1
00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,120
Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

2
00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,240
Speaker 2: Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is The

3
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,200
Speaker 2: Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

4
00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,760
Speaker 2: Your Mind, focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

5
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,000
Speaker 2: In past episodes of The Monster Fact, I've discussed both

6
00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,640
Speaker 2: the xenomorphs of the Alien franchise and the various monsters, mutants,

7
00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,239
Speaker 2: and superheroes of Marvel Comics. In today's episode, I'll be

8
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,280
Speaker 2: talking about both of them. As I just finished reading

9
00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,880
Speaker 2: the newly released Aliens Verses Avengers, written by Jonathan Hickman

10
00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,640
Speaker 2: and art by Isadriebitch and Ivas Fortina. I have to

11
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,800
Speaker 2: admit that I was skeptical about this crossover at first.

12
00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:54,360
Speaker 2: There have been so many Alien comics crossovers over the years,

13
00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,920
Speaker 2: from Predator and Judge Dredd to Yes, Buffy the Vampire

14
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 2: Slayer and Archie Captain America versus The Face Hugger just

15
00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,679
Speaker 2: wasn't high on my list of crossover matchups. But after

16
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,200
Speaker 2: hearing some encouraging tidbits, I put this volume on my

17
00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,240
Speaker 2: reading list, and I'm delighted to say that it's a

18
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,320
Speaker 2: really fun ride that honors both franchises while delivering a dark,

19
00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 2: richly creative tale of cosmic doom that doesn't hold anything back.

20
00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,000
Speaker 2: So spoiler alert, I'm about to talk about some twists

21
00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,440
Speaker 2: and turns in the Aliens Versus Avengers comic book. If

22
00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,039
Speaker 2: you want to read it reasonably cold, this is a

23
00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,640
Speaker 2: good place to cut out and return a bit later.

24
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,640
Speaker 2: All right, here we go. The comic book takes this

25
00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 2: to a future Earth on the verge of complete destruction. Waconda,

26
00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,760
Speaker 2: Atlantis and every last nation on the planet has fallen

27
00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,360
Speaker 2: to the hordes of rampaging xenomorphic organisms. The surviving mutants

28
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,760
Speaker 2: have fled to Mars. In a single city pretected by

29
00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,560
Speaker 2: the surviving members of the Avengers, fights against utter destruction,

30
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,640
Speaker 2: against all hope, they desperately search for an answer. As

31
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,920
Speaker 2: it turns out, in a parallel universe following the events

32
00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,040
Speaker 2: of Alien Covenant, the rogue android David succeeded in wiping

33
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,680
Speaker 2: out all non xenomorphic life and replicating himself. Over the

34
00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,200
Speaker 2: course of the ensuing millennium, they developed the means to

35
00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,799
Speaker 2: cross over into other universes, and thus sent their android

36
00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:21,000
Speaker 2: emissaries followed by seed ships, to eradicate life there planet

37
00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,400
Speaker 2: by planet by planet. I'm a rather big fan of

38
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,000
Speaker 2: the themes explored in Ridley Scott's prequel films Prometheus and Covenant,

39
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,640
Speaker 2: so I appreciated the turn of events here, and it

40
00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,680
Speaker 2: sets up a fitting foil for the scientists, wizards and

41
00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,280
Speaker 2: super soldiers of the Avengers. There's even a little engineer

42
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,480
Speaker 2: drama thrown in for good measure. The comic book really

43
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,160
Speaker 2: kicks into high gear, however, when the action spills over

44
00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,040
Speaker 2: to Mars. Here, the few surviving Avengers flee Earth for

45
00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,040
Speaker 2: the mutant occupied Red Planet, but quickly discover mostly death

46
00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,840
Speaker 2: and desolation here as well. Because who happened to get

47
00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,320
Speaker 2: his hands on some xenomorphic organisms for study and experimentation,

48
00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 2: Why none other than mister Sinn. Born doctor Nathaniel Essex.

49
00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,359
Speaker 2: Mister Sinister was a contemporary of Charles Darwin and therefore

50
00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,040
Speaker 2: contemporary of Alfred Russell Wallace as well. Sinister is a

51
00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,720
Speaker 2: neo Victorian mad scientist who became obsessed with mastering the

52
00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,560
Speaker 2: next phase of human evolution, a quest that takes on

53
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,280
Speaker 2: additional dimensions as he falls under the influence of the

54
00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,040
Speaker 2: ancient Egyptian mutant apocalypse. Who uses alien technology to transform

55
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,480
Speaker 2: Essex into the bizarre, undying mister Sinister. He becomes a

56
00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,920
Speaker 2: cloning master and an endless self experimenter. And so when

57
00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,400
Speaker 2: Sinister in his many clones encounter xenomorphic life on Mars,

58
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:40,760
Speaker 2: he doesn't see it so much as the end of

59
00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 2: all life, but a potential new beginning for himself. At first,

60
00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,840
Speaker 2: it seems Sinister and his clones have merely protected themselves

61
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,320
Speaker 2: from xenomorph aggression by implanting dormant embryos inside their own bodies.

62
00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 2: But then Sinister himself allows his own embryo to develop

63
00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 2: and burst forth as a red fleshed xenomore, complete with

64
00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,920
Speaker 2: the signature Sinister Diamond on its forehead. Even worse for

65
00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,880
Speaker 2: the surviving mutants and Avengers, this new zeno, the Sinister Queen,

66
00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,360
Speaker 2: possesses the mutant abilities of such deceased x men as

67
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,599
Speaker 2: Colossus and Nightcrawler, creating a deadly hybrid that can only

68
00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:22,560
Speaker 2: be stopped by another, particularly shall we say, venomous xenomorphic evolution.

69
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,880
Speaker 2: It's a delicious combo, as Sinister, throughout Marvel Comics, is

70
00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,359
Speaker 2: obsessed with creating a perfected human species, while the xenomorphous

71
00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,960
Speaker 2: we all know is the perfect organism that Sinister could

72
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,880
Speaker 2: give himself over to it and mirror the David's in

73
00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:44,000
Speaker 2: his plotting and ambition seems entirely appropriate. Aliens Versus Avengers

74
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,640
Speaker 2: goes all out, exploring several books worth of ideas in

75
00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,920
Speaker 2: a single volume, and with an absurdly high body count.

76
00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,680
Speaker 2: It's definitely worth giving a quick read while waiting for

77
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,520
Speaker 2: the next episode of FX's Alien Earth, which I'm also

78
00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,200
Speaker 2: enjoying and remain cautiously optimistic about. Tune in for additional

79
00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,920
Speaker 2: episodes of The Monster, Fact, The Artifact, or Animalius to

80
00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,359
Speaker 2: Pendium each week. Write in with any alien comic, book

81
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 2: and novel recommendations as well, and as always, you can

82
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:22,400
Speaker 2: email us at contact at Stuffdblow your Mind dot com.

83
00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,479
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

84
00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,400
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

85
00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,279
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.