Alien Legion: Uncivil War #4 Review

Has Alien Legion: Uncivil War proven to be a series worth reading? Or should you give it a miss? Read on to find out.

The official description from Titan:

The space lanes to Hell are paved with good intentions and the peacekeeping mission for the veterans of Alien Legion’s elite Force Nomad has gone rapidly belly up. Escorting a fleet of refugee ships has degenerated into a sprawling cosmic brawl and to make matters worse, a cadre of alien priests seem determined to wipe out all life on a peaceful planet in preparation for their second coming!

Having not read former Marvel imprint, Epic Comics run in the 80’s, Alien Legion: Uncivil War has been my first experience with the franchise. Since the opening issue I’ve had an overall mixed reaction to this series, finding the first issue lacking in overall plot, yet finding the series to steadily increase in quality. Due to this I find it slightly hard to come to a definitive thought for the series as a whole.

Having enjoyed Chuck Dixon‘s work throughout the 90’s, with Robin, Nightwing and other various Bat titles being a key influence on my early comic book purchasing, I was intrigued to see his name once again attached to this series. Bringing the four part series to an exciting conclusion, Dixon manages to keep me intrigued at every corner. Despite this I did find the ending itself to be a bit sudden, with it almost feeling anticlimactic. Another issue I had was the space jargon, as though I enjoy weird terminologies throughout sci-fi, it continued to feel overpowering, and at times confusing during Alien Legion.

Larry Stroman also returned as artist for Alien Legion: Uncivil War, giving an energetic atmosphere throughout. Despite the odd awkward facial expression, and rough panel, Stroman managed to produce a visually exciting finale to this series, with there being some explosive sequences throughout. It was however the amazing scenery, and general sci-fi feel that I loved most about the art in this series, with Alien Legion co-creator Carl Potts producing sharp inks, and Thomas Mason and Hi-Fi producing vivid colours that popped at every chance.

Alien Legion: Uncivil War as a whole may have felt a little too refined and generally underwhelming. Though bar the anticlimactic ending, this conclusion proved extremely entertaining, and comes recommended.