by Mike Favila, Reporter

Set between the first Dead Space game and the animated film Dead Space: Aftermath, Dead Space Salvage is the 2nd salvo in the Dead Space comic universe.  This is a reissue from Titan, reprinting the series initially put out by IDW.   Like the previous volume, Dead Space Salvage is written by Antony Johnston.  Having written both the first Dead Space series and the dialogue for the initial EA game, Johnston is well versed in the mythology.

The plot revolves around the Magpies, a group of space miners that discover the long missing USG Ishimura.  If you’ve read the first volume (and you really should), then the reader would know that this ship was the final resting place of the second Marker.   As they board the Ishimura and try to see what can be salvaged, they soon encounter pieces of the Marker and become affected.  In addition to having to contend with the previous tenants (the Necromorphs), the crews have to fend off the Oracles, mysterious authorities that seem to be experienced in dealing with the monsters.

In Scott McCloud’s classic comic treatise Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, one of the ideas he puts forward is that comics work because the reader can identify with the character.  Like a book, when the reader cannot immediately picture a full rendering of the main character, they have a tendency to immerse themselves into the art, and therefore become more invested into the work itself.  Like when you look at  an AC outlet and see a face, humans are just self centered enough to see themselves EVERYWHERE.  That’s why even though a comic isn’t as realistic as a movie, it works because the reader can place themselves in the comic.   Dead Space Salvage breaks with that conventional wisdom.  Christopher Shy, a relatively new artist brought on for this volume, brings an art style that veers toward a  more photo realistic tone.  In spite of being hardwired to think in the Understanding Comics way, it works for me.  Consequently, I feel like I’m taking in a movie, instead of reading a comic and absorbing  it in the conventional manner.

Aside from the captain, I don’t find myself too attached to the other characters.   Maybe that’s because at this point I’m looking at everybody as a potential victim.  When I think of any good horror, I tend to think that you should want to care for everybody, not just the main protagonist.   At this point, I realize, maybe Dead Space Salvage has a lot more in common with sci-fi action movies, such as Aliens.  After reframing it again in my mind, I reread Dead Space Salvage as an action movie, with an intense shred fest ending, with Schneider at dead center.  I also really liked that the ending had a slightly hopeful tune to it, even though it took so much carnage to get there.

Like the first Dead Space series, Dead Space Salvage has an excellent visual gallery to complement the book.  There are great renderings of the Necromorphs, Oracles and useful visual profiles of the main characters. They were so realistic that I wondered if the artist based them on actual people he knew.  The pencil prerenders are pretty insightful, showing you just how much of the art Shy creates within the computer.  It’s definitely light years from the way they used to make comics in the Marvel Bullpen.

In regards to the actual presentation of the book, I like the match between Shy’s art, and the story set forward by Johnston.  I know that the lettering is supposed to be part of the aesthetic, but because of the realistic nature of the drawings, I almost expected them to look like captions. When they look like journal scrawlings, it felt a little out of place.  It brought me back to the idea that I should be focused on reading, when I’ve already been sold on just being along for the ride.  That’s a minor quibble. Overall, Dead Space Salvage works pretty well.

Rating:
ComicsOnline.com gives Dead Space Salvage 3 out of 5 creepy Oracle dudes!

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