Alien: New Series Preview Released

Marvel's Alien comic series is gearing up for its 2024 installment (Vol. 4) "Descendants" - and it already sounds like it's going to be a terrifying read! 

Alien (2023) creative team Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo return with artist Ruth Redmond also pitching in. This new tale will drop any of the early pretenses seen in most Alien movies, as the Weyland-Yutani sends a group of human fodder to a planet overrun by Xenomorphs, in order to secure the all-important MacGuffin prize of harnessing the aliens' unique genetics for corporate gain. 

Shalvey's previous story arc "Thaw" saw the Xenomorphs escape a deep freeze on a remote planet and wipe out the colonists working there. The story featured a fearsome new breed of Xenomorph, born from another alien species that lived on the planet (See: Alien: Annual #1). Taken altogether, "Thaw" was a story of slow-building horror, and really a spectacle worthy of the screen. 

 It's never implicitly been said that these installments of Alien comics can't crossover – we certainly saw it in Marvel's Predator anthology series. Now, the preview pages for Alien (2024) confirm that this story will be a sequel to "Thaw". The preview pages for Alien #1 reveal a return for "Deserted Ice Moon LV-695" where the wreckage and corpses of the colony team remain frozen in the ice. Unfortunately, it's made clear that the species of Xenomorphs born from the beasts of LV-695 are very much active on the planet. 

The human characters are shown to be on a private vessel, as Jun Yutani III (one fo the family members of the Weyland-Yutani corporate empire) is the one who owns the ship and is bankrolling the expedition. Unfortunately for the crew we're introduced to, they have no idea the big payday they're getting is really coming at the likely cost of their lives. 

However, the manager of the crew, "Cole," already seems like there's more to her than anyone knows. It seems obvious that she could be Zasha, the survivor of "Thaw" whose mother was once doing experiments on the Xenomorphs – and even implanted one into her own body. 

"It's such a joy to continue to build out our own little corner of Marvel Comics' Alien universe with this new 'Descendant' story arc," Shalvey previously told Marvel.com. "We're building on what we've done before (with some nods to previous stories) and get to dig a bit deeper in this arc (both figuratively and literally). It's also a real treat for me to draw a section of the story."

Get a synopsis for the Alien (2024) story arc, "Descendant", below: 

EVERYONE WILL HEAR YOU SCREAM! In deep space spins a world infected by the universe's greatest killers. Most people – sane people – would construct a barrier thicker than the hulls of ten Nostromos and leave it to rot. But where most people see a death trap, Weyland-Yutani sees the biggest payout in the history of civilization. And if it costs a few human lives to secure? Those come cheap here. Corporate corruption, personal betrayals and extraordinary violence – Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo's next and greatest Alien story starts here!

Written by: Declan Shalvey
Art by: Andrea Broccardo, Ruth Redmond
Cover by: Javier Fernandez
Page Count: 40 Pages
Release Date: November 15, 2023