately the pace is great in this space adventure. This is mostly due to Fernando Baldó who gets plenty of pages with little to no dialogue to play with. His layout style is boxy and average, but the pace and usage of mid to wider angles is superb.
Rut row…
Is It Good?
This was an average to great read each month but overall a fantastic miniseries that’ll go nicely on any science fiction fan’s bookcase.
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