Writer: Giovanni Barbieri
Artist: Gianluca Pagliarani
Colorist: Alan D’Amico
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $12.99
Release Date: September 24, 2025
As their mission nears completion, the crew of the Vidar anticipates their rendezvous with the fleet. Then they receive a distress call. The Star Command Archives identify the sender as E/Rico, a ship reportedly destroyed 30 years ago. No one wants to risk spending the next five years in cryogenic suspension if there's no one to rescue.
Commander Jenna dismisses their concerns, explaining they have no choice. Failing to answer a distress call is grounds for a court-martial. Besides, the Federation leaves no one behind. What will Commander Jenna discover when they reach Gliese 667? And can they rescue any survivors and rendezvous with the fleet before it moves on? Let's suit up, take a giant leap into The Shadow Planet TP Vol 1, and see!
Story
Mark may find planetary exploration boring, but he strives to elevate everyone's mood. But Commander Jenna keeps him reigned in as they travel to the rocky planet in a shuttle. She threatens to shove Vargo's cigarettes down his throat if the chain smoker keeps lighting them. But Jenna keeps Lieutenant Nikke close, and treats her kindly, as they touch down and explore the surface of Gliese 667.
The planet may not be breaking up in Giovanni Barbieri’s story. Still, Commander Jenna discovers that someone attacked the flight deck of the E/Rico with a handaxe. Back at the shuttle, Mark de-ices the hull with a pickaxe. Over the radio, Jenna warns him not to sing. But as Vargo finds someone in a hibernation capsule, Mark frightens everyone by filling their headsets with "Ghost Of Love.” At least it’s not “I’ll Take You Home Again, Eileen.”
Mysteries ensue as the survey team wonders why Rachel has slept away the decades on the damaged vessel in The Shadow Planet TP Vol 1. As they discover that they are far from alone on this alien planet, the shuttle crew begins to distrust each other. It's already a toxic situation, with Jenna verbally abusing the guys, and Nikke blaming Vargo for a one-night stand with Jenna. As they wonder about Rachel’s veracity, she warns them to stay away from the fog swirling across the surface of Gliese 667.
Art
Gianluca Pagliarani opens with Jenna and Vargo frolicking in her cabin. After the crew gathers on a Nostromo-like bridge, the round shuttle drops from the Colonial Viper-like Vargo. While a red giant dominates the horizon, the tiny blue shuttle travels toward the cylindrical E/Rico perched among the jagged, incisor-like formations.
Long, jointed arms sprout from the top, supporting the pod like Scaroth’s Jagaroth spaceship in Douglas Adams' Doctor Who story "City Of Death." After Jenna, Nikki, and Vargo descend the ramp, they study the engines exposed by the E/Rico’s missing hull plating. When Vargo finds a door, Mark pauses while suiting up as someone screams in The Shadow Planet TP Vol 1.
Alan D’Amico bathes the Vidar in muted tones while the crew's yellow T-shirts shine. The flight crew dons orange form-fitting suits with belts, chest pieces with helmet mountings, and ray guns. Bright red and blue fill the shuttle interior. A transparent dome surrounds the color-coded helmets as Jenna, Nikki, and Vargo investigate the planet. A yellow-and-red robot forms a link with Jenna's red suit equipment and yellow helmet.
As the horizon turns pink, a green-suited figure roams the surface. Mustard-haired and clothed Rachel sips from a mug while covered in a green blanket. Then she gazes at a gray photo showcasing colorfully dressed people, and points to where her mission went wrong in The Shadow Planet TP Vol 1.
Small black uppercase letters fill dialogue balloons and starbursts as the crew makes discoveries and dangers threaten to prevent them from leaving Gliese 667. Dialogue swells when characters shout and scream, while machinery, fights, and ray guns produce sound effects. Character sketches, concept art, storyboards, and cinema-style lobby cards conclude this love letter to the era of low-budget, late-night-cinema creature features. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
At the far reaches of space, dreams become Lovecraftian nightmares as the Vidar crew discovers the dangers haunting a barren planet. The Shadow Planet TP Vol 1 pays tribute to popular sci-fi film franchises while infusing stories like Lost In Space and First Men on the Moon with a mature, Roger Corman-style sensibility.
Rating 9.4/10
To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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