The Dark and Brutal Reality of Space Travel
First published on my blog.
I’ll start by saying I retract my initial statement made about Tristan Jones’ art that I made in my review of the first issue, in fact. I never actually noticed how detailed the environments were, let alone the outfits that the characters wore in this issue and the previous.
Anyway, onto this issue’s review.
I’ll start off by saying that I underestimated how interesting a character Zula would be from the offset. Coming across as an injury-driven soldier who has constantly pushed herself to her limits since she enrolled in the Colonial Marines. And then even further once in combat.
Her motivations to do what she does within this issue is quite impressive, her get-it-done attitude is inspiring to say none the less.
Zula, in the first issue, was portrayed as a bad-ass who takes no nonsense but didn’t get her time to shine in the issue, almost acting as a secondary character, unlike Davis who seemed more interesting at the time. This time around, Zula Hendricks gets her time to shine.
Jones really sets the tone and mood for the entire issue, with his dark and gritty art style combined with the claustrophobic and tense atmosphere that the idea of fighting a Xenomorph brings. Not to mention that the Zula and Davis are already locked in a conflict that cannot back out off.
Along with the impeccable writing of Zula, Brain Wood sets the tone straight off the bat in terms of her character development. Giving reasoning and questioning of why she’s where she is. And how her past might affect her chances.
Tristan’s art definitely seems better in comparison to his first issue on the series this time around. Helping set the tone and atmosphere perfectly with how the worn-down environments exceptionally fit in with how it’s been coloured. While I do think his art has improved since the first issue, I still have the problem with how Zula specifically had been drawn in some panels as I feel that she’s lost detail compared to other panels throughout the issue.
Readers will definitely connect with Zula’s backstory, especially those who’ve overcome physical injuries.
Overall, I’ll give the story a 5/5 and the art a 4/5 due to the improvement of the character details and how beautiful the environments look.