An Alien franchised comic book releasing in the year of 2024 sounds a bit odd, doesn't it? It feels like a franchise that Hollywood has been trying to push for decades ever since the success of the very first title way back with Sigourney Weaver in 1979. Over the decades since we've seen attempts to branch the series out into spin-off titles like Prometheus or Alien vs Predator, as well as generic sequels that aim to capture and profit from the nostalgia of the original while ultimately pursuing the exact same narrative structure without doing much else. I recently saw Alien: Romulus which I would state was properly the first actually strong Alien title since the original, but it was still pretty much more of the same thing that has been tried and done to death: space colony group enters space, stumbles across something they probably shouldn't have, and then suffering the consequences with the arrival of xenomorphs that plague the ship, alongside the usual body horror that's met with face-huggers latching themselves onto victims in their parasitic nature. I want to enjoy the franchise, I really do, but I do think it's stuck in this stagnation of never trying to really do anything different, sticking too tightly to its formula. I guess this is where a comic series might actually step in to change things up a bit, right?
I'll admit that I almost overlooked the comic entirely upon seeing it online for the first time. For the reasons mentioned above, but also because the world of comics based on existing television series or film features tends to be a bit weak, they're usually more leaning towards the quick cash-grab side of things rather than being independent stories within these existing worlds. It is usually that their art styles are quick, and scribbly and without much general direction, leading to them also being a bit visually unappealing. It was upon reading that its creator wanted to avoid being the usual Alien story that it caught my attention, choosing to avoid the usual tropes while also being somewhat related to the recently released Alien: Romulus film. I did mention that these tend to be a bit of a cash-grab concept, didn't I? Anyway, I wanted to give it a chance knowing that it had a slightly different focus. That it wasn't your typical Alien title that takes place in the usual setting. This time, it's not a story that unfolds in the claustrophobic halls and interior of a large space ship hauling itself through deep space, it takes place instead in what many would consider to be paradise. And that's where we get the name: Alien: Paradiso. Now unfolding at a beach resort. I'll take it. It's different. I can't complain there.
With the first volume out so far, I'd say the story isn't anything to write home about. It features a planet owned by a billionaire (yeah I guess billionaires own planets in the Alien universe, not just islands) to which it's split into different island resorts. It's the location of choice for a weapons smuggling group that aims to make big money and moves with a deal that'll place them under control of most criminal organisations in the colonies. This is a concept that I much prefer to see, it's something that definitely adds a bit more depth to the universe to what we've already seen so far, which tends to be workers in space or mining colonies which, again end up in space. This location of a resort is different in giving us a glimpse into how the everyday person might live in the Alien universe, the fact that there are regular people roaming around, and how they might take time off going to these artificial locations that aren't necessarily for elites either. It removes us from some of the more cyberpunk aesthetics that we tend to be familiar with, and I quite like it for that. As much as I am a fan of the cyberpunk genre, just seeing the story take place in a more natural (albeit still artificial) environment is something else. This weapons smuggling group is already on the radar for some, which have been watching them from afar with scouts already on the island. Again it shows the other side of an organisation that appears to be more on the authority side of things, stopping crime and keeping general order around the colonies.
To get the story started, the arrival of a ship leads to someone stumbling out of it, roaming into the lobby where usually there's an x-ray performed on those who enter to avoid any weapons being accepted into the resort. It being a weapons-free zone is something of importance to the resort, and also serves as the smuggler's go-to concept given it's not typically a place one might look for such deals. At the same time, I think it's also a decent plot point to pave the way for the lacking of weapons that the characters have to deal with the inevitable threat of Xenomorphs running around, and that's really what ends up happening. With the sickly arrival of the man, he walks on in feeling terrible, collapsing on the floor and inevitably kicking things off with his torso bursting open with a little baby Xenomorph running out. Total lockdown of the island ensues, and that is our first volume to set the stage. It's not a bad start, even if it does just pull events out of nowhere to get them going. I expected far worse from it, even in the art style side of things. Though I would still say that the art style definitely isn't something that stands out. it's not something I would say is particularly good in an appealing way. It's just there. It could be better, but it also could be worse.
It did manage to capture my curiosity with that first volume. I still don't have massively high hopes, but I will be keeping an eye on the future releases. It's something a little different to the realm of comics. And it's published by Marvel, which was something I almost completely forgot to mention. I did enjoy the story's general foundations, it is nice to see something different in this universe that is just so tiresome and unimaginative when it has so much more potential. If you are a fan of the Alien universe and don't mind comics, then it could be something that's more directed for you.