Aliens vs. Avengers

I’ve said several times before how much I like the Alien comics, first the ones published by Dark Horse and then by Marvel. Within the framework of the franchise they’ve always succeeded in being highly original, entertaining, single-story arcs that deliver exactly what you pay for. Facehuggers, chestbursters, Xenomorph queens, space marines, evil or virtuous synths . . . we all know what’s coming and I’ve never been disappointed.

Aliens vs. Avengers comes close to breaking that streak. For starters, and I think for the first time in the comics, the Alien mythology is expanded to take on the role of the Engineers. I wish they’d never introduced the Engineers. They just confuse everything. Anyway, they’re the ones who created the Xenomorphs as a “universal extinction machine.” This plot is discovered by the Wakandan Galactic Empire though, who are sent into crisis mode when the Xenos use the same black hole transportation system the Wakandans have used to spread throughout every corner of the universe. Which means that yes, the Xenomorphs are coming to Earth.

Are you following all this? Because it gets even more confusing. This four-part series is a real mess. I think they could have run it out to 20 issues and it still would have been hard to follow. Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most is that because this story is set in the future the Avengers are a pretty old bunch. Lots of bald heads and grey beards. Bruce Banner is an old man and Tony Stark stuck is in a wheelchair, but they can still fight because the Hulk doesn’t age and Tony can turn his wheelchair into an Iron Man suit. Spider-Man is Miles Morales all grown up. Wolverine is a grizzled vet (living on Mars now with the other mutants), but then we’ve seen Old Man Logan before and we know he can still fight. T’Challa (Black Panther) has white hair, but his son Azari is taking over anyway.

So it’s the Old Avengers who are tasked with defending Earth. A job they certainly aren’t up to, since the whole planet is overrun in a couple of pages and the survivors have to escape in a spaceship, which reminded me a bit of the DCeased storyline. I don’t know if these comics are making a broader cultural point about it being game over on Earth now, but it’s possible.

Anyway, as you may have guessed this is a talky comic and not all of the talk is good. I’m still scratching my head over “Sentimentality without permanence is purpose without cause.” And it’s also not really an Alien or an Avengers comic, though they’re both involved. What it finally comes down to is Mister Sinister teaming up with the Xenomorphs while the superheroes have to rely on Venom to save the day.  Which may not have been what you came in for. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting. But that’s not always a bad thing and I didn’t think it was all bad here. It’s just that these epic story arcs put me off and there’s so much new world-building going on here that the proceedings aren’t easy to follow or, for that matter, to stay interested in. The presentation of the Avengers as retirees was also a bit of a downer. So credit to Jonathan Hickman for going his own way, and good art from Esad Ribić, but not my thing. And please, can we just get rid of the Engineers?

Graphicalex