DEAD SPACE
April 25th 2011 04:55
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Image Comics
Production Team: Anthony Johnston – writer, Ben Templesmith – artist, Rus Wooton - letterer
This particular work I picked up at the very first cosplay event held at the local library in my humble hometown quite some while ago. When I got it home I put it down with every intention of giving it a good read and reviewing…problem was when I looked around for it I couldn’t remember where the heck I’d put it. That was quite a while back, at least two years if memory serves me correctly. Anyhow the other day I was looking around for something to do with my accounting homework and instead of that I came across this…a vergence in the force perhaps?
In a work like this using this particular shtick though is obligatory, the subject matter demands it. Dead Space as far as its background goes looks very similar to Alien, a future where mankind has managed to go beyond its home system but there are hidden elements, hidden dangers not only just from what be out there but also amongst humanity itself. Much of what happens in Dead Space seems to be touched by the influence of a group calling themselves the Unitologists.
To the Unitologists this is their version of a Holy Grail or Turin shroud and unfortunately for everyone concerned regardless of their particular faith this thing has truly lethal consequences, its impact is very much like death itself; indiscriminate. As a foulness shall ye know Them…certainly rotting corpses being brought to life in the most monstrous way is as foul as you can get but wait there is more. Once these corpses start on their rampage everyone seems to lose the plot and the space ship in orbit above the planet is not taking on any extra passengers in fact its apparently enforcing a no fly zone.
Can anything get worse? Well with Mad Astronaut Syndrome (MAS) yes it can, five shuttles remain in the hangar of the colony yet just one man’s panic causes all that potential for rescue to go right up in lurid, hellfire flames. Paranoia couple with stupidity thus manages to create massive carnage on a scale that the necromorphs are unable to manage but they’re more than likely to profit from regardless. So is all lost on this remote system, has this viral necrotic outbreak wiped the inhabitants from the face of this remote world? That’s the interesting point – this comic is meant to be a tie in with the game so from the way I’m reading things I would say that not everyone ends up dead. Certainly it seems that Neumann one of the protagonists has managed to live long enough to record a log of what has happened…as to his fate who knows?
Actually considering that the victims of the necromorphs end up being transformed into a horrible slavering monstrosity the name Neumann is something of a rather macabre pun. Perhaps his fate is revealed when you play the original game or not as the case may be…certainly it’s an interesting tactic for a game producer to use a comic as a mean to promote its product. But in my opinion it’s a work that relies too much on the fact that the reader is either a person who is about to buy the game involved or has bought and played the game involved, it’s not a work that stands alone outside of the game. My advice is if you’re going to get into the whole Dead Space shtick then this is a comic for you…if like me you’re interested in some sci-fi then you’re better off reading some Mobile Suit Gundam or watching Cowboy Bebop…
| 23 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
