The Operators, a race of parasitic creatures who design bodies from genetic material from other creatures, has found a vault of this on a long-ruined Earth. Is there anything fearsome and useful enough to help them win their war? Find out in All Against All #1 from Image Comics!
ALL AGAINST ALL #1
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Editor: Chris Ryall
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 7, 2022
Previously in All Against All: The Operators are a race of invasive parasites whose civilization spans the galaxy. They have advanced to the point where, instead of inhabiting living hosts, they use the genetic materials they have collected to create designer bodies. Now, finding themselves at war, they seek new bodies to help them in their fight.
TERRIFYING AND MINDLESS CARNIVORES
All Against All #1 is set among the Operators, and it does not begin with an explanation. This gives us the opportunity to get to know the Operators first-hand and gradually obtain some perspective on them. That said, there are some subtle details that make this a book you will want to read at least twice, first to absorb the setting and the main plot, but second to dive in and really pay attention.
The action starts as Director B’tay makes some observations about the artificial habit he is studying. First of all, his wife has died, and he has been isolating here. Secondly, it is a violent place full of conflict and he finds himself drawn to it. He sees it as the classic view of nature red in tooth and claw, and he likes to imagine being one of the parties in that fight. And then we see some of the creatures in this habitat, a polar bear, a gorilla, and a boy. The combination is incongruous, and for anyone who is not human, the boy probably seems out of place.
The fight stops. The animals are stunned and standing over them are three Operators who are vaguely humanoid. The director selects the gorilla. He sees no use in the others. He comments that they do not even seem to perceive pain. Now there is some subtle commentary back on our world. It was not that long ago that we believed that animals could not feel pain.
Suddenly the bear rears back up and slashes one of the Operators. The Director has a split second to order its death and we see that the Operator inside the body is something akin to an invertebrate brain with several flexible arms. But the Director also has a few moments where he must talk himself down from his reactions. He also has brief contact with the boy who holds a stone knife to his throat. But only for a moment – the others call, the boy flees, and the director can leave.
Years later, a ship orbits Earth. Some Operators experiment on a pig behind the Director’s back, but B’tay catches them. He orders one of them, V’lmann, to come with him and they observe a couple herd animals. They are both dying, and yet they mate. V’lmann sees this as a useful quality in their war, yet B’tay does not let them harvest from the specimens. All they can do is observe, yet their surveillance equipment is being destroyed. It is also revealed that B’tay is V’lmann’s father.
B’tay is called to see General Cov’n. But first, a strange composite beast charges him. Cov’n shoots it. Then he comments on B’tay’s old-fashioned body. The General has been experimenting with having his people inhabit creatures directly. These bodies are too erratic, the sensations too strong. Instead of the Operators maintaining control, they risk losing themselves. Cov’n is here to speed up use of the genetic wealth. B’tay is dismayed and insists that this should not be done. But there is a war, and this planet seems promising. All they need to do is locate some creature intelligent enough to be able to control its own aggression.
General Cov’n goes as far as sending Operators and a drone into the carnivore biome to look around for himself. He invites V’lmann to observe with him. V’lmann notes that B’tay has not allowed anyone in this biome for years. But just a little exploration shows them signs of some kind of nest or den, and signs of sport kills.
AN ALIEN VIEW OF EARTH
The art of All Against All #1 is solid and it does a lot of interesting things. We do not know yet that the opening scene is in the carnivore biome, but we see it as a green and overgrown environment with splashes of red, so we are told what it is even before we fully understand it. The fight between the gorilla and the bear is furious and violent, yet it is not just between them. The boy picks up rocks and throws them. We readers are human. We understand the potential of the boy. This makes it all the more fascinating when we see the Operators completely discount him.
The Operators’ bodies are bipedal. We do not understand their differentiating features, although their custom bodies are all different. They do have colors associated with them, and the letterer has taken care to match the color of their lettering to the color of their bodies. This is so helpful, and it allows the depiction of the Operators to be completely alien to us. Their outer shells appear formidable, and it seems so incongruous that their actual bodies resemble jellyfish more than anything else – a weak but intelligent creature that uses everything possible to advance.
BOTTOM LINE: OFF TO A STUNNING START
All Against All #1 has a terrific set up with a premise that leaves us certain there is significant trouble ahead. It pulls no punches in using the Operators to comment on an Earth that has been destroyed by its own inhabitants. It is uncomfortable to hear them wondering whether there was ever any intelligent life here.
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All Against All #1
Parasitic creatures caught up in war find an unexpected bounty of bodily material in the ruins of Earth.
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Art10
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Coloring10
By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.