Boy, DC and Dark Horse didn't exactly sit on their laurels when it came to getting another crossover on the stands. Fortunately, their collaborations -- bringing iconic super-heroes and movie properties together -- often make for entertaining reading, and the first issue of this new series maintains that trend. Still, I found I was looking for something edgier when it came to the visuals.
A construction crew uncovers something odd: an underground laboratory contained within reinforced steel. Strange machinery and a dead man lay within... as does a creature that exists only to kill. The Batman happens upon the aftermath, and he's disturbed to see some familiar signs. He's encountered such creatures before, in a faraway country, and he's horrified to discover the same threat has made its way to Gotham City.
Johnson tells the story clearly, and there's a strong Tom Grummett influence at play in his work here. But his style just doesn't capture the darkness and atmosphere of foreboding that are integral parts of a good Aliens story. The Aliens themselves are colored an oddly light grey at several points throughout the story, and I found I missed the opal-black look they usually exhibit. I did, however, enjoy Wright's choice of colors for the Antarctic flashback sequences.
Edginton's script does an excellent job of conveying the Aliens' elusive and instictually devious nature. Obviously, they're physically superior to the Batman, but Edginton hints that on some level, their slyness and resourcefulness can give the Dark Knight a run for his money as well. It makes for an interesting conflict.
I was also pleased to find that the script is an accessible one. Edginton doesn't assume the reader caught the first Batman/Aliens series, and even fills those who might have missed the movies in on what the Aliens are all about. I was a bit puzzled as to why this story is set several years in the past -- around the time of Superman's death. Perhaps Edginton is hinting that turning to an ally in Metropolis is not an option for Batman, but it's not clear.
This latest DC/Dark Horse crossover comes on the heels of Superman/Aliens 2: God War. That one was published by Dark Horse, and they showed that the more expensive prestige format isn't necessary to tell an entertaining super-hero/movie-monster story. I wish DC would just use a less expensive, more conventional format for these stories... especially when the potential to reach a wider, non-comics-reading audience is there.
