Writer: Benjamin Percy / Penciller: Dave Wachter / Colour Artist: Christopher Sotomayor / Letterer: VC's Ariana Maher / Marvel Comics
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14th July 2021
The Pitch: It's been 35 years since the tragedy of the Hadley's Hope colony, but what happened to that ill-fated venture has been shrouded in mystery. A renegade crew of investigative journalists are heading towards the moon that Weyland-Yutani has wiped from all records, and they'll bring back the truth even if it kills them... and what remains in that bombed-out site will try to do just that. Benjamin Percy and Dave Wachter imagine a terrifying possible future for LV-426 in this celebration of the 35th Anniversary of one of the most influential science fiction films of all time!
Belated sequels are a constant in sci-fi. Twenty-six years passed between the first phase of Star Wars and the second and then a further decade between the middle trilogy and the last. The Terminator had a 7-year gap. Only Marvel churns 'em out at a fair clip Then, of course, there's Alien, Aliens and Alien 3. At least six years between each. And now we have another sequel to Aliens, only this time a more direct partner to James Cameron's film than Alien 3, whilst at the same time keeping a respectful distance from it. Picking up both 35 years in real-time and in story-time, Aliens Aftermath offers us a contemporary take on the Weyland-Yutani universe, with modern mores and politics.
PERCY AND WACHTER RENDER THE ALIEN AS THE RADIOACTIVE PAST - A creATURE SO TOXIC, IT’S SKIN BECOMES A IRREDESCANT BEACON OF DOOM
All of the Alien films have a had a 'political' subtext. In case the word bothers you, I'm simply saying that films have been about something other than the surface narrative. Both Alien and Alien 3 have touched on the struggle of the working and criminal classes in the face of the overwhelming power of money and corporate greed as well as male rape, gender issues and sex in the workplace. Aliens dealt with the militarisation of ventures that should be humanitarian, whilst making contact with the ghosts of the Vietnam war. Alien 3 dealt with PTSD and the lives of veterans. But given the concerns that make the world stage in the strange times we live in, what would the Alien represent? What does the monster really represent? Smartly, Percy decides to have the Alien become the radioactive past. A creature so toxic, its silicon skin becomes an iridescent glow and a shining beacon of doom. Intelligently, he also pushes the creature back down to minimal appearances, to strengthen its impact. Percy also finds an excellent delivery method for another metaphor: how activism can become narcissism in the media-driven climate.
Wachter creates a fast style for the art, making the panels energetic, and clean. The book has lost the boxy, beautifully pornographic technology of Cameron's movie. How could it not? Everything we saw and loved from that movie has been destroyed in the thermo-nuclear explosion of the atmosphere processing station. The only thing we admired that still remains is the Alien, bioluminescence blinding us. Watcher has made a gorgeous creation, giving us an Alien we haven't seen before, something unique that this saga demands of all its major chapters. Sotomayor's colours are relatively bright, closer to Prometheus than Alien and Aliens. You feel the sky darken once you reach LV-426, though. Nuclear Winter pounds the light down and we head back into cavernous, resinous spaces. Maher's letters etch the scrambled comms and video pieces that make up the lives of the characters perfectly. She makes sure the screams are heard, loud and clear, five by five. If I have a criticism of the book it's that it isn't long enough. More room to explore the characters and build more mystery would have been great. Still, this makes a nice addition to the Alien canon.
Buy Marvel comics here and support The Comic Crush. Catch more of our Aliens 35th Anniversary special here.