The Xenomorphs’ New Way to Reproduce is So Much Worse Than Chestbursters

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Alien #10

The newest issue of the Alien comic series from Marvel Comics has unveiled a new version of the Xenomorph that has a unique way of reproducing, and it’s far more horrifying than a Chestburster. Longtime fans of the Alien franchise are aware of the reproduction cycle of the iconic movie monster. Beginning its stage as an egg, a parasite nicknamed the “Facehugger” latches itself to a host, wrapping itself around its face. After a short period, it detaches itself and dies. While things seem to be normal after the experience, a baby Xenomorph will then burst from the subject’s chest after a short incubation time, hence the name “Chestburster.” From there, the baby Xenomorph grows quickly to adult size, creates new eggs and the cycle begins anew. Now, there’s a new sub-species of the Xenomorph out there, and it’s making the original cycle seem like child’s play.

Alien #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca picks up where the last left off with the small band of survivors fleeing to Beta Station after being overrun by aliens. When they arrive, they find the place abandoned. The only potential lead is an old mine not too far from the station. Deciding it would be better to just head to the next station in hopes of finding other survivors, the group packs up and gets into a truck…with one exception. A survivor named Simon insists they investigate the mines to find someone he knows and steals a gun to make sure he can. When he enters the mine, what he finds is something absolutely horrifying.

The people of Beta Station are all cocooned in a series of webs with Alien eggs below them, mostly opened. Some are missing limbs while others are too wrapped up to see the damage. When Simon attempts to help one down in hopes of finding his loved one, he discovers that one person in the webs is bloated…and inside is a new rendition of the Xenomorph. The humans are being used as incubation for not just one but a whole swarm of these new alien beings, and when time comes due, they crawl out of any orifice they can or make their own exit, as signified by the loss of limbs in other corpses. This is dreadfully unsettling and much more terrifying than the Chestburster because at least with the latter, death will come quickly. With these, it seems like the host is kept alive long enough to allow the babies to grow, and then endures them all coming out until they die. It’s absolutely disturbing.

What’s even worse though is the way humans become hosts. When Simon’s fellow survivors come to find him, they’re ambushed by the Xenomorphs and these new creatures. When one trips, one of the aliens grabs hold of her and forces her mouth open. With the tiny alien’s razor-sharp circular mouth, it burrows its way down her throat to begin the cycle again. Just the thought of this tiny alien forcing its way into someone’s body is enough to make the reader squirm. While Facehuggers at least have the courtesy to knock the host out, this one is much more brutal and has its host feel the pain it creates. Simply put, it’s an absolute monster.

Alien has absolutely unleashed something horrifying for future issues to come. Where the story will go from here cannot be good, as the issue ends with the survivors cornered by the Xenomorphs. What’s even scarier is the thought that maybe these new versions of the alien could find their way to other interpretations of the story, including the movies. Just imagining a live-action portrayal of this is enough to send chills down the spine. Until then, this new reproduction method is one of the scariest in the Alien franchise yet, transcending the Chestburster and putting the Xenomorphs even higher on the list of the most chilling monsters in horror media.

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