In this review of Alien: King Killer #2, a nasty bout of sibling rivalry leaves the Red King’s subjects fearing for their lives from the threat of the Xenomorphs that swarm the ravaged world of Sovyrn.
ALIEN: KING KILLER #2
Writer: SALADIN AHMED
Artist: CARLOS NIETO
Main Cover: DAVID YARDIN
Variant Covers: ACO, ALEX HORLEY, LUCIO PARRILLO
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 5/6/2026
This review contains spoilers
Alien: King Killer #2 begins on the world of Sovryn with an epic all-out brawl between two enhanced humans, the ruthless Red King and his estranged (and enraged) brother Idris. The pair trade blows and epithets and it appears that the Red King will be triumphant until Idris’ own enhancements kick in (a self-defense mechanism?) and he not only overpowers the Red King, he rips his arm off.
Red King laughs, despite his predicament, realizing that Idris has reluctantly tapped into his own abilities. Idris ends his brother with a violent blow from his sword, his actions prompting Red King’s guards and subjects to freak out, believing (perhaps rightfully so) that without their leader, they will be overrun by the xenomorphs. Idris exits the Red King’s fortress and dispatches a lone xenomorph that had been stalking him.
Still savoring his kill, Idris discovers the young scavenger Mouse has also been following him. As night falls, Mouse admits that without the Red King, there was no reason for him to stay at the fortress. Mouse asks Idris if he is the Blue King. Idris answers by telling Mouse that he and his brothers were created to be powerful (tyrannical) leaders, but he rejected the calling. The next morning Mouse awakens to find Idris had gone, leaving him a handgun and supplies.
Meanwhile, Idris treks across treacherous territory to the fortress of the Green King, intent on slaying him. A cry for help sends Idris running…right into a trap (door), plunging into the darkened depths below.
Alien: King Killer #2 ends with Idris regaining consciousness to discover he is tied up and locked in a cell. Worse, he realizes that the technology around him came from the lab where he and his brothers were experimented on years ago. The Green King (Zain) makes his entrance, surprised to find Idris still alive and threatens to kill him.
Analysis
Alien: King Killer #2 feels like a bit of a retread from issue #1 and the revelations don’t hit as hard as possibly intended. Writer Saladin Ahmed writes several impressive action scenes, but the character development appears to have stalled in this issue. Idris was already shown to be a dangerous loner with personal issues and a cool sword, but his dangerous quest across Sovryn is relatively incident free. His slaying of the lone xenomorph is visually impressive (thanks to artist Carlos Nieto) but seems to serve no purpose.
Mouse’s return is predictable and underwhelming, his presence is mostly for exposition that reveals Idris’ own “royal” legacy. One wonders how Mouse picked up this tidbit of information, or maybe he suspected before. The reaction of the Red King’s subjects to his slaying is unsettling (if it’s true that he was protecting them from the xenomorphs). Imagine pledging your allegiance to a ruthless monarch and then someone kills them.
Red King is a charming and more complex character than Idris. The story in Alien: King Killer #2 moves fast, so with the introduction of the Green King already made, what happens next? Ahmed makes the themes for this story crystal clear, including the providing a subtly clever name for the colony of Sovryn (as in Sovereign”).
Carlos Nieto’s outstanding art props up Alien: King Killer #2, with some impressive and graphic visuals, (mostly Idris killing with his sword) with colorist Mike Atiyeh amplifying Nieto’s artwork, including the bloody violence, whether human or xenomorph. Idris’ silent trek occurs in muted colors until Idris makes a fateful misstep upon a green cloth hiding the trap door.
Final Thoughts
Alien: King Killer #2 is a decent installment, not quite as engaging as the first issue, with the impressive art and color doing most of the heavy lifting. The writing is decent but lacks the character exploration of the previous issue. Fans of the Alien franchise will still probably enjoy the adventure.
