Comic Book Review - Alien #1

A feeling of deja vu?...

Alien #1 not only marks the beginning of Marvel's third Xenomorph outing, but it also sees a slight change in its creative team. While writer Philip Kennedy Johnson remains at the helm, this time he's joined by artist Julius Ohta. With Alien #1 essentially wiping out what came before, can Johnson, Ohta, and colourist Yen Nitro, send us on a bloodstained elevator to hell? 

This arc opens up on the planet Tobler-9 in the year 2205 - 3-years after the events seen in Alien: Revival. Underneath the bright facade of a "Conference for Human Innovation," an emergency is in full swing. With the only escape route being guarded by some trigger-happy Wayland-Yutani security, things don't look good. To top this opening off, the Xenomorph turns up and does what it does best - kills everything! 

Kennedy then takes us 12 years into the future to the jungle planet of Europa-5. At first, things seem pretty peaceful, but we're soon introduced to a group of synthetics who are being hunted by a military squad. As the synths then take on their defence, they soon learn that the United Systems Government need them alive to fulfil quite a dangerous mission - head to the Xenomorph-infested Tobler-9 and secure an experimental drug. 

Why? Well, an important agricultural world has fallen foul of a terraforming incident, and the drug could save the planet. However, the hook is that the "drug" is derived from synthesised Xenomorph DNA! 

And we already know how this one going to play out...

So, Alien #1 starts pretty well. The bright opening facade of Tobler-9 with its holographic displays and "world of tomorrow" look does a great job of instantly capturing the mystery that Johnson is building. From the introduction, we're led to believe that this world is the pinnacle of Wayland-Yutani technology. But it also fell foul of the company's long obsession with the Xenomorph. Johnson does a grand job with this horrific prelude as he swiftly drags us through this small snippet of Tobler-9's demise. It works well in building the horror-yet-to-come, as the narrative then switches to the bright visuals of Europa-5 as we get a batch of exposition, to then throw us back into the nightmare of Tobler-9 ready for issue #2.

Those of you who've read my previous Alien reviews will already know that I had my reservations about Salvador Larocca's art. While he did eventually produce some great visuals in 'Alien: Revival', the first arc was marked by some pretty gritty visuals - and not in a good way. For this new series, the artwork comes from Julius Ohta, who's already put quite a large stamp on proceedings.

While Johnson's script is quite a hitter, the true star of this opening is Ohta. Across the entire issue, Ohta works wonders in crafting the horror as we get the horrified faces of the Tobler-9 residents, to the swaths of blood as we see the Xenomorph in action. Even as the narrative switches to the lush and vibrant world of Europa-5, Ohta's vision of the massacre stays with you. Yen Nitro's colour choices also work well with Ohta's linework with each scene getting a distinctive look and tone. Nitro also produces some fantastic shadow work that captures the canopies of the Europa-5 jungle and the tight corridors of Tobler-9.

All in all, Alien #1 feels different. While it has the classic hallmarks of the franchise, it's not heavily influenced by them. While we do get Wayland-Yutani being greedy so-and-so's, the United Systems are also here and up to their brand of shadiness. The use of synthetics as the central cast is also a shift in direction for the series. With Johnson already touching upon synthetic rights, could we see a dashing of 'Blade Runner? 

Away from all this and the series is keeping its secrets well in the shadows. But in doing so it's made me excited for what's in-store. 

Rating: 8/10 

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Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter and Facebook @GeekCultureRev