And yet the situation manages to get even worse.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Moritat
Colors: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Michael Heisler
What They Say:
As the Colonial Marines on LV-223 prepare to make their last stand against the xenomorph horde, their one hope may lie in the Alien queen!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The final installment of the Aliens leg of the Life and Death cycle is here and it’s another pretty strong wall to wall action piece that delivers. Abnett has certainly figured out over both runs what it is that a lot of readers are looking for and he’s delivering it well with the setup and the actual event itself. The action events are where things really shine and that’s because Abnett looks like he hands it over easily to Moritat to just run with and the end result is a thrill to watch. I really wasn’t sure about his being on the series considering his style compared to previous artists in the two cycles but Moritat has delivered above and beyond expectations to make this quite possibly my favorite arc in terms of the visual look of it with how it separates itself out while still feeling consistent.
Paget’s plan to get Jill back was certainly ill-advised but you can understand why she’d do it considering what Jill indicated could be done. With her holding off the xenomorph queen with a good threat to the egg within her, Jill definitely made a solid stand here. And it’s one that plays well when she is finally rescued and we see how she’s been heavily involved in her own way in trying to protect the group as best as she can. Her reunion with Chris is definitely a very welcome moment and I loved that it was kept to just a moment rather than a lot of dialogue and emotion – as I’m sure Paget was. The retrieval team definitely went through a certain hell to get her and they’re basically getting ready to walk into another one as well to get her away.
Where most of this issue takes place, however, is with the main action component. This lets Moritat just run with it as it has Paget and her group dealing with the Engineer that’s come guns blazing to take them out, along with a few xenomorphs that come in from time to time. Moritat’s design for the Engineer definitely is one that I like and watching it going through the thicket and elsewhere definitely makes it feel like a real threat. What this issue really delivers on in a big way is the fight when the xenomorph queen comes to the surface to take it down in order to protect Jill and its queen egg inside. The fight between the two is one of the rare times we really see the Engineer struggle and it has me wanting to go back and reread everything just to see if it’s as big of a moment as it feels like.
In Summary:
Though I’m looking forward to the Aliens Vs Predator leg that’s coming up and the finishing chapter after it, Aliens: Life and Death right now is definitely my favorite of this cycle overall. A lot of that really is owed to Moritat as he breathed a unique yet familiar look to the property that showed that there are good times and ways to step out from the “house” style that we’ve gotten for the most part the last few years. The story is pretty solid here as we get the rescue mission going through the ups and downs its has, and the mystery on board the ship in orbit that’s going to have things going even worse pretty soon. This is a book that I really look forward to reading as a whole cycle in one sitting in the near future with this leg of it being quite possibly the best piece of it.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 21st, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
