DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: William Gibson
SCRIPT: Johnnie Christmas (adaptation)
ART: Johnnie Christmas
COLORS: Tamra Bonvillain
LETTERS: Nate Piekos of Blambot
EDITOR: Daniel Chabon
COVER: Johnnie Christmas with Tamra Bonvillain
VARIANT COVER: Paolo and Joe Rivera
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)
The 1979 film, Alien (directed by Ridley Scott), won an Academy Award and was a critical and commercial success. It's 1986 sequel, Aliens (directed by James Cameron), won two Academy Awards and was a critical and commercial success. The third film, Alien 3 (1992), was less successful, critically and commercially.
According to contemporary and historical accounts, Alien 3, had a contentious and troubled production. That started from the beginning and continued into late 1987, when two of Alien 3's producers approached acclaimed science fiction author, William Gibson (Neuromancer), to write the film's screenplay. Gibson accept the offer and completed a script, but ultimately left the project. Apparently not much of Gibson's work made the eventually completed Alien 3.
Now, Dark Horse Comics is publishing a comic book adaptation of Gibson's unused screenplay for Alien 3. The comic book series is entitled William Gibson's Alien 3, and writer-artist Johnnie Christmas (Angel Catbird) is adapting Gibson's script to comics and is drawing the series. Tamra Bonvillain is the series colorist, and Nate Piekos is series letterer.
William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 opens sometime after the events depicted in the film, Aliens. The U.S.S. Sulaco enters the territorial space of the Union of Progressive Peoples (U.P.P.). Aboard this spaceship are Ellen Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Rebecca “Newt” Jorden, and Bishop, the damaged android – all four in are in cryonic stasis.
There is also something else aboard the Sulaco, as three U.P.P. military personnel are about to discover. The U.P.P. forces cannot know that this fifth passenger is quite deadly and is about to unleash chaos between two governmental titans intent on developing the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.
Back in the 1990s, I read a synopsis of William Gibson's Alien 3 screenplay that was published in a British science fiction magazine (possibly Interzone). At the time, I thought that the synopsis would have made a much better film than the Alien 3 we did get in 1992.
William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 only introduces the milieu of the story, providing what amounts to a first-look at the characters and the settings. Readers familiar with 20th Century Fox's Alien film franchise understand the threat and menace of the franchise's signature villains, the “Aliens” (a.k.a. “xenomorphs”). They also understand the conflicts and conspiracies that exist among various human factions in the series. They know who the heroes are, and, in William Gibson's Alien 3, they have a good idea who will likely be the villains.
Since I have seen most of the films in this franchise numerous times, I know how to read an Alien comic book adaptation, and I have an idea what to expect. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed all the teasing that William Gibson's Alien 3 #1 does. I like the relaxed pacing of Christmas' script adaptation, and his clean and minimalist drawing style makes for clear graphical storytelling.
Tamra Bonvillain's colors convey the characters' emotions and suggest conspiracy and secrets with surprising potency. Bonvillain also makes the action and attack scenes explode off the page. Nate Piekos' lettering is quiet and quietly effective in hitting story beats. This first issue is one of those examples of when it is hard not to recognize how effective coloring and lettering is.
I did not know what to expect of William Gibson's Alien 3 #1, but after reading it, I want to read more of this series. This could turn out to be a really good Alien comic book.
7.5 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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