Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Julius Ohta
Colorist: Yen Nitro
Cover Artist: Bjorn Barends
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The legendary military unit of human synthetics called Steel Team were sent to retrieve something for the Company. But it all went downhill once they delved into the depths of the ruined planet Tobler-9. However, even then the planet keeps surprising the military unit as they discover living humans. Check out Alien #3 to see how these humans have been living on the planet while Steel Team figures out their next move.
Review:
Previously, the series established that Tobler-9 was devastated to the point no humans can survive on it, and lo and behold there are still humans on it scraping by their existence. The comic’s main focus for this issue is really on the interactions between the synthetic soldiers of Steel Team – some of them anyway – and the human survivors. There’s not a lot of action in this issue, but there is some interesting build up that’s peppered throughout the issue.
Admittedly, this issue is a little boring. Not because there’s no fighting but because all of the main chunk of this comic is just people talking to each other, and most of it is not always that interesting or at least the conversation could’ve been engaging but it never does. None of the human survivors are that interesting or compelling, their leader doesn’t do much for this reviewer. The explanation behind their survival is both competent yet vague enough to let readers at least have some idea of how they survived everything.
The other objective is to show the differing perspectives of certain members of Steel Team and their views on humans. This is important due to one particular scene that I won’t spoil here, but it lets you know enough about the specific member of Steel Team and where they stand on things. However, it’s not too long before the survivors’ leader helps Steel Team reach their objective which happens to be in a Xenomorph nest. The comic knows how to resolve the current story while setting the stage for the next issue.
The art by Julius Ohta with Yen Nitro’s colors continue to impress as the artwork slows things down to match the more casual tone of the comic. One thing Ohta does well is depict the human faces with a range of clear facial expressions that properly evoke a specific feeling or emotions. This sounds by the book for art and comic book artwork, but Ohta’s art is a major step up from most at Marvel Comics.
Final Thoughts:
Alien #3 follows up on the cliffhanger from the last issue as Steel Team is saved by human survivors. This issue takes thing down a notch and has a slower and more casual tone to it, with a good chunk of the story centered on discussions and the interactions between a couple members of Steel Team with the human survivors. However, the comic picks up near the end and sets the stage for the next issue.