Delta 13

Delta 13 #1-4

by Steve Niles, Nat Jones (Illustrator)

Who knows what mysteries lie deep in the asteroid belt?

When a mysterious, huge, and previously undiscovered asteroid looms over their ship, a small crew of blue-collar workers discovers a terrifying threat unlike anything they’ve ever seen. Now the crew must escape the asteroid, but even if they do, will they be able to escape each other and anything they bring back with them?

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Horror, Comic Book, Graphic Novels

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 21, 2018

About the author

STEVE NILES is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence, and was recently named by Fangoria magazine as one of it's "13 rising talents who promise to keep us terrified for the next 25 years."

Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.

Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characters were just lame and Steve Niles was on auto-pilot when he wrote this uninspired mix of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) and Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985), but if you are into space/horror tales artworks and atmosphere were just not bad ones.



Two issues more to flesh more characters and it could have been a far better read.

[Trike · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is Alien meets The Thing, which would be fine but it follows the same beats — “bringing the mysterious creature on the ship breaks quarantine regs!” says the smart woman — with the same results. It doesn’t have an ending nor does it give any answers about what was what. Incredibly unsatisfying.

Why do people bother making stuff like this? You’re only repeating what’s gone before and you don’t have anything new to say, plus there’s no ending. What’s the point? Aggravating.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Familiar but still incredible

We've been here before - blue collar space miners, a mysterious object, a captain that makes questionable decisions.

And yet it does not feel old - so if you are a fan of Aliens, this will take you back. If not, you'll still love it.

In any case, incredible!

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3,8 of 5 for decent but not really "fresh" space sci-fi horror)
Niles is a well-known name between comics horror fans. The overall quality is often very "specific" but usually at least interesting. And Delta 13 is no exception. The art is OK-ish, the execution is fine, and the story is thousand times used trope without any extra layer or filling. Still, it's decent and short and for sci-fi horror fans definitely thing to check out.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should have been longer... Liked the story and atmosphere of it but it was all a lot predictable and characters had almost no space to show who they really are, for anyone who's reading it there's no way to get to know them or even like them. The tempo of #4 is too fast. Hated the ending. I think art's nice, I really liked that monochromatic color work. As single issues, reading it once a month, it was kind of hell, but when I took it now all at once, I think it was even worse. #1 was awesome, scenes with blood were nice in every issue, liked the atmosphere but meh. Niles can do way better..

[Will Cooper · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm usually a fan of Steve Niles, but this was very boring, poorly drawn, and did not do a single new thing in the space horror genre.
"What is that?"
"Dunno, but don't bring it on the ship."
"I'm gonna bring it on the ship."
"Let's kiss it."
Everyone dies.
No ending

[Fabio R. Crespi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siamo nella cintura degli asteroidi e un gruppo di minatori spaziali si imbatte in uno strano asteroide bucherellato.
Cosa fare in questi casi quando lo scanner ritorna un segnale strano? Naturalmente prima si manda un drone che rileva artefatti non naturali e poi ci si immerge con tutta la navetta e si fa una passeggiata a piedi.
E cosa fare se ci si imbatte in una donna nuda, intubata alla roccia in assenza di atmosfera? La si stacca e la si porta via.
In questo universo alternativo, dove nessuno si è evidentemente mai fatto una cultura a base di "Alien" e "Lifeforce", le cose vanno così e il lettore può rimanere lievemente perplesso.
Non è, quindi, una sorpresa che la "donna", una volta risvegliatasi in un ambiente estraneo, cominci a reagire ed utilizzare modi non propriamente amichevoli per esprimere la sua contrarietà.

Quello che risulta interessante è come l'autore concluda la storia e viene da pensare che l'utilizzo di tutti i vari WTF sia funzionale ad una originale risoluzione della vicenda.
La colorazione della storia è tutta basata sul monocromatismo blu (in rari casi verde o rosso), a volte spezzato con drammatiche esplosioni di rosso, e riesce a rendere ottimamente la cupezza dell'ambientazione.

[Geoffrey Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This miniseries ended up being pretty good overall. It was short and simple but was still creepy. The dialog is minimal which I think was a really good choice given how much of the story could be told through the beautiful mostly monochromatic coloration. The sketch style artwork was a great change of pace and I thought it fit this story perfectly. I think people will probably have problems with the lack of character development but I don’t really feel like that would have enhanced this story much since it isn’t an ongoing series. This is a good series to check out of you don’t have a lot of spare time but still want to be able to enjoy a good comic.

[Jorge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth your time.

[Brian Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars...meh

[Chris Peckover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful monochromatic art, interesting creature design, but c'mon man...this is Alien beat for beat.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accept one premise: The movie Alien doesn't exist in the world this comic inhabits.

Proceed to enjoy the story.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Friend and GR author, Jonathan Maas, recommended this book, and since I was in-between books at the moment, I picked it up, right quick. The book is well-paced, sequential art with a resonant story. This graphic novel is really an echo of a book / movie circa 1979 that I reviewed last year because I had listened to the audiobook. I am, of course, writing about Alan Dean Foster's Alien. Delta 13 by Steve Niles fits very well into that dark universe where no one can hear you scream.

Here, a crew of miners find themselves in the midst of a rapidly approaching asteroid storm. The pilot with quick-thinking, resolves to land on one of the asteroids in order to avoid the immediate danger. On the asteroid, they find what appears to be a humanoid encased in a transparent enclosure. The males are enthralled and are more concerned with freeing the humanoid than the possibility that they have taken aboard an unknown that may be hazardous to their individual and collective health.

The art definitely adds to the mood and tone of the book. The story has a unique ending, with rapid pacing and minimal characterization, but to be fair the characters are standard, stock, trope characters typical of the horror genre. Easily definable and recognizable by one sentence. Fun read that I was happy to be able to read. Let this serve as my #8 of 10 GN/TPBs for my 2023 reading goals.