Aliens vs. Avengers Took Risks

I picked up this comic completely blind. After spending some time with the Dark Horse/DC Alien and Predator crossovers from the 90’s, I was curious to see what Marvel’s swing at a crossover would look like. I was expecting a pretty standard “versus” comic where Captain America, Iron Man, and Captain Marvel encounter the Xenomorph in space and have to duke it out.

Boy was I wrong. This comic took risks!


Written by Jonathan Hickman
Penciled by Esad Ribic
Colored by Ive Svorcina
Lettered by Cory Petit
Covers by Esad Ribic
Edited by Sarah Brunstad
Published August 2024 - June 2025
152 Pages (TPB)

Risk 1 - 


The comic is set at least 40-50 years into the Marvel continuity. All our heroes are old (in a strange way, it reminded me of Kingdom Come).

Risk 2 - 


The Aliens have basically already won. All but one city has fallen. A lot of our heroes are dead.

Risk 3 - 


No one is safe. This comic has a body count.

______________________________________

None of this is really spoiling anything. It’s all revealed in the first few pages of issue 1. Jonathan Hickman saw his opportunity to skillfully blend the themes of the Alien and Marvel franchises to create an entirely new setting. It’s some really impressive world building.

I admire a story that takes narrative risks, especially with legacy characters. This isn't a lazy cash-grab. Aliens vs. Avengers has real stakes, real teeth, and real consequences for its world. This isn’t an adventure story, this is a post apocalypse survival story in the vein of DCeased or Marvel Zombies.

The art by Esad Ribic has a wonderful painterly quality. Again, it reminds me a lot of Alex Ross’ “Kingdom Come.”

My only real criticism is that I wish it was longer. Some of the bears don’t land with the weight I would have liked. With just 150 pages, the plot moves at a fast clip. At least for me, I’m also not sure I enjoyed the post apocalypse tone as much as I would have liked, likely because I came in without knowing anything about the story.

Regardless, this one is a good read and runs circles around Superman vs. Aliens.

4/5 Stars






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