All Against All
A science research spaceship. A well-meaning researcher who oversteps and underestimates the boundaries of his research subjects. An overconfident general who wants to use a biological science project in a war effort. All of these probably sound routine to anyone familiar with the science fiction genre, but these ubiquitous elements come with a big twist in Alex Paknadel and Caspar Wijngaard’s All Against All.
The drop-in: The perspective of an alien race at war. The setup: our protagonists are alien researchers who need genetically-engineered host bodies for their race. After stumbling upon a desolate, dead Earth, and gaining access to a gene vault containing a wide variety of flora and fauna, they then use the samples to set up habitats back on their research ship to determine if any species could be viable hosts (or more accurately, war machines, as we come to find out).
Of course, one of the animals they clone will be the most dangerous of all: A DUDE!
In a nutshell, All Against All is the reason I read comics. This genre- and trope-flipping story would be way too ambitious for a Hollywood outing, but is perfect for this medium. The tension Paknadel builds inside the research ship evokes clear callbacks to the Alien franchise, yet the art from Wijngaard is night and day from the bleak, grimey biomechanical nightmares that H.R. Giger designed for Ridley Scott’s classic.
The story art’s biggest surprise and success is the ‘there’s-something-out-there’ feeling you get, despite the bright and colorful pages - it feels surreal and unique. Normally a story like this would provide plenty of shadows and dark hallways for our monster to hide in, but the world of All Against All is drenched in white and it’s all the better for it. After all, there’s no use obscuring a monster when the monster is you.
If you’re a fan of Alien (uh, duh), Predator (double duh), or even Dune (spicy duh), you’ll find plenty to love in All Against All. I absolutely cannot wait to see how the rest of this five-issue story unfolds.
Writer- ALEX PAKNADEL
Artist - CASPAR WIJNGAARD
Letterer - HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU
Publisher - Image Comics
Rating: 9/10
Reviewed by Andy Vargas