In Salvation (written by Dave Gibbons and featuring the sensational art of Mike Mignola and Kevin Nowlan), a God-fearing space freighter crewman is forced at gunpoint to abandon ship with his captain. Marooned on an off-the-path planet, the two soon discover that they have not been left alone and must now contend with the Nova Maru`s deadly cargo!
Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered.
In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics.
In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries.
Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden.
Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.
A mad captain and a crewman abandon Nova Maru when something goes wrong with the cargo. They crash land on a remote planet, but are they really alone?
This graphic novels is short, but intensive. The story is dark and gritty, but it suited the story very well. As a fan of the Alien movies is it always interesting to see if you can get the same feeling of dread of reading about Aliens as you get when you see the movies. And, no it’s not the same thing, but still there is just something uneasy to see the Aliens in print.
A recommend this one to Alien fans!
I received this copy from the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review! Thank you!
As well versed as I consider myself to be with both the Alien and Mignola universes, I (admittedly) was caught flat-footed by this one. I didn’t have to roll a D6 to catch my breath but, I did heave a sigh of ecstasy when I noticed that Dave Gibbons (of Watchmen fame) was up on this track too. Dave Gibbons and Mike Mignola – on the same comic?! I prayed my beating heart to still and began my read with rapt attention.
Three words sum it up: Cool as Shit!
My initial surprise was unflagged throughout. A perfectly syncretic postulation of the established and the new were perfectly bound together in this work. A tale of a cosmic marooning melded well with well-known tropes and internalized characterizations. With a subtle smattering of eye-catching details, a perfectly stitched together story swept across some +60 pages.
Brimming with a fierce conciseness, not a single punch was pulled and neither was the energy which remained unstinting until the very end. Furiously landing left hooks and a seemingly indefatigable series of right jabs, my eyes were pummeled into orgiastic delight.
The art is absolutely fantastic. The story is interesting too - creepy and pulse pounding. It's also a good one for people like me who have only ever seen the first movie and know next to nothing about the franchise.
Mike Mignola and Aliens? Hell yes! Mike Mignola is one of my all time favorite artists and his art here is brilliant. There isn't much to the story, but the art alone makes this well worth the buy. Plus it's a super short read
A pretty solid tale of a man who used his religion to survive the horrors of the aliens. Some neat twist and good art but overall too short to make a impact.
Це радше колекційнийартефакт, цікавий поціновувачам творчості Майка Мінйоли, ніж самоцінний твір. Він доволі непоганий, втім мало що додає всесвіту Чужих і так само не є аж надто глибоким твором як таким. Так це доволі міцна сай-фай оповідка, така, ніби вона вийшла з часів "нової хвилі" НФ, втім, далеко не найсильніша серед аналогів. Звісно, для своїх часів (початок 90-х) і середовища (графічна проза) "Спасіння" виглядає доволі приємно, вище загального середнього рівня, але, очевидно, не Мур і не Ходоровський. Навіть ті випуски Геллбоя, що з'являться за рік після "Спасіння" виглядають глибшими та цікавішими, попри збережений ще нацплотейшн-ореол.
Втім, це геть не означає, що "Чужий: Спасіння" не вартий уваги. Як я вже казав, поціновувачи малюнку Майка добряче кайфонуть від його роботи (хоч тут йому належить лише олівець, контур та колір робили інші, і це помітно впливає на сприйняття малюнку, насправді). Сюжетно комікс також достатньо міцний, попри певне використання тропів притаманних "Чужим", які тут сприймаються радше як зайве обтяження, яке відволікає увагу і збиває психологично важкий та похмурий лад історії.
Тож із плюсів тут безперечно арт-складова, міцний сюжет і настрій. Із мінусів - певне відчуття через долучення до світу Чужих, а також камерність та лаконічність історії.
Aliens: Salvation. Dave Gibbons + Mike Mignola + Kevin Knowlan.
Selkirk, a God-fearing crewman aboard the space freighter Nova Maru, is forced at gunpoint to abandon ship with his captain. They crash-land on a small planet, but it is soon apparent that they have not entirely escaped. Marooned on an off-the-path planet, the two soon discover that they have not been left alone and must now contend with the Nova Maru's deadly cargo
Excellent premise, briniging religion into the Aliens franchise. As if it weren`t fugged up enough already.
Not so much about the Aliens as about man`s inhumanity to his fellow men.
Plot: a pious dope gets stranded on a remote planet after his ship crashed. Imploring the Lord for the whole book he will learn Satan has a name: the Company.
On this rather tedious premise Gibbons develops a 50/50 plot. Kind of boring and preachifying on one hand-not too original either- with intense and gory scenes of action on the other.
Art: Mignola and Nowlan. Do I really need to say more? Ok. Mignola-wonderfully inked by Nowlan- does what he does best: slick pencils, massive and clever use of blacks, brilliant storytelling. 'Nuff said.
Without the art team I would have rated this book way more harshly. But I'm a sucker for Mignola so sue me!
Поглинув мальопис «Чужі. Спасіння» — непогана психоделіка, зважаючи на вік коміксу в 27 років. Добре витриманий саспенс, як мені здалося, автор залишив у творі кілька пречудових філософських та еклектичних посилів. Ну і невеличкий, але прекрасний спойлер — це відсутність геппі-енду, а я це обожнюю. Суцільна темрява та безнадія. Чудовий твір, який ідеально зайде після важкого робочого дня під склянку чогось божественного та міцного. p.s. Для пошановувачів франшизи «Aliens» це таки мастхев, це той Прометей, який у вас украли, але добре, що цей світ має Ґібонса та Міньйолу.
Mignola's famous drawing style gives the alien franchise a whole new spin. Combined with Kevin Nowlan's inks and Matt Hollingsworth's colours it creates a different kind of creep - the creepy we know and love from Hellboy. But here, there's no witty remarks, just desperation and gore. The religious theme might not be everyone's cup of tea. I read it more as a critique on the false promise of salvation by belief, especially with the last page.
Fans of alien and/or mignola: this is a must read!
Mignola is one of my all time favorite comic artists, I have loved the heavy shadow / thick line style since middle school when Hellboy blew my mind. This is an okay Alien story- Weyland Yutani tricks a man (human needs to be there unless another corporation can take their bio weapons) into falling into a paradise that slowly (of course) becomes hell.
Having read a few alien comics this month, I love that first few pages where everything just sucks- they’re in a losing gunfight with monsters and then you just KNOW everything is going to get worse from there. It is a lot of fun to see these characters wrestle with their horrible options. This is a quick read and worth it for an alien fan!
Okaaaay, I want you to picture this: me, an avid xenomorph enjoyer, who (as per my bio) also happens to enjoy books with themes of cannibalism and religion, sitting down to read this comic to get my xenomorph fix, only to discover it has BOTH of those themes as well? Hello? Was this written by me?
Overall this was very gritty and very fun to read, and it did not hold back. I enjoyed the art-style a lot! I knocked a star simply because it was too short to pack the punch I wanted it to. If this had been longer, or maybe a series, I think it would have been perfect for me. Still a good standalone story, though!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Що ж, це непогано. Віруюча людина проти Чужого на планеті, яка ледь придатна для виживання.
Тут більше не жах від контакту з чимось позаземним та вбивчим, тут про те, як переступаєш через себе, через власні принципи, коли обставини дотискають. Чужі насправді грають тут роль прискорювача, все інше робить людина на власний розсуд. І в цьому плані хотілося би більшого, бо і сюжет тут цілісний (хоча і не пропонує чогось наднового в плані загального лору), і малюнок Міньйоли чудовий.
Чужі як засіб нагнати страху діють лише у замкнутих просторах, у ситуації “а що там у темряві” чи “а що там зараз яяяяк вистрибне”, а в цій історії вони хоч і є фінальним аргументом, але нічним жахіттям є все ж таки люди, готові на все заради власних інтересів. І ось ця ідея проходить через весь сюжет.
I’m going to be reading/rereading a lot of Alien(s) comics over the next few months, and I figured that I’d start with my favorite (that I’ve read).
Turns out this little hardcover that I think I got for $6 on Amazon years ago is now sadly out of print.
This story is the perfect mix of old and new, and I really like the addition of religious world building here. It foreshadows some of the ideas in Prometheus, and it also reminded me a bit of the Raised by Wolves show.
The art is classic Mignola, fully formed, but missing Dave Stewart’s more fitting colors, though the ones here by Matt Hollingsworth are okay.
The story is pretty meh, Dave Gibbons has written a pretty standard Alien story and added a bit of religion in to the mix, which didn't quick work as well as I hoped it would have. The saving grace to this is Mike Mignola's artwork, which is beautifully dark and effective as ever and if I'm to be honest the main reason I picked this book up!
6.5/10 Mignola compositional greatness one panel after the other for around 50 pages. Yes, please. Also, proper used of colours, serving the storytelling, being part of it, not ruining it. Basic plot that hits all the marks of the Alien(s) franchise. It reads fine. It reads even better if you skip the sea of internal monologue boxes.
Krótka, ale bardzo wciągająca historyjka z ciekawie przeprowadzonym motywem religijnym, który zaskakująco dobrze współgra z fabułą typową dla uniwersum Obcego.