Alien: Dead Orbit – Out of This World Horro
What do you get when you blend the magnificent and horrifying universe of the Alien franchise with stellar story writing and illustrations? Exactly what you’d expect.
Alien: Dead Orbit released in 2017 is an outstanding example of an iteration of popular media and what true fans of a series can conjure up when given the opportunity to do so.
This comic brings all the nightmarish wonder of the cult classic films and adds an artistic flare that makes the dreaded Xenomorphs just as terrifying as their televised counterparts.
Released by Dark Horse Comics and written, illustrated, colored and lettered by James Stokoe [@stokhole], Alien: Dead Orbit follows a crew living in a fuel depot/waystation in a secluded part of space. Titled the ‘Sphacteria’, this waystation and its crew is invaded by the deadly Xenomorph that catalysis a series of event that has Wascylewski, an engineer run, hide, and do all he can in to survive multiple near-death moments and captures.
Alien: Dead Orbit is told in media res, meaning the first and last few pages of the comic book occur after the events of the story. This method creates a sense of enticement that has you reading every page in anticipation, encouraging you to piece together the story internally leading you up to its pinnacle moments.
The true beauty of this comic, alongside its great narrative, is the artwork. Truly capturing the terrifying aspects of the franchise, the visuals on show create an unprecedented feeling of suffocation and tension. Melting together a perfect blend of sci-fi and horror the comic book not only stays true to the source material but also expands on it, exploring even further into an otherworldly and futuristic aesthetic that we are used to seeing.
