A great horror/sci-fi tale about a crew that finds themselves investigating a signal coming from an unknown planet. This is not the most original premise, but the plot continually kept me wanting to find out what going to happen next, even if most of the characters felt interchangeable and bland. The art style and coloring are both outstanding and everything was just the right amount of gross that it needed to be for this story.

Cullen Bunn and Andy MacDonald's new science fiction horror comic Rogue Planet is yes, a bit derivative, but it's too well-written and gorgeously illustrated for the casual science fiction/horror fan to enjoy. Yes, it's contains familiar beats and story-arcs but it is done so well. Fans of the Alien franchise will enjoy this one. If anything MacDonald's art carries the story as there are some truly amazing and disturbing visionary scenes.

Reading Rogue Planet was similar to reading through the rulebook for the tabletop role-playing game, Mothership. This is a big compliment as this graphic novel is heavily thematic with sci-fi horror elements - and everything that comes with the theme: hopelessness, fear, gore, exploration, hope. The story is gripping, in fact, I almost brought my laptop to bed with me late last night so I could continue reading it. The artwork, however, is where Rogue Planet shines. The artists each have a very impressive resume, including Marvel's Doctor Strange and Loki (Andy MacDonald) and the Umbrella Academy and Nightwing (Nich Filardi).

If you're a fan of the sci-fi horror genre, then Rogue Planet belongs on your shelf.

I received an e-Galley ARC of Rogue Planet, written by Cullen Bunn, drawn by Andy Macdonald and Nick Filardi, and lettered by Crank!, from NetGalley and the publisher Oni Press. My honest review follows below, freely given; I am thankful for the opportunity.

I rated this graphic novel 3 stars. The cover grabbed my attention on NetGalley, space and killer tentacles had me sold. It was a pleasant surprise to find this was a one off, the whole story complete; I hadn’t paid that much attention when requesting it, I was just excited.

I enjoyed reading through this once. The colour scheme was vibrant, there were hints at an interesting world build, and several of the illustrations shared the covers grabbing intensity. As the story ended I felt let down by it; the explanation made sense but as a watered down version. If ‘A’ was possible, then ‘B’ ‘C’ and ‘D’ would have been as well and should have been included, not completely absent from the story line.

If you like sci-fi or outer space comics this is the one for you.
Expert artwork and an exciting story to keep you reading.

I received this free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

3.5 stars

This was strange story that I enjoyed, for the most part. The crew of a salvage vessel end up on a planet that they intend to pilfer for whatever they can find. What they didn’t expect to find was a planet that could physically manifest the fears in your mind. This of course leads to death and some gore and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I didn’t really care for the ending. I understood it but it also felt a little contrived and a little preachy which feels like it comes completely out of nowhere. I would still recommend if you enjoy sci-fi/horror graphic novels.

I received an ARC copy of Rogue Planet from Netgalley in return for an honest review. Rogue Planet is a sci-fi horror story. I enjoyed it, but it didn't wow me.

Positives
I enjoyed the aesthetic of this book. The spaceship and its interior seem influenced by the Nostromo from Alien. Similarly, the arrival of humans on an alien inhabited planet that goes pear-shaped bears more resemblance to Aliens or Prometheus. The world-building in this book is very light outside this specific planet, but I did get similar vibes of late capitalism in space as with the Aliens universe. As the horror in space combination is something I like, this book worked for me.

I read comics for the art, so I'm always going to have a soft spot for books that nail that aspect even if the writing is not brilliant. Rogue Planet definitely scratches the itch for art (with some minor quibbles), particularly the covers.

Although most of the story didn't blow me away (see below), the reveal of the mystery at the end was a definite highlight. I'm not sure I would call it a twist, but it was creative regardless.

Negatives
The pacing for this seems a bit off. The characters drop down onto the planet and are immediately beset by horrors. I would've preferred a slow burn on revealing the horror aspects. I usually lean towards those stories that amp up the tension by hiding the monster for most of story, rather than those that reveal the monster early on and then rely on it to carry the horror element by itself. It's rare that the monster-revealed is as terrifying as the monster imagined. In this instance, we have a lot that happens/is revealed in Issue #1.

The general story is well-worn and with the exception of the reveal, I don't think this did much new. This doesn't bother me too much, but I would call it a negative. My bigger complaint is more that the characters have left little to no lasting impact. I don't think I could name a single one. Admittedly, that's also true for the majority of players in other horror works.

I said I loved the art, but I will say that certain representations of the antagonists fell flat. They just look like bunches of intestines. Would have preferred something a bit different.

Conclusion
I loved the art and overall aesthetic, but the writing and characters could have been better.

Rating: 3.5

A unique and fast-paced Graphic novel that really combined horror, sci-fi, paranormal, & cult.
Following the adventure of a crew landing on an orphan planet, they discover mountains of destroyed ships and bodies surrounding a terrifying monster. Like a domino effect paranoia and horror follows in surprising twists as each crewmember faces death.
I think this would be excellent as a novel and for the lore and plot dived into more because even though I thought it was good, I would love more explanation about why everything happened and how it all came to be.

I was given an ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rogue Planet is an interesting horror/sci-fi story. It reminds me of the video game, Dead Space. It's just as creepy as the game. It also has beautiful artwork. I read it in one sitting and highly recommend it.

A nice, quick horror, sci-fi comic read. The illustrations are fantastic. I felt it was a little short, but the story was great. Just a lot of characters and a lot of action in a short amount of pages,

sooooo interesting! I love the concept and the plot and the writing. I hope everyone reads it and loves it.

There were places this one could've gone and been good but the characters were unlikable for one while also barely getting time to get enough personality to let us like them. The whole story was basically the played out cliched random spaceship goes in search of a distress signal and finds monsters thing. It's been done before, and better.

I wouldn't recommend it, honestly, the whole thing felt rushed and I just didn't enjoy this much at all.

Maybe if it was more than one volume the story could be decent but it doesn't seem to be so it's all in all a missed opportunity. The stars are mostly for the monster design, which was the best part of the whole book.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This was pretty great! It didn't make as much sense as it could've, but in the end it all tied together rather nicely. The art, and colours in particular, were beautiful which was a huge plus for me. That and the fast-paced action was what really kept me wanting to read more

I liked the sprinkling of characterisation that was given as it could've easily just been gore and plot. There was a nice mix of characters, perhaps too many that I didn't actually keep track of some of them and they extra crew members should've just been cut, but the ones that were important stood out.

So, all in all, a good comic and an enjoyable read!

Only so-so. There wasn’t anything that really made me think “cool” or “this is awesome” it seemed like they simply wanted to mash up a bunch of popular movies and fell short. The alien thing that was killing the people was pretty lame, why did it have random eyes and teeth? The art was okay for the most part but probably could have been better and the story felt really flat.

This is a science fiction story with cosmic horror elements. I think its a good story but the characters are plain and unrelatable. I think the resolution would be much more shocking if it would have been explained not with dialogues but with some kind of graphic narrative.

I'm torn between giving this a 3.5 and a 4.
This was imaginative but it feels like the storytelling potential was on a need to know basis. There's the space crews "zom-modes" where their implants control them but nothing seems to go into further depth about them. I mean what's the point of it? The only reason I can think of is the parallels where a space monster controls the bodies it's composed of like puppets.

The aliens that start up a cult genuinely look terrifying with how the practice sacrifice. There's significance when it comes to how the antagonist acts in regards to fear, but more frustrating questions come up in response.

Then there's the main antagonist, all of the casts' general fears and desires are manifesting in reaction to some eldritch monster. Both characters and readers are genuinely confused as things go along and they learn more about what happens.

If anything this feels more like an experiment for Cullen Bunn to tackle more diverse genres and stories than get complacent. It's an admirable trait sure but I hope that this leads to more developments on Bunn's part.

I really enjoyed Rogue Planet!

The first few pages depicted a pretty brutal scene that was quite shocking. I absolutely love the artwork. The characters are very distinct and the scenery and backgrounds are beautifully drawn and coloured.

Plot-wise, Rogue Planet gives a new take on the backstory of the space horror genre. I do not want to give too much away, but I will say that although Rogue Planet's plot has similar events to many space horror stories, it gives a different reasoning for why the current events are taking place as well as how they will be affecting the future of the characters in it.

I wish the story had been longer. Even if it had been broken into parts, I would have liked to get to know the characters better to empathise with them and their situation.

The plot felt a little rushed to me and it seemed that the characters suddenly jumped to out-of-the-blue but ultimately correct explanations for what was happening to and around them. They also had some fairly underwhelming reactions when coming up on one of the more shocking discoveries a crew could make on a new planet, assuming that the world of the story did not already include humans being aware of sentient extraterrestrial species.

Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 2.5/5 stars

Here we have your perennial vessel arriving to a new, mysterious planet, the crew a bunch of rogue characters with a mission to accomplish. Of course, weird things start to happen and members of the crew start to get into complicated situations...

"Rogue Planet" is another one of those, what will we find here?, sure nothing dangerous' stories, a sci-fi genre that can be a lot of fun if done well, even if there is little else to be said about surprising encounters in the dark. And the story has some things going for it: action, deaths, a mystery, some mysterious cult... However, there are some shortcomings that can't be overlooked. First, the story is too rushed, going from A to B to C with little time for the reader to empathize with the characters. Who is in danger? We don't care, because no one has the chance to have their background well developed. This, of course, impacts the story too, with the random events given little time to keep the tension, the mystery, before some other event happens right away or a not very well developed explanation is thrown into the mix. That is particular clear with the pay off, the ending a little bit of a letdown.. Also, for a horror-in-space kind of story, it is not particularly scary, and, sadly, we have read (or seen or played) everything that happens here a thousand times before. That doesn't mean "Rogue Planet" is bad, it just means that it doesn't have that special thing that makes it connect with the reader.

The art is good, but sometimes the color palette was too extreme for my taste. The characters are well drawn, very different between themselves, but with so little time to develop them, it is all for nothing. The world, on the other hand, could have had more variety in backgrounds and in color palette. Some of the big vignettes are a little bit repetitive, too.

"Rogue Planet" is fun enough, but it doesn't have anything to make it stand out of the crowd.

Just really did not feel like this book did anything for me. The art and body horror were interesting. But I really struggled to get into this story and do not even understand the ending.

“Rogue Planet” is quite interesting but the story feels like its been done before. The book has a few plot holes that if addressed would maybe make justice to the amazing art.