4 out of 5

A straight story from Ennis?  No derailing into talking heads about a war?  No descent into the dregs of humanity?  No constant quippers or hero archetypes out of which the author takes the piss?  ‘Caliban’ is, indeed, a solid, straight-forward sci-fi horror tale, as though the author was fed up with the many bastardized takes on the genre and just wanted to kick something pure and ‘Alien’ out.  But it’s rather amazing how restrained the writing is, especially given his recent tendency toward excess, excess, excess dialogue, and how professionally paced the tale is at seven issues: Ennis has done the 4- or 6-part Avatar books before, and often falls into a rut (a not uncommon rut) where the penultimate issue contains the crux and then the last issue is a rushed battle or fallout, but ‘Caliban’ isn’t so concerned with withholding a big bad fight or twist.  Nodding again to ‘Alien,’ although there’s some wonderful mystery to be had to let us in on what force has taken over our titular ship, we’re not strung along unreasonably; the crew figures it out, we get the story, and then the last half of the arc is all about survival, and the knowledge that there’s really not a clean, ‘we’re all free’ win…

Artist Facundo Percio (Fashion Beast) is an excellent modern day counterpart for Garth.  Facundo has proven his ability to handle non-action books with the ornate detailing Alan Moore generally demands; ‘Caliban’ gives him plenty more room for blood and guts and he proves equally capable while also maintaining a perfect undercurrent of creepiness and gloom.  I match him as a good counterpart for Garth because Percio does has a Dillon-esque consistency to his figures which I think serves Garth’s steadier writing incredibly well (also why Jacen Burrows was a good match on Crossed), but where Steve has that 2000 AD influence that tends toward over-expressiveness (and thus manly man look a little too manly, serious women a little too serious), Facundo hovers over a more realistic range of expressions; we can know these characters, and we don’t feel embarrassed to do so.  This level of acceptance is important for a tale like ‘Caliban,’ which requires us to relate as much as observe.

It does really boil down to killer aliens in space, but Garth puts enough uniqueness into his take to keep one on their toes.  This would make an excellent film if it had the same time to build up its characters as ‘Alien’ did; the quick jump to action is something that can work pretty well in the comic medium but feels cheap in a movie.  As far as the lack of another star – it’s that story familiarity.  ‘Caliban’ is a good take on the genre but you know who will be bad, you know who will be good, and, of course, there’s always that extra bit of room where we want some backstory filled in.  And… I did that Facundo handled the covers, but a couple key ones are dead fucking giveaways to plot points.  Like, no guesswork involved: you look at it, and realize something that really should’ve been withheld.

I’ve been pretty bummed on Garth’s output since The Boys started.  ‘Crossed’ was good (excepting the last storyline) but it was truly the exception.  ‘Caliban’ is a new angle for the writer, and I hope he applies the restraint he showed here on future projects.