WHAT IF...CARTER BURKE HAD LIVED?
Or more importantly, what if Carter Burke was about to die a different, even more horrible death?! Xenomorphs are loose on the mining asteroid where Burke's made his small sad life and even-more-insignificant career. Panic is about to break out, slaughter to follow - and once again, it's all Burke's fault. Is this justice at last for the consummate company man? Or is there more to Burke's character hidden beneath the mountain of mistakes?
Rated T+
With one more installment to go the series should end in a pretty big and chaotic way but I'm unsure of whether it should end in disaster or not for our primary character. I've actually grown to like Brie a good bit and can understand Hiro but Carter himself needs to face a clear end here. There are some really amusing bits to this issue, such as him talking about his time in the alien nursery before that Brie never heard about, but it's also a reminder of how he was both told to never say anything and blamed for everything but also actually kept quiet for the most part. The whole Cygnus alien hunt thing kind of messes with a lot of what could make him somewhat sympathetic. It's a solid installment once again with some good artwork that's just held back by Burke sounding too much like Reiser's Mad About You character than Burke himself. Read Full Review
What If? Aliens started in a dark, complicated place as it revealed how Burkes life unfolded after he survived his near death in Aliens. The darkness remains, but bit by bit the complexity has drained out of the series in favor of exasperated dark humor. Within that framework, What If? Aliens #4 succeeds as it sets up a shocking conclusion. Read Full Review
If the final issue manages to stick the landing, this What If...? series will go down as one of the best Alien comic series in as many years. - Read Full Review
The dialogue could be better, but this book has succeeded in doing what virtually no other Alien comic that I've read ever has: telling a story about characters that we actually care about.
Plot
Burke discovers his daughter Brie with Hiro Yutani, however time is of the essence because there is a Xenomorph queen free and she has already reached enough size to lay facehugger eggs.
Burke wants to escape to Earth but his daughter is not going to withstand the pressure of the atmosphere for having lived on that asteroid... although the origin of this assumption is doubtful.
Burke, Brie and Hiro put on their mining suits and go on the hunt for the Alien Queen, only to discover that Hiro betrays them, because having a living Xenomorph specimen is the way to earn the respect of her father.
Burke and her daughter are now about to be attacked by facehuggers, they escape and help evacuate all the per more
Great issue, very well written and solid art. As to be expected, the Reisers are perfectly capturing Burke's sliminess and I love it. I kinda really wish this would be made into an actual movie...