Geek Culture Reviews

Marvel gives Alien the “What If…?” treatment this week as they ask the question; What if…Carter Burke Had Lived? “For years, fans of James Cameron’s legendary Aliens questioned whether Carter Burke, a company man more hateable than the Xenos themselves, had actually survived the traumatic events on the terraforming colony Hadley’s Hope. Now the actor behind the beloved villain, Paul Reiser, joins his son Leon and the star-studded team of writers and producers Adam F. Goldberg, Brian Volk-Weiss and Hans Rodionoff for a journey back to Hadley’s Hope and the twisted escape of a man who should have died.” Aliens: What If…?#1 is set to hit comic book shelves this Wednesday, March 6th.

Declan Shalvey bows out of Alien with a bang… It seems like only yesterday we were introduced to Zasha and her scientist family on the frozen planet of LV-695. Across this first arc veteran writer Declan Shalvey slowly creeped in the horror as the Xenomorph awaited the families discovery underneath the frozen tundra. From that moment onward, Zasha’s world fell apart as Wayland-Yutani descended onto LV-695.  This current arc dubbed ‘ Descendent’ continued Zasha’s journey by sending her back to LV-695. While we could have retread old ground, Shalvey instead opts for a strong story about family, and what our descendants might inherit further down the years. And of course, there’s plenty of Xenomorph action too!  Alien #4 picks up in the immediate aftermath of the previous issues conclusion. Zasha’s short reunion with the remains of father figure Cole were short lived as Jun Yutani arrived to drop quite an unexpected bombshell - Dayton is the Synth that’s been featured in the fl...

The sins of the past reign supreme on the frozen world of LV-695… We’re heading into the third act of Declan Shalvey’s Alien, and the tension is really ramping up to a fever pitch. As the salvage of the U.S.C.S.S. Boreas gets underway within the frozen waters of LV-695, Zasha comes face to face with a face from her past - Dayton. Their reunion is short lived as Jun Yutani makes a confession of his own.  The narrative mystery starts to unravel during this issue as each sub-plot makes headway to their conclusions. Chief amongst this is why Jun Yutani is interested in salvaging the Boreas, and why we keep getting flashbacks to a past encounter with the Xenomorph. It’s a very clever reveal and it’s one that I didn’t predict way back in issue #1. While it doesn’t necessarily tie into Zasha’s own reasonings, it’ll certainly make re-reading Thaw extremely interesting.  Anyway, while the family reunion is cut short, the remaining salvage team get ready to hoist the stricken Boreas bac...

In Space, Declan Shalvey CAN hear you scream… It’s fair to say that Marvel’s forays into the realms of Ridley Scott’s Alien universe have so far been a bit rocky. From Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s retreading of familiar grounds to Salvador Larroca’s questionable art, the famous Xenomorph became a mediocre comic. Too be fair, I’m being overly harsh on Kennedy as both Revival and Icarus did start to tread new ground for the franchise.  For the franchise’s fourth arc, Marvel turned to Declan Shalvey who brought us Thaw. Taking place on a barren ice-world Thaw introduced us LV-695 - a barren ice-world that’s hiding a deadly secret. While the Xenomorph’s introduction was always going to be a given, it was through Shalvey’s human cast where the mystery stemmed from. Introducing us to a likeable protagonist  and her family, Shalvey takes us on a wild ride that involves corporate takeovers, long buried secrets, greed, and a heavy dose of old fashioned horror. Taking place a few years aft...

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...

Previewing Alien #10... Alien #10 heads to stores next Wednesday (2nd March) and we've got a look at what's in store. ' The Spinners community has been decimated by the Xenomorphs. There’s only a handful of survivors left. Will they make it to sanctuary? And what new terrifying type of Xenomorph awaits them? '

Rob reviews Alien #9... It's been a couple of issues since I last sat down to review Philip Kennedy Johnson 's Alien series. Since the last review, we've seen the ending to Gabe Cruz' nightmare on-board the Epsilon Research Station and discovered more information about the ever-present Xenomorph.  Now heading into its second story arc, Johnson takes us away from Earth and into the far reaches of space as we join the nightmare unfolding around the moon colony of Euridice. However, rather than a group of hardened Colonial Marines, Johnson centres this story around a techno-repressed religious group known as "Spinners". While this second story arc is far better than our first outing, it is still not an overly brilliant Alien story. What we do have is a somewhat original idea that seems to parody both Alien³ and the original Alien Vs Predator narrative. The colonists of Euridice aren't a die-hard bunch of Marines - they're ordinary people...

Previewing Alien #9... Marvel have given us a sneak peak at what to expect when 'Alien' #9 comes to book shelves.  Writen by Philip Kennedy Johnson, with art by Salvador Larroca, ' Alien ' continues the story of Marvel 's first foray into Xenomorph territory... ' THE FALL OF THE GARDEN! •  Carnage consumes the settlement. •  Who will survive the night? •  Where is sanctuary? And how will they get there?' ' Alien' #9 is heading to stores this Wednesday - February 2nd, 2022. 

Prepare the Blood Harvest! Marvel have given us a sneak preview of Alien #8 , and it's looking good!  ' BLOOD HARVEST! The xenomorphs overtake the settlement. A last stand is made. A terrible truth is learned.' Alien #8 is bursting out onto shelves this coming Wednesday (10th November). Can't wait? Then check out the official preview pages below...

Rob reviews Alien#4... Marvel's Alien series has been a bit shakey over its last outings. From its terrible opening, the tale of Epsilon Orbital Research Station has started to grow on me. Don't get me wrong, the series is still more miss than hit, but both Johnson and Larroca are slowly getting there.  Last time out things didn't go too well for the ever stone-faced Gabe Cruz and his small squad of Colonial Marines. With Cruz' secret mission in capturing the 'Alpha Xenomorph' now in danger of failing, it falls to Bishop to keep things on track.  The problem with this series so far has been that there's no emotional connection between Cruz and the reader. Where Johnson does try with giving Cruz some qualities - issues with his Son, torn between family and duty - he's still a wooden character. Even in this issue, as things go from bad to worse, Cruz is still there giving the situation a big "fuck you". Even 'emotional' sc...

Rob reviews Alien #3... I've given Marvel's first foray into the Xeno-Verse a bit of a bashing over the last few weeks. I've moaned about everything from Larroca's wooden art to Johnson's "been there, done that" plot. However, Alien #3 seems to be somewhat of a turning point. Johnson has finally settled on where this story is going, and Larroca has finally painted Gabe Cruz with a slightly different facial expression... We return to Epsilon Station as Cruz and his fellow Colonial Marines come under attack from the Xenomorph. It's a bit of a one-sided fight as the lone Xenomorph ploughs through Cruz and his team. What's more interesting is that when the Alien retreats it takes the wounded and near-death Lewandowski with it - minus his rib cage!? This then leaves Cruz, Hamilton, and Dorsey alone with Hamilton quite rightly losing his cool. Whilst Cruz stops short on spilling the details on his deal with Wayland Yutani, we...