The marriage of Dark Horse Comics and the Alien franchise is a long and storied one. In many ways, the material put out by the two kept the vision alive during lulls between films. When the films failed to connect the comics carried the torch. Last year Alien Day was a big hit, turning April 26 into a new geek holiday. For Alien Day 2017, fans of Xenomorphs and comic books are in for a treat. A new four-issue series called Aliens: Dead Orbit and Aliens: The Original Comics Series Volume 2 are both hitting shelves in April.
What to Expect
The high concept description for the brand new series seems extremely cinematic. It also fits the mold of the best (I’m a huge fan of Aliens: Labyrinth) installments in the line:
Aliens: Dead Orbit finds Wascylewsk, an engineering officer, trapped in a space station after a horrific accident. Wascylewsk is forced to use all available tools—a timer, a utility kit, and his wits—to survive an attack from the deadliest creature known to man. James Stokoe (Wonton Soup, Orc Stain) writes and illustrates the series. Geof Darrow (The Shaolin Cowboy, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot) will provide a variant cover for the first issue.
The collection that hits on April 12 is also a must-buy for fans.
Following the highly successful release of Aliens: The Original Comic Series earlier this year, volume 2 finds Earth overrun by xenomorphs, with no hope of saving it for humanity. This doesn’t mean humans are ready to give up their home without a fight. Ripley hatches a plan to capture a “Queen Mother”—a super queen that rules multiple nests—and bring it back to Earth. Ripley believes the Queen Mother will command the xenomorphs to gather together where she can detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy them. Mark Verheiden (The Mask, Timecop) composed the stories while Den Beauvais (Aliens, Aliens: Countdown) and Sam Kieth (The Sandman, The Maxx) illustrated the interiors. Aliens: The Original Comics Series Volume 2 collects Aliens: Nightmare Asylum #1–#4 and Aliens: Female War #1–#4, and includes cover art for all issues in a special oversized hardcover edition.
The real fun is in guessing what new products they’ll announce for that special day next year. We’ll keep you posted.