What If…? Aliens #4: A Queen Hunt

Xenomorph acquisition failed once again. Burke’s good but very selfish intentions went quickly off the rails, and now a queen is loose. What If? Aliens #4 could be a truly terrifying issue in a truly terrifying series if not for the continuing undercurrent of dark humor.

Carter Burke is running as fast as he can when What If? Aliens #4 begins. A queen xenomorph is on the loose, and Burke’s only desire is to grab his daughter Brie and escape the asteroid in Cygnus’ ship. When Hiro reminds Burke that Brie can’t leave the asteroid, the only option is to try and destroy the queen. Hoping to score points with his father by getting him a xenomorph, Hiro betrays Burke and Brie. But with the two of them in mortal danger, there is no one left to save the people in danger on the asteroid.

What If? Aliens #4 continues the previous issue’s trend of emphasizing exasperated comedic elements. The issue doesn’t do so at the expense of the jeopardy. The danger continues to grow as it has over the entire series. But the atmosphere has taken on an almost cartoon quality. There’s a real chance that multiple characters will still die. But it’s an open question whether or not anyone will care when it happens. By the end of this issue, there’s only one character left who is understandable, possibly even sympathetic.

All that said, the transformation of the story’s tone from deadly serious to borderline action comedy has been handled well. The complicated, somewhat broken Carter Burke from the first issue was more compelling than what he has morphed into. That said, What If? Aliens #4 does  momentarily revisit the more complicated version of Burke near the end of the issue when he reveals something to Brie that runs counter to something she’s believed her whole life. What If? Aliens might be the lightest entry in the Aliens universe (relatively speaking), but it knows what it is and is effective at delivering it.

The issue opens with great urgency, quickly moving into the most critical character interaction sequence that the series has delivered. For as much as the series is leaning toward non-stop exasperation with a darkly humorous undertone, Vilanova’s art in What If? Aliens #4’s opening sequence kicks the issue off on a serious note. Even here there are undercurrents that feel less than serious, especially in the interaction between Burke and Hiro. Vilanova never plays those undertones in the art, though. Burke, Brie, and Hiro look deadly serious throughout. Burke runs through a gamut of emotions in this sequence, most of which are communicated via facial expressions, body language, and especially when Burke looks at the other characters and when he looks away. The rest of the issue works because Vilanova sells the danger here.

Vilanova’s art also adds a horror element late in the series as Burke, Brie, and Hiro search for the queen xenomorph. The trio ventures through an area full of cocooned humans. Vilanova doesn’t quite reproduce the webbing quality seen in the movies. Nor does Nitro hold to a lighter color close to the white in the movies. Instead the two produce something that feels more organic that is actively pulling at the characters. The environment is dark, nothing but black and grays. Everything looks scratchy and rough, especially as the characters first enter the xenomorph territory.