Aliens: Aftermath is a one-shot comic published by Marvel Comics on July 14, 2021. It was written by Benjamin Percy, and illustrated by Dave Wachter, colored by Christopher Sotomayor, lettered by VC's Ariana Maher, and edited by Jake Thomas. Cover art was provided by Phil Noto while variant cover art was provided by Dave Wachter, Israel Silva, and Neeraj Menon with Ron Lim.
The comic is a direct sequel to the 1986 film Aliens, and was released to honor the movie's 35th anniversary. It follows an investigative expedition to LV-426 that seeks to uncover the fate of the lost colony of Hadley's Hope.
In Marvel's Alien comics line, Aliens: Aftermath was published concurrently with Alien: Bloodlines and was followed by Alien: Revival.
Publisher's Summary[]
It's been 35 years since the tragedy of the Hadley's Hope colony, but what happened during that ill-fated venture has been shrouded in mystery. A renegade crew of investigative journalists are heading towards the moon that Weyland-Yutani has wiped from all records, and they'll bring back the truth even if it kills them... and what remains in that bombed-out site will try to do just that.
Plot[]
The crew land on LV-426.
In the year 2214, after destroying a Weyland-Yutani fuelling station, Cutter Vasquez and three other members of the extremist, investigative journalism group, Renegade XM, avoid detection by laying low on LV-426 after a data drive retrieved from the station revealed the whereabouts of the old destroyed colony, Hadley's Hope. Cutter is determined to find clues as to what may have happened to his USCM aunt, Jenette Vasquez, as all record of her mission on Acheron had been wiped.
Landing on the colony, currently suffering from a nuclear winter following the destruction of the atmosphere processing plant, Cutter, Lela Rosewood and Woody Ballesteros explore its interior, with pilot Drake left behind to repair their ship, who is suddenly killed. Upon exploration, the others come across old corpses of Xenomorphs, with Cutter finding Vasquez's Smartgun. Lela attempts to reactivate the colony's mainframe, with Cutter requesting a search on Carter Burke. Successful, a hologram of a woman appears, and the mainframe reveals the presence of 'Subject Zero', one of the original colonists of Hadley's Hope, and the first to be impregnated, subsequently frozen in cryosleep. Suddenly, the floor gives way under Woody's feet, incapacitating him, and Cutter tethers down to help him, before further exploring the depths of the colony.
The Glowing Xenomorph attacks Lela.
Suddenly, Lela is attacked and killed by a bioluminescent Xenomorph that bleeds liquid nitrogen-esque blood.
Cutter subsequently encounters Subject Zero within a hypersleep chamber, and reveals to Woody that he was contacted by the 'extrasolar colonization administration' that, in exchange for knowledge of Hadley's Hope's whereabouts, he would retrieve Subject Zero and bring him to them. Climbing out of the hole with Subject Zero, he is suddenly approached by the female hologram, who, in actuality, is revealed to be Yutani, who has been observing them since Cutter plugged the fuelling station's data drive into their ship.
Woody witnesses a Chestburster erupt from Subject Zero.
Yutani bargains with Vasquez that if they were to deliver Subject Zero to Wey-Yu, they will double their pay, alongside wiping Cutter's criminal record. Cutter is suddenly attacked and killed by the glowing Xenomorph, and stray gunfire from his Pulse Rifle severs Subject Zero's cord, causing the chamber to plummet back down next to Woody.
Woody subsequently examines Subject Zero, who suddenly has a Chestburster erupt from inside of him.
Characters[]
- Cutter Vasquez
- Lela Rosewood
- Woody Ballesteros
- Drake
- Yutani
- Irradiated Xenomorph
- Subject Zero
Trivia[]
- Aliens: Aftermath was the first comic with the plural "Aliens" title to be published by Marvel Comics.
- In Marvel's Alien comics line, Aftermath was the first release to display a subtitle on its cover.
- While canon sources such as Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report and the novel Alien: River of Pain confirm Russ Jorden as having died and the chestburster inside his body having escaped shortly after he was implanted as seen in Aliens, the comic retcons the events by instead having him frozen in cryostasis until the year 2214, when the chestburster finally erupts from him. This presents a continuity error.
- Whilst the members of Renegade XM were exploring the interior of Hadley's Hope, the skeletal remains of a Marine from 2nd Battalion Bravo Team can be seen in the foreground. The individual however, is unidentifiable.
Gallery[]
Cover art[]
Variant cover art[]
