I’ve always been so fascinated by the future timeline that much of the Alien franchise inhabits. I’ve taken to calling it the “functional future” or “the sh*tty tomorrow,” because much of what we get to see is from the POV of the working class. There are no gleaming citadels or giant sunlit vistas that allow our characters to really take in the beauty of hundreds of years of human progress. Instead, we’re usually in a cargo ship or a prison, or else some backwater settlement that’s barely scraping by. The Alien series has long been an ode to the little guy, the folks just doing their best to survive under a regime that cares less about their quality of life than it does their ability to function in their role.
That’s why I was so intrigued by the prospect of Alien: Paradiso when it was announced. It’s a story that takes readers out of the usual dark and cramped (and slimy) hallways of the rest of the franchise and shows us how the other half lives. And as we know from countless Alien films and expanded media, the other half are mostly a bunch of selfish jerks. It’s the perfect setup for a creature feature, but Steve Foxe’s plotting expands upon that tantalizing premise even more.
Marvel
This first issue does a lot of table-setting, introducing us to the titular Paradiso, a resort for the wealthiest jerks in the universe, as well as a number of characters who find their paths intersecting when a pack of Xenomorphs are unleashed upon the unsuspecting populace. And what a group they are: There’s a pair of undercover agents hoping to put an end to a villainous cartel, the staff of identically beautiful androids, a criminal mastermind with a literal golden arm, and a courier carrying one of the most horrific packages imaginable. We even get a few quiet moments with some of the other workers and guests at Paradiso, making the place feel lived-in before the carnage kicks off.
And boy, does it ever. Even with the heavy lifting of introducing all of these characters and the stakes, this creative team still finds ample space within the book to show off the red stuff. The issue opens with a tremendously violent sequence showing us the massacre that lies ahead for Paradiso, hooking the reader immediately before taking us back to see how things got so bad. Edgar Salazar comes up with some truly gruesome deaths for these folks, while Peter Nguyen offers up a trippy page from the Xenomorph’s POV. Carlos Lopez’s colors pop throughout all of this, giving us a brighter world than we’ve seen in previous Alien stories, but still keeping in mind that blood, rust, and slime are all important hues in this universe.
Marvel
Salazar’s character acting and body language also goes a long way toward selling us on these characters’ personalities, matching with Foxe’s snappy script quite nicely. Even though this takes place in a glossier atmosphere, with many of the blue collar characters in the background, Paradiso still unmistakably packs in that “eat the rich” energy that previous films and comics have weaponized perfectly.
Yes, there’s a lot going on in this first issue and not much in the way of full-on Xenomorph action aside from the opening and the cliffhanger, but this is still a compelling opening chapter. The stakes have been established for both the alien threat and the criminal element going on in the background, and I’ve already taken a liking to some of the characters. I’m excited to read more of this, which feels like a new type of Alien story from Marvel. It’s like Aliens crossed with The White Lotus with just a dash of Casino Royale, and all of those ingredients working together should no doubt produce something special as this miniseries unfolds.
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