Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
The Containment #1-5 (2005) is a futuristic action horror graphic novel series. The graphic novel series was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
Original title: Containment #1-5 / Eric Red's Containment #1-5
Publisher: IDW Publishing company (2005-), SST Publications (2014-2019-)
Series: -
Setting: future of Earth
Product type: Graphic novel. 104 pages, Genre: futuristic action horror, Features: action, creature - zombie, horror, science fiction - futuristic science fiction, space travel - spaceship, Style: -
Release: 2005.01-05
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Read: very recent (2023.02), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Containment #1-5, a futuristic action horror graphic novel series from 2005. It's about the crew of a spaceship trying to solve a dangerous situation. The Containment #1-5 comic book is readable, but I only recommend it to hardcore fans of the genre.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Containment #1-5 comic book, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:55, because it gives away too much of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the comic book, up to the ending scene, it's only the very end we are not shown.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
While browsing through older comics, I've found this title. Although the cover wasn't impressive, at least it showed some home there could be an interesting story. I didn't watch the trailer, nor did I read any reviews about Containment.
The Containment #1-5 graphic novel series is about the crew of a spaceship trying to solve a dangerous situation.
The story (by Eric Red) is acceptable, but it's probably too long for the content within. There are no character arcs. There were some logical problems, but still within the acceptable limits for the genre. There are not many dialogues or expositions, and most pages contain only a few panels, making this read quickly.
The style of the graphics (by Nick Stakal) probably fit the story, however, I didn't like it. Most pages looked similar, the sets were not distinct or visually interesting. The main characters are distinct enough to be recognisable, but the art style makes the rest of the cast interchangable.
We don't get to know practically anything about the characters beyond their surnames and gender.
Containment #1-5 is an acceptable futuristic action horror series, but I think only hardcore fans of the genre would enjoy it.
My experience
I was not satisfied with Containment #1-5 (2005). I happen to like stories with well-thought, logical plots, with some interesting twists, and Containment #1-5 couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Containment #1-5 is a readable, but weak comic book.
Enjoyment: Bad (1 out of 3 points). Containment #1-5 felt boring and pointless, and I also disliked the art style.
Rereadability: Average. I think if you liked the graphic novel, you did it because you liked the art style, so you might be interested in reading the issues again.
Chance of reading it again: No.
Chance of reading a sequel: Low, but I wouldn't count it out. There were some good parts in the story, so I'd probably give a sequel a chance.
Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
Will you enjoy this?
If you like futuristic graphic novels, you might like Containment #1-5.
If you like action horror graphic novels, you might like the comic book.
If you'd like to get comedic moments in your stories, Containment #1-5 will disappoint you, as it's mostly serious.
If you can get through the first issue of the graphic novel still interested, the rest of the story will be something similar.
If you enjoy sci-fi, and also zombie stories, you might be interested in Containment.
If you prefer visuals over story, this graphic novel won't offer much to you.
If you hate depiction of violence and gore, you should skip this story.
If you hate zombie stories, avoid Containment.
Reading for plot points
If you are interested in futuristic zombie stories, I think it's worth reading the Containment #1-5 graphic novel series for the plot points.
Should you read the issues individually?
As the story is told in a continuous narrative, the individual issues don't contain proper stories that could be enjoyed independently.
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Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
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Review with spoilers - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
I didn't really like the Containment #1-5 graphic novel series.
Covers
The covers of the graphic novel are okay, they don't say much, but they don't spoil the story.
The trailer
The trailer is basically a substitute for reading the graphic novel.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Containment #1-5 comic book. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it might make reading the graphic novel less interesting for you.
Promise of the first scene
A woman is being awakened from cry-sleep, when she gets attacked by a mindless crewmember. As I knew from the premise that it's a space zombie story, I assume, the attacker is a space zombie. I also assume that the woman will survive the story, and defeat all of the zombies on the spaceship.
Execution: In the end, I was right, although I was surprised by the very end, where she'll probably still die after the story finished.
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Issue #1
The issue starts the story, introduces the protagonists and the source of the danger.
The issue just ends.
Release: 2005.01.19
The cover: The cover is slightly interesting. It shows this will be some sci-fi story.
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)
Issue #2
The story goes forward. They try a method to solve their problems.
The issue ends with a mild shocker.
Release: 2005.02.23
The cover: The cover is weak, although it at least shows this is some zombie story.
Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)
Issue #3
The story goes forward, but it starts to get uninteresting.
The issue just ends.
Release: 2005.03.30
The cover: The cover is slightly interesting, it shoes that there's action in the issue, although it doesn't look good.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
Issue #4
The story goes forward.
The issue just ends.
Release: 2005.04.27
The cover: The cover is slightly interesting, although I wouldn't call it compelling.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
Issue #5
The final issue concludes the story, but it didn't do it in a way that would satisfy me.
The issue ends with a conclusion / shocker.
Release: 2005.05.18
The cover: The cover is not interesting, and doesn't even look good.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)
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Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
Plot summary / Synopsis
In 2025, there's a spaceship (NASA Explorer) en route to Saturn.
The female captain (Lorna Stark) is being awakened from cryo-sleep. Her cryo-tube gets broken in, as she gets attacked by another crewmember (Gaines), who seems to be mindlessly violent. She has to kill him to defend herself. She can't find the rest of the awakened, until a mindless female crewmember (Chalmers) attacks her. She seals the female crewmember in the cryo-chamber.
The female captain goes to the other cryo-chamber, and awakens the rest of the crew - a female (Langtry), a science officer (Trumbo), a guy (Hobbs), and another guy (Tulsa). They decide that they capture the mindless crewmembers and put them back into cryo-sleep, so they could come up with some way to cure them.
The female crewmember lets the mindless female out, and she gets bitten. They manage to get the mindless crewmember into a cryo-tube, but the cryo-tube overloads and explodes.
Suddenly, one of the mindless crewmembers accidentally disables the air supply. They have three hours to reach the oxygen control room. During their route, they get attacked by mindless crewmembers. The science officer seals the other survivors with the mindless crewmembers, and explainst that he'll let them die, so he'll have access to the food supply, that won't be enough for all of them for the six years of the trip.
They manage to get through the door, and capture the science officer. He offers to help them cure the bitten crewmember, as he suspects that she will turn mindless due to the cryogenic fluid getting into her body.
One of the mindless crewmembers accidentally disables the power, so the spaceship becomes dark. One of the survivors (Hobbs) gets separated from the rest.
When cryo-zombies attack the crew, the science officer betrays them again and escapes. The infected female crewmember turns violent, so they kill her. In a later attack, the last male crewmember gets bitten. They take on space suits, and open the airlocks. They are sucked out of the spaceship, but they also get rid of the attacking cryo-zombies. The bitten crewmember commits suicide to protect the female captain.
The female captain reaches the airlock, but it's locked by the traitorous science officer. He explains that he will let her die, then he'll retrieve her body to have sex with her, and he'll keep it in a cryo-tube, in order to use it any time he'll have a need.
Even though they both assumed that all of the cryo-zombies were sucked out of the spaceship, the female captain notices that one of them remained on the ship. She lures the cryo-zombie to the airlock, and tells the science officer that she was able to override the lock, and she is getting inside. The science officer goes to the airlock to check this, and gets attacked and bitten by the cryo-zombie. The female captain tells him that the easiest way to get rid of the pain is to open the airlock, so he'll instantly die. The science officer opens the airlock, killing both him and the cryo-zombie, and letting the female captain inside.
The female captain reaches mission control, who decide to initiate the self destruct system of the spaceship. The female captain gets out of the spaceship before it explodes. She floats in the space with about an hour of air when the story ends.
The setting
Future of alternate Earth, 2025.
The characters are on a spaceship, NASA Explorer, en route to Saturn. They launched in 1999, and their estimated time of arrival is 2031. There's a crew of 12 on the spaceship. They have about 6 years of air and food supplies for one person.
The cryo-tubes are called "containment capsules".
Zombies: Chalmers (female), Gaines (male) were named, and potentially Arboghast (male), Carmichael (male), Ferguson (male), Welch (male), and two other, unnamed characters.
The cryo zombies
During cryo-sleep the cryo-tube drains the blood and injects cryogenic fluid. When they get awakened, the cryogenic fluid is drained, the blood is injected, and the body is warmed up.
A malfunction during the awakening from cryo-sleep didn't drain all of the cryogenic fluid, letting the chemical mix into the blood of the victims, turning them unintelligent, but aggressive. They can take serious injuries without slowing them down. It's unclear what amount of damage kills them.
Their bite lets the chemical enter into the body of their victims, slowly turning them into cryo zombies.
There were 6 cryo-tubes in the room, and the cryo-tube of the female captain was the last to be awakened. She might have been saved from this fate by the crewmember, who broke her tube, as the awakening process couldn't run completely. It might have been even intentional, when the crewmember realised what is happening, and wanted to save the captain, before he lost his mind.
Plot points of interests
The were a couple of interesting points about the setting and characters.
Spaceships
NASA Explorer: The spaceship that took the crew of 12 en route to Saturn.
Characters
There are supposedly 12 crewmembers. We see 10 on the photo, where it looks like there are 7 males and 3 females. Chalmers, Stark and Langtry are females, but we can't know the sex of the two other crewmembers. As every unidentified cryo-zombie is a male, I assume, the rest of the crew are males.
Arboghast: Human male?. Became a cryo-zombie.
Carmichael: Human male?. Became a cryo-zombie.
Chalmers: Human female. Became a cryo-zombie. The crew captured her to put her into cryo-sleep, but the cryo-tube exploded, killing her.
Ferguson: Human male?. Became a cryo-zombie.
Gaines: Human male. Became a cryo-zombie. Broke the cryo-tube of Stark. Killed by Stark.
Hobbs: Human male. Awakened by Stark. He became separated in the dark, and probably got bitten by a cryo-zombie, because he was turned into one.
Langtry: Human female. Awakened by Stark. She got bitten by a cryo-zombie, turning her into one. She is killed by Stark and Tulsa.
Lorna Stark: Human female. The captain of the spaceship.
Trumbo: Human male. Science officer. Awakened by Stark. Wanted to betray the others. Attacked by a cryo-zombie Hobbs, committed suicide.
Welch: Human male?. Became a cryo-zombie.
Tulsa: Human male. Awakened by Stark. He is romantically involved with Stark. He got bitten by a cryo-zombie, turning him into one. To protect Stark, he committed suicide.
unnamed: Human male?. Became a cryo-zombie.
Characters killed
Everybody. Even the spaceship was destroyed.
Technology
Containment capsules: They allow humans to be put into cryo-sleep for at least 32 years. The technology seems to be experimental, as malfunctions happened while awakening the crew.
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Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
Analysis of the story - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
I didn't rally like the story. It was predictable, although there were no major problems that would have prevented me from finishing Containment #1-5.
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one.
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Containment #1-5 comic book are played in sequence, following the same storyline.
There's no single viewpoint character.
The series as a whole has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution. The individual issues don't have this structure.
Parallels with other stories
There are some references in the Containment #1-5 comic books to other works.
Alien (1979)
- The story starts with establishing the location, the empty halls of the spaceship.
- We see the main character getting awakened from cryo-sleep.
- The crewmembers are not extremely intelligent, they are just average people.
- The crew is betrayed by the science officer. It's Ash in Alien, Trumbo in the comics.
- The spaceship blows up due to the the activation of the self destruct system. It's intentionally done by the protagonist in Alien, but it's remotely done by the corporation in the comics.
- Only one person (a female) survives by the end of the story. It's Ripley in Alien, Stark in the comics.
Zombie stories
- The infection spreads by the bites of the mindless creatures.
Things I liked
- I liked the concept of a mindless human, created by a malfunction of the cryogenic system.
Problematic elements
Lack of introductions: While we get introduced to the first two zombies, the rest of the crew - including the captain herself - doesn't even get named until longer into the story. This makes it harder for the reader to identify the characters.
Lack of personalities: There were only two distinct characters in the story - the strong and stoic captain and the sly and sleazy science officer.
Lack of intelligence: The members of the crew don't seem to be well trained astronauts. They look like regular people, stuck in a dangerous situation. That could work if the surviving crewmembers just random settlers out of hundreds, but they should be the best of the best, chosen for such an important journey.
Infection by bites: I liked the way they introduced the space zombies in a scientific way. However, when the story introduced the bite of the space zombies, it felt uninspired, and the space zombies lost their originality.
Trumbo opening the airlock: He doesn't seem like a guy that is easily convinced or have empathy towards others. I doubt he would intentionally open the airlock to let Stark in, no matter the situation.
NASA blowing up the spaceship: It looks like the situation is already under control. They could easily kill Stark remotely if they wanted to get rid of witnesses. Blowing up the ship seems overkill for me.
Unanswered questions
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Possibilities of improvement
Lack of introductions: Add some extra dialogue, telling us the names of the characters.
Lack of personalities: During conversations, add some extra details about the characters.
Trumbo opening the airlock: Change the scene so he accidentally opens the airlock.
NASA blowing up the spaceship: Add some dialogue explaining why would they do this.
How it could have been better?
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
I haven't read any other novels or graphic novels of the writer (Eric Red). I've seen Blue Steel (1990), co-written by him, that was a good movie.
I haven't read any other graphic novels from the illustrator (Nick Stakal).
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Collections
Containment (IDW, 2005.09.14): Collects Containment #1-5.
Containment (SST Publications, 2014.10.01, 2019): Collects Containment #1-5.
Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Containment #1-5, graphic novel series from IDW Publishing (2005)
image © IDW Publishing
Uses for the comic book - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
Plot
- Set in a futuristic setting
- People of a planet (Earth) are sent on a spaceship to reach a distant planet (Saturn).
- The crew of a spaceship is in cryo-sleep, but a malfunction causes them to get awakened.
- People (crew of a spaceship) get affected by an crisis (attack of mindless humans due to cryo-sleep malfunction) in a remote location (spaceship).
- An event (cryo-tube malfunction) causes people to become mindless and violent.
- Creatures (mindlessly violent humans) starts killing people.
- The people have to fight the creatures.
- These creatures infect people (by biting them).
- A malfunction happens (oxigen supply and power turned off) that needs to be solved so the people would survive.
Scenes
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
Escape from madness: Some event (illness, curse, parasites) causes people near the team to become mindlessly aggressive. They need to escape the place to avoid meeting the same fate.
Complete objectives (harder for the players): In order to escape the place, they have to complete objectives - open the gates, find transportation, get supplies -, while they have to go through places where they get attacked by the mindless people.
Complete their mission (harder for the players): The whole thing happened before they were able to complete their mission, that brought them here in the first place. Now, before they can escape, they need to find a way to complete their mission, while they are being attacked by the mindless people.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Surprise attack (solo game): The player sets up a base with rooms and corridors. Choose a room where some of the crew rests. Randomly choose a place, and put an unarmed crewmember in the middle of it. It can be an open corridor or a room with multiple entrances. If you've chosen a dead end corridor or a room with a single entrance, then choose another one. Randomly choose one end of the corridor or one of the entrances of the room, and put some unarmed attacker models, who want to take over the base. The crewmember has the first action, then the attackers move towards the closest crewmember. When the crewmember enters the resting room, the others wake up, and they can start to take actions in the next turn. The crew wins if they defeat the attackers, while more than half of the crew survives. The attackers win if they defeat the crew, while more than half of the attackers survive.
Attackers (d6): 1-2: mutineers, who turned against the others, 3-4: traitors who were paid by a rival, 5-6: saboteurs, who managed to sneak in, but couldn't bring weapons in to avoid detection.
Angry mob (harder for the players): The attackers belong to an angry mob that broke into the base. The player has to put a scenery piece (or some token) in every room. The attackers move towards the closest objective - a scenery piece or a crewmember. When they touch the scenery piece, they destroy it with their next action, that causes some problems for the crewmembers - come up with appropriate problems for your setting. The crew only wins if they don't lost more than N supplies.
Problems (d6): 1-2*: lost supplies. 3-4: power outage - in that room and the surrounding rooms it becomes dark, and a model has to spend an action to force a door open. 5-6: fire breaks out - The fire starts to spread in the room. At the end of every turn, roll a d6, on a 6, the room becomes unusable - nobody can enter, and every model that is still inside becomes a casualty. After the room became unusable, at the end of every turn, roll a d6, on a 6, the fire spreads into an adjacent room or corridor.
Attacker player - Additional player (harder for the crew player): Another player controls the attackers. If an attacker enters the resting room, every attacker model can kill one sleeping crewmember with an action.
Traitor player - Additional player (harder for the crew player): Another player chooses one of the resting models secretly, and writes it down. Before the game, choose one of the rooms in the playing area, that will be the safe room, that is reinforced, and it contains supplies for one person. The traitor wants to reach this safe room, alone. When the game starts, the crew player controls all of the crew models. After the resting crew is awakened, the traitor player can take over the chosen traitor model any time. If the chosen traitor model would be injured, the traitor player has to take over, and instead of the injury, it moves one base away from the attacker. If the traitor model is in contact with another crewmember that is not in contact with an attacker, they are forced to swap place. The traitor player wins if the traitor model enters the safe room, and the turn ends with no other models in the room. It's a minor victory for the traitor player if it doesn't enter the safe room, but all of the attackers are defeated. If there is a traitor player, that doesn't count as a crewmember for victory conditions of the crew or the attacker players. The crew can only win the game if they stop the traitor from closing itself in the safe room alone. The attacker player gains a minor victory by defeating the crew, while the traitor is locked in the safe room.
Wandering creatures: One of the player has a force that is protected from the other player's forces - they are in an unreachable island, inside a fortress, behind a force field. However, there are also aggressive wandering creatures inside that place - they got out by accident, our by a previous assault attempt. The player on the outside has the ability to lure those creatures via lights, sound, movement. This way they can get them to attack the forces on the inside. The forces on the inside cannot use ranged weapons to attack the forces on the outside, but they can open the gates to get out and directly attack them.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern / futuristic (advanced) human female / male civilian.
Cryo-zombies: Human-sized (S3) modern / futuristic (advanced) human female / male sick civilian, often without clothes or in torn clothes.
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Similar stories - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
Short stories like Containment
Novels like Containment
Graphic novels like Containment
Dead Space series (Image Comics 2008-2009 / IDW Publishing 2010 / Tor Books 2010, 2012-2012 / Titan Books 2013): In a futuristic setting, a group of people has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected necromorphs) in a remote location / confined space (spaceship / space station).
Movies like Containment
Agent (2017): In a contemporary setting, a group of people (hikers) has to fight violent humans (infected by aliens) in a remote location (desert).
Breach (2020): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (crew of a spaceship) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected by a creature) in a remote location / confined space (spaceship).
Dead Space: Downfall (2008): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (crew of a colony) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected necromorphs) in a remote location / confined space (colony base).
Dead Space: Aftermath (2011): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (the crew of a spaceship) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected necromorphs) in a remote location / confined space (spaceship).
Ghosts of Mars (2001): In a futuristic setting, a group of people has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected by aliens) in a remote location / confined space (settler colony).
Pandorum (2009): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (the crew of a spaceship) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (mutants created by the spaceship) in a remote location / confined space (spaceship).
The Last Days on Mars (2013): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (the crew of a colony) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected by alien bacteria) in a remote location / confined space (settler colony). The story ends with the last survivor floating in space.
TV series & episodes like Containment
Computer games like Containment
Dead Space (2008, 2023): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (crew of a spaceship) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected necromorphs) in a remote location / confined space (spaceship / space station).
Dead Space 2 (2011): In a futuristic setting, a group of people (crew of a space station) has to fight mindlessly violent humans (infected necromorphs) in a remote location / confined space (space station).
The Thing (2002): In a contemporary setting, a group of people (soldiers) has to fight a creature gets into a remote location / confined space (arctic station). They infect people. People have to fight the creature. Based on The Thing (1982) movie.
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Frequently asked questions - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
Is the Containment comic book based on a novel or a movie?
No, Containment is not based on either books or films.
Is the Containment comic book a remake or reboot?
No, the Containment #1-5 comic book is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Where can I read Containment online?
At 2024.03.02, although I've read is available digitally, I couldn't find Containment #1-5 online anywhere.
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Resources - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
Official
IDW Publishing: Containment (on Archive.org): Official article.
Information
Comicvine: Containment » 5 issues: Database article.
Goodreads: Containment: Database article.
League of Comic Geeks: Containment series: Database article.
Library Thing: Containment #1: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article / video.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Containment comic book (2005)
Andrew Girdwood (for Geek Native): Zombies in Space: A review of Containment: Review article about the Containment #1-5 comic book with minor spoilers.§
Reviews with spoilers - Containment comic book (2005)
: Review article / video of the Containment #1-5 graphic novel, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Containment graphic novel (2005)
: Analysis article / video, explaining the finale of Containment #1-5.¤
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Buying the product - Containment #1-5, graphic novel (2005)
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Have you read the Containment #1-5 comic book series from IDW Publishing? How do you like the issues? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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