Xenomorphs Get Extra Bloody In New Marvel Miniseries

Issue one cover art by Ryan Stegman

Make sure your New Year's Resolutions include adding the new comic Alien: Black, White & Blood to your pull-list.

The first issue of the four-issue miniseries is due to hit stores on February 7. 

Marvel Comics will explore new depths of terror this February by extending the popular Black, White & Red line into the Alien universe!

Alien: Black, White & Blood will be four issues of unbridled violence with shocking stories crafted by some the industry’s hottest talents.

Previous Black, White & Red instalments have spotlighted deadly icons, from Wolverine to Darth Vader. Now, it’s time for the Xenomorphs to be unleashed in this epic format!

Marvel Comics and 20th Century Studios present this kill-fest of an anthology in chest-rending artistic detail, brought to life in bold, black, white, red - and, when things get extra dangerous - GREEN!

Here are the tales fans can look forward to in the debut issue:

• Superstars Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, Guardians of The Galaxy) and brilliant artist Michael Dowling (Black Cat, Amazing Spider-Man) kick off Utopia, a generations-spanning saga that will be told across all four issues! Soaring through space to find a perfect world, a society descends into darkness as they’re shaped by their fear of the Xenomorphs!
• Fan-favorite writer Ryan Cady (Winter Guard) and Marvel newcomer Devmalya Pramanik explore the limits of compassion in Maternal Instincts. On a deep space vessel, a small child is the sole survivor of a Xenomorph slaughter and her only hope for salvation is the ship’s comforting and guiding AI computer unit.
• Rising stars Stephanie Phillips (Capwolf & The Howling Commandos, Cosmic Ghost Rider) and Marcelo Ferreira (Moon Knight: City of The Dead) deliver a tale of guts, glory and the most exhilarating of games in The Hunt. Xenomorphs become the main attraction when Weyland-Yutani gives wealthy thrill-seekers a chance to hunt down the galaxy’s deadliest species.

Alien #1 Trailer From Marvel

Predators Hunt Marvel Heroes on May Variant Covers

With Fox now being owned by Disney, allowing Marvel to play in the Alien and Predator universes, we've already seen the Alien-themed variant covers for several superhero titles, but now Marvel has unveiled a series of Predator variants for its May titles.

These are, of course, simply artistic flights of fancy and aren't any indication (yet) of actual crossovers between the Yautja of Predator fame and any particular Marvel superheroes.

That said, for my money, I reckon they would be a better fit in the Marvel Comic Book Universe than Alien's xenomorphs.

In Comics, No One Can Hear You Squee

Main cover by Inhyuk Lee

The first, new, Alien comic from Marvel - new custodians of the franchise's comic book universe - arrives on shelves in March.

Gabriel Cruz gave his life to Weyland-Yutani - in the case of an alien attack he barely survived, almost literally!

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 Xenomorph are far from over.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca team up to tell an all-new tale of the titan of horror and science fiction that has scared audiences for decades.

No one is safe. No one is innocent. And no one can hear you scream.

Issue one is scheduled to dock on March 24.

Variant cover by Patrick Gleason

Variant cover by Peach Momoko

Variant cover by Ron Lim

Marvel Age of Alien Begins In March

Arriving from the cold depths of space, a whole new life cycle for the universe's most-terrifying xenomorphs begins next March with the publication of Alien #1 from the new shepherds of the franchise, Marvel Comics.

Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, creator of DC Comics' stunning dark fantasy series The Last God, with art by Salvador Larroca, this new tale will feature "both new and classic characters from Earth and beyond" and is aimed at both "longtime fans and newcomers to the legendary horror/science-fiction saga".

According to Marvel.com:

"The new story will feature a Weyland-Yutani mercenary named Gabriel Cruz as he battles a deadly new breed of xenomorph with the survival of his child hanging in the balance."

Rehomed Predators To Return Late 2021

Cover art by Iban Coello

The first Predator omnibus from Marvel Comics is scheduled to hit stores in August next year, according to the AVP Galaxy website.

Reprinting old Dark Horse comics, Predator: The Original Years Omnibus Vol. 1 will include:

PREDATOR (1989) #1-4, PREDATOR 2 #1-2, PREDATOR: Big Game #1-4, PREDATOR: COLD WAR #1-4, PREDATOR: THE BLOODY SANDS OF TIME #1-2, PREDATOR: RACE WAR #1-4, PREDATOR: BAD BLOOD #1-4, PREDATOR: INVADERS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION, PREDATOR: DARK RIVER #1-4, PREDATOR: STRANGE ROUX, and PREDATOR: KINDRED #1-4 – Plus material from DARK HORSE PRESENTS (1986) #46, #67-69, and #119: DARK HORSE COMICS #1-2, #4-7, #10-14, #16-18 and #20-21; and A DECADE OF DARK HORSE #1

As well as the standard cover, featuring cover art by Iban Coello (pictured above), there is to be a direct market variant with a cover from original Predator comic artist Chris Warner.

While the Predators are most definitely not part of the official Alien canon, there's still an enormous overlap in the fandoms and there's nothing to stop Game Mothers from including the Yautja in their campaigns.

These reprints may provide crucial inspiration fuel for those who missed the numerous Dark Horse comics on their first publication.

Aliens vs Marvel Heroes on January Variant Covers

While Marvel has been tight-lipped about news of its upcoming Alien books, it is celebrating its acquisition of the franchise with a splash of variant covers on its titles in January.

Here's a selection to whet your appetite. 

Remember these are all just "art pieces" and no indication of whether the infamous xenomorphs are going to be shoehorned into the wider Marvel Comics Universe (as Conan the Barbarian has been) or left to their own devices in their own pocket universe.

Given that Marvel is simply licencing Conan, his being woven so heavily into the fabric of the Marvel Universe has been a big surprise to me

However, the Alien, Predator, and AvP franchises are now owned wholly by Disney (which, in turn, owns Marvel), so I would have thought highly likely that we will see some crossover with superheroes in the future.

The xenomorphs, for instance, could easily replace The Brood (Marvel's old xenomorph rip-offs).

Marvel's First Alien Omnibus

Direct market exclusive cover by Mark A. Nelson

The first reprint omnibus collection of old Alien comics coming from Marvel's new licencing deal with Fox is due to hit stores in April.

Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 will contain:

• Aliens (1988) 1-6,
• Aliens (1989) 1-4,
• Aliens: Earth War (1990) 1-4,
• Aliens: Genocide (1991) 1-4,
• Aliens: Hive (1992) 1-4,
• Aliens: Tribes (1992) 1,
• Aliens: Newt's Tale (1992) 1-2,
• Alien 3 (1992) 1-3
• Aliens: Space Marines (1992) 1-12

Plus material from Dark Horse Presents (1986) 24, 42-43, 56; Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special (1991) 1; and Dark Horse Insider (1989) 14-27.

Aliens and Predators Move To Marvel

Forget the Brood, because the O.G. xenomorphs from Alien are coming to Marvel Comics next year, along with the Predator.

If you've been wondering what Disney is going to do with the Alien and Predator properties since acquiring Fox, then this looks like a first step.

Starting in 2021, Marvel will be publishing new stories set in the franchises of Alien, Predator, and Alien vs Predator, which will "feature new and classic characters from Earth and beyond to explore never-before-seen corners of both the Alien and Predator universes".

So, that's another I.P. - like Conan - that Marvel has snatched from under the nose of Dark Horse.

Will this mean, as Marvel has done with Conan, that the Xenomorph XX121 and the Yautja will be crossing over into the Marvel Universe?

I'd pay to see that!