Spoiler warning: Minor plot details follow.
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Stephen Thomson & Dan Jackson
Publisher: Dark Horse
We’re now looking at what, four Alien comics in one month? 2016 was a dumpster fire, but at least it’s making up for it with swarms of Xenomorphs. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a Christmas miracle, but then, my life is pretty boring. It’s why I read comic books.
Aliens: Defiance #8 is one of those bridge issues, the kind where we take a break from action and mayhem to regroup, get our bearings, and maybe talk some back story. As far as global pacing—reading the entire series in one or two sittings—that’s well and good, though as far as individual pacing, it runs a little slow.
But then, we did have that self-surgery scene less than three weeks ago. In that respect, this does work well enough.
#8 returns our focus to Zara and the internal debate she’s having: To abandon ship and go home with the hope of selling the Xenomorph for amnesty, or to continue on and die for this mission that no one will thank her for. It’s fairly heavy stuff, though mostly told through a series of dream sequences that add some surrealism to the mix.
Of course, the problem with dream sequences is that they lack tension. And the problem with dream sequences that are surprise dream sequences is that the tension created turns out to be meaningless in a rather mean-spirited way.
Still, it’s a heavy question, and Stephen Thomson and Dan Jackson showcase why it’s one worth asking. Their artwork tells just as much story here as the words do, from the broken-down ship Zara and co are stuck on to the humans themselves. Zara looks like she’s on her last legs. She never mentions this, not once, but the bags in her eyes and the gauntness in her cheeks speak volumes.
Hell, even Davis isn’t looking so good. He still isn’t used to human emotions, especially nonstop negative ones.
At this point, I’m running out of new things to say about Aliens: Defiance. It’s a good Aliens story that, even when it slips up here or there, is still worth reading. Plus, it’s only going to run for about 12 issues which is chump change in the comic book world. Everything else I’m reading is threatening to go on for fifty or more issues.
It’s nice to know I’ll be able to grab two trades or one hard cover for this thing and be done. Shorter is better.
