Alien: Black, White & Blood
This oversized volume is part of Marvel’s Black, White & Blood series, which is distinguished by its use of a mostly black-and-white format with coloured accents in red to show blood (with a bit of green mixed in for Xenomorph blood here). You may think of the sort of thing that was done with colour (and its absence) in Frank Miller’s Sin City comics, and I think that’s a good analogy for both the level of violence on display as well as the noir sensibility. Noir referring both to the heavy and dramatic shadow as well as a lack of traditional good guys in an amoral universe.
The Alien run consisted of four issues, each with a part of a long story, “Utopia,” as well as two short pieces. They all have different writers and artists, but the same letterer (Clayton Cowles), which actually provides a lot more of a sense of continuity than you’d expect. I would have even appreciated cover pages for each of the individual stories because it’s easy to miss where one ends and another is getting started.
The large format makes covers and full-page spreads into poster-size art that you just want to enjoy. I’ve commented before on the cheaper reprints in the Marvel Masterworks and DC compact comics lines and how hard they can be to read, and it’s a real treat to read a big book like this that looks so good throughout. I especially liked the chonky stylized turn that Claire Roe gives her story, with illustrations that look almost like woodcuts.
If you want one word to describe the general sensibility I’d say it’s bleak. And that’s saying something considering these are Alien comics. There are no happy endings, and most of the stories are very unhappy in brutal and ironic ways. Even “Utopia,” about a ship full of socialists looking to colonize a new planet as a worker’s paradise, took a dark turn I found surprising. Mankind is clearly something to be surpassed. The final line in the book is “Any chance to eradicate humanity’s ugliness is beautiful.” That gives you some idea of where you’re going.
Alex Good 
Oh good, a happy review!
Have you ever read The Fabulous Furry Freak comics?
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Nope. Druggy stuff innit?
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Don’t know, only seen one strip, didn’t have any druggy stuff in it. Will let you know if I come across any.
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“Any chance to eradicate humanity’s ugliness is beautiful,” they say, after having contributed several ugly stories to mankind’s ledger. Guess they missed their chance, huh?
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Well, in the case of that story it’s a sentiment expressed by a pretty disturbed character. But it fits with the tone of the collection, which basically has humanity coming out on the losing end of every battle with the Xenos.
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But he didn’t say “humanity,” he said “humanity’s ugliness.” That’s different. Even in defeat there can be victory (Rocky). Bleak sounds right, but don’t you think “pessimistic” would also be accurate?
Also, I wonder: in these Alien comics, do we ever root for the humans?
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I got that slightly wrong. The line actually comes from the AI who raised the kid who has a mission to eradicate humanity.
As for the bleakness and rooting for the humans, the humans are a pretty mixed bag. There are always some real villains you don’t mind seeing getting smoked. But there are good guys too. Only they don’t fare any better.
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In a good alien story, a good human should win! I think that lesson has been forgotten from the first movie, to the franchise’s detriment 😦
Not that I mind the occasional story about everyone getting chomped or dying, but when THAT is your goal from the beginning, then bleak doesn’t even begin to describe the outlook…
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Yeah, even Ripley and Newt didn’t make it out of the franchise alive. I haven’t seen the most recent ones though.
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I thought Ripley came back in 4?
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Was that a clone? I don’t remember.
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I’ve only seen 1 and 2 and then Prometheus, do I have no idea.
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