Member Reviews
This was a short but enjoyable sci-fi horror, it was quite typical for the genre but it was still good. The art style was really good and added to the horror. This was quite a bloody and murderous story. The plot was pretty basic, they land on a planet and some horrific things start happening so they try their best to escape. I like that we find out what was happening on the planet and why everything seemed to go wrong for the crew. The ending was really good and I feel this story talks about fear in an interesting way. Its also interesting to see how fear can also be worshipped. |
Rogue Planet is a blend of genres - combining science fiction, traditional horror, and body horror. Although, the comic leans more into the horror elements. In this scenario, science fiction is the vehicle for horror, acting as a setup scenery and premise. The first panel of the comic, which features a grotesque monolith, firmly establishes the body horror elements. It's all fleshy, with artist Andy MacDonald covering with bulging eyes and protruding teeth. Rogue Planet later introduces other entities into the mix throughout. Luckily, the impact of these is not dulled as they're used sparingly. Good horror uses the genre to explore themes, with fear being a by-product of that exploration. Rogue Planet uses this opportunity to explore the concept of fear. Is it an actual thing? Or is it a combination of external factors and the mind? A lot of this is built into the premise and plays out through the experiences of the characters. It also comes out through their interactions, with the characters discussing what they most fear. It's a little heavy-handed but does have some pay-off when those fears are worked into the narrative. The idea of a crew answering a distress signal on a remote planet only to have shit hit the fan is not a new idea. It's a staple of science fiction horror and the premise of many Star Trek episodes. Where Rogue Planet differs is that it subverts expectations. When you think things are going in a predictable direction, the comic throws a surprise at you. The result is that it diverts you from the usual trappings of the trope into different territory. |
Adam H, Reviewer
Rogue Planet is a horror story in the vein of Alien, or The Thing. A ship lands on an alien planet. The crew find horrifying alien creatures, start dying one by one. I enjoyed this comic, but ultimately I think it moved a little too fast, not giving certain elements enough time to sink in, and a late game twist could have been set up a little better with some background information. The crew have some fun snappy dialogue, but are ultimately quite forgettable - again, more time spent with them a la the opening scenes of the movie Alien might have been preferable. The artwork is incredible, and the creatures are truly horrifying. All in all I really liked the aesthetic of the comic. I'm not sure if I have much more to say - horror is not usually my genre, and the comic is quite fast paced. Things happen probably within half a day in-story. I would give this comic a rating of 7.5/10 |
EARC provided by Oni Press via NetGalley for review. Rogue Planet is a sci-if/horror graphic novel that is gory and gruesome at times. I think the artwork is nice, and parts of the story were exciting, but the plot felt too similar to other sci-fi horror stories and films out there, especially the Alien movies. The story was too confusing at times and hard to follow. I was not a fan of the darker coloring, but that’s a personal preference since I tend to like brighter coloring in graphic novels. I wanted more from the story, and unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one. |
Actual rating 3.5 I came in expecting sci-fi horror and that is what I got. There was plenty of blood and gore and death. I really enjoyed much of what I read; however, I didn't really understand it either. One character was obviously trying to inform us, as the reader, about why stuff was happening. But it was still so vague and I didn't understand. My enjoyment of this was definitely tempered by the fact that I was confused and wanted more of an explanation for what was going on. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. |
DNFR @ 10%. Sadly this book was not what I thought it would be and didn't read well on my Kindle and I don't have another device to read it on. |
A salvage ship picks up on a beacon from a planet called Lonely Orphan, and thinking they are about to hit the lottery with a huge payload they disembark onto the planet which isn't so lonely after all. This was a quick and colorful read for anyone who likes space sci-fi and slashers - the concept reminds me of what it might look like if Carpenter's The Thing, Ridley Scott's Alien, and George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers had a really gory lovechild. I found it absolutely captivating and I really liked how the spacesuits were different colors so it was easier to tell characters apart (at least, until they were ripped apart, that is). I felt like this book really brought some original elements to a subgenre of horror/sci-fi which has been well-traversed, while still being reminiscent of the classics that it hearkens back to. Unlike some of the reviewers who were disappointed, I was disappointed only that it ended so quickly because I would love to spend more time in this world. Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy. |
While I liked the writing and artwork of this 'Alien'-esque limited series by Cullen Bunn, it left me wanting more backstory and filled-in gaps. |
Media 747115
Rogue Planet is a about the salvage crew of the Cortes as it responds to a distress beacon on a ‘rogue planet’ and plans to obtain whatever valuables they find there. The soon realize that the planet is filled with literal horrors that they have no way of escaping. First of all, the artwork and illustrations are gorgeous and it’s worth looking at this graphic novel, if only to see them. Secondly, the concept is really intriguing and the themes of fear manifesting into something that truly controls you is fascinating and well worth exploring. However, the plot is very short and shallow. There is little to no character development and pretty much no background on the planet. Blink and you might even miss the payoff in the end. I honestly enjoyed the read and would love to read more. But that’s the thing. I wanted more. I wanted the story to go deeper. I wanted to feel for the characters. I wanted to truly understand the beings on the planet and their whole mythology. I wanted a deeper dig into the theme of fear. And I also wanted a deeper exploration of the feminism that is introduced, but then not really explored. And there is even a hint of another theme of intelligence vs. brute force. But again, it’s not really delved into to any satisfying degree. All of the elements are in place for this to be a truly great story, and I would actually encourage any one to read it, but it just doesn’t quite get there for me. |
Thank you to NetGalley and Oni-Lion Forge Publishing for a chance to read and review! Rogue Planet intrigued me as soon as I set eyes on the cover. Andy Macdonald that real quirky sci-fi flare that I love to see in space themed graphic novels. Rogue Planet is simply: weird (but you know I love weird). It follows the crew of the salvage vessel Cortés as they land on a rogue planet after receiving a distress signal. The crew arrive hoping to make big money from salvaging the wreckage they expect to see, but instead find themselves in a life or death situation. Without spoiling the novel, I can’t go in to detail of the plot. But what I can say is that Rogue Planet was a freak-you-out kind of deal. The prologue scene immediately sets the tone for the story to come, showing infatuation, obsessive worship and violence. And from there on it’s a wild ride. There is an obstacle at every turn for the crew, and a unique concept behind the goings on in this novel. This is the kind of story you could imagine HBO picking up and making in to a smash hit TV series. The only downside for me is that the story did move along very quickly, and I could have done with a few more panels on some scenes. Overall though, I enjoyed Rogue Planet, and would recommend it to sci-fi lovers who don’t mind graphic gore and language. I’ll be posting my review to my goodreads account, my bookstagram (@lostinthepaiges Instagram) and my private Facebook book club. Thank you again for the chance to read and review. |
Monica M, Librarian
This was a quick read. If you have watched any science fiction movie with a crew in space, then you know what to expect. There are no surprises here. The aliens were introduced first and set an intriguing tone, but then disappeared to focus on the cast of stock human characters. Who were barely sketched out with perfunctory traits. This would have benefited from multiple volumes. I think the story could have been more engaging if the author had fleshed out the world and character building. A bit of a disappointment. |
Rogue Planet starts with a crew coming to a planet to explore a signal. Of course this leads them into bad events... The plot is incredibly predictable and lacks all imagination. I was amazed at how there was literally no build up to events. They land on the planet and instantly bad things start happening and its just one thing after another. The story literally goes like this: look dead ships, look dead bodies, look monster. Zero build up to these events. Not to mention the dialogue is very much lacking. I feel like Cullen Bunn just went into this thinking I want to make an old school sci fi thriller and just wrote down some ideas. Put them in the book and didn't flesh them out at all. Rogue Planet is not a planet I recommend exploring. *This honest review was provided free by NetGalley* |
Librarian 788061
A salvage team ventures onto the Lonely Planet in search of a distress signal from another vessel and recover its valuables. What this team did not expect was the Lovecraftian cosmic horrors they would encounter. This graphic novel was fast-paced, bleak, dystopian science fiction which is sightly reminiscent of the tv show Black Mirror. It was engaging and kept me reading in anticipation of what would happen next. The visuals were great and I liked how the story flowed, I particularly liked how this graphic novel had more of a diverse set of characters. |
Susan M, Reviewer
The ship Cortes finds the planet known as theLonely Orphan. The crew are delighted as there is a treasure on this planet.. The crew is horrified by the planet’s inhabitants or are they. Are they part of the planet? They must travel over a difficult and treacherous landscape. Many inhabitants are more dangerous than the crew believed at first. Their experiences on the planet must make them make an important decision. Do they want to live or not? The author has written a fearful science fiction/horror graphic novel. It is written to make the reader feel the terror of being on the planet. The illustrator has made the illustrations perfect as to show the nightmarish inhabitants on the planet. I loved the story and the illustrations colored so brightly. I was glad to read it as one volume rather than waiting for each separate issue. |
The story line was unlike any that I’ve ever read. The art style was amazing as well. The characters were well thought out and I kept reading until I was finished with the whole graphic novel. The story line made me want to keep reading. I’d love to own this in my collection. |
Althea G, Librarian
This book was not very good. The main characters are all introduced very quickly and all at once.. Afterwards there is very little character development. This is a horror comic so bad things start happening but since I know absolutely nothing about the characters I just didn’t care about their fates. The art is very intricate and grotesque. Sometimes that makes this world look cool and alien. Other times it just makes it hard to understand what’s going on. |
I received this eARC from Oni Press. It has not affected my honest review. 3.5 stars. I absolutely love the art style of this graphic novel. I think it's beautiful, detailed and I really like the colour palettes used. Honestly, I'm obsessed with the cover, and there were some panels throughout the graphic novel that were so beautifully visual I couldn't stop looking at them. Initially I wasn't sold on the weird flesh-block aliens. I guess I like my horror more understated than gory. But I did like the way that the powers unfolded. The way they got into the crew's head was very eerie and I liked the 'cause' of their power. The ending was a lot, lot stronger than the start. I actually really liked the way it ended, it was clever and powerful and I didn't predict it. The way Glory learned to manipulate the surroundings was excellent. Also the way that the ship can pilot around their unconscious bodies was more deeply horrifying to me than anything else - I'd love to read a horror story about that. The characters didn't totally jump out at me. Particularly because of the space suits they were all a little interchangeable, and I struggled to find them distinct enough to distinguish between them at points. I also felt like I didn't really emotionally connect to any of them. There were brief moments of backstory to make them feel more like whole characters but overall I didn't know much about them as individuals - not always possible to flesh out in a graphic novel, but a bit disappointing nonetheless. |
perfect for ridley scott's alien franchise and john carpenter's the thing super weird and cool and with interesting concepts |
Librarian 737520
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. |








