In this review of Alien vs. X-Men #1, in the cold depths of outer space, Charles Xavier’s mutant heroes encounter a monstrous species seeking to infest and destroy the human race. No, it’s not the Brood. Why do you ask? Plus, the X-Men story you probably never thought you’d see.
Alien vs. X-Men #1
Writer: Kieron Gillen, Chris Claremont
Artist: Geraldo Borges, David Messina
Main Cover: Ryan Stegman
Variant Covers: Alan Quah, Björn Barends, John Romita, Jr., Leinil Francis Yu, Ivan Shavrin
Page Count: 40 pages
Release Date: September 30, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Alien vs. X-Men #1 begins in deep space as the Astonishing X-Men confront an Orbis Stellaris who they believe possesses a Phoenix egg (and unsavory plans for the team). Wolverine dispatches their foe in brutal fashion, and the heroes discover an assortment of Xenomorph eggs. As one opens, the team prepare for an attack while the Beast looks on in fascination.
One week later at X-Mansion, Charles Xavier is alerted to the team’s return as the Blackbird is strapped to the top of Orbis Stellaris’ ship. Xavier alerts the rest of the X-Men to the ship’s unexpected return, and the others watch in horror as it crashes into the mansion and explodes, releasing a horde of Xenomorphs onto the grounds. Xavier’s mental scan picks up the Xenos’ hostility as the X-Men engage the hostile creatures.
Xenomorph blood penetrates Cannonball’s energy shield and Colossus’ organic steel. Shock follow shock as Hope Summers spots one of the Xenomorphs popping adamantium claws. Storm orders a retreat into the mansion, but Jamie Madrox is dragged off into Stellaris’ ship where they discover a Xenomorph nest with cocooned bodies of his fellow mutants. Wolverine is trapped and still alive as another Xenomorph bursts through his chest.
An alien queen with a suspiciously familiar diamond form scoops up the newborn. Inside the mansion, the wounded are rushed to the infirmary as Xavier and Storm review the last video log from the Astonishing X-Men. A saddened Hank McCoy explains his failed attempts to stop the Xeno gestation and he programmed the ship to arrive and orbit Earth in quarantine. Behind McCoy, a Xenomorph phases in through the locked door and Beast is attacked.
Alien vs. X-Men #1 ends outside Xavier mansion as Cable, Bishop, Deadpool, Abigail Brand and Domino(?) arrive, armed to the teeth and ready to engage.
Belles of Hell #1 begins in an alternate reality where a 20-something Kitty Pryde (and Lockheed the dragon) are visited by the spectral image of the Brood queen. Kitty and the queen debate the inhumanity of both human and Brood as the queen claims to be reformed, an angel in fact. The queen needs Kitty’s help, and Kitty realizes the queen already failed to tackle this threat on her own.
Belles of Hell #1 ends as the Brood queen transports them to the X-Men’s danger room where Kitty discovers that Xenomorphs have infested the place, with a demonic Illyana Rasputin acting as an envoy for the aliens. And Illyana has such delightfully evil plans for her longtime friend.
Analysis
Alien vs. X-Men #1 hits the ground running and gets to the bloody action within a few pages. Writer Kieron Gillen returns to the X-Men with a terrifying new story that appears to be set during the original Astonishing X-Men run. Gillen quickly establishes the X-Men’s space bound mission, and the inevitable sideways disaster that they stumble into along the way.
Gillen leaves certain story details to the reader’s imagination after an intriguing setup and fast-forwards to the gruesome battle at Xavier mansion. The superpowered mutants appear as overwhelmed as their teammates presumably were on Orbis Stellaris’ ship when the Xenomorphs attack. Even without manifesting the mutants’ abilities (poor Kitty and Emma), the aliens prove formidable against the X-Men.
Alien vs. X-Men #1 piles on the body horror and exudes a palpable and growing sense of dread as the story unfolds. Gillen ramps up the ick factor and doesn’t hold back on the body count, savoring the opportunity to give the Xenomorphs an upgrade and a true challenge for the surviving X-Men, but the writer spares readers some of the literal gory details.
The characterizations are spot on, but this Wolverine is a bit more violent, killing Orbis Stellaris by sending his claws bursting out of the villain’s chest. The foreshadowing is a bit on the nose sure, but Logan’s act sets up his own tragic fate as he was forced to watch his friends die horribly while he became a repeat vessel for the Xenomorph birth cycle.
Geraldo Borges gritty art lends itself to the terrifying story, cloaking the characters and backgrounds in heavy shadow, and pulling in with a tight focus during the battle sequences, where, despite the sprawling grounds outside the mansion, Borges delivers a palpable sense of claustrophobia to the clash between the X-Men and the Xenomorphs.
Comparing Alien vs. X-Men #1 to Avengers Vs X-Men might seem unfair this early on, but while the series is off to a good start, Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s 2024 masterpiece is still the gold standard of Marvel Comics’ Alien crossovers. To be continued.
Much can be said about Belles of Hell #1 as legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont returns with an all-new Kitty Pryde story, featuring Illyana, the Brood queen and the alien Xenomorphs. The Brood were clearly a more comics code friendly version of the Xenomorphs inspired by the 1979 horror classic. Now with Belles of Hell #1, Claremont gets to create the ultimate mashup as the good guys are on the backfoot.
Claremont’s scripting is solid and thankfully not overwritten, with Kitty Pryde’s voice as sharp and familiar as always. This is a more seasoned Kitty from the 2000s era stories, most likely from Claremont’s extensive X-Treme X-Men run. The exchange between Kitty and the Brood queen is both telling and familiar. Is she really an angel? She sure seems to think so.
Dave Messina (Angel, Ultimate Spider-Man) offers a clean art style packed with loads of detail, tight and shifting panel sequences with energetic body language and expressive faces. The spectral Brood queen is well rendered, and Messina adds small touches in a character pose or face that evokes humor even during the serious conversation.
Final Thoughts
Alien vs. X-Men #1 and Belles of Hell #1 both deliver on solid writing, artwork and characterization. Alien vs. X-Men #1 oozes tension, creeping horror and dread, while Belles of Hell #1 offers insight into Kitty Pryde and her history with both the Brood queen and Illyana wrapped up in a gorgeously illustrated package.
