In the years after the release of Alien, there was a slew of cheaply produced Alien rip-offs (Inseminoid and Xtro are two that come readily to mind). They all had their cheapness and derivativeness as a common factor. Rogue Planet reads like the comic version of such an Alien rip-off. Even worse, it goes a bit Prometheus/Covenant on us.

So there's a rogue planet, which is a planet that has left its orbit and isn't bound to a star (which immediately threw op the question where the lightfall on this planet is coming from). The not-Nostromo approaches said rogue planet because it is emitting a signal, and there might be some good stuff to mine or something. So we get a bunch of interchangeable space men and women, and one of the book's two interesting ideas is introduced - these people are put into hypersleep, and while unconscious then are operated by the ship AI to complete chores around said ship (the space people call it 'zom-time', which is just terrible). In that idea a lot of interesting horror lies! What if your body is used to do something horrible while you're asleep? Nothing like that is explored.

As soon as we're on the planet, the Prometheus-ness kicks in, with the crew making stupid decisions to move the plot along, and generally not act like human beings. Shortly after part of the crew is exploring the planet, they encounter a huge fleshy meatblob with lungs, at which they go "Ah! They look like lungs!" and instantly return to what they were doing. It also doesn't help that the next meatblob they encounter looks like a tray of mincemeat with googly eyes stuck on.

The art isn't great, and manages to look cheap. The lighting has zero atmosphere, and everything looks flat (which is especially weird if Alien really was one of the inspirations, a film that hangs on its lighting and atmosphere).

I sometimes get the feeling that Cullen Bunn, the author of this book, has too readily accepted his role of horror comics author, and without being too presumptuous, it would perhaps help his writing if he spent more time writing non-horror work.

Not the most intellectual read of the year, but a fun science-fiction horror comic. Between Alien and Lovecraft! Sit back and enjoy! I will recommend it to my friends!!

Where's Sigourney Weaver when you need her? Rogue Planet is a graphic sci-fi horror about a planet that kind of swallows up invaders or rather parasitically engulfs their hosts. Not necessarily a thrill ride, but not bad.

This was an alright graphic novel. Another space alien vs the visitors troupe, but the art was great throughout.

An intriguing, premise and set-up with Alien vibes and junji ito style horror onyl to fall flat with a lack-luster ending..

I love me some sci-fi. I love me some horror too. So if you give me the chance to read a sci-fi horror story then I'm going to jump all over it like cat hair on a white shirt.

Rogue Planet is a one off graphic novel about a group of salvagers who land on a rogue planet looking for salvage. Though what they don't know is that the only thing that waits for them is death.

The art was pretty damn good and creepy which is a huge part of anything sci-fi or horror, let alone both. The characters didn't stand out too much mostly because this wasn't a character driven story. This was about this super scary planet and if any of the people can survive. I'll be honest, I already forgot each and every character name even though I tried my best to remember them, and I don't think the story suffers for it. Rogue Planet reads like a more extreme Twilight Zone. You may remember specific episodes of the show but God help me if I can remember ay names.

Speaking of Twilight Zone, this read like an episode of a TV show in terms of the pacing. It gives us the basic knowledge and then BAM! the poop hits the fan. It's a fast pace read an I feel like it could have been teased out just a little more. I feel like the climax was too sudden, like the main character realized what was going on conveniently fast. Like some epic epiphany that came faster than a jack-in-the-box on cocaine.

I enjoyed this even with the fast resolution and I think that's the important part. If you want a quick read in the sci-fi horror genre then pick this up.

I'd like to thank Net Galley and Oni Press for allowing me to read this for free in exchange for a honest review.

The first sci-fi I read, since ever??? It was entertaining. That's all I'll say. I didn't really like tho.

Cullen "Cliche" Bunn churns out yet another derivative comic with Rogue Planet. Astronauts land on an alien planet, the horrors come after them, yadda yadda yadda - it's Aliens for the umpteenth time. One-dimensional characters/plot, no scenes that were scary, a story that was instantly forgettable - Andy MacDonald's art was great but that doesn't save this comic from the bore that it was.

Really great story that gets straight into the action. Brilliant artwork that conveys the loneliness and desperation on such a strange planet and for a while, keeps you guessing as to what is causing the horrors. Enjoyed the ending and the way the story was wrapped up.
Would most definitely read a graphic novel by this author again.

In space no one can hear you sigh when yet another Cullen Bunn horror launch underwhelms you. The problem with SF horror is that the parameters of what's normal to spacefarers need to be established before we can be clear what's meant to be a violation of that, and to some extent why. So here, one of the best ideas is introduced early, which is that while the crew are in suspended animation, their bodies will still occasionally surface and, in a zombie-like state, maintain the ship. That this happens without them ageing doesn't make a great deal of sense, but I can overlook that, because it's interesting, it's creepy, and it fits both with the original idea of the zombie, and with modern capitalism. But having established that, for these same people later to come out with "They're dead! How are they moving if they're dead?" – which would be a perfectly sensible reaction in a present-day zombie story – doesn't work.

That's the most glaring example, but not the only one. So we see that the crew are all human, and we get from dialogue that space work, while sometimes stressful and dangerous, is also fairly boring. From context, it's pretty clear that crewmates becoming weird inside-out organ monsters is as unexpected and unpleasant as it would be for us. But the humanoid aliens they meet, who seem to worship the monsters – is that something they're used to? If Bunn knew the answer to that, he didn't convey it on these pages. Nor does Andy MacDonald's art really sell the sheer wrongness necessary to make the body horror work, so at that stage any emotional connection to what happens is relying on caring about the characters. Alas, none of them really made any impact on me either, not even the guy who, whenever all seems lost, starts reminding himself of all the women who'd be heartbroken if he died. It all wraps up with a very pat 'aaaah', and I feel no great danger of being haunted by it in years to come. Bunn has done some quality horror books in his time, but perhaps the real monster was the lack of quality control he met along the way.

(Netgalley ARC)

The artwork was interesting. The story was bog standard, but with a few twisty wrinkles. Characters were not, by and large, memorable or compelling. Don't be negative, though. If you are in the mood for a gory danger-planet adventure this struck me as above average and well executed enough to scratch that itch.

This book is a unique idea and is beautifully done, I was gripped from the first page and read it in one sitting.

If your looking for a sci-fi/horror read with amazingly done artwork, I would highly recommend this for you.

Standard sci-fi horror comic, that takes risks with how derivative it gets before it proves it's not completely an Alien rip-off. It's certainly not sinfully bad, but it's certainly no great shakes.

Rogue Planet is an interesting science fiction survival horror graphic novel. It has a familiar style story. A salvage crew arrive at a planet (an insidious looking one at that) looking for a part. They land and begin their search, only finding weird crystals and a graveyard of dozens of other vessels that seemingly arrived ahead of them. The crew are then overwhelmed by a group of aliens that are inhabiting the planet. Some are killed, some are turned and others fight for survival. They need to get off the planet before their own fears get them killed. It was a decent story. Unfortunately the crew are forgettable so no investment there but their reactions to the world around them were varied and I did root for a few towards the end. The area Rogue Planet shines is the artwork. It's phenomenal. Great use of colour, gore, monstrous imagery and mysterious alien carvings. The artwork was as scary as it was facinating. On that basis alone I would recommend this to readers.

As much as I love Cullen Bunn’s work, it has to be said that this is not the most original story in the world, and a far cry from the likes of The Sixth Gun. The story itself is fine; serviceable would be a fair assessment. It’s unlikely to blow any minds, with a mysterious signal calling the crew of the salvage ship Cortes to the surface of Lonely Orphan where horrors await them (with fairly predictable results). That being said, it’s still pretty good fun.

What Rogue Planet really has going for it the fantastic artwork. Every tentacled horror which attacks the ill-fated crew of the Cortes looks like the front cover of a death metal album come to life (or rather, undeath), with eyeballs and gnashing teeth sprouting from every superfluous orifice as they writhe and undulate across the page. Unsurprisingly, the fates bestowed on the unlucky protagonists are delightfully grisly, with tentacles punching through faces and sprouting from neck stumps to reanimate corpses. There’s even a Cronenbergian critter made of elongated spinal column and bone claws. Things go through bits of people, things get knitted back together unpleasantly, and plenty of blood gets splashed across the panels.

The crew are somewhat interchangeable, for the most part, with only a few of them really having more fleshed out personalities. It’s also a little difficult to really tell them apart when they’re all in full spacesuits, which many of them are for a large percentage of this. Alex is probably the most entertaining character, with his mantra of things which he wants to stay alive for being a list of various women in different space ports. Glory, the ship’s medic, is the main character really, but this is only established later on. This shift in focus from the crew to an individual put me in mind of the likes of Alien or The Thing, which certainly aren’t unfavourable comparisons.
Everything is wrapped up rather neatly and a bit too suddenly, and there’s a sense that maybe some of the ideas here could have been expanded on. It does grate slightly that the explanation for what’s happening on the planet comes out of nowhere too. There are a few interesting ideas here though, particularly the concept of Zom-time, a state of suspended animation which the Cortes can put the crew into whilst controlling their motor functions.

There’s enough here for a reasonably diverting hour or so, but the story is unlikely to stay with you. Perhaps another issue of this to build atmosphere at the start, or to expand on the planet’s mysteries would make it feel a little less rushed and generic. Regardless, the artwork is excellent, and the book is probably worth buying for that alone.