Alien #5 // Review
Tobler-9 has been through a lot. The massive corporation Weyland-Yutani is responsible for many stresses that have overcome the planet. There was an infestation of xenomorphs that had been plaguing the local area. The corporation tried its best to deal with the danger. Still, they detonated so many nuclear weapons on the planet's surface that no organic life could survive...except for the Xenomorphs that are now hunting survivors in Alien #5. Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson reaches the penultimate chapter in his story with artist Julius Ohta and colorist Yen Nitro.
There's a nuclear explosive that's detonated. The synthetics team known as Steel Team has been sent into Tobler-9 to retrieve something of great importance, and they've run into this kid whom the radiation from the detonation has just hit. They were all at Ground Zero when the thing went off. Steel Team is all synthetics, so they don't have to worry about the radiation, but the kid's in real danger...until it becomes apparent that he's okay. The lack of radiation sickness is nice, but they're still dealing with a planet overrun by dangerous Xenomorphs.
Johnson keeps the action moving as the story begins to reach its climax. There's a real sense of tension as Xenomorphs overcome the team from every direction. The cramped action continues in a squad-based military drama that fits more or less perfectly into the overall plot format of the Alien franchise while diving into an occasional bit of novelty here and there. Johnson places the story well within the plot arc of the earlier films in the franchise, making it feel very authentic to the Aliens universe...but there isn't enough to make it feel like anything new.
Ohta and Nitro bring the horror to the page with a steady hand. Pulling a pile of Xenomorphs together into a single frame and having it look anything other than silly is challenging. (James Cameron failed miserably at this in the second film.) Ohta and Nitro do an excellent job of framing the action. The movement and the motion may not feel perfectly inspired, but the action is far from being overtly goofy, which is a hell of an accomplishment for the artists.
With the story reaching its ending, there's a fundamental problem with the series: it needs a fresh perspective. What made the franchise's original films so appealing was that it was a progression of different sub-genres. The first was sci-fi horror. The second was sci-fi action. The third was sci-fi drama. The fourth was franchise sci-fi legacy. Johnson's series needs something significantly new to offer the franchise aside from the comic book format that's been a part of the franchise for a long time. And though the overall design of the series fits the film's production design perfectly, it all feels superficial.
