Rogue Planet #2 Review
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Andy Macdonald
Colours: Nick Filardi
Letters: Crank!
Rogue Planet keeps the terror and tension going after the first issue. A lot of the horror feels like an amalgamation of dozens of sci-fi horror tropes. The first issue was reminiscent of the crew of the Nostromo, and that feeling continues in this issue. The first issue left us a cliff-hanger ending, with our planet-side team facing several strange aliens wearing spacesuits, all of which were very reminiscent of the giant alien creature which attacked them before. The second issue picks up immediately after that and doesn’t play out how you might expect either. Again, however, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a particularly original idea, it’s been played out in dozens of other sci-fi horrors in the past. Where this comic works however is it’s putting all these tried and tested twists and putting it all together in a brand new and unexpected way.
Where the comic struggles a little however is it feels like a little bit too much is getting thrown in now. Having the crew encounter an alien on the planet while the ship malfunctions is a good setup for a story. But the storyline on the ship gets expanded and goes in a different direction. It feels like it could be its own horror storyline, rather than being tied into the already existing horror story that’s being told. Whether the two storylines will come together or stay separate remains to be seen, at this stage in the story they feel unconnected but it wouldn’t come as a shock to learn they were both part of the same story.
Because it reads a little like two separate storylines it can be a bit jarring to the reader, and rather than feeling like a complex story feels like a little too much is going on. Throw in a twist at the end, which was previously hinted at, and it feels like there’s a little too much story going on here.
Another area this comic struggles a little is getting the reader to overly care for any of the characters. Without having a clear, main protagonist for the reader to grow attached to it ends up with a little too many characters who we don’t care too much for. That’s not to say it’s a bad comic, far from it, but at this stage it would be nice for the reader to have a few standout characters who we care about, but no-one gets quite enough time on the page to make an impression and the one’s who do don’t seem to stay alive for too long.
Andy Macdonald does a good job with the art, one of the highlights from the last issue was the alien creature that made an appearance, he put his own, unique spin on it. Another nice touch is the sci-fi touches on the ship, it has the low-fi sci-fi feel that is quite reminiscent of the alien films and makes it a touch more real and less futuristic. It could believably be our not too distant future. Nick Filardi does a good job with the colours as well, it helps to add to the alien-ness of the planet, the blood is in stark contrast to the metallic greys on the ship.
A little too much story is getting thrown in and it ends up overwhelming the reader and detracting from the overall enjoyment. Whether the storylines will converge or stay separate remains to be seen, but it might have worked better as two separate comics, not one combined one. The horror elements and tension are still there, and being an amalgamation of dozens of sci-fi horror tropes is still working well, but it isn’t quite living up to the promise of the first issue.
Artist: Andy Macdonald
Colours: Nick Filardi
Letters: Crank!
Rogue Planet keeps the terror and tension going after the first issue. A lot of the horror feels like an amalgamation of dozens of sci-fi horror tropes. The first issue was reminiscent of the crew of the Nostromo, and that feeling continues in this issue. The first issue left us a cliff-hanger ending, with our planet-side team facing several strange aliens wearing spacesuits, all of which were very reminiscent of the giant alien creature which attacked them before. The second issue picks up immediately after that and doesn’t play out how you might expect either. Again, however, it doesn’t necessarily feel like a particularly original idea, it’s been played out in dozens of other sci-fi horrors in the past. Where this comic works however is it’s putting all these tried and tested twists and putting it all together in a brand new and unexpected way.
Where the comic struggles a little however is it feels like a little bit too much is getting thrown in now. Having the crew encounter an alien on the planet while the ship malfunctions is a good setup for a story. But the storyline on the ship gets expanded and goes in a different direction. It feels like it could be its own horror storyline, rather than being tied into the already existing horror story that’s being told. Whether the two storylines will come together or stay separate remains to be seen, at this stage in the story they feel unconnected but it wouldn’t come as a shock to learn they were both part of the same story.
Because it reads a little like two separate storylines it can be a bit jarring to the reader, and rather than feeling like a complex story feels like a little too much is going on. Throw in a twist at the end, which was previously hinted at, and it feels like there’s a little too much story going on here.
Another area this comic struggles a little is getting the reader to overly care for any of the characters. Without having a clear, main protagonist for the reader to grow attached to it ends up with a little too many characters who we don’t care too much for. That’s not to say it’s a bad comic, far from it, but at this stage it would be nice for the reader to have a few standout characters who we care about, but no-one gets quite enough time on the page to make an impression and the one’s who do don’t seem to stay alive for too long.
Andy Macdonald does a good job with the art, one of the highlights from the last issue was the alien creature that made an appearance, he put his own, unique spin on it. Another nice touch is the sci-fi touches on the ship, it has the low-fi sci-fi feel that is quite reminiscent of the alien films and makes it a touch more real and less futuristic. It could believably be our not too distant future. Nick Filardi does a good job with the colours as well, it helps to add to the alien-ness of the planet, the blood is in stark contrast to the metallic greys on the ship.
A little too much story is getting thrown in and it ends up overwhelming the reader and detracting from the overall enjoyment. Whether the storylines will converge or stay separate remains to be seen, but it might have worked better as two separate comics, not one combined one. The horror elements and tension are still there, and being an amalgamation of dozens of sci-fi horror tropes is still working well, but it isn’t quite living up to the promise of the first issue.
A Look Inside
