Warning: some of Marvel's Alien comics act as sequels to the films - unmarked Late Arrival Spoilers for the films may appear on this page.
Original comics
- Alien (2021) (1-12) —
- The first arc, "Bloodlines", is set in 2200. Gabriel Cruz, who barely survived a xenomorph attack, finds himself drawn out of retirement to face them again.
- The second arc, "Revival'", set in 2202, features an Appalachian religious sect whose terraforming work turns to tragedy due to an outbreak of Xenomorphs.
- Aliens: Aftermath — a special one-shot marking the 35th anniversary of the Aliens film. Set in 2214, when a team of extremists opposing Weyland-Yutani travel to LV-426 and try to unearth its secrets. Written by Benjamin Percy and illustrated by Dave Wachter, with color art by Christopher Sotomayor.
- Alien Annual 2022, set in 2193.
- Alien (2022) (1-6), subtitled Icarus for the collected edition. Set in 2217, it's a sequel to the 2021 series, in which a team of renegade synthetics are persuaded to go on a mission to an Alien-infested world.
- Alien (2023) (1-5), subtitled Thaw for the collected edition. Set in 2195.
- Alien Annual 2023
Reprinted comics
Marvel's deal also gives them access to much of the Dark Horse Comics Aliens back catalogue and many of these stories have been republished in new editions by Marvel - as collections, as digital comics, or in both formats.
Reprinted stories from Dark Horse Comics
- Aliens (1988)
- Aliens (1989)
- Aliens: Earth War (1990)
- Aliens: Genocide (1991)
- Aliens: Hive (1992)
- Aliens: Newt's Tale (1992)
- Alien3 (1992)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (1993)
- Aliens: Salvation (1993)
- Aliens: Labyrinth (1993)
- Aliens: Rogue (1993)
- Aliens: Stronghold (1994)
- Aliens: Music of the Spears (1994)
- Aliens: Lovesick (1996)
- Aliens: Mondo Heat (1996)
- Alien Resurrection (1997)
- Aliens: Alchemy (1997)
- Aliens: Purge (1997)
- Aliens: Pig (1997)
- Aliens: Kidnapped (1997)
- Aliens: Havoc (1997)
- Aliens Special (1997)
- Aliens: Glass Corridor (1998)
- Aliens: Stalker (1998)
- Aliens: Survival (1998)
- Aliens: Wraith (1998)
- Aliens: Apocalypse - The Destroying Angels (1999)
- Aliens: Xenogenesis (1999)
- Aliens (2009)
Marvel's original Alien comics contain examples of the following tropes:
- Alien Blood:
- As with the original films, the xenomorphs' blood is Hollywood Acid, weaponised for Bloody Murder and capable of almost instantly dissolving metal and humans.
- A new variant of the usual Hollywood Acid blood is used in Aliens: Aftermath. The pale xenomorph that stalks the Renegade XM team on the frozen, radioactive world of LV-426 has acidic blood that eats through clothing and objects as usual, then instantly freezes any flesh it reaches - which is swiftly followed by the frozen body parts shattering.
- Bloody Murder: As with the original films, the xenomorphs' blood is Hollywood Acid and frequently lethal to their foes.
- Death by Transceiver: At the end of Aliens: Aftermath, we get Woody's camera feed as he approaches Subject Zero, whose cryo-freeze capsule is failing. The last thing we see is a close-up on a young Chest Burster's jaws as it tears free of Subject Zero and lunges towards Woody's face.
- *Drool* Hello: A recurring theme, as with the original films. The first hint of an imminent xenomorph attack is often drool dripping from above.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: Aliens: Aftermath. None of the Renegade XM team seem to leave LV-426 alive. Drake's Impaled with Extreme Prejudice, Lela's ambushed and killed by the pale xenomorph and Woody's Death by Transceiver scene shows a Chest Burster attacking his face. Cutter has some level of Uncertain Doom - he may or may not manage a Mutual Kill with the pale xenomorph - but is strongly implied to be dead regardless of the alien's fate.
- Hologram Projection Imperfection: In Aliens: Aftermath, the MU-TH-UR 7000 system's Projected Man interface has some visible distortion. Given it's old, abandoned technology in a ruined base, this initially seems to be justified. Although it's actually justified by The Reveal that Renegade XM's systems have been hacked by Weyland-Yutani and they're unknowingly talking to an interstellar feed from Ms. Yutani herself, not a computer system.
- Poor Communication Kills: In Aliens: Aftermath, Cutter finds his aunt Jennette Vasquez's gun in the ruins on LV-426. He's clearly agitated, and repeatedly tells Woody not to come over to him, increasingly loudly. Woody ignores his objections and walks over - then falls through the rotten floor. By the time Cutter finally starts to explain why he's warning Woody, it's too late.
- Stylistic Suck: Aliens: Aftermath opens with a broadcast message from Cutter and Renegade XM, explaining why he's blowing up a Weyland-Yutani fueling station. It's deliberately grainy art with lines across the panels, to represent the video quality.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death:
- One of the hallmarks of the original films, and a recurring theme of the comics. Often combined with an attack from behind or someone getting Impaled with Extreme Prejudice.
- In Aliens: Aftermath, Drake, the team's pilot, steps outside the dropship to do some maintenance, gets ambushed by the pale xenomorph, and is impaled from behind by its tail. She's killed too quickly to scream.
- Symbol Swearing: Used as standard. The series may be darker and bloodier than most of Marvel's comics, but the language stays fairly clean.
- Variant Cover: Almost every issue has three or more variant covers.
- You Killed My Father: In Aliens: Aftermath, Cutter's campaign against Weyland-Yutani is fuelled by the deaths of his family. His parents went into cryo-freeze and died in transit, two of many casualties after W-Y cut safety standards to reduce costs. His aunt was a Colonial Marine, Private Jennette Vasquez, who died in mysterious circumstances on a W-Y mission.
