Alien #11 - Marvel Comics

ALIEN No. 11, June 2022

Pulsating with plenty of pace, Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s script for Issue Eleven of “Alien” must surely have held the attention of many a reader with its cast’s headlong dash across Euridice’s extra-terrestrial infested surface. In fact, the sheer desperation of Jane and the few surviving Spinners is genuinely palpable, particularly at this comic’s cataclysmic conclusion when all seems lost despite the party’s almost superhuman efforts to reach Gamma station and the seeming safety of the United States Colonial Marine Corps.

Enjoyably, none of these adrenalin-charged flights from terror appear to be ‘plot-thin padding’ either, with even the colonists last stand against a swarm of alien drones in a wheat field providing a fascinating insight into Callan’s feisty determination not to have her ‘flock taken away’ from her by the formidable creatures. Likewise, the character of Leo also receives plenty of spotlight, whether the white-bearded settler is busy swinging a hand-axe against a swarm of heavily-fanged, rodent-sized Tubers, or standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Jane in the face of overwhelming odds armed only with a shotgun; “No. I -- I won’t be food for these things. Kill me. Jane. Kill m --”

Ultimately however, this publication’s biggest moment comes with the sudden appearance of Gregory, and the disconcerting fate the organic-hating synthetic has in store for the decimated Spinners. Absolutely dripping in cold-hearted menace and a deep, resonating hatred for his “embarrassing” former friends, the Weyland-Yutani android is quickly established as being cut from the same cloth as the Nostromo’s science officer Ash, as he mercilessly guns down an unsuspecting Leo without a moment’s hesitation and later abandons the shell-shocked stayers at the very heart of an alien hive.

Also thoroughly deserving of “props” for the success of this twenty-page periodical is former “X-Men” illustrator Salvador Larroca, whose incredibly detailed and highly atmospheric layouts really help sell the soul-shattering emotional journey out of Sanctuary so many of this comic’s cast are dragged through. In addition, the Spanish artist does a first-rate job of imbuing Gregory with plenty of sinister menace once the overly-religious robot has cleverly been revealed by Jane as being as traitorous a mechanical creation as he is homicidal.

The regular cover art to "ALIEN" #11 by Marc Aspinall