Independence Day: Review: Dark Fathom

Written by Victor Gischler

Art by Steve Scott, Alex Shibao, Tazio Bettin, Rodney Ramos, Ivan Rodriguez

Titan Comics, out now

In the aftermath of the 1996 invasion, another alien ship is found…

Victor Gischler’s tale is the first of the new stories released to fill in the gap between ID4 and Independence Day Resurgence (Greg Keyes’ Crucible picks up the tale). It features one of the characters who’s going to turn up in the new movie and perhaps drops a few hints about where that film is going. What it makes clear is that everyone might have been celebrating when Hiller and Levinson returned from the mother ship at the end of the first movie – but the battle was by no means over. The aliens have more than one way of dealing with humanity…

Gischler doesn’t provide extraneous dialogue, keeping the story racing along, and the action sequences that you’d expect from an ID4 story are appropriately fluid – with at times a very Aliens feel to them. A number of artists are credited on the book, and for the most part their styles mesh well – there aren’t any “who’s that meant to be?” moments – and the interior of the alien ship and the sub are well-created.

Verdict: An enjoyable return to the ID4 universe. 8/10

Paul Simpson

Read our review with writer Victor Gischler here