What do you think?
Rate this book
All Against All
Writer ALEX PAKNADEL (DC vs. All Out War), artist CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Home Sick Pilots), and letterer HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU present a primal vision of humanity gone terribly wrong. In All Against All, it is the distant future, where a race of disembodied alien conquerors, the Operators, move from world to world, harvesting promising species for their most impressive physical traits. Their quest for ever-more-effective host bodies leads them to a forgotten research station, where animal specimens from a dead Earth, along with a small human boy named Helpless, have been collected and preserved in a savage artificial jungle environment. When the Operators descend on the research station in search of an apex predator to harvest, they find more than they bargained for when they learn that Helpless is anything but! Collects All Against All #1 - #5
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 2023
5 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 19, 2024
Nice compact sci-fi story, that has some genuinely interesting ideas, with the ability to change from body to body. The book does a good job of keeping the aliens alien, and still let them be relatable. I wish it had a better title, though, this one's very generic.
(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)
(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)
July 26, 2023
4.5/5
It has it all - savage violence, cool exoskeletons, sympathetic aliens. All Against All takes a look at humanity through the eyes of parasitic aliens, The Operators.
The peerless compositional eye and the painstaking attention to detail make the art a joy to watch.
It has it all - savage violence, cool exoskeletons, sympathetic aliens. All Against All takes a look at humanity through the eyes of parasitic aliens, The Operators.
The peerless compositional eye and the painstaking attention to detail make the art a joy to watch.
October 15, 2023
3.75 stars. I actually really ended up liking this book. I picked this one up because I’m a fan of the artist and I think his work in here was perfect for this story. I wasn’t too familiar with the writer, but the duo here worked out very well. The biggest hindrance for a higher rating would be how slow this one took to hook me. It was t until the third issue, or almost halfway through, that I found myself caring about what was going on.
March 14, 2025
Starts off in a hurry and that can be off putting but after 3 issues I went back and reread issue 1 and it worked so much better.
Art quality varies a lot, we get anything from high detailed art to barely legible scribbles.
Thankfully the letterer chose to colour coordinate the lettering so we know who is talking even if the art is too obscure to tell.
The story was okay, nothing really gets fully fleshed out though, we never meet the enemy army or find out how a human got eyes to match the alien. We get very little motivational information for any of the characters.
It’s basically Tarzan but if he was a post apocalyptic dna sample that aliens found. The aliens are essentially jellyfish versions of Starro. Thats it.
There is no ‘all’ to be seen. Strange choice of title.
Art quality varies a lot, we get anything from high detailed art to barely legible scribbles.
Thankfully the letterer chose to colour coordinate the lettering so we know who is talking even if the art is too obscure to tell.
The story was okay, nothing really gets fully fleshed out though, we never meet the enemy army or find out how a human got eyes to match the alien. We get very little motivational information for any of the characters.
It’s basically Tarzan but if he was a post apocalyptic dna sample that aliens found. The aliens are essentially jellyfish versions of Starro. Thats it.
There is no ‘all’ to be seen. Strange choice of title.
Read
August 5, 2023A clever inversion of various familiar stories about humans and aliens, so that instead of Earth's military mucking around with things not of this world, it's extraterrestrial soldiers and scientists hoping that the biological legacy of dead Earth might provide a breakthrough. Except they should have known better than to muck around with the DNA of the planet's destroyer:
"I'd seen dead worlds before - jimmied out of their orbits and scattered like teeth - but none like this. Oceans of bleach, seething skies harrowed by a greasy haze. We searched what was left of the cities, but nothing had survived. What that planet's dominant species had done... There was a vehemence to it. Even through the air filters you could taste the self-hatred. Imagine a creature capable of doing that to itself and everything that sustains it. The will."
But of course, one overreaching fool insists on messing with man things were not meant to know, and then the next issue is basically Predator except that it's the aliens fleeing a human. And these aliens may be no angels - they're parasites, warmongers, terrible parents - but they're still not prepared for what a hell of a drug a Terran limbic system can be. In short, it's a comic animated by utter disgust and terror at the human race, and as such I very much endorse it.
(Edelweiss ARC)
"I'd seen dead worlds before - jimmied out of their orbits and scattered like teeth - but none like this. Oceans of bleach, seething skies harrowed by a greasy haze. We searched what was left of the cities, but nothing had survived. What that planet's dominant species had done... There was a vehemence to it. Even through the air filters you could taste the self-hatred. Imagine a creature capable of doing that to itself and everything that sustains it. The will."
But of course, one overreaching fool insists on messing with man things were not meant to know, and then the next issue is basically Predator except that it's the aliens fleeing a human. And these aliens may be no angels - they're parasites, warmongers, terrible parents - but they're still not prepared for what a hell of a drug a Terran limbic system can be. In short, it's a comic animated by utter disgust and terror at the human race, and as such I very much endorse it.
(Edelweiss ARC)
Read
December 11, 2024In the future, after humans have destroyed ourselves, aliens come to Earth and investigate what they find in a seedbank among the ruins. But are they researching for the love of science, or for a new weapon?
I enjoyed this short sci-fi series mostly for its art, which is glowing and kinetic, and for the way it takes some very very familiar sci-fi tropes and gives them a series of small, neat twists. In particular, what if the human is the terrifying alien presence, hunting down the POV characters? Cosmic space Tarzan wreaks vengeance, if you will.
I enjoyed this short sci-fi series mostly for its art, which is glowing and kinetic, and for the way it takes some very very familiar sci-fi tropes and gives them a series of small, neat twists. In particular, what if the human is the terrifying alien presence, hunting down the POV characters? Cosmic space Tarzan wreaks vengeance, if you will.
July 1, 2023
In the distant future, or perhaps the past, an alien species that evolves by taking more advanced hosts has captured a small habitat from Earth. They think it's just full of animals. They are wrong.
All Against All is a brutal sci-fi story with a lot to say about where you come from, where you're going, and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there. The conflicting viewpoints from the alien characters play out neatly to some cathartic and unexpected conclusions, while the fight scenes unfold in some spectacular ways as bodies and blows are traded equally as quickly.
This is one of those rare mini-series where I'm entirely satisfied with how everything turned out at the end. The character arcs feel complete, the story feels told. We could revisit them for something new, but I don't think that's necessary. These five issues set out to say something, and they say it well.
Caspar Wijngaard, whose name I can never spell without looking up, does a superb job with the art. I'm used to him on more fanciful books like Angelic or supernatural like Home Sick Pilots, but he did a turn on Doctor Aphra a while back that I'd forgotten about that he clearly draws on for inspiration here. The world of All Against All is vibrant and colourful, even when we're out in the sterile environment of the space ship beyond the habitat.
If you want a complete sci-fi package with social commentary, lovely art, and a satisfying conclusion, All Against All should be your first stop.
All Against All is a brutal sci-fi story with a lot to say about where you come from, where you're going, and what you're willing to sacrifice to get there. The conflicting viewpoints from the alien characters play out neatly to some cathartic and unexpected conclusions, while the fight scenes unfold in some spectacular ways as bodies and blows are traded equally as quickly.
This is one of those rare mini-series where I'm entirely satisfied with how everything turned out at the end. The character arcs feel complete, the story feels told. We could revisit them for something new, but I don't think that's necessary. These five issues set out to say something, and they say it well.
Caspar Wijngaard, whose name I can never spell without looking up, does a superb job with the art. I'm used to him on more fanciful books like Angelic or supernatural like Home Sick Pilots, but he did a turn on Doctor Aphra a while back that I'd forgotten about that he clearly draws on for inspiration here. The world of All Against All is vibrant and colourful, even when we're out in the sterile environment of the space ship beyond the habitat.
If you want a complete sci-fi package with social commentary, lovely art, and a satisfying conclusion, All Against All should be your first stop.
September 26, 2023
I started reading comics/graphic novels just a few days ago, and this was the first one I picked out for myself(wife picked Watchmen for me), and since picking this out I’ve been really excited to read it. I think I had overhyped it in my head, and I had thought about it so much I’d planned out the story in my own head and knew exactly how everything was going to happen. What I read wasn’t what I envisioned. It’s still a good mid-sized read, the art style is really good and I’m a sucker for WIP sketches and doodles, the story is semi-unique - I’m sure I’ve seen other media with the same sort of neurolink type dealio, but this was a refreshing way of showing it.
I enjoyed the lead up to this series, the searching around town for the first issue, the getting a signed TPB, the thinking and obsessing over it, the taking it off the shelf to read it. I think that’s why it’s not a 5 star unfortunately. I’d overhyped this book for the last few days and the story was just not the one I wanted it to be, I blew my load far too early so to speak, and the act of reading wasn’t as good as the foreplay.
This is a good series, it flows very well and it’s not a hard read. I will return to this series in a few months time, when I have more titles under my belt and I will update my review then, as for now I’d recommend picking this one up and going into it blind and without overthinking it beforehand.
I enjoyed the lead up to this series, the searching around town for the first issue, the getting a signed TPB, the thinking and obsessing over it, the taking it off the shelf to read it. I think that’s why it’s not a 5 star unfortunately. I’d overhyped this book for the last few days and the story was just not the one I wanted it to be, I blew my load far too early so to speak, and the act of reading wasn’t as good as the foreplay.
This is a good series, it flows very well and it’s not a hard read. I will return to this series in a few months time, when I have more titles under my belt and I will update my review then, as for now I’d recommend picking this one up and going into it blind and without overthinking it beforehand.
September 24, 2023
This was a fun mini-series with a unique science fiction concept detailing the story of a group of parasitic aliens trying to delve into the mystery of the destructive nature of humanity on the backdrop of their own ongoing war.
Alex Paknadel isn't an author that I was familiar with so I came into this without expecting anything, but his style was quite enjoyable. I liked his use of different viewpoint characters while trying to establish the world building through their perspectives rather than info dump. The story was an interesting one with some messages regarding the consequence of violence and war.
The artist Caspar Wijngaard is also someone new for me, and I am definitely going to be on the lookout for his work in the future after my first exposure. His unique and unorthodox character and background designs, and masterful depiction of the action sequences were really able to drive home the visceral nature of the story.
Interesting concept, fresh storytelling and vividly imaginative drawing kept me turning the pages rather quickly on this one as I kept intrigued about the twist to come. 4 out of 5 stars from me.
For more reviews and stuff check out my blog -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com/
Alex Paknadel isn't an author that I was familiar with so I came into this without expecting anything, but his style was quite enjoyable. I liked his use of different viewpoint characters while trying to establish the world building through their perspectives rather than info dump. The story was an interesting one with some messages regarding the consequence of violence and war.
The artist Caspar Wijngaard is also someone new for me, and I am definitely going to be on the lookout for his work in the future after my first exposure. His unique and unorthodox character and background designs, and masterful depiction of the action sequences were really able to drive home the visceral nature of the story.
Interesting concept, fresh storytelling and vividly imaginative drawing kept me turning the pages rather quickly on this one as I kept intrigued about the twist to come. 4 out of 5 stars from me.
For more reviews and stuff check out my blog -
http://ihate00critics.blogspot.com/
July 25, 2023
An interesting graphic novel I wasn't destined to like from the first few pages, but once settled down and finding things about it I was on board. Some post-apocalyptical Earth has being visited and harvested by aliens, that seem to be in some space war, and intent on finding all they can about all the 'alien' species to nudge their success a little away from Pyrrhic. Davros then is a kind of Dr Moreau – doing sh*t to critters to find something biological, as opposed to Dalek, to fight his battles. But what is key to the story is the fact something is still alive as a remnant from a previous visit to Earth…
That's not say things are exactly clear from then on. Some of the artwork likes its painterly style too much to prove to us what is happening – it's clear from the start the semi-humanoid aliens need all their individual colour fonts for us to tell their speech from each other's. The book however remains an interesting take on the old trope of scientific mind versus military-industrial, and I guess there's a bit about family and innate nature in there too. It's not brilliant – far from it, but worth a look perhaps. Also, worth three and a half stars.
That's not say things are exactly clear from then on. Some of the artwork likes its painterly style too much to prove to us what is happening – it's clear from the start the semi-humanoid aliens need all their individual colour fonts for us to tell their speech from each other's. The book however remains an interesting take on the old trope of scientific mind versus military-industrial, and I guess there's a bit about family and innate nature in there too. It's not brilliant – far from it, but worth a look perhaps. Also, worth three and a half stars.
December 7, 2025
This comic kicks ass. Epic sci-fi story. It's centered around parasitic bodyjacking aliens called the Operators - who are surprisingly anthropomorphized and humanized given the traditional tropes around that type of species - and their efforts to research Earth-based lifeforms recovered from the Svalbard seed vault, the Operators having discovered a long-destroyed Earth in the recent past. One of them, a human boy named Helpless, proves gruesomely troublesome to manage, especially as more militaristic Operators arrive to cause problems.
Gorgeous art by Caspar Wijngaard, solid writing from Alex Paknadel - I feel like the characterization lacks depth across the board, but this is not really the kind of story where you need or even want that kind of in depth character work. What we have is sufficient, you're here for the murder show, and you get the murder show.
Helpless is sick as fuck - he's like Tarzan or Spear from Primal, and serves a kind of reverse-Yautja role. Cov'n, the militarist general guy, is a great scenery-chewing villain, with a great design.
9/10, A-. Recommended for fans of Primal or Scavengers Reign. Great, gruesome sci-fi comic.
Gorgeous art by Caspar Wijngaard, solid writing from Alex Paknadel - I feel like the characterization lacks depth across the board, but this is not really the kind of story where you need or even want that kind of in depth character work. What we have is sufficient, you're here for the murder show, and you get the murder show.
Helpless is sick as fuck - he's like Tarzan or Spear from Primal, and serves a kind of reverse-Yautja role. Cov'n, the militarist general guy, is a great scenery-chewing villain, with a great design.
9/10, A-. Recommended for fans of Primal or Scavengers Reign. Great, gruesome sci-fi comic.
July 30, 2023
Interesting enough concept, but gets boring quite quickly. A version of a post-apocalyptic Earth is the landing spot for some aliens who think the planet is mostly inhabited by animals. The aliens, known as Operators, take on a parasitic role and inhabit some of the most dangerous beasts on the planet leading to some pretty vicious sequences. The story itself cools off after the entertaining first issue to really tell an underwhelming story involving various motivations around the conquest of the Earth along with some pretty uninteresting bits of world building. The real draw for All Against All is Caspar Wijngaard's energetic and vibrant artwork, which creates some pretty breathtaking compositions. While there are times where the linework does get a little busy looking, the overall product looks very dynamic.
September 24, 2023
This one was pretty cool. It's about an alien race that pulls traits out of races it comes across. They've come across a long ago destroyed Earth and found one of the seed vaults that exist. From that they've grown habitats to explore what they pluck from the DNA of Earth organisms. This race is like Krang from TMNT. They are little jellyfish creatures who take over other bodies. I like how each issue approaches the story from another angle, one of the various characters. I like how this mutates into something of a horror movie as well. Great stuff. I love how humans play a part in the story as well.
Wingaard's art is gorgeous. Full of these pastel blues and pinks that give you the feel of an alien world. This guy is one to watch out for.
Wingaard's art is gorgeous. Full of these pastel blues and pinks that give you the feel of an alien world. This guy is one to watch out for.
October 28, 2023
Read in single issues - a very good sci-fi book overall
This is a an interesting story set out in a distant future, about aliens who are able to use the bodies of other species as hosts and modify them to take advantage of their characteristics. The aliens are quite advanced in terms of technology, and are currently fighting a war against un unnamed enemy. The plot follows a scientist who leads a research station meant to identify new and better hosts, and the military who come to check out what he has for them. And the biggest thing on this station, are the remnants of Earth, including a now adult human, presumably the last one of its kind, which makes an attractive candidate for the military to use as host. Aside from the main action, the book also dives into some ideas about civilization, parenthood and primal instincts, which make for an even more interesting read.
The art is really special, weird lines but not too hard to follow, with some interesting coloring. May not be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it.
This is a an interesting story set out in a distant future, about aliens who are able to use the bodies of other species as hosts and modify them to take advantage of their characteristics. The aliens are quite advanced in terms of technology, and are currently fighting a war against un unnamed enemy. The plot follows a scientist who leads a research station meant to identify new and better hosts, and the military who come to check out what he has for them. And the biggest thing on this station, are the remnants of Earth, including a now adult human, presumably the last one of its kind, which makes an attractive candidate for the military to use as host. Aside from the main action, the book also dives into some ideas about civilization, parenthood and primal instincts, which make for an even more interesting read.
The art is really special, weird lines but not too hard to follow, with some interesting coloring. May not be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it.
April 14, 2025
Its funny how humans imagine aliens in their own image and behavioral likenesses. We just assume any intelligent beings would be self destructive and violent. And whats worse is that we think ourselves intelligent! The pride of a thinking monkey is unexplainable. We cant even imagine outside ourselves.
But anyway back to this book.
Fairly crude and common story, however interesting concept. No likable characters and not comprehensible structure or story plot. To top it all off it was written in a wordy Shakespearian fashion. On the upside the writers ego or laziness kept the story short, either way i am grateful for that.
2.8✨🔝
But anyway back to this book.
Fairly crude and common story, however interesting concept. No likable characters and not comprehensible structure or story plot. To top it all off it was written in a wordy Shakespearian fashion. On the upside the writers ego or laziness kept the story short, either way i am grateful for that.
2.8✨🔝
May 29, 2023
[3.3]
Imaginative both in art and world building. I liked the way the world was presented throughout. Bit by bit we understand it and it's inhabitants better. The same goes for the characters and their relationships. New and interesting take on the "Aliens".
Though the story and art meshed well together, the art, and mostly the coloring, is what stands out. A unique style with neon/pastel colors was a treat to look at, and makes for really presentable covers on the shelf. I mean, just look at that first cover (same as the TPB). Beautiful.
Imaginative both in art and world building. I liked the way the world was presented throughout. Bit by bit we understand it and it's inhabitants better. The same goes for the characters and their relationships. New and interesting take on the "Aliens".
Though the story and art meshed well together, the art, and mostly the coloring, is what stands out. A unique style with neon/pastel colors was a treat to look at, and makes for really presentable covers on the shelf. I mean, just look at that first cover (same as the TPB). Beautiful.
November 26, 2023
Com desenhos e cores bastante atrativos, esta nova BD da Image chamou-me a atenção pela sua conjetura. Tão engraçada como trágica, o personagem Helpless (Desamparado) faz lembrar o Tarzan, embora a selva aqui tenha sido preservada pelos aliens que a mantiveram intocável durante muito tempo. Imaginem aliens a invadir a selva e imaginem o que Tarzan faria para a defender. No entanto, estes aliens são bastante peculiares e com dicotomias interessantes. Gostei bastante.
May 21, 2024
love the subversion of the trope of a parasitic alien preying on humans to be a human preying on parasitic aliens....really great concept! i kind of wish this had been a bit longer so that there could have been more exploration of some of the relationships and the worldbuilding...but enjoyed it way more than expected...i feel bad for not picking this one up in single issues like i did w home sick pilots but the more explicitly sci fi setting intimidated me lol
August 3, 2024
Unusual sci-fi comic series and quite enjoyable.
Difficult to describe, this series is really about conflict between an alien race and the remnants of ours. The characters are reasonably well-developed, even if a bit stereotypical. The artwork works although I prefer more detailed and precise illustrations. It’s a worthwhile read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Difficult to describe, this series is really about conflict between an alien race and the remnants of ours. The characters are reasonably well-developed, even if a bit stereotypical. The artwork works although I prefer more detailed and precise illustrations. It’s a worthwhile read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 27, 2025
All Against All is great sci fi with very striking art to match. I appreciate that the reader is responsible for connecting the dots, the creators fully commit to the concept, and there are some interesting commentaries on nature, survival, and technology. It was a bit too violent for my taste but I appreciate the story and how much the creators did in five issues - it’s more than some accomplish in five volumes.
June 2, 2024
Uniquely alien in its concept and art, this single volume comic features only one human character in a post-humanity universe. Despite this all of the emotional moments are landed with expertise, drawing the reader into a world with empathy for the alien, the other. A really excellent book, would recommend to anyone wanting something different and otherworldly whilst also human at its core.
August 6, 2023
Interesting story, you don't usually see the humans be the hunters in these types of narratives. Alien harvesting to create a superior being goes awry, and it's survival of the fittest. Colorful and dynamic art as well. If I dug this a little more it might have been memorable.
October 11, 2023
Although at times the storytelling (both art & script) in this self-contained tale can feel a bit muddled it's a brutal story of alien experimentation on a dead Earth where the lone central human 'Hopeless' survives against the odds whilst a whirlwind of inter-galactic war rages ever closer...
April 21, 2023
Not half as good as people said it is
July 27, 2023
3.5 Stars.
Review submitted to Diamond Bookshelf for professional publication.
Review submitted to Diamond Bookshelf for professional publication.
September 25, 2023
Intéressante lecture accompagnée de magnifiques illustrations par Casper Wijngaard ^^
October 11, 2023
Ridiculously good sci-fi
January 3, 2024
Art was great.
First three issues were outstanding. Bit of a drop in the last two as the physical confrontation begins.
Really enjoyed this.
Give it a go.
First three issues were outstanding. Bit of a drop in the last two as the physical confrontation begins.
Really enjoyed this.
Give it a go.
January 9, 2024
Estéticamente, una pasada. La idea, genial. El desarrollo, no gracias.
January 11, 2025
Short book. Punchy. There is no filler at all. Every alien character has been sketched in rich detail which I loved.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews