Since Frank Gogol has made an impact writing Power Rangers, it should be no surprise that there’s a slight taste of the concept in Unborn. But these are adults, knowing what they’d gotten into except for the government’s strange choice of weapons. They’re explorers, looking to harvest fuel on new worlds and if they happen to run into an alien species, that’s supposed to be a bonus.
You’ve seen enough science fiction horror movies to know it won’t be a bonus. Artist Ev Cantada puts a creepy spin on the aliens, with a style that fits modern comics but hearkens back to the dread-filled energy of artists like Alfredo Alcala. Gogol puts Cantada’s design skills to work by slipping in occasional journal pages — aided by letterer Sean Rinehart — in order to give this crew backstory and inner life, because frankly, once the alien species spills forth from cracks in the otherworldly landscape, we need the breather. And we get a cliffhanger at just the right terrifying moment.
Like many books from Source Point Press, Unborn is a high concept ready to jump to other media. But this is also one of the best I’ve read from the publisher. It’s solidly written, beautifully laid out, and left me ready for more. Though it might be trite to compare, Gogol and Cantada are giving Marvel’s take on Alien a run for its money.
