On my 15th birthday (21st December 1992) my family and I sat down to watch the evening movie on UTV. I knew of the Alien films (there were only two at the time) but knew nothing about them, however Sigourney Weaver from Ghostbusters was in it so I was sold. It was on for an hour before breaking for 30 minutes to make way for the Ten O’Clock News, the cut off point being perfectly timed as they drove inside Hadley’s Hope.
It had built up for an hour and we were primed when the film returned to the air for what felt like an hour-long climax. I’d never seen anything like it and even my mum loved it, going along for the ride with Ripley, Newt and the rest. In school I raved about it and discovered some of my friends were huge fans, who then arranged a night for us to watch the Special Edition together with all of its cut scenes restored. Over the years I’d go on to watch the original and the sequels, but this one always remained my favourite and one of my favourite films of all time. (Ever since I’ve always checked the TV listings for a good movie on my birthday night too. Nothing’s ever come close.)
I knew there was a comic at the time thanks to one of those friends but apart from flicking through some of their issues (which did look amazing) and seeing adverts in my Jurassic Park comic I never collected it myself, apart from one issue for a long train ride on a family holiday in 1994. I remember being engrossed by it but then never seeing it anywhere after that. At that age my attention span soon drifted and that one issue was the only one I ever read. Until now.
While reading Jurassic Park for the blog I couldn’t help but notice the promotions for Dark Horse International’s Aliens and it got me thinking about covering it. However, upon researching to see how much there was to collect I noticed Dark Horse only produced volume two, the first was published by Trident, who I’d never heard of before. I picked up an issue of Trident’s but it was a very different beast and not what I remembered at all.
I may eventually go back and collect those issues but for now I’m concentrating solely on Dark Horse’s UK comic. There are more issues, on the surface it seems to be a lot more professionally put together and it contains features beyond the comic strips. But most of all it includes the comic I bought an issue of as a kid, and so it’s this version I want to relive and rediscover as an adult. That’s the whole point of the blog after all.
Apart from flicking through each issue just to check page numbers and ensure everything is there (I haven’t read anything) I did notice the cover art is simply wonderful on each and every one of them. I mean properly stunning. If this is an indicator of what I can expect from this comic then I can’t wait to get stuck in. Speaking of the covers, I had a vague recollection of the one I’d bought many years ago, and when I was eventually able to collect them all I instantly recognised it. As it turns out it had been the last issue before Dark Horse International went out of business. No wonder I never saw any more on the shelves.
Firstly though, Dark Horse produced one final issue to volume one, which included a specially commissioned cover from a sculptor who had worked on the then-yet-to-be-released Alien³, and inside are a selection of short stories to round everything off for a new start the following month. I haven’t included it in this read through but it’ll be a fun way of ending volume one if I get around to that at some future point. It explained to readers what was happening with the change of publisher and included an atmospheric back page with the new tagline for Volume Two: “This Time It’s War!”
As for what you’ll see in this real time read through, there are 22 monthly issues plus a special three-part Alien³ series which was published every three weeks. These will make for a meaty read through of 25 issues altogether for you and I both to enjoy. Some of the issues have their free gifts intact and there are even two Christmas issues! Well, there are two Christmas covers anyway, I doubt there are festive tales inside but I’m still thrilled with the fact an Aliens comic marks the festive season at all. (If you’re new to the blog, I’m a bit of a Christmas nut.)
What else do I know before I go in blind to this series? Well, the accompanying mini-series is a bit of a giveaway but there’ll be plenty of coverage of the third film as I see it mentioned on a lot of the covers. It wasn’t brilliantly received at the time by fans but I always enjoyed it. However, in recent years a Special Edition has been released and it’s a completely different film. It’s superb! In fact, this version is very much the one that should’ve been released at the time but for studio interference. I’d place it right up next to Aliens, that’s how good I think it is nowadays. So it’ll be interesting to see how the comic and its readers (there’s a letters page) spoke of it at the time, unaware of all of this.
The Predator seems to feature quite heavily too. The two franchises hadn’t met at this stage but they were always destined to and the editorial in Volume 1 #17 hyped up the return of the alien hunters in issues to come. I’ve only ever seen the second movie in that particular franchise so I wonder if the comic strips will make me want to go back and get caught up with those too.
I’m always excited to get stuck into a new real time read through and I feel extra excited this time. That one issue decades ago left such an impression on me, and it’s just so different than anything else covered thus far. I’m also collecting the new Marvel Aliens comics and they’re fantastic so that’s adding to my hype. Jurassic Park finally has some company in the Dark Horse International menu too.
The first issue of Aliens will face hug the blog on Tuesday 18th June 2024.
OiNK BLOG 