Alien #1 

Writer – Declan Shalvey 

Artist – Andrea Broccardo 

Thaw (Part 1 of 6) 

A research team from Talbot Enterprise is working on ice moon LV-695. Their mission is to find water. After drilling a hole in the ground, young Zasha Zahn is sent down by her father Dayton to explore the section of the moon. Zasha finds something unusual – a creature never seen before. That creature is a face hugger. This discovery will put the Zahn family, including Batya Zahn – chief scientist and pregnant mother, in danger. 

My friend/co-worker offered to buy me a comic for Administrative Professionals Day. The caveat – I was tasked with buying him a comic as well. Keeping it under 10 dollars, I bought myself Captain America #12 and him Alien #1. I ended up buying myself a copy of Alien at another comic book shop later in the day. It would give us something to talk about in the office next week. 

Marvel Comics released this on Wednesday 04/26, which has become Alien Day among the horror/sci-fi community. This was really cool and very good synergy in my opinion.

Comic lovers and readers have seen the Star Wars universe expanded upon through many titles released by Marvel in recent years.  Marvel acquired the Alien, Predator, and Planet of the Apes franchises and are working on telling new stories while keeping the pre-set histories established in the movies intact. 

When the first Alien series was released from Marvel, I really tried to keep up with it but unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job of it. I decided to try again with this first issue and after reading it, I am focused on keeping up with this volume. I like the setting of the story. A moon covered in ice has a lot of potential. The harsh environment is dangerous for the intrepid explorers, especially once the Xenomorphs start cracking through their icy prisons. This setting is a good example of how the Xenomorphs are truly the perfect organism and can adapt and live through any scenario. The Zahn family must stick together in order to survive. They were supposed to be relieved of their mission by another crew months ago and are now in the wrong place at the wrong time. They find a savior in a ship that touches down on the moon but when they see the markings on the craft, they know they are in deep trouble. The family is now caught between a rock and hard place. Their survival and escape is not clear at the moment but the suspense is palpable and I want to see what happens next. 

Alien #1 is available now. Issue Number Two will be available in shops: May 31, 2023.

My question for those that have read this far – Will we ever see the Marvel Comics Universe crossover with the Alien/Predator/POTA universe? If so, which heroes/villains would you like to see face off against these aliens and apes?