Greetings Alien lovers!  My name is Richard.  I am a huge Aliens and Predator fan and believe that the movies are the ultimate examples of alien species done terrifyingly right.  I will be the reviewer/summarizer of the various Alien comics that have appeared over the last few years.  I may also do other things as well for this site at the owner’s sole discretion.  The comic descriptions will be sporadic at best (for now) because I have only a few Alien comics at this time and I do work a lot and have a social life contrary to popular belief, but I have some comics waiting for me and will purchase more as time progresses.  You can reach me at thegoofyspider@yahoo.com if you have any questions or comments or just want to insult me.  (Just kidding on that last part.  I would hate to sic my xenomorph on you.)

Note:  I did not create this website, nor do I operate or own it.  It is maintained and cared for by tigertron007.  I just aid him in comic reviews and other things since I am more accessible to the various comics and information at this time.  Everything that is written (typed) by me is first reviewed and then (usually) approved by tigertron007.  He does all the hard work and should get most if not all of the credit for this site.  (Thanks for allowing me to help you, man!)  E-mail him at tigertron007@hotmail.com if you have any questions pertaining to the site itself.  Thanks!

Newt is angry at Ripley who, according to Newt, deserted her at some time in the past.  Newt demands to know why Ripley left in the first place and why she has returned now.  The story then fades back into the past as Ripley attempts to explain herself.  Shortly after the destruction and elimination of the Aliens on LV- 426, a Captain Hankerson awakened her prematurely from her sleeping tube.  Hankerson explains to Ripley that she has been awoken to accompany another group of marines to LV- 426 to investigate and explore the Acheron, which is the spaceship that the aliens were first discovered.

Ripley refuses until Hankerson threatens to send Corporal Hicks, the only surviving marine from “Aliens” (who somehow also survived “Alien 3”), or Newt back to the planet if she doesn’t agree.  Ripley backs down and agrees to go.  She boards the ship heading toward LV- 426 and watches as Newt and Hicks continue their journey to Earth.

The marines, Hankerson, and Ripley arrive on the planet.  Hankerson stays at the Lander as Ripley and the others fly toward the Acheron in the A.P.C. (I believe it stands for Aerial Personal Carrier, but I could be wrong.  Let me know if I am wrong.)  They enter the Acheron and begin to explore the vessel.  Somehow the marines trigger some sort of power source inside the ship.  The marines’ tracker then begins to read-out information that is coming from the alien ship.  Only Ripley sees the read- out because the other marines are being trying to help Sergeant Masters who has just went through the floor and fallen several feet.

As the others try to reach Masters, Ripley begins to observe the read- out that are coming from the alien ship.  The read out gives the rest of the warning signal that Ripley and the Nostromo crew first received from the alien ship in “Alien”.  It tells of a Queen Alien (?) who is the ruler of all the other aliens (drone, soldiers, face huggers, and other queens) who is calling her “children” back.  It also, mentions something about an “Aliens’ Genesis”, supposedly the source of their power.

Before Ripley can discover more, the Aliens appear.  Some of the Aliens must have survived the explosion and returned to the Acheron.  All the marines save two are killed as Ripley escapes.  Ripley runs into Hankerson at the Lander.  Ripley tells him what she has learned and Henderson immediately becomes excited at the possibilities of this new information.  Henderson (who believes that all the marines are dead) then states to Ripley that the marines were going to be used as “alien transporters”.

Suddenly, the two remaining marines who just happened to overhear what was said
kill Henderson.  Ripley and the marines leave the planet as we are brought back to the present.  Ripley tells Newt that she and the marines went into hiding until “the evil corporation” found an alien who they are presumably taking to Earth.  Ripley then tells Newt and Hicks that they and the two surviving marines are going to go with her to the planet were the“aliens’ genesis” is to use the main alien leader to finally put an end to the aliens existence.
To be continued….

My Review
Cover
The cover is awesome.  The artist, John Bolton, gives a very terrifying and extremely detailed illustration of the alien.  I can almost feel its breath.  Too bad Mr. Bolton couldn’t be the interior artist on this book.

Words (plot and script)
Even though I haven’t read any of Mr. Verhieden’s comic work before, he seems able to represent the characters as they were original intended.  Ripley is still the hard- as- nails- take- no- crap- woman that she is portrayed in the Alien movies.  Newt has grown into a believable character that has been through hell and barely survived.  Her reaction to Ripley’s “desertion” is real enough, but you would think she would have a little more faith in the woman who saved her life numerous times.  The aliens themselves are written as they should be: swift and deadly.  The pace of the comic was slow enough to not overwhelm the reader, but fast enough to avoid boredom.  The pages weren't riddled with words; just enough to let the reader know what was going on.  The comic didn’t have that much action in it, but, like most first issues of any comic, action had to suffer for sake of plot building and the writer appears to be building up to something big.  Besides, the way one of the marines is killed by an alien almost makes up for the lack of action in my opinion.  I’m not going to spoil the gruesome demise for you.  Go buy the book and see the gore yourself.  Just some food for thought (And, yes, that is a clue!) make sure you haven’t eaten in a couple of days.

Art
The art overall is not bad.  I was able to tell what was going on without having to concentrate too hard (which is sometimes hard not to do with some comics that are on the market today).  Keith was able to show emotions pretty convincing and the background art didn't suffer that much for the sake of the foreground art.  The aliens looked horrifying enough, but they appeared to be smiling, which in my opinion takes away the inhuman terror that the aliens are supposed to personify.  Perhaps the artist was trying to use the smiles to illustrate the insane evilness of the aliens, however the smiles come off more comical then evil.  Only the Joker can get away with something like that and make it look convincing.  However, Mr. Keith does use the combination of lighting and dark ink to portray an awesome sense of mood and impending doom.

The colors themselves are not too bright, nor too dull.  The only thing that bothered me was that Ripley’s close keep changing color.  On page 4 her dress (?) is blue, then on page 5 it is green; then blue again.  And Ripley isn’t the only one; Captain Henderson’s shirt even goes from orange to a mildew-green to a yellowish- gray.  It could be because the colorist wasn’t paying much attention or maybe there was a color mix-up during publication.  Whatever the reason, it is a small, but noticeably annoying problem.

The Final Word
A good comic over all, but there is one thing that is really driving me crazy:  the Aliens continuity.  Ripley, Newt, and Hicks are all dead by the end of Alien 3, so how could they be alive for this story?  One answer:  they can’t.  As you can tell from the date, this comic was published two years before Alien 3, so the writer had no idea that they would all be dead time- line wise before this story.  In other words, the events in Alien: Earth War never happened; it is null and void.  But don’t let that stop you from buying and enjoying the comic book.  (Note:  For all you Alien 3 haters out there.  You can just replace the events in Alien 3 with the events in Aliens: Earth War. There.  Now maybe some of you can finally rest in peace.  Another note:  I liked Alien 3.)

My Rating: Chestburster

Not the best, but not the worst.  Mostly enjoyable and decent, but only average.

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