Eight crew on the salvage vessel Cortes track a rogue planet because they believe it to have a large payload. Things don’t go as planned!

The crew members are introduced to the readers as they land on this unknown planet, with five crew venturing out to discover the never named payload. They immediately discover a graveyard of space ships that crash-landed, but that does not detour them, nor the large blobby creature that had multiple lungs, mouth and teeth that looms above them. Strangely, they keep sauntering along looking for their mythical payload. But soon enough this creature attacks them, picking them off one by one and incorporating them into their mass. When they are down to only three crew of the original eight, they try to leave the planet, but soon join the other crashed ships. An alien race who live on this planet are shown worshipping another life-form, with some sort of Genesis plot and sacrifice rituals. The last survivor finds a remaining humanoid from another ship and his hallucinations seem to tie into what is going on, but then the narrative is bookended by the aliens and their rituals that didn’t make sense to me.

The art was solid, and it definitely aimed to have an Alien movie vibe. Saying strange creatures are Lovecraftian is an easy way to describe a certain style of art, and it leaned that way but wasn’t quite there. There was a good variety to the page layouts. The crew members had a nice diversity to them, and the colors really popped. In fact, my pdf version of this graphic novel was the easiest to read online yet and the colors were vivid, which I so appreciated, as online reading is not my preferred method.

Cullen Bunn is an established horror writer, with his Harrow County and Bone Parish being among my favorite graphic novel series. However, this stand-alone story didn’t bring it home for me. While it wasn’t bad, it was cliched and somewhat bland. Not a single character stood out, and the ending confused me. However, Bunn is a favored author of mine, and I was glad to get an early look at this book through NetGalley.

When December hits and I need to meet my reading goal, I tend to hit the graphic novels pretty hard! Rogue Planet was one of the graphic novels I reached for and I’m really happy that I did. Rogue Planet was an extremely quick read and a fun science fiction short story. I really enjoyed the plot but wish that it had been the first in a series and that we got a little bit of a deeper dive into the characters and the planet. If you’re a fan of science fiction and/or graphic novels, Rogue Planet is a good choice for you!

The writing - ⭐⭐⭐
The story - ⭐⭐⭐
The illustrations - ⭐⭐⭐
Overall - ⭐⭐⭐

This was very Alien/Prometheus-esque with a bit of a twist. I enjoyed it, you are thrust straight into the action, the issue i had with it is the amount of explaining they had to do (something that often seems to happen in any sci-fi) to give the reader context.

Fave quote - 'Remember when people used to think space was beautiful? Before interstellar travel every scientist with a 'scope might as well have been a love struck poet. Now though, I realise, they were full of shit.'

Fave moment - The 'Zoms' a form of deep sleep the crew are put into where they are asleep but their bodies still pilot the ship and move around.

Rogue Planet
by Cullen Bunn, Andy MacDonald, Nick Filardi, Crank!
Pub Date: 02 Mar 2021

The art work is very detailed here, more so then I relly expected. I did enjoy the story line as well.

Really cool sci-fi horror book you can finish in one sitting. Great artwork amd great story, although it's not really bringing anything new to the recent sci-fi/horror revival.

Rogue Planet by Cullen Bunn, Andy MacDonald, Nick Filardi is a Sci-Fi graphic novel / comic. The book starts with a bunch of astronauts going into space and suddenly finding an abandoned planet. Salvage vessel Cortes tracks the Lonely Orphan, a planet with no star system to call its own.

The graphic of this book was very harsh. I do not wish to read such Alien rip off books to be honest. The crew did not seem professional at all. The alien or whoever that creepy looking thing on the planet was starts to fight. No time to actually develop the universe in the book.

The crew actually first resembles them as Lungs!! I mean "Are You Serious?" why would you want to call it that. It was gross and not at all entertaining. How did that one crew members disappears and stays back in the rogue planet isn't clear. I did not like this book.
_____

Thank You to NetGalley and Publisher for sending an eARC in exchange for a honest opinion.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Rogue Planet
by Cullen Bunn, Andy MacDonald, Nick Filardi
★★☆☆☆
136 Pages
Content Warning: child sacrifice (alien), sacrifice, death, gore


This story started off with so much potential. It was in deep space, with a mystery, aliens who got on-page dialogue, and horror elements that weren't too gory but added a good atmosphere.
However, I was really disappointed to find that – as the story progressed – it felt like a blend of Alien and Prometheus, with very few original features that made the story stand out.
The big bad scare-factor was too reminiscent of the Alien xenomorphs to be surprising or frightening. And, though the story was about fear and how we create our own nightmares, I was left disappointed at the execution of the plot. Where it should have been psychological horror, it fell flat. I've seen the same concept done, recently, in Strange Skies Over East Berlin, and it had a far greater effect with the original storyline. I think the fact this was one too close to the Alien movies in concept, execution, and style, meant that I was left unimpressed.

I received a copy of this graphic novel through net galley in exchange for an honest review.

I have seen this graphic novel for a while now when I log into net galley and finally decided tonight to give it a chance... mostly because the cover kept sucking my attention to it.

The story was well written, the graphics were amazing, I guess I just felt like they could have brought out the struggle and the fear a little more.

Everything moved almost at lightning speed, which works but doesn’t work at the same time. I enjoyed the characters a great deal but it was the artwork that kept me sweeping through the pages.

I will be recommending

Rogue Planet was really surprising to me. It's the final book I read in 2020, just hoping for a short book to get me a head and I'm so happy to say I really enjoyed this story. Though it seems simple on the surface, there are a lot of smart things going for it. A group of humans arrive on this strange planet after detecting a signal coming from it. They explore the dark rocky landscape and soon discover something horrifying is going on involving a monstrous God that feeds on fear. Death is imminent as they each get picked off one by one in many different ways. The last act was especially impressive, I think, as it explodes in a mess of gore.

The writing is solid, so much so that even readers who are not familiar with scifi elements can and will enjoy the read. The author keeps the storytelling tight for this gory thrill ride.

The crew of the salvage vessel Cortes detects a distress signal and ends up on a seemingly abandoned planet. What they find is an hostile environment: poisonous vapors, razor rocks and... a graveyard of spaceships. What happened on this planet? And if it's abandoned, then who sent the distress signal?

Rogue Planet is a great horror/sci-fi graphic novel and it was a true pleasure to read!
The story is quite good and, even if there are some elements that are classic of the genre (I can't say more or I'd spoil you the plot), it kept me glued to the pages until the end. It's a quick and entertaining read, I finished it in one sitting and found myself wanting more!

There are 8 people in the crew of the vessel Cortes but it's a bit difficult to tell them apart (they all wear spacesuits with helmets most of the times!). Unfortunately we don't know much about them, and only two actually talk a little bit about their personal life... not enough, in my opinion. I believe this book would have benefited a lot if it had a better description of the characters and their development during the story.
The pace of the book is also good: it has its slow moments, but it's mostly quite fast with growing tension. In my opinion it worked really well for this kind of story, but I found the ending a little bit too rushed: I would have appreciated a few more pages.

Now, the illustrations: they are just incredible, rich in details and with beautiful bright colors. I had to stop while reading just to admire the artworks, I loved the style and the vibrant colors: it was so gorgeous and fascinating and at the same time terrifying (which is exactly my cup of tea).

I really enjoyed Rogue Planet and I'd recommend it to all sci-fi and horror readers!
4 stars.

* Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I'll be sharing this review on my Instagram @michelareads, on GoodReads, on my Twitter account @michelareads and on my personal blog.

A great concept for a graphic novel, a cross between Dead Space and Sphere. While the overall story and accompanying imagery was absolutely fantastic, I felt a bit lacked in the overall story telling department. While I understand that this is an action packed fast paced read, it also lacked many opportunities to include rich story telling, perhaps about the alien civilization, or more about the deity they worshipped out of fear. Despite this, for a quick short action packed read about a mysterious alien force, definitely check this title out.

This was pretty disappointing. The cover art, the alien design was really nice. But the story itself? Not great. Confusing and not in a good way. The last 5-10 pages tried to wrap everything up and felt rushed.

An entertaining read with a cool concept. I really loved the artwork and the colors. It isn't groundbreaking but I had a lot of fun reading the story.

A salvage ship goes to a seemingly abandoned planet to try and score big. But the crew got more than they expected when they landed in a nightmare. As they explore the planet to find the payload they are looking for they must dodge razor rocks, that look like giant crystals, poisonous vapors and the dead of all who came before them. After being attacked by a giant piece of flesh with eyes, mouths and tentacles they make a run back for their ship. But the crew who stayed behind have also been attacked. They are taken by the natives of the planet as a sacrifice for the hungry god that crash landed on their planet long ago.

The art of this was lovely to look at. There were a few inconsistencies, among the art however. Sometimes characters were pictured without the breathing appliances they seem to need in the atmosphere. But the coloring was sharp and made everything look realistic. It was captivating and quick read, I finished it in under an hour. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror with their sci-fi.

An old fashioned science fiction horror story. A salvage vessel goes to a planet because of a distress signal and end up facing mind numbing horror.

I want to begin by saying I am a huge Cullen Bunn fan. I love his horror and this was everything I hoped it would be. The very first panel is stunningly beautiful. The stars and planet landscape are beautiful. Then there is the monster, a horrifying thing but still beautiful. The parent child interaction is so sweet. I love the panel where the two have their foreheads touching. It is sweet and touching. Then you turn the page. Wow!

There is one line "Remember when people used to think space was beautiful" this was said while they were complaining about how ugly this place was. This is all being done on one of the most beautiful pages.

I sometimes have a hard time telling characters apart. In Rogue Planet everyone is wearing a helmet which would make that even worse, but the colors of each character is different. I absolutely loved that because now I easily remember who was who. I cannot wait to get the trade.

Creative Team:
Writer Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Andy MacDonald
Colors: Nich Filardi
Letters: Crank!
Release date: 3/2

Salvage vessel Cortés locks onto a mysterious signal and decides to investigate. What they find on this strange planet is sci fi horror fabulous. Picture A Nightmare on Elm Street crossed with a mystical alien race on an abandoned planet far far away. With wicked good illustrations, monsters, aliens, alien zombies... "nightmares are not indigenous here." Native planetary crystals are amping the psychic abilities of a dreamer stuck in hyper sleep which create nightmare after nightmare on planet. Salvation only occurs with the death of that dreamer. The ending was perfect. I absolutely enjoyed every page.

I'll be sharing this review on my Instagram @AprilsBookishLife, on Facebook (April Jernigan) in the Books of Horror group and Twitter (@AprilPrevette) with screenshots of the fantastic illustrations, as well as Goodreads. Thank you for allowing me to review it.

A decent sci-fi horror plot that lives from its awesome illustrations, which were the main reason for me to read this latest work by the author. I just love his style, and the 'Rogue Planet' makes no exception.

A spooky sci fi graphic novel which is certain to give you chills. A great read for people who like sci fi.
There is a nod towards Lovecraftian-esque monsters. It is not for the faint of heart.
The illustrations are well done with vibrant colors and artwork.
I would recommend it for sci fi genre readers.

Salvage team land on planet looking for profit; get picked off by aliens of all shades. Good plotting, artwork also good, echoes of Solaris, alien series etc.

The cover of Rogue Planet sets a tone pretty quickly with this book, it's one that is going to freak you out a little, and is definitely not one for the faint of heart.

The book starts on this lone rogue planet, where a race of alien beings are worshipping before a giant monument made from flesh and bone, a living, writhing monolith. A father reassures his son not to be afraid, before slitting his throat before this mass of flesh and organs. This first scene makes it clear that this is a book that will go to uncomfortable places, will push the readers to the point were you kind of want to put the book down because of how disturbing it gets at time, yet there is this central mystery as to what's happening that's raised in these first few pages that drives you on.

After this the focus shifts to the crew of the salvage vessel Cortes, who have discovered this rogue world thanks to a distress beacon from a crashed ship. Thinking that there might be some valuable salvage, the crew sets down on this strange new world and several members set out to go find the source of the transmission. However, the crew discover horrible creatures made from mangled flesh, and dozens of crashed ships, their former crews now part of the horrific creatures that seem to be stalking them across the planet.

Rogue Planet feels like a mashup of The Thing and Event Horizon and that's not a bad thing as I love both of those movies. I've seen some other people make the comparison to Alien, but other than being drawn to a planet because of a signal there's not much here like that film, and being drawn to an unknown place by a signal is not something that's unique to Alien by any means.

Instead of being beset by alien lifeforms the crew of the Cortes have to contend with disturbing body horror and their fellow crew members are twisted and transformed into awful abominations, or they have to deal with their own nightmares coming to life in front of them. This second part is the one that interests me the most, and its actually set up a lot earlier in the book than you think, with hints at what's really going on being given thanks to the appearance of snow on board the vessel. I'd have liked to have seen this gone into in more detail, however, as the idea of these people having to confront the manifestation of their fears was an interesting prospect. Sadly, the story moves at quite a fast pace, so we don't really get much time to go into things in any great detail.

Whilst this fast pace is great for keeping the pressure on the Cortes crew as they try desperately to get off planet, it does mean that the readers don't really get much time to get to know these people before something awful happens to them. There is a little bit of character development here and there, there's one crew member who recites a list of all the women he's slept with when he's afraid, and another who has a husband left on earth who's going into suspended animation whilst they're away so that they can age at the same rate, but despite these little nuggets of character I still didn't feel like I really knew any of them; and couldn't name a single member of the crew for you now. This is my biggest gripe with the book, as everything else was great. I can't help but feel that perhaps the book would have benefited from another issue or two, just so that Bunn could have had more room to fit in some of these character moments and flesh out the crew.

The art on the book, provided by Andy MacDonald and Nick Filardi, looks great, and they manage to make the book feel of decent quality, thanks in large part to the level of detail they give things. I've seen horror comics that have tried to hide things in shadow, or left some panels mostly empty voids, and whilst this can sometimes work it does at times feel a little cheap and lazy; here, however, the book never scrips on on the art, and every panel feels like there's something there for you to spend time looking through, whether that's the interior of the Cortes or the alien planet itself.

Rogue Planet isn't perfect, but its pretty damn good, and one of the few horror comics that I've read recently that has actually felt scary in places.