The Monstrefact: Aliens vs. Avengers

and art by Isadriebitch and Ivas Fortina. I have to admit that I was skeptical about this crossover at first. There have been so many Alien comics crossovers over the years, from Predator and Judge Dredd to Yes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Archie Captain America versus The Face Hugger just

wasn't high on my list of crossover matchups. But after hearing some encouraging tidbits, I put this volume on my reading list, and I'm delighted to say that it's a really fun ride that honors both franchises while delivering a dark, richly creative tale of cosmic doom that doesn't hold anything back. So spoiler alert, I'm about to talk about some twists

and turns in the Aliens Versus Avengers comic book. If you want to read it reasonably cold, this is a good place to cut out and return a bit later. All right, here we go. The comic book takes this to a future Earth on the verge of complete destruction. Waconda, Atlantis and every last nation on the planet has fallen to the hordes of rampaging xenomorphic organisms. The surviving mutants

have fled to Mars. In a single city pretected by the surviving members of the Avengers, fights against utter destruction, against all hope, they desperately search for an answer. As it turns out, in a parallel universe following the events of Alien Covenant, the rogue android David succeeded in wiping

out all non xenomorphic life and replicating himself. Over the course of the ensuing millennium, they developed the means to cross over into other universes, and thus sent their android emissaries followed by seed ships, to eradicate life there planet by planet by planet. I'm a rather big fan of the themes explored in Ridley Scott's prequel films Prometheus and Covenant, so I appreciated the turn of events here, and it sets up a fitting foil for the scientists, wizards and

super soldiers of the Avengers. There's even a little engineer drama thrown in for good measure. The comic book really kicks into high gear, however, when the action spills over to Mars. Here, the few surviving Avengers flee Earth for the mutant occupied Red Planet, but quickly discover mostly death and desolation here as well. Because who happened to get his hands on some xenomorphic organisms for study and experimentation, Why none other than mister Sinn. Born doctor Nathaniel Essex.

Mister Sinister was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and therefore contemporary of Alfred Russell Wallace as well. Sinister is a neo Victorian mad scientist who became obsessed with mastering the next phase of human evolution, a quest that takes on additional dimensions as he falls under the influence of the ancient Egyptian mutant apocalypse. Who uses alien technology to transform Essex into the bizarre, undying mister Sinister. He becomes a

cloning master and an endless self experimenter. And so when Sinister in his many clones encounter xenomorphic life on Mars, he doesn't see it so much as the end of all life, but a potential new beginning for himself. At first, it seems Sinister and his clones have merely protected themselves from xenomorph aggression by implanting dormant embryos inside their own bodies. But then Sinister himself allows his own embryo to develop and burst forth as a red fleshed xenomore, complete with

the signature Sinister Diamond on its forehead. Even worse for the surviving mutants and Avengers, this new zeno, the Sinister Queen, possesses the mutant abilities of such deceased x men as Colossus and Nightcrawler, creating a deadly hybrid that can only be stopped by another, particularly shall we say, venomous xenomorphic evolution.

It's a delicious combo, as Sinister, throughout Marvel Comics, is obsessed with creating a perfected human species, while the xenomorphous we all know is the perfect organism that Sinister could give himself over to it and mirror the David's in his plotting and ambition seems entirely appropriate. Aliens Versus Avengers goes all out, exploring several books worth of ideas in a single volume, and with an absurdly high body count.

It's definitely worth giving a quick read while waiting for the next episode of FX's Alien Earth, which I'm also enjoying and remain cautiously optimistic about. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster, Fact, The Artifact, or Animalius to Pendium each week. Write in with any alien comic, book and novel recommendations as well, and as always, you can email us at contact at Stuffdblow your Mind dot com.