Script: Mark Vehelden
Art: Mark A. Nelson
Even though this review is coming twenty years after the fact, I still feel I want to review the Aliens series in order of release. Being such a long time Aliens fan, I feel bad that I simply haven’t reviewed any of the comics, or any of the other Alien products as of yet! Yes, this is my first Aliens related review… That being said, this is certainly not my first time reading this comic. I originally started collecting these around the age of twelve, while that’s nowhere near the actual release date; to a twelve year old these comics were amazing. As a testament to how well written this comic is, I still enjoy it to this day, now that this is probably closer to my third time reading it.
Originally published starting in 1988, this series kicked off well before Alien 3 was released, so this story mostly picks up where Aliens sort of leaves off. I say sort of because this series doesn’t begin right where Aliens ends, rather there’s about a ten year gap between the end of that story line and this one. However, it sticks with the theme that Ripley, Hicks, Newt, and Bishop all survived their trip home on the Sulaco. This is at least very awesome for me because that means this will continue more on the marines and action focus that the movie Aliens shifted to. Rather than keep up the horror/suspense style that Alien originally started with. So, in retrospect, I really wish Alien 3 was based a lot more on this kind of a story line. I think it’s a lot more exciting and it really is just as terrifying when you think about it.
This series stars Hicks and Newt and we see where their lives went after they returned home. It’s clear that Ripley and Hicks parted ways long before hand, so we see Hicks having gone through some serious hardships and the typical nightmares associated with coming in contact with the Aliens. Newt also has the same problems, but she is immediately put into a mental institution, whereas Hicks being older and his military service essentially save him. I really liked this series a lot in this sense because we got to see a lot more into what the human future will hold. Obviously it’s a pretty dark and disgusting styled future that no one would really want to deal with. In fact it’s just like every day life now, but with a lot more technology. Hicks and Newt get involved because a ship stumbled upon the Alien home world. So the government sent out a military vessel to go and investigate. The story does have some cliché elements in the sense that this was why Ripley got pulled onto the Sulaco in the first place for the Aliens movie and there’s the underlying concept that they want to capture an Alien for study, not to eradicate. While this seems uncreative, I didn’t mind it so much because the broader story sets things up in such a way that it’s not really going to be able to return to that theme very well. Needless to say there’s a lot of tension and conflict that surround these concepts and Mark Vehelden added in enough things to make the script feel fresh rather than rehashed.
Another element, and I risk throwing in a spoiler to those who haven’t read it, is towards the end we get some insight into where the original derelict space craft came from. They actually meet one of the beings that are found in the strange seat from Alien and it speaks to Newt telepathically. Here we learn, finally, where the derelict space craft came from and what its purpose was. I’m really glad they added this element into the series, because I think it added a lot more continuity to the overall story. Granted we are left with a great air of mystery concerning that creature’s presence and we never learn too much about it. Another element that I thought was interesting to add to the series was a religious cult that worships the Aliens. At this stage in the story the existence of the Alien creature has started to leak out a little bit, but not everyone is afraid of the species, some of them choose to worship it! This theme is probably one of the most popular and I see it arise in future Aliens comics quite a bit. Needless to say, I think it’s an interesting twist.
Now, I surely have to go over this amazing art. The comic is completely in black and white, and normally I do not like this format for my comics. However, I think it worked very well with this script and the Aliens in general. The covers are in beautiful full color though, which I think was a good move. I was very impressed with Mark Nelson’s art overall. With just black and white drawings he was able to evoke a lot of emotion from his scenes. They really captured the essence of the script and I can only hope this kind of quality will be kept up in the Aliens series. I’m impressed that Dark Horse has published something so high quality for a first run of this series, I really didn’t think Aliens drew that much in the way of popularity when I had first gotten this. Anyway, I am still quite curious to see what this series would look like in full color, as color is my preference, but I wouldn’t change this comic for anything.
Overall this is a superb series. It answers our questions from the end of Aliens and builds on a story that amps up the series. It definitely sets the stage for the next series to be released in the Aliens title and I really like Dark Horses method of releasing smaller installments, rather than one giant unlimited series. I think it’s easier to follow and gives them a lot more freedom to write different stories without ruining the feel of continuity. However, they’ve chosen to plug into the Aliens fans around the world and pick up where James Cameron’s incredible film left off. Prepare for a serious invasion of Aliens!
Overall Rating: 5/5