In the wake of three six-issue arcs (not to mention his contribution to Alien Annual #1), writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Superman: Action Comics, Marvel Zombies: Resurrection) appears to be parting ways with Marvel’s recent run on the Alien IP, at least for the foreseeable future. Suffice to say the Eisner nominated Johnson’s tenure with Alien has been divisive to say the least, failing to please the most staunch Dark Horse brand Alien enthusiasts. That having been said, has Johnson saved his best for last? Will his latest yarn win over some of his more alienated (pun intended) critics? Enter Alien: Icarus.
When disaster strikes agricultural hub Demeter-2 by way of a nuclear reactor meltdown, 25 colonies (including 1.4 billion lives) hang in the balance. Lieutenant General George March’s solution? A rogue synthetic special forces unit know colloquially as Steel Team and led by the artificially intelligent Freyja. Somewhere amidst the ruins of Weyland-Yutani’s abandoned Tobler-9 lies a genetic cure that can save mankind from nuclear annihilation. The problem? This genetic cure was synthesized within a xenomorph egg (otherwise known as an ovomorph for all you laymen) and Tobler-9 is now an alien-infested hive world.
As even the elite Steel Team begin to get picked off one by one by the xenomorph threat, they discover a small band of humans surviving amongst the wreckage. While this small band of scavengers, led by Melody, may hold the key to humanities survival, one among them (a xenobug infected, Fifield like, mutant once known as Lee) may ensure that humanity has no future foothold in a dark universe dominated by monsters.
As alluded to above, Marvel has had a bit of a rough go with Alien on the comic book page. After Disney’s takeover of Twentieth Century Fox (and, more pressingly, Marvel’s acquisition of the Alien IP from Dark Horse), early criticisms focused on artwork, firstly with regard to a reprint of Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 that appeared to plagiarize work by celebrated comic book illustrator Tristan Jones and foremost the alleged tracing of posed/photographed NECA figures within the panels of Bloodlines and Revival (a fault that artist Julius Ohta and the powers that be at Marvel thankfully did away with with regard to Icarus). Latter criticisms went after Johnson himself, whose introduction of Alpha seemed a tad too pedestrian, whilst his introduction of the Goddess/Woman in the Dark seemed too at odds with previously established Alien lore.
While Johnson strongest detractors tend not to give the man an inch, I’ll give him this; he at least attempts to provide leads that aren’t generic Ripley clones (both figuratively and literally – I’m looking at you, Alien: Resurrection). Gabriel Cruz, Jane Callan and Freyja all hold their own and stand out in their own unique ways. He also introduces innovative original concepts such as the alluring alien/human hybrid who haunts the dreams of human hosts who succumb to the parasitic facehugger – a concept that, while perhaps not given the greatest reveal in this latest series of issues, was certainly captivating enough to string many readers (myself included) along issue after issue. Johnson also has a knack for integrating several lesser-utilized franchise concepts (i.e. the emancipated androids of Resurrection, the infectious alien scarabs of Jon Spaihts’ original Prometheus script) into his stories.
That having been said, many of these innovative ideas still suffer from the generic storytelling staples draped around them (replete with run-of-the-mill space marines, Wey-Yu facility outbreaks and overrun colony planets), not to mention a few redundancies in plot (did both Demeter-2 and Tobler-9 need to be plagued radiation?). I wish Johnson the best of luck in all future endeavors, however eagerly much of the fanbase (myself included) await what future storytellers (namely Declan Shalvey of Moon Knight and Injection acclaim) have to offer.
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