The story follows a group of colonial marines (no, not the ones from Aliens though one is the sister of Vasquez) and their several encounters with the alien menace. The story introduces the idea of the Aliens Royal Jelly and its affects on humans, turning them into these weird hybrids that can control them. I thought the story was pretty interesting giving a little more to the xenomorph mythos. However, I can say that I walked away from the story more than a little conflicted. The story basically follows the marines who fight the aliens than escape, fight the aliens then escape, fight the aliens then escape. That’s it. Well, there are casualties each fight so at least there’s some deviation.

For one, there aren’t any real character arcs. For the most part, everyone walks out of the situation (gets killed) the same way they walked into it. Another is though there were some pretty intense moments there wasn’t really anything gripping. Even the ending felt both rushed and anti-climatic. Worse even by the fact that it was a pretty shitty ending. The Royal Jelly concept wasn’t bad but it did overshadow the xenomorphs reducing them to just foot soldiers (albeit very dangerous foot soldiers).

The biggest sin behind the story is that it’s not good. Perhaps, if the marines were stranded at a location fending off the alien scourge and then come upon this conspiracy involving the hybrids. That’s a story worth checking into. Instead, we get these random battles that have little to no significance. (2 out of 5)

The characters were definitely lacking depth. At least most of them. Yeah, there are a few standouts including Joseph Henry who’s leading the group of hardasses, Vasquez’s sister, Carmen, a synthetic named Liston, and Nyland. There are a few more but they’re not interesting enough to be remembered. I was really disappointed at Carmen. Yeah, she’s not her sister but dammit when the aliens attack her reaction and continued cowardness and inaction just becomes annoying. Even the antagonist, Father, wasn’t particularly interesting. He definitely lacks the sheer ferocity and might of the Alien Queen, emphasized more by her intelligence. I did like Nyland but thought where the story put her was just awful. Was I looking for another Hicks, Vasquez, Hudson, or Apone? No. But I would’ve liked more interesting characters. (2 out of 5)

I honestly thought the art style wasn’t bad and that it did a good job of translating the story. Characters have good detail and the combination of Tony Atkins art and Paul Guinan’s color capture their emotion and reaction really well. But I have to admit that there are plenty of moments where the characters become cartoonish in their design. The alien designs are pretty good. They look gross, they look terrifying, they have a good bit of detail. The “Bug-Men” look stupid. Nothing of them even remotely looks like they are part xenomorph. In fact, they look more like apes in the face. The art isn’t horrible but it’s decent enough. (3 out of 5)

There are things I like about direction of the series though Chris Warner didn’t impress me. Instead of one cohesive story it feels like different stories written by different writers. The action was good though there’s way too much of it with really no stakes. We get a lot of bullets flying, aliens attacking, and blood splatters both human and alien. The violence and gore is pretty brutal which is what you’d expect to see in an aliens comic. Hell, we even get to see a man being melted alive by acid. In a lot of ways it mirrors the marines’ first encounter in Aliens while extending it.

One of the best ideas in the entire series are the underwater xenomorphs. They were interesting, they were cool looking, and the only thing that messed it up was the whole battle scene. It would’ve been better had the marines tried to help the people escape while the creatures were just picking them off. Not this big battle. The characterization isn’t particularly good and that’s too bad because I’m a sucker for an underdog and these marines had the potential. I will say that the writing includes some pretty cool human antagonist arcs which help emphasize that humans are just as much a enemy as the aliens themselves. Like its story and art, the writing just feels inconsistent, inconsiderate and derivative. (2 out of 5)

In the end, Aliens: Colonial Marines is just a big disappointment. If you didn’t like the game you definitely won’t like this. There’s a lot to be said when such an interesting premise isn’t utilized to its fullest potential. There are a number of problems with this comic. The characters aren’t written particularly well, the story isn’t gripping, the artwork isn’t as good as it could’ve been, the writing’s subpar; there’s just a big mess. There are some gems here and there but not enough to save this story. Having said that, I did have some enjoyment. Aliens: Colonial Marines gets 2 out of 5.