REVIEW: 'All Against All' #2 by Alex Paknadel, Caspar Wijngaard, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

 

ALL AGAINST ALL #2 

Writer: Alex Paknadel

Artist: Caspar Wijngaard

Letters: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: January 11, 2023

Cover Price: $3.99

In the second chapter of ALEX PAKNADEL & CASPAR WIJNGAARD's gripping new series, the Earth habitat is under military control and is being strip-mined for its genetic riches. Its most fearsome predators are now fair game for a species that can graft their most lethal traits into terrifying biological warsuits.

However, unbeknownst to General Cov'n and his alien warriors, the hunters have become the hunted. Helpless, the habitat's lone human survivor, lusts for revenge on his captors and will stop at nothing to see them torn limb from limb.

Featuring exciting variant covers by DANI (COFFIN BOUND, The Low Low Woods) and 2022 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award-winning artist LUANA VECCHIO (LOVESICK, BOLERO)!

Score: ★★★★1/2 (4.5/5) 

'All Against All' is an excellent sci-fi drama that's smartly written and uniquely drawn. Both of these things are kind of understatements because it's hard to convey how absorbing the story is or how mind-blowing the art is. I will admit it won't be for everyone. It's not an action-packed space shoot-em-up or warring factions as its main premise. It's about an alien military occupation of fallen earth using remaining resources and experimenting on animals to create wearable armor. It's part scientific mission and part reconnaissance. They may be fighting a war somewhere else in the galaxy but on earth, the only threat they see is the last human they've dubbed Helpless. 

So there's this outlying conflict these aliens are trying to gear up for but the real conflict is among themselves when it comes to the existence of Helpless. We get a great flashback to how Director B'Tay left a Baby Helpless in a habitat to fend for himself as a way to observe his survival instincts. But in adapting and surviving among other animals, Helpless also had to endure the consequences of the decisions made by the alien military brass which affected the only world he's ever known. It's left him with a thirst for revenge. Alex Paknadel creates a feral but intelligent Helpless much in the same way Edgar Rice Burroughs did with Tarzan except this human is out for blood. 

Most of this issue's weight comes from the authoritative General Cov'n and the measured Director B'Tay as they discuss Helpless' mere existence. This is really where the meat of the story lies and Paknadel writes a dramatic exchange between them that shows how the two differ in their approach to the only human. It's a captivating juxtaposition of a superior dressing down his subordinate while the subordinate tries to hide the truth from him. Paknadel's dialogue has a rhythmic flow of point-counterpoint as the two go back and forth which goes on for several pages. If you're a fan of good confrontational dialogue, Paknadel brings to mind the kind of writing you'd find on the 'West Wing' where the words are driving the action and not the other way around. 

 Caspar Wijngaard's art continues to be an inspiring experience that defies convention and is just imagination unleashed. A kaleidoscope of colors and ingenious designs make 'All Against All' unlike anything in comics. A master of composition, spacing, and movement, Wijngaard does what is necessary to tell the story and then goes a mile further to breathe life and energy into every single panel. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering works in unison to leave an imprint on each unique character. It's an extraordinary display of near-abstract expression transformed into sequential art. 

'All Against All' doesn't easily fit a genre or a category in a conventional sense. It's certainly science fiction with a primal edge but it's also a space drama and military thriller. It's also one of the smartest comics written and creatively illustrated.