ALIEN, VOLUME 1: BLOODLINES by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, writer and Salvador Larroca, artist. (Marvel, October 2021) Trade paperback, 144 pages. ISBN # 1302926144 / 9781302926144
Summary on the Goodreads website . . . .
The iconic cinematic terror makes its Marvel debut!
Gabriel Cruz gave his life to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation — almost literally, thanks to an alien attack that he barely survived! Recently retired, Cruz is trying to patch things up with his abandoned son with the help of his friend, a Bishop-model android. But his re-entry into civilian life is not going smoothly…and his encounters with the deadly Xenomorphs are far from over!
Now, Cruz has only one chance to save his son from the horrific fate he barely escaped. The clock toward total collapse is ticking. The aliens are loose! Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca team up for an all-new tale of the sci-fi/horror titan that has terrified audiences for decades.
No one is safe. No one is innocent. And no one can hear you scream.
COLLECTING: Alien (2021) 1-5
My Four -Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .
Phillip Kennedy Johnson shows the proper respect for the source material and tells a new story with all the familiar trappings that made the original so compelling. Salvador Larroca's art is spot-on, detailing the technology, space environments, and some seriously creepy aliens.
Beneath the scary surface atmosphere of this story, and the cat-and-mouse chase and escapes, Johnson weaves in a story of paternal relationships soured by an absentee father who put work obligations before time for family matters. Retired security officer Gabriel Cruz feels the pain of that neglect when it comes back to cause hardship via a rebel son. Will he get a chance to make things up, or is it too late for recompense? That conflict made the perils experienced matter more to me as I read and empathized with the characters. Well done.
Of course, the multinational corporation Weyland-Yutani is here, who started all the trouble with their greedy objectives regarding the Xenomorphs back in 2122, sacrificing the crew of the Nostromo for their bloody aims. LV-426, the moon where the events of the ALIEN film occurred the later ALIENS massacre 57 years later, is also the setting for this new story.
The only problem I have with this story, which occurs in 2200 (now 78 years since ALIEN), is that the Weyland-Yutani corporation still insists on getting their greedy paws on a specimen after all these years and apparently previously failed attempts. And, where is law enforcement/government in all this? Wouldn't the misdeeds of the corporation have been unearthed, exposed and publicly shamed by now? I didn't let this interfere with my enjoyment of the story, although it did pull me away from it for a moment.
I read this first story arc in the individual issues.
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