Aliens: What If . . . ?

I continue to be impressed at how good the Aliens comics are, coming up with interesting original storylines that put the film franchise to shame. Aliens: What If . . . ? is another great example, taking as its starting point the end of the film Aliens and positing that the character of Carter Burke (played by Paul Reiser) actually survived the destruction of Hadley’s Hope.

This is the sort of thing that might have most fans saying “Oh no!” Carter Burke, after all, was one of the great heels of moviedom, the sort of villain you love to hate. And that’s the reputation he’s carried with him here, as he’s stuck managing an office at a mining outpost in the back of beyond. “He’s the most hated person in the universe. Literally.” And “Humankind’s most reviled Judas. Next to Judas.” A judgment that comes from his daughter!

But it turns out Burke wasn’t all bad. He was a corporate stooge for Weyland-Yutani, nothing more. And the thing is, he is a dedicated family man. He wants to find a Xenomorph egg so that he can hatch a new Xenomorph and use its blood as a cure for his terminally ill wife, who he is keeping in a cryochamber. It’s a totally crazy idea, but he thinks he can make it work. And he’s also lied to his daughter Brie about how she can’t leave the mining planet because her lungs won’t be able to adjust to a different gravity, just so she’ll have to stay with him. That’s not very nice either, but . . . like I say, he’s a family man. That counts for something.

You won’t be surprised when Burke’s plans go awry, and before long the mining colony is hopping with Xenomorphs. And the action that follows is kept simple and easy to follow, which isn’t always the case. But what sets Aliens: What If . . . ? apart from the other books in the series is the jokey flavour throughout. It’s full of the sort of snappy dialogue that may put off die-hard horror fans but that I found to be a fun change-up. Despite the gore, there are whole scenes that play out as comedy, like when Burke interviews the cubicle monkeys in his office to try to find a suitable host for the facehugger to impregnate. Despite his bad reputation, Burke is a soft touch, you see, and he just can’t bring himself to select a guinea pig.

One of the hooks here is that the concept is co-credited to Paul Reiser himself, along with his son Leon and three other writers. Five writers for a concept? Well, that’s what they say. Anyway, I don’t know how much of a hand Paul Reiser had in this – somewhat less, I imagine, than Keanu Reeves with BRZRKR – but the rest of the writers, including Leon, all come through with a solid story populated with an interesting group of characters, including a replicant who provides a lot of comic interplay with Burke and a Yutani offspring who romances Brie before revealing his true family colours. I enjoyed all of it, and as this volume collects issues #1-5 and ends with Burke, Brie, and the cast of The Office (that’s obviously the reference) on their way to bring down Weyland-Yutani (and save Burke’s wife), I’m looking forward to more.

Graphicalex