Dark Horse Comics 2016
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Moritat
Coloured by Rain Beredo
Lettered by Michael Heisler
On LV-223, Captain Paget’s team of Colonial Marines attempt to rescue a woman, Chris, from the Alien hive, only to be set upon by the Alien horde, intent on preventing her rescue. Inside the hive, Chris witnesses the stillbirth of a deformed chestburster erupting from a fellow captive and realizes that she may carry the last viable Alien queen embryo.
Empowered, she uses the threat of her own death as leverage against the queen to pull the Alien horde away from Paget and her troops. But the reprieve from the xenomorphs reveals another threat—an Engineer, determined to wipe the humans from the face of the planet!
Ah ya know what this ongoing series of mini-series that tie-into each other and continue to tell the tale of these characters just keeps getting better and better. Chris in the Hive with the Queen as her wife and teammates come to her rescue have to face the wrath of an Engineer. There’s no such thing as easy in this franchise and Dan has this uncanny ability to keep finding ways to add new characters, increase the tension of existing ones and thrill audiences with this never ending action.
With the crew on the Hasdrubal adding an extra element of drama to what’s happening on the planet’s surface things are getting a lot more interesting. I love the added duplicity and subterfuge going on up there with the Marines and Company man. I mean we all know where certain loyalties lie and he’s really not doing much to hide his intentions. Plus he’s been promised a viable live sample should they get Chris back to Earth and save her life before the embryo bursts free.
I am a huge fan of Moritat and his work. The way he uses the page layouts through angles, perspective and backgrounds to bring the action to us is amazingly well done. The sheer amount of violence he can bring to the page without going into excessive gore is impressive as well. Plus just the way he renders this world and the xenomorphs really not only excite the imagination but instill the awe and danger they represent.
The characterisation here continues to make me feel for these characters. Paget and her team have the best and worst luck possible and the more we see the more I don’t want them to die and that’s half the fun here. We all know the life span of characters in these situations and that so many of them have survived this long is miracle enough. Dan though found a way to get us invested in these characters and to feel their loss when they die and that we keep coming back for that kind of punishment is a testament to his skill.
With everything this franchise is about and embodies within these pages it’s no wonder that we keep coming back time and again.