Though the first Alien series from Marvel was launched to much excitement just a few years ago, believe it or not we’re already on the third series.

Unhelpfully, especially for more casual readers likely to pick it up on the basis of it being an Alien comic, it’s simply called ‘Alien’, with no other subtitle to distinguish it from what came before.

Perhaps what’s most important is that it does definitely distinguish itself from what came before with consistently brilliant art – which also has a grainy kind of filter, making it look like animation, in a way, which I adore – and much stronger writing.

Not only is the style of the artwork leagues ahead of the first few Alien series (which were disappointing in their attempts at realism, with stiff character work, likely due to a heavy reliance on photo referencing), but the costume and set design seems so much more interesting this time too.

It also draws from sources less well trodden in Alien fiction, such as the Alien 3 corporate retrieval team’s uniforms.

So, what we have here is a story of a family of scientists holed up at a remote research station, who stumble upon something remarkable that immediately triggers Weyland-Yutani to buy the small corporation they work for.

Sending in their team to deal with the specimen, they find an awful lot more than they bargained for – and early in this issue, a Xenomorph nest is uncovered…

It’s a fantastic issue and it’s genuinely made me excited to pick up Alien comics again. Alien fans will find an awful lot to like here, if they haven’t already been put off by the previous Marvel Alien comics.