What do you think?
Rate this book
Alien: Isolation #1-2
Aliens: Defiance Library Edition
New York Times best-selling comics writer Brian Wood gives us a gripping story of strength against all odds in the face of the most frightening monster in deep space. Joined by artists Tristan Jones, Tony Brescini, Stephen Thompson, Eduardo Francisco and Riccardo Burchielli, Defiance brings the nightmare into stark relief.
An AWOL Colonial Marine battles Aliens and her fears in the deepest corners of space to protect humanity from the Xenomorph threat.
Colonial Marine Private First Class Zula Hendricks is in for the fight of her life. After a frightening discovery in deep space, Zula goes on an AWOL mission to undermine the nefarious Weyland-Yutani Synthetics Corporation. Battling for her life against aliens, space pirates, and her very own painful demons, Zula must prove that her own strength and loyalty are enough to save humanity.
An AWOL Colonial Marine battles Aliens and her fears in the deepest corners of space to protect humanity from the Xenomorph threat.
Colonial Marine Private First Class Zula Hendricks is in for the fight of her life. After a frightening discovery in deep space, Zula goes on an AWOL mission to undermine the nefarious Weyland-Yutani Synthetics Corporation. Battling for her life against aliens, space pirates, and her very own painful demons, Zula must prove that her own strength and loyalty are enough to save humanity.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published November 12, 2019
About the author
Brian Wood
1,190 books962 followersBrian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.
His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.
He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 26, 2021
I was very hesitant to check out this comic. First and foremost: Alien: Isolation (the game) has been on my backlog for years and I thought it's necessary to finish the main campaign before jumping into the series. Second: I find Brian Wood's writing pretty hit-or-miss. Fortunately the comic series is a spin-off done right, meaning it can be read whenever in relation to the video game and Brian Wood did an astounding job breathing new life into the Alien franchise.
August 19, 2024
Defiance is a fantastic stand alone story in the alien franchise, while there are obviously references to the expanded universe, this can easily be enjoyed on its own merits. The artwork is great, the story is fast paced and engrossing and I really liked the characters. Defiance is a worthy addition to the Alien franchise.
October 22, 2021
Wow. Just wow. I wasn't expecting too much from this book but what I got was very satisfying. As someone who has read quite a number of Alien stories, this was rather refreshing in how it expanded on the usual tropes and gave us a truly unique narrative. Sure, we once again had a female protagonist and Weyland-Yutani up to its usual tricks. But the rest of this story has a shape of its own.
This compiles pretty much the entire Defiance story in one volume, as Library Editions tend to do. But I totally didn't feel like it was that long a book as I couldn't put it down once the story kicked up into gear.
The art for this book is also quite beautiful and supported the narrative well. A lot of times we get rather messy artwork with less than appealing humans and all the effort invested in the xenomorphs. In this case, there was particular attention to detail all throughout that really stood out to me.
Great book all around.
This compiles pretty much the entire Defiance story in one volume, as Library Editions tend to do. But I totally didn't feel like it was that long a book as I couldn't put it down once the story kicked up into gear.
The art for this book is also quite beautiful and supported the narrative well. A lot of times we get rather messy artwork with less than appealing humans and all the effort invested in the xenomorphs. In this case, there was particular attention to detail all throughout that really stood out to me.
Great book all around.
January 13, 2021
The presentation of this book was top-notch, the pages were very thick often leading me to think they were stuck together. The coloring of the artwork and the artwork itself was also very well done.
I understand this edition was a collection of works put into one volume but it was disappointing to see such a large variety of artists that worked on it (5 artists in total). This variety led to some pretty jarring transitions between chapters which really took you out of the story. As for the story, it was pretty average and the ended was very lackluster. The added sketchbook section at the back of the book was a nice touch, although there could have been a lot more extra content added given the sheer amount of artists involved. This actual section only had the work of one out of the five artists that worked on this series. Overall, this would be an enjoyable read for any alien fan, and a nice addition to any fan's collection. Although, I really couldn't recommend paying full price for this with the varying inconsistencies and pitfalls in content.
I understand this edition was a collection of works put into one volume but it was disappointing to see such a large variety of artists that worked on it (5 artists in total). This variety led to some pretty jarring transitions between chapters which really took you out of the story. As for the story, it was pretty average and the ended was very lackluster. The added sketchbook section at the back of the book was a nice touch, although there could have been a lot more extra content added given the sheer amount of artists involved. This actual section only had the work of one out of the five artists that worked on this series. Overall, this would be an enjoyable read for any alien fan, and a nice addition to any fan's collection. Although, I really couldn't recommend paying full price for this with the varying inconsistencies and pitfalls in content.
April 25, 2026
I was looking forward to this book, as I’ve liked reading about Zula Hendricks in the novels, but it really didn’t deliver for me. The episodic nature of the plot, combined with the relentless hammering in to the reader about how much pain she is in, the all-too-frequent "oh, it was just a dream" segments, and the grainy, patchy artwork left me feeling pretty disappointed overall. The "Extravehicular" short at the end was just terrible, didn’t feel like it fit in with the main part's continuity, added precisely nothing to the story, and just ended in the middle of nowhere. There are some decent parts to the book, but overall, I don’t think anybody should worry too much about not reading this.
November 15, 2019
Great quality for this hardcover which is typical of the Dark Horse Library Edition line.
Story was fun and the art was ok. A wounded marine is tasked to go on a mission with a cadre of humanoid robots owned and controlled by the big corporate (Waylund-something) entities in the Aliens universe. They need the marine to provide access codes as they enter a derelict ship to find out what happened on board. Pretty standard opening but the story takes a different turn as one of the robots goes rogue and leads the group against the company to protect humanity.
One of the better Brian Wood stories IMHO.
Story was fun and the art was ok. A wounded marine is tasked to go on a mission with a cadre of humanoid robots owned and controlled by the big corporate (Waylund-something) entities in the Aliens universe. They need the marine to provide access codes as they enter a derelict ship to find out what happened on board. Pretty standard opening but the story takes a different turn as one of the robots goes rogue and leads the group against the company to protect humanity.
One of the better Brian Wood stories IMHO.
February 15, 2026
Este cómic es justo lo que quieres si te gusta el universo de Alien cuando se pone sucio, tenso y despiadado. La historia recupera esa sensación de amenaza constante, con corporaciones sin escrúpulos, decisiones imposibles y xenomorfos que no dan tregua. No reinventa la rueda, pero entiende perfectamente qué hace funcionar a la franquicia y lo ejecuta con mucha solidez. Además, en formato Library Edition luce especialmente bien: el arte gana fuerza, los detalles se aprecian mucho más y la atmósfera opresiva se siente todavía más intensa. Es ciencia ficción militar con colmillos, directa y eficaz, que respeta el espíritu clásico sin sentirse vieja. 100% recomendado.
December 8, 2019
This started off really great but it lost me with the last few issues. I particularly liked Tristan Jones' art and the colouring throughout. I wish they'd stuck with just Jones but there are a few other illustrators and I was not into all of them. Still, a good book and I may read again.
January 24, 2020
FUUUUUCK YES.
February 2, 2020
Alien+Disabled Protagonist+Decent Plot+Good and appropriate art= 5/5
February 12, 2020
Loved it.
Read
February 7, 2021AZ
June 25, 2023
Pretty interesting seeing a Synth override and rewrite himself, nice change of pace for the Alien world!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2026
Have to start off by complimenting Tristan Jones's artwork. This is the coolest and grisliest the Aliens have ever looked and it's pretty much the only reason this collection gets higher marks than it should.
The arc of Davis was more interesting than Zula's but also did not feel as explored as it could have been (or as well-written since Davis honestly doesn't really seem like he goes through human-like characteristics other than defying bad orders). Whole series landed with a whimper in the end and was a bit anticlimactic. Lots of flashbacks or odd jumps ahead to "teasers" of what was to come instead of just taking us through things chronologically. Also random skips in the story or elements that never mattered. I don't recall seeing how the cryo-chamber failed and how the queen died after "barely a scratch" on her according to Zula. I really don't get how Hollis got impregnated in the brief seconds she was fighting with a facehugger. Even more confused with how the Earth station somehow knew of "alien material" inside her from a bio-scan at such a distance. Also don't think Davis keeping the alien finger in a locker was ever explained either. I'm not even sure if Zula's back issues ever led to anything substantial to the plot other than a minor amount of extra tension. And there was a whole issue that turned out to be a dream sequence? Just felt like a lot of interesting scenes thrown in that were never properly tied together, like the comic version of a Lindelof Aliens story. Plus it took forever to end as Zula's recovery was drawn out for so many panels and pages.
The arc of Davis was more interesting than Zula's but also did not feel as explored as it could have been (or as well-written since Davis honestly doesn't really seem like he goes through human-like characteristics other than defying bad orders). Whole series landed with a whimper in the end and was a bit anticlimactic. Lots of flashbacks or odd jumps ahead to "teasers" of what was to come instead of just taking us through things chronologically. Also random skips in the story or elements that never mattered. I don't recall seeing how the cryo-chamber failed and how the queen died after "barely a scratch" on her according to Zula. I really don't get how Hollis got impregnated in the brief seconds she was fighting with a facehugger. Even more confused with how the Earth station somehow knew of "alien material" inside her from a bio-scan at such a distance. Also don't think Davis keeping the alien finger in a locker was ever explained either. I'm not even sure if Zula's back issues ever led to anything substantial to the plot other than a minor amount of extra tension. And there was a whole issue that turned out to be a dream sequence? Just felt like a lot of interesting scenes thrown in that were never properly tied together, like the comic version of a Lindelof Aliens story. Plus it took forever to end as Zula's recovery was drawn out for so many panels and pages.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2026
Really builds onto the Alien world.
Great art & b.a. main character.
Great art & b.a. main character.
June 26, 2020
Finally a great new story set in this universe that doesn't lean on the movies.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews