I love the look and feel of Aliens: Dust to Dust. Unfortunately, like a lot of other recent Xenomorph stories, it doesn’t amount to much beyond visceral levels of survival. It uses most of its time recycling ideas that have come before without fully exploring its own characters. This isn’t necessarily to say that I didn’t enjoy reading the series.
Max, a young boy living on a Weyland-Yutani colony (where most of these stories begin), has his world thrown into the most turbulent of turmoils when an infestation of Xenomorphs begin to rip through the structure like an out-of-control tidepool with claws. From page one, Max is on the run, and it doesn’t stop. Like Cameron’s Aliens, it’s forward throttle from the get go.
There are some slight twists and turns that at least keep it all from becoming a simple four-issue chase sequence, even though it’s essentially a four-issue chase sequence. The one thing I do appreciate this book for is that, for the most part, it follows the story through the eyes of the child. It’s as if we saw Aliens but starring Newt.
Hardman’s script finds a little room for clearance with this mode of transportation, but it’s in his artwork where this book really revs its engines. There’s a really gritty and dirty feeling to the artwork, like even the wind will tear you to shreds.
This fourth issue has some of the bigger story points. They really aren’t all that surprising to someone who is aware of the world, and that’s my biggest complaint with a lot of these four-part Alien series coming from Dark Horse right now. They are beautiful, but I want to be surprised. I’m not. Xenomorph fans will most likely enjoy this series to some degree, but most everyone will probably find something with a lot more depth and far more involving in Aliens Resistance (also from Dark Horse).
The last several pages are the most artistically involving from a story standpoint. There are some interesting ideas hidden away in there, if it could have torn itself further away from the usual tropes.
Creative Team: Ganriel Hardman (Script and Art), Michael Heisler (Lettering), Rain Beredo (Colors), Mike Richardson (Publisher), Randy Stradley (Editor), Lin Huang (Designer), Matt Fryer (Digital Art Technician)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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