Marvel will be returning to one of the most recognizable settings in the Aliens, there's not much left of Hadley's Hope. But as a team of investigative journalists learn, something still lives in the wreckage, and it can mean only one thing — radioactive Xenomorphs!
In addition to Marvel's ongoing Alien series, the publisher is also releasing a one-shot titled Aliens: Aftermath #1, written by Benjamin Percy and illustrated by Dave Wachter. This story is set thirty-five years after the events of Aliens and serve as a direct sequel to that film. Unfortunately, those same events have been covered up by the ubiquitously sinister corporation Weyland-Yutani. However, a team of renegade journalists arrive at the colony's remains to search for clues to its fate — and that's when the horror begins.
The cover by Phil Noto showcases an iridescent Xenomorph lurking in the wreckage of Hadley's Hope. The rest of the preview shows a ship approaching Hadley's Hope and seemingly bombarding it with missiles. It also shows the journalists investigating the ruins of the colony, and of course, running afoul of the glowing Xenomorph, which will inevitably stalk them. Given how adaptable the Xenomorphs are, it's not really surprising that they could manage to survive a nuclear explosion, and gain a sleek new glowing look in the process!
Xenomorphs are already one of the most dangerous beings in space, so adding radiation to the mix serves to make them all the more dangerous. Presumably the Xenomorphs' ability to survive in the radioactive fallout has come with a few new abilities. For instance, their acid blood may be similarly radioactive, posing an additional hazard to the journalists as they try to uncover the truth. And beyond the Xenomorphs, what about the face-huggers and inevitable Alien Queen? How has the radiation changed them? Either way, the Xenomorphs remains an ever-present threat on Hadley's Hope.
The comic also seems to raise the question of just what the press knows about Hadley's Hope. Apparently Weyland-Yutani has covered up the events of Aliens, right down to wiping the very moon Hadley's Hope was set on from the records. The scope of this massive cover-up further confirms just how powerful the corporation has become. Of course, that could all change if the journalists can obtain evidence of both the Xenomorphs' existence as well as Weyland-Yutani's culpability in all of this. Of course, in order to do this they will have to first survive the horrors of a radioactive Xenomorph! Aliens: Aftermath #1 hits comic book shops on July 14.
