Comic Review: Alien (2022) #1
I'm a big fan of Aliens, the 1986 movie by James Cameron with Sigourney Weaver, so when I saw a comic called Alien that just started this year I thought, why not try it out. Nothing can be as bad as that horrible Prometheus movie right?
Official Summary
A small colony of synths have settled in secret on a backwater moon. When a company of United System soldiers come to them for help retrieving biotechnology on a hostile planet that could be the key to saving humanity, the synths must decide whether the prospect of peace between man and machine is worth the risk of betrayal.
Quick Information
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Julius Ohta
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Published: September 07, 2022
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Rating: Parental Advisory
Series Status: Ongoing
Review
At the start of the issue the reader sees a hologram introducing the world of Tobler-9. A bright sun against a blue sky as the propaganda is read aloud. However, in the backdrop of the opening page, it's devoid of people minus some small damaged equipment in the distance and a small blood splatter on the top of the escalator. Well, the comic is called Alien.
Apparently Tobler-9 isn’t the place of the future of dreams as some acid dripping from the ceiling confirms that the hoard of running humans is about to be wiped out.
The title page does a pretty good job of bringing the reader up to speed as the Weyland-Yutani corporation are at it again with their Xenomorph experiments. We get to see a breakdown of the first couple movies with references to the Nostromo and Hadley’s Hope. As well as what I can only assume are references to other Alien comics?
As the story unfolds we are introduced to a team of Ex Spec Op Synthetics, who are enjoying some R&R before their old boss comes calling with an offer they mostly want to refuse. After the nuclear reactor blew on one of the biggest agricultural complexes in the system, it threatened to cause total societal collapse and the death of millions of humans. The catch is that apparently there is some miracle “egg” on Tobler-9, but since it’s also a radioactive wasteland, only Steel Team can recover it.
I liked the artstyle a lot. It differs drastically from the cover which was really good. I’m not a big fan of the hyper realism style myself. The coloring was nice and vivid. The characters are very expressive. So I’m sure when we finally get to see the aliens it's going to be spooky.
I didn’t really understand much of who these characters were at the start but there were some notes that reference backstory in another comic called Alien: Revival. So it sounds like you may want to read that prior to this comic to get the full picture. Either way the Synths are offered a chance for every Synthetic to become a full citizen in the United Systems if they go on this one last mission and retrieve the “egg”.
I may not know everything about who the characters are in play but I’ve seen enough Aliens media to know that a special “egg” can’t be something good that is going to save the human race in this neck of the galaxy. That being said though, it is interesting to see a batch of main characters who are Synths. My favorite character so far is the voice of reason aka Eli. This man knows what's up. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t go looking for trouble. I hope at least he survives to say “I told you so.”