Alien (2022) #2 Review

Written by: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art by: Julius Ohta
Colors by: Yen Nitro
Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Björn Berends
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: October 19, 2022

Alien #2 follows the synthetic strike team to Tobler-9 in a bid to retrieve the biotech that could save humanity from starvation after an ecological disaster. As tough as they are, even the Steel Team isn’t ready for what awaits them.

Is It Good?

Alien #2 continues the strongest arc so far from Phillip Kennedy Johnson with kinetic art, plenty of Xenomorph action, and a last-page reveal that deepens a mystery on Tobler-9. Unfortunately, the good of this issue is slightly tarnished by boneheaded character actions that veer too far into horror movie trope territory.

“What does that mean?” you wonder. Well, Weyland-Yutani “hires” a team of military-trained synthetics to retrieve advanced biotech from a world overrun by Xenomorphs. What any reasonable character would not do, human or synthetic, is hastily run down a series of dark tunnels and closed-off rooms to investigate a strange noise. Yet, hastily the Steel Team runs, right into a Xenomorph ambush.

At this point, if you’ve seen enough haunted house, slasher, or alien monster movies, you reach a point where you say, “Good! You deserve to die for being so dumb!”

Thankfully, the Steel Team is not a pack of slouches as they shoot, slice, and tear their way through the Xenomorphs like a hot knife through butter, taking a few serious knocks along the way. This wouldn’t be much of a story if everything went as planned, so Johnson peppers in a few surprises to keep readers and the Steel Tem on their collective toes.

Overall, the plot’s direction is satisfying, and this is still Johnson’s best attempt at an alien story, but the “dumb people making dumb decisions” trope has long since worn out its welcome.

Ohta and Nitro’s art is very good in this issue. Colors pop, aliens attack with lightning-fast brutality, and the characters’ designs are rendered with rich detail.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Final Thoughts:

Alien #2 delivers the Xenomorph-loving goods when the synthetic retrieval team faces off against an entire colony of aliens. The action is fast-paced, and there are enough surprises to keep the intrigue up, but some readers may be annoyed with the horror trope of dumb people doing dumb things to get themselves killed.