Aliens: Dead Orbit #1 Review: Stokoe Has Arrived

It seems that people can’t get enough of the “Aliens” franchise, especially in comic book form. These comics have had varying degrees of quality with the latest showing, “Aliens: Dead Orbit” with story, art and lettering by James Stokoe, is one of the best ones yet.

The is just like many other “Aliens” stories: A crew finds an unmarked ship/station that’s in disrepair, they go investigate, find everything is destroyed beyond anything and then get attacked by a xenomorph. While there are many series and genres that have basically the same plot, there is plenty of room to make the story stand out and original to the creator. Stokoe managed to that.

One way that that’s been done is create a sense of tension when investigating the station. He takes a slow approach to the crew finding anything on it and builds it up so when something scary happens it’s actually scary.

Another thing is the first few pages of this issue. There is no dialogue, but Stokoe does an excellent job of foreshadowing the ending and setting up the story. It’s rather peaceful but sad at the same time and it shows on the character’s face.

This is where the art comes in. This is one of the better drawn “Aliens” comics. Not in a way that says it stands out or something that took forever to draw, but it the way it establishes its scenes. It’s like in the first “Alien” movie where Ridley Scott makes you feel like you’re actually there in that station. Here, too, the designs of the ship and the abandoned station are so well done well it’s marvelous.

On the other hand, the comic does have some downfalls. The characters are a bit underdeveloped and spout the same expletive-laden dialogue seen in many action/sci-fi movies. While still early, there is some glimmer of hope with the main lead, Wascylewski. He comes off as the most interesting of the lot. The characters are drawn OK with nothing too horrible or great about them.

“Aliens: Dead Orbit” may have some problems and the same old plot, but it has its great moments that make it stick out from the rest of the pack with some clever writing and atmosphere.