January 06, 2007: This brand new review comes to us from devoted fan ~ittybittybits. Thank you so much!

Aliens Book One Graphic Novel

Written by Mark Veheiden
Illustrated by Mark A. Nelson
Lettered by Willie Schubert
Published in 1990 by Dark Horse, Inc.


Although I’m elated to launch into a review of this fascinating book, I feel it is important to mention why the authors and publication date had to be included. I have been informed that in subsequent editions there may have been other minor changes to the story and/or characters.

With that being said, I’ll treat this as a stand alone review for the 1990 edition and only compare it to the movies which predated its release: Alien (1979), and Aliens (1986). I also use the term “bugs” or “Xenomorphs” to describe the alien creatures from the two films.

When I first read this book I was thrilled. I had enjoyed the suspenseful sci-fi horror films and was ecstatic that the story continued with two of the characters from Aliens, Hicks and Newt. The story takes place approximately 10 years after Aliens and we are introduced at that point to the characters who have been struggling, respectively with their fate. After Aliens, Newt was sent to a mental health facility where her stories of “monsters” were considered a symptom of a mental derangement. Meanwhile, Hicks returned to the military with the burdening guilt he felt from failing all of his team as a fellow comrade and also as a friend.

The story starts to take flight, when Hicks is taken prematurely let out of the brig for a special assignment. From what the readers are told Hicks gets the opportunity to kick some bug ass and to assuage the guilt which has haunted him for 10 years through some violent payback. Assisting him is a new team of grunts. However, Hick’s guilt doesn’t let him forget the girl the original team sacrificed their life to save. In an effort to reconcile with his past he does visit Newt, but believes it is safer for her in the institution. It was safer for her, at least from the Xenomorphs and Hick’s mission, yet she wasn’t safe from the mega corporations who were pulling the strings behind it all.

In the institution, Newt is doomed to an uncertain fate in the hands of her doctors as they are about to perform a rather intensive lobotomy to permanently fix her mental disorders. Fortunately or unfortunately, Hicks isn’t willing to abandon her and attempts to break her out of the institution. From then on the readers are led down a path that unravels the mega corporation’s true intent behind Hick’s mission. If that wasn’t enough, the menace which was thought to only exist in space had found a new refuge. This time, Earth itself, may have to face the deadly onslaught of a thriving Xenomorph hive.

The rest you have to read for yourself.

What I liked about the story (Spoilers Ahead):

This comic had the same feel as the first two movies. They tried to create it as a violent-laden sci-fi suspense story and they were fairly successful at it. I couldn’t always predict which way the story was going to turn. They wove in many different characters to create a complex scenario which left me guessing at times, while never losing the central focus which was the humans and human machinations involving the Xenomorphs.

The Xenomorphs, on their own, were beautifully illustrated. Their sleek exoskeletons and deadly inner jaw were as impressive as ever. I was also stunned by the realism in the humans and settings. The realism shows in every panel, from the details on objects and in the backgrounds to the successful application of multiple perspective techniques which was executed with amazing skill.

Furthermore some of the background behind the Xenomorphs was interesting. Although it was hard to determine if it was presented as conjecture or fact, the story delved into the ecology of the Xenomorph home world. It implied that the mega corporation could even be interested in several possibilities 1) Extermination the Xenomorphs at their source of origin 2) Capturing Xenomorph specimens at their source of origin or (my favorite) 3) Obtaining specimens of the organisms which keep the Xenomorph population in check in their natural ecosystem in order to have even better ‘organic’ weapons at their disposal. Lastly, I’m intrigued by the effects that the Xenomorph’s queen’s telepathy may have had on the surrounding human populace. The social impacts of the discovery Xenomorphs and the contact between Xenomorphs & humans has some great potential. They’re intriguing concepts to work with as they are presented in the story.

What I didn’t like (More Spoilers):

From the artwork, I was actually expecting to see a greater variety in human expressions and faces. Many of the light-haired guys look identical. They have the same overall head shape and jaw structure. Hicks is easily identified by his military garb and acid burn scars, but he’s not much different than several other key characters in the story. I had trouble separating some of the characters which didn’t help when the story transitioned between the different human organizations which were drawn together by their different interests in the Xenomorphs. Also, From time to time I was annoyed at how poorly a few scenes shifted visually. It made the comic difficult to follow for a few panels.

Although I liked the twists and turns in the overall plot, I was disappointed in the smaller scale writing involving the character development. Newt remains the same “save me Han Solo” character she was when she was a 9 year old girl. In fact, I had more respect for her as a survivor when she was a kid than an over thorazined adult trauma victim. Hicks was the only character who’s development made sense and was interesting even if it didn’t have a tremendous scope of change.

Lastly, I did love the exquisite detail on the Xenomorph illustrations, but the rest of the Xenomorph details seemed lacking. For example, the ecology description and visuals felt more like conjecture than any hard scientific fact. Also, because the story focuses on the human view points, the Xenomorphs feel relegated to the importance of ants and even the perceived might of the Xenomorph Queen takes a huge blow from the ‘human perspective.’ They could really have done a bit more research and used more scientific terminology. If done correctly it could have really made the audience drool in awe and recoil in horror at the impressiveness of the bug like species instead of looking at them as really deadly ants.

Overall, I still loved the story and I HIGHLY recommend it for any AvP fans. The ending has a tremendous impact on Earth (sounds like an understatement). The art was really well done overall. The inking and screen toning is absolutely exquisite. The story held true to the feeling of a blood-laden suspenseful sci-fi much like the movies were. It felt more like a mystery that was slowly unraveling, than a straight forward slasher horror flick (Nightmare on Elm Street), or the romantic adventure of a space opera (Star Wars). Even if the author half-heartedly through out an ecological system for the Xenomorphs, it does make a great starting point for a fan, if you wanted to develop your own storylines or rpg background. Besides, from what I’ve seen on Amazon.com it sounds like the beginning of a long series of novels and comics that make fans like me drool with anticipation for what lies ahead.

Thanks! All of this is my opinion, so take it or leave it as you wish.


~ittybittybits

p.s. That religious cult devoted to Xenomorphs felt like it came completely out of the blue without much of an explanation… I’m at a loss on what to think about it…..