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Aliens: Life And Death #2

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    Ian Jane
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  • Aliens: Life And Death #2



    Aliens: Life And Death #2
    Released by: Dark Horse Comics
    Released on: October 19th, 2016.
    Written by: Dan Abnett
    Illustrated by: Moritat
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    “On LV-223 (the planet from the motion picture Prometheus and the graphic novel series Fire and Stone), a group of Colonial Marines and other survivors fight for their lives against both Aliens and the entities known as Engineers. Their plan to capture the Engineers' spacecraft failed, and part of their team was trapped aboard the vessel when it launched into space. The members of the group still on the planet prepared to make a final stand against either the Aliens or the Engineers, only to be discovered by the main marine force, which had followed them to the nightmare planet. The humans prepared to return to their orbiting marine ship, unaware that one of their number had been captured alive by the Aliens and taken to their nest…”

    Aboard the Rapid Response Combat Ship Hasdrubal Roth and the others have picked up a signal. They know that Chris 'the girl' is alive, but likely in trouble with the xenomorphs. Ancane notes that there's no coming back from an embryo plant, once that's been done, you're toast. He figures since they evac'd and got everyone out alive that they could that there's no sense going back for her. Roth wants to go back, he figures if Chris is there then Rucker could be too. And on top of that, he reminds the others that they are Marines and that this is what they're supposed to do.

    Roth gets his way and moments later the eighteen surviving USMC recruits out of the original thirty-one are having a meeting. Soon enough, a few volunteers suited up and ready to go, despite the fact that this is a 'tactically poor' operation. Melville throws in with the grunts, much to Captain Paget's surprise. He feels he owes Chris a debt.

    Elsewhere, Jill and Lorimer are talking about Chris' chances for survival. They know they're not good, but Jill loves her wife and wants her to make it back alive. That'll mean top level medical care if they can retrieve here, the kind that only a high tech corporation like Weyland-Yutani could provide. They make a deal - they get Chris, cut whatever they want out of her should she be implanted, and then hand her back to Jill alive.

    As the Marines get ready to land, one of the crew asks what happened to Galgo, that guy who 'teamed up with a hunter.' And then we find out.

    This second issue builds off of the continuity established in the earlier Life And Death storylines in a pretty solid way. The threads in those earlier issues that didn't seem to matter all that much are, at this point, coming together nicely and the character development is starting to matter more. Initially we didn't care about many of the background character but some of them are starting to matter more, there's a fair bit going on here in this run, it's not just Paget's story anymore like it initially seemed. It makes for more rewarding reading and Abnett should be commended for delivering a quality slow burn in that regard. At the same time, this is setting up some big action to come. We don't get to it this issue but you can bet your bottom dollar that when issue three hits the stands next month, that's exactly what we're going to get - this is building to a big finish.

    Moritat's artwork, complimented by Rain Beredo's consistently strong coloring work, is pretty cool to look at. It's an atypical style when compared to a lot of the other recent AVP universe mini's that Dark Horse has been publishing over the last couple of years but it works. There's good detail in the human characters, the inhuman characters and the backgrounds and some nice layouts too. Facial expressions really do a great job of relaying the drama, horror and tension inherent in the events that unfold and this is all starting to come together quite nicely. David Palumbo contributes another awesome cover piece.





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