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Alien: Black, White & Blood
Alien: Black, White & Blood (2024) #1
THE ALIEN UNIVERSE AS ONLY MARVEL COULD IMAGINE IT! Black, white, red - and GREEN! Marvel Comics and 20th Century Studios present a kill-fest of an anthology in chest-rending artistic detail! Superstars Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Captain Cold War, Guardians of the Galaxy) and brilliant artist Michael Dowling (Black Cat, Amazing Spider-Man) kick off a generations-spanning story that will continue through all four issues! Fan-favorite writer Ryan Cady explores the limits of compassion in "Maternal Instincts." And rising stars Stephanie Phillips and Marcelo Ferreira bring you "The Hunt," a tale of guts, glory and the most exhilarating of games…
33 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 21, 2024
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22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 15, 2024
Solid stories all around. I actually found the first one a bit weak compared to the other two shorter ones. The last one was probably my favorite of the bunch, a nice dark ending.
July 22, 2024
A nice collection of Alien stories. Nothing incredible but very solid and keeping with the Alien themes. Also the limited colour palette is a nice touch.
May 28, 2024
Alien: Black, White & Blood is a nifty start to an anthology series from Marvel Comics, with the basic premise being, of course, an Alien short story drafted in black and white with splashes of the color red (i.e. blood).
The book gets off to a strong start with Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing's "Utopia, Part 1." The Socialist generation ship Forward comes across a small craft with one life sign aboard, and the crew votes to mount a rescue operation. You'll never guess what happens next! OK, if you're even the least bit familiar with the Alien franchise at all, you'll know exactly what happens next and what the crew of the Forward discover on the Weyland-Yutani lifeboat. Faster than you can say "xenomorph," the titular alien is running rampant aboard Forward and the life expectancy of this generation ship starts to look incredible short. I really dug Kelly and Lanzing's approach to using the Union of Progressive Peoples, with the central thesis of how long it will take for this collective to collapse into everybody for themselves anarchy and dictatorship. Turns out, it's none too long at all. But the best features have to be Michael Dowling's pencils and Chris Sotomayer's coloring. I absolutely loved Dowling's sketchiness and rough lines, and Sotomayer does a bang-up job giving it all an appropriately dark look where needed, and a suitable brightness to the once-tranquil ship life. The opening splashpage featuring the Forward against the backdrop of space, and only a few red highlights to show off the ship's name and glowing engine, is a stunner. Sotomayer does a terrific job injecting some vibrant highlights along the way, such as the reflection of a red digital display reflected in a close-up of the eyes of Siostra, the ship's captain. There's so many terrific shades of black, white, and red, and Dowling and Sotomayer really rise to the challenge here, taking these minimalist demands of this anthology's coloring concept and turning them into true features, not bugs, of the work itself. It's utterly fantastic, and I can't wait to see more of their work once the second issue drops on Marvel Unlimited.
The next two stories are stand-alone entries, and while they fare well enough on their own, they aren't quite as a richly drawn or told as "Utopia." Stephanie Phillips takes a "The Most Dangerous Game" approach to her piece, "The Hunt," introducing us to a band of Richie Riches hunting captured Xenomorphs on a Weyland-Yutani game reserve. Marcelo Ferreria's artwork here is a little more comic booky in style compared to Dowling's more realistic style, but color artist Pete Pantazis gives it some really nice splashiness with interesting shades of red and green. The addition of green feels like a little bit of a cheat, but I guess the Xenomorphs do have a greenish-tinted blood, so it's allowable, and gives Pantazis a little more wiggle room.
Green becomes a predominant color in the third and final entry, "Maternal Instinct," written by Ryan Cady with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cady takes us back to life aboard a spaceship, in media res. The alien attack has already happened and only one life is left unclaimed -- that of a small boy. The ship's computer, MU-TH-UR 8500, has failed to contain the threat but has not abandoned its primary mission of keeping its passengers safe, so it begins work on shepherding the child to a lifepod. It's a nice little one-and-done chase story, with some well-drawn panels, and it delivers exactly what's expected.
At this point, I think it's fair to say there's not a lot of surprises left to be hand in the Alien galaxy. We're familiar with all the beats, but the satisfaction comes in how well those beats are executed. The "Utopia, Part 1" crew make for a hell of a band, delivering what is ultimately a familiar tune but with enough engaging hooks that it feels fresh, and is certainly visually sumptuous. "The Hunt" and "Maternal Instinct" are more de rigueur, in that we all know what the endpoint will be right off the bat, but the stories move quickly and are short enough to not outstay their welcome. They're catchy little ringtones, but are unlikely to become anything like an earworm. But, man, "Utopia," that's a definite stand-out and I can't wait for more from that particular team.
The book gets off to a strong start with Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing's "Utopia, Part 1." The Socialist generation ship Forward comes across a small craft with one life sign aboard, and the crew votes to mount a rescue operation. You'll never guess what happens next! OK, if you're even the least bit familiar with the Alien franchise at all, you'll know exactly what happens next and what the crew of the Forward discover on the Weyland-Yutani lifeboat. Faster than you can say "xenomorph," the titular alien is running rampant aboard Forward and the life expectancy of this generation ship starts to look incredible short. I really dug Kelly and Lanzing's approach to using the Union of Progressive Peoples, with the central thesis of how long it will take for this collective to collapse into everybody for themselves anarchy and dictatorship. Turns out, it's none too long at all. But the best features have to be Michael Dowling's pencils and Chris Sotomayer's coloring. I absolutely loved Dowling's sketchiness and rough lines, and Sotomayer does a bang-up job giving it all an appropriately dark look where needed, and a suitable brightness to the once-tranquil ship life. The opening splashpage featuring the Forward against the backdrop of space, and only a few red highlights to show off the ship's name and glowing engine, is a stunner. Sotomayer does a terrific job injecting some vibrant highlights along the way, such as the reflection of a red digital display reflected in a close-up of the eyes of Siostra, the ship's captain. There's so many terrific shades of black, white, and red, and Dowling and Sotomayer really rise to the challenge here, taking these minimalist demands of this anthology's coloring concept and turning them into true features, not bugs, of the work itself. It's utterly fantastic, and I can't wait to see more of their work once the second issue drops on Marvel Unlimited.
The next two stories are stand-alone entries, and while they fare well enough on their own, they aren't quite as a richly drawn or told as "Utopia." Stephanie Phillips takes a "The Most Dangerous Game" approach to her piece, "The Hunt," introducing us to a band of Richie Riches hunting captured Xenomorphs on a Weyland-Yutani game reserve. Marcelo Ferreria's artwork here is a little more comic booky in style compared to Dowling's more realistic style, but color artist Pete Pantazis gives it some really nice splashiness with interesting shades of red and green. The addition of green feels like a little bit of a cheat, but I guess the Xenomorphs do have a greenish-tinted blood, so it's allowable, and gives Pantazis a little more wiggle room.
Green becomes a predominant color in the third and final entry, "Maternal Instinct," written by Ryan Cady with art by Devmalya Pramanik. Cady takes us back to life aboard a spaceship, in media res. The alien attack has already happened and only one life is left unclaimed -- that of a small boy. The ship's computer, MU-TH-UR 8500, has failed to contain the threat but has not abandoned its primary mission of keeping its passengers safe, so it begins work on shepherding the child to a lifepod. It's a nice little one-and-done chase story, with some well-drawn panels, and it delivers exactly what's expected.
At this point, I think it's fair to say there's not a lot of surprises left to be hand in the Alien galaxy. We're familiar with all the beats, but the satisfaction comes in how well those beats are executed. The "Utopia, Part 1" crew make for a hell of a band, delivering what is ultimately a familiar tune but with enough engaging hooks that it feels fresh, and is certainly visually sumptuous. "The Hunt" and "Maternal Instinct" are more de rigueur, in that we all know what the endpoint will be right off the bat, but the stories move quickly and are short enough to not outstay their welcome. They're catchy little ringtones, but are unlikely to become anything like an earworm. But, man, "Utopia," that's a definite stand-out and I can't wait for more from that particular team.
May 3, 2024
Aaaah, yes more Xenomorphs! Excellent start.
It's incredible how humans can have the ability of repeatedly make the same mistake time after time and that mistake gives the same outcome. Every. Time. And still try to justify it with something that at the end of the day, it just not worth it.
With this issue you will experience a little bit of hope, then dread because you know what it is coming, action, cheer for the righteous and then hope for them, and sadness in some cases. Humans are such complex creatures. Aliens always delivers in presenting a variety of beings just trying to exist and survive. Some do and sadly some don't. Art is beautifully done, stories are good and flow is well executed. Would love a omnibus physical version of this series in the future for my personal library.
I enjoyed the heck out of it and I hope you too.
It's incredible how humans can have the ability of repeatedly make the same mistake time after time and that mistake gives the same outcome. Every. Time. And still try to justify it with something that at the end of the day, it just not worth it.
With this issue you will experience a little bit of hope, then dread because you know what it is coming, action, cheer for the righteous and then hope for them, and sadness in some cases. Humans are such complex creatures. Aliens always delivers in presenting a variety of beings just trying to exist and survive. Some do and sadly some don't. Art is beautifully done, stories are good and flow is well executed. Would love a omnibus physical version of this series in the future for my personal library.
I enjoyed the heck out of it and I hope you too.
February 18, 2026
Oh gee, an issue of a comic where a character(s) goes hunting down some kind of dangerous prey, and shenanigans ensue. Never seen that done before.
Also, oh, so we're also doing black and white comics that feature multiple stories each? I see.... and here I thought the Ninja Turtles were the only ones who would do that, but apparently I was wrong. Perhaps every single comic franchise can do that...... can't wait to see it done for Rick and Morty then!
Issue #1
Also, oh, so we're also doing black and white comics that feature multiple stories each? I see.... and here I thought the Ninja Turtles were the only ones who would do that, but apparently I was wrong. Perhaps every single comic franchise can do that...... can't wait to see it done for Rick and Morty then!
Issue #1
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2025
Very, very pretty art, use of colours, and two absolutely wonderfully fun, dark little stories that don't overstay. I don't really like the first, so I won't comment, but the other two were absolutely wonderful and perfectly fitting. Fantastic stuff.
February 25, 2024
This was not what I expected. However, it was interesting so I am willing to see where it goes. It seems like some sort of "anthology", maybe?
I am just glad to have a new Alien(s) option...
I am just glad to have a new Alien(s) option...
February 27, 2024
Very interesting, waiting to see how the series shapes up!
April 5, 2024
Adorei.
May 24, 2024
first time ive been impressed by an alien comic in a hot minute, lets go
February 11, 2025
Great art!!!
I liked the art with its simple colors and all three stories were good. Everything is nicely kept in the Alien universe!
I liked the art with its simple colors and all three stories were good. Everything is nicely kept in the Alien universe!
March 23, 2025
Story is pretty whatever, but I came for "xenomorph go rahh" and got that so I'm not complaining.
July 4, 2025
I'm not really sure what to make of this yet. I'm a big fan of the Alien film series, so I'll remain cautiously optimistic.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews