Script: Chet Williamson
Pencils: Tim Hamilton
Inks: Timothy Bradstreet
Colors: Matt Webb
Letters: Clem Robbins
Now this is what I would term a change of pace! Probably one of the most unpredictable changes to the usual Aliens story. “Music of the Spears” doesn’t involve mad scientists or a contingent of Colonial Marines. No, that would be far too predictable. This one is about a musician! I know, it sounds far too strange. Doesn’t seem like a really good story could truly develop around that plot concept, but they manage to pull it off pretty well. While the story didn’t blow my mind, it was definitely well developed enough to keep me reading.
While reading this I wondered if Chet simply fell into this script or if it was very difficult to write. It’s just so out of the norm for the Aliens series that it seemed like it would be hard to combine the two. Anyway, meet Damon Eddington. He’s a musician that is very disillusioned by the music industry. He’s signed to a major label named Synsound and he’s far from a popular musician. You see, in the future, the music industry has turned to a lot of androids to handle performances. They even do reenactments with an android Elvis. Damon, who is actually human and composes his music with care, is furious at the music industry and the public because they can’t see the beauty of his music. Damon found his perfect inspiration in the voice of the Alien. So he wants one, to try and make it scream so he can capture it on his recordings. Since the war on Earth you can only imagine that getting your hands on an Alien for such a low level project is no small task. As with most Aliens comics, not everything goes as planned, but for a while we do get to see the beautiful music Damon is looking for.
The art on this series is definitely very well done. Hamilton did an excellent job at capturing every moment of the series. It’s probably some of the better art since the second series. I should also mention that Tim Bradstreet’s covers are simply awe inspiring and part of me really wishes he did the art for the comic rather than just the inking and covers. Webb’s coloring was perfect and I typically don’t have any issues with Dark Horse’s choice in colorists. They usually manage to capture that medium between dark, but not too dark.
Overall this was a pretty impressive series. I wonder if it will lose something for the standard Aliens fans, but for me it was a rather exciting read. I definitely enjoyed the change in pace and this was definitely something the Aliens series needed. I also loved how they touched upon the cultists that worshipped the Aliens in the first few series. Albeit they’ve come in a slightly different guise, but seeing the Aliens as gods was essentially the same. So, if you’re looking for something extremely different from the Aliens franchise this just might be what you’re looking for. Certainly an unorthodox approach to the Aliens concept, but pretty well written overall.
Overall Rating: 4.0 out of 5