The last couple years have found me delving more and more into comics. You see, I’ve never been a fan of super-hero comics. The DC and Marvel universes are just too daunting: there are so many characters that I could never keep track of them, and the origins of either continuum are so far back that catching up is completely inconceivable. Being a fan of either would be more of a chore than a hobby. Super-hero comics become vehicles for the iconography.
So when I discovered Dark Horse and Vertigo, I was overjoyed. Here are two publishers where appreciation of story is evident. Mike Mignola’s Hell-Boy, published by Dark Horse, is extremely gratifying, reminiscent in many ways of Conan, which is also published by Dark Horse (and was, in the 70s and 80s, handled by Marvel, showing that it wasn’t always about super-heroes for them). Vertigo has such gems as Y: the Last Man and classics like Watchmen and V for Vendetta. Also worth noting is The Walking Dead from Image. All these, and far more, have illustrated to me (pun only slightly intended) the versatility of the comic book in telling a story. It’s a medium that is often under-appreciated.
Lately, I’ve been buying a lot of single issues. The Unwritten is a good comic that is still only in singles (also by Vertigo), but the comics that I’ve been particularly excited about are more franchises from Dark Horse: Predator and Aliens. Aliens has held an interesting story line involving a Synth (or Artificial Person, if you wish) protagonist who is on a mission to rescue a surveyor colony from a xenomorph (alien) infestation—even though the colonists, driven mad by the strange ruins of an ancient city, killed his crewmates. I was very much enjoying this story.
Until issue #4.
You see, this particular story arc was only allotted four issues to be completed. This is not something I am accustomed to. I have purchased volume after volume of graphic novels, where many arcs are allowed to carry on as long as their respective momentum will allow. (Indeed, many volumes are compiled around specific story arcs, and usually contain about six issues.) I’ve seen the four-issue plan implemented before, and it always seems too constricting to the story. Such is the case here.
(Turn back if you don’t want the story spoiled.)
The end of issue four sees the protagonist, Mr. Sereda, leading the colonists in search of the last member of the expedition, Andrea. Andrea is, in a way, Sereda’s salvation. Rescuing her can redeem him for allowing his crew to die. He is quite willing to face hordes of monsters to find her and bring her back. And then, after an ambush by the aliens, Sereda finds Andrea dead, with pretty much no preamble, from a gruesome wound consistent with the alien chest bursters. Andrea had been previously shown battling the xenomorphs rather effectively. She’d survived a long time on her own. And now we find her dead, without having seen how she fell. It is a shock, which I’m sure was the intent. However, this is the kind of shock that sets you back on your heels, distancing you from the story.
Following this is a jarring transition: suddenly Sereda and the colonists are on his ship. They are laying down in the cryosleep chambers, and the ship is achieving escape velocity to leave the planet. I stared at this page, flipped back and forth through the last few pages. Then I set the issue down on my lap and thought, “What the hell was that?”
This is, unfortunately, the answer: it was a disappointing end to what had been a satisfying story. I sincerely hope this will not be the standard.
