Piecemaker is the second trade from Checker Books collecting the second Alien Legion series, which was a cult favorite from the 90s. I enjoyed the first trade quite a bit, although it does show its age, and the same is true of this material. The stories collected herein are mostly standalone, with one two-parter the exception, and they seem to be mostly about one-off plots with a modicum of characterization, rather than the character-focused stories that dominant the medium these days. Though Stroman's modern output is relatively sparse these days, both Dixon and Farmer have become go-to guys for the industry, and looking at the solid offerings in this trade, it's easy to see why.
Alien Legion is one of those "high concept" books, easily explained as "the foreign legion in space." Dixon took this concept and used it as a reason to explore an ensemble cast and a variety of different war type situations, most of which could have worked as a regular war story but are given space trappings. The central conflicts are easy to relate to, often relating to bad family relationships, forgotten weapons of war and old grudges. History is central to the stories in Piecemaker, but it's history that exists in the characters' backstory rather than in previous issues, making these very accessible stories.
In handling such a large cast and giving the whole thing an alien twist, Dixon used a few simple tricks. The most notable is the use of different accents or strange speaking modes for his characters. While it did keep them distinctive, I began to find it very artificial and sometimes actually annoying. The entire issue narrated by Meico, the medic who talks like Yoda, got to be a bit thick to wade through, and in retrospect, Jugger Grimrod's tough-speak looks like a forced attempt at making him seem like the badass of the group. He was clearly a fan-favorite of the time, the equivalent of Wolverine or Cable in their time, but I've found a real distaste for those character types in general that carried over to Jugger, unfortunate since the spotlight began to shift onto him in this trade.
While the writing on the book is aimed at single stories in terms of keeping the plots contained within one issue, the character relationships did grow and build across the run of the book. Because accessibility was generally a bigger watchword and a stronger skill when Alien Legion was being produced, the characterization is not as deep, as Dixon winds up having to restate his case for each character in each issue. However, the undercurrent of the book is definitely a strongly developed ensemble cast, with a special focus on the renegade Jugger Grimrod, the stern leader Sarigar, the by-the-book second officer Torie and the old soldier Zeerod. This is a solid cast, and it's easy to develop a fondness for them through the character moments that shine through the action.
However, it is action that drives the book, unsurprising given Dixon's general style and the genre of the book. Stroman and Farmer serve up some big and exciting antagonists, ranging from the ever-popular giant aquatic worm to an enormous robotic war machine to several dangerous squads of mercenaries. There's plenty of shooting, hand-to-hand fighting and explosions to be found in these pages, and while the color looks a little dated, the artwork certainly holds up.
