Planet Death #0 is a heavy metal trailer to this summer’s upcoming blood and guts, power armor and big-ass guns blockbuster comic from writers Derek Kolstad and Robert Venditti and artists Tomas Giorello and Dave Stewart. The plot is simple: a group of human soldiers land on an alien planet to destroy a mysterious weapon and face incredible resistance while one of their own is being held hostage by the extraterrestrials. In this preview issue, Kolstad and Venditti don’t weigh the reader down with exposition or heavy world-building, but dive straight into the action giving a glimpse of what to expect in future issues.
Giorello’s line art and Stewart’s brash color palette are the stars of Planet Death #0. Most of the comic uses wide screen compositions with the occasional inset panel to show the details of the soldiers being literally welded into their power armor or reactions to the carnage from the human soldiers before they die gruesome deaths. Stewart’s color choices are like a blast from one of the soldiers’ rifles: green, orange, and red exploding. Coupled with Tom Napolitano special effects lettering, this is a comic that knows it’s a comic and not an illustrated screenplay for an upcoming sci-fi blockbuster. (Planet Death would make a great, expensive movie though.) In fact, the details in Tomas Giorello and Dave Stewart’s visuals are what populates this brave new fictional universe with Kolstad and Venditti keeping their text spare and additive. Each caption box adds to the feeling of unease as a battalion of highly trained, tech enhanced soldiers are about to go to their deaths.
The goal of Planet Death #0 is to set up the unstoppable force that the protagonist of the book must face to complete his mission. There are multiple pages of well-trained and well-armed space marine-type fighters attacking the planet, but they’re no match for the denizens of Planet Death. Heavy casualties is an understatement, and the results are like if the Rebels in Star Wars did a full frontal assault on the Death Star instead of finding an exhaust port shaped opening for a farm boy in a single fighter. The poses and multiplicity of splash page type image reminds me of early Image Comics (And Planet Death is apparently the best-selling single issue comic since Brandon Choi and Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S. #1.), but Giorello is both a strong storyteller and creator of posters that would look cool in your local metalhead’s living room. There is an air of futility to the events of Planet Death #0 that hook you in like dying in an early level of a video game and wanting to come back and try harder next time. I’m really rooting for these space marines to take out these aliens, but hopefully, I’ll learn more about both sides’ motivations or psyches in the upcoming series. But as long as there’s kick-ass fight scenes, bring it on!
Planet Death #0 sets up a grim, violent military sci-fi yarn with overwhelming odds and well-choreographed action and compelling vehicle and weapon designs from Tomas Giorello. It doesn’t reinvent the genre by any means, but synthesizes its influences and leans on the visual shock and awe of the comics to make for fun, yet harrowing summer read.
Story: Derek Kolstad and Robert Venditti Art: Tomas Giorello
Colors: Dave Stewart Letters: Tom Napolitano
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.9 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy
Bad Idea provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Midtown Comics – Third Eye Comics
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