Chances are if you work in comic news, follow comic announcements, or have been to a convention this year, you’ve heard of Planet Death. And for good reason: Not only does this series mark the comics debut of Derek Kolstad, who’s best known for penning the John Wick films, but it also is the first major effort from Bad Idea to start selling comics worldwide. Having read through Planet Death #0, there’s a strong chance that it’ll succeed.
Planet Death‘s setup is simple: a group of elite soldiers are mounting a mission to invade an alien planet and destroy a deadly superweapon. But what they didn’t count on was that the planet is filled to the brim with alien soldiers, all of whom bring a new definition to the term “armed and dangerous”. Very soon, the entire human battalion is slaughtered – save for one singular soldier.
Kolstad and co-writer Robert Vendetti keep Planet Death #0 moving at a steady clip, setting up the necessary elements to make its story sing. True to their previous work, there’s plenty of bloody action to keep readers engaged, and a sci-fi setting that feels unique. But at 19 pages, it feels a little on the short side. Granted, this is a zero issue and those tend to be mostly setup for a series, but I’d have liked an extra page or two delving further into the aliens, because I’m genuinely intrigued to see more of that world and the weapon it’s hiding.
Bad Idea
The main draw of Planet Death #0 is Tomas Giorello’s artwork, which paints an expansive sci-fi universe. I mean that quite literally: Giorello favors wide, sweeping shots that display a variety of images. Inside the human army’s ships, soldiers rest until they’re bolted into massive suits of armor. Another spash page features alien soldiers of all shapes and sizes, their purple skin and blazing red eyes making them a horrifying sight to witness. The final page contains a massive shot of a spaceship, which literally fills the panel and gives off an ominous vibe.
Rounding out the creative team is Dave Stewart on colors and Tom Napolitano on letters. Stewart’s palette is immediately recognizable; he brings a sickly green hue to the alien’s world, and a foreboding black to the depths of space. Napolitano delivers a distinct difference between the alien and human soldiers, with the alien’s words placed inside of acid green boxes and featuring distorted letters while the human narration takes place inside a steely blue box and stands out thanks to the bolded words.
Planet Death #0 establishes a solid base for its story, thanks to a steady pace and gnarly artwork. Time will tell if it’s a series that can stand shoulder to shoulder with sci-fi epics like Saga or Black Science, but the creative team is definitely aiming to deliver a blockbuster in comic form.
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