Dark Horse Comic review: Aliens series one to three

So after the release of Aliens Darkhorse picked up the comic rights to the franchise and made series which picked up 10 years after the events of Aliens and left us with a scared Hicks and and an emotionally scared Newt. The comics written buy Mark Verheiden were dark edgy and got the vibe off the movies right off and then some expanding the universe 10 fold. Then in 1992 Alien3 came out and in an effort to remain in line with fox continuity They changed Hicks to Wilks and Newt to Billie when the books were reprinted. You can if your lucky still get early editions where the named are changed. For this review Im going to keep the movie names and give you the title of the collected graphic novels.

Aliens Book one: Outbreak
Taking place some 10 years after Aliens the story begins with a deep space salvage crew encountering a xeno on board wrecked ship and is slaughtered. Hicks who has been in and out of the USCM stockade due and bars because of been shunned from the other marines is brought to the high brass. He told they used the info from the attacked ship to find the xenomorph homeworld.Before he goes he decides to vist Newt and learns she's going to be lobotomized. Rather then let that happen to her he smuggles her onboard the ship for the mission. Meanwhile a rival company to Wayland-Yutani bring backs an infected crew member of the salvaged ship and cause's a wide spread outbreak on earth.
Mark Neilson art style has dated badly and the story is kinda all
over the place. While not shit its not the best its not too bad either
so if your a fan check it out.







Aliens Book two: Nightmare Asylum
Taking place after Hicks and Newt escape a now infested earth one to land on a planet ruled buy a power mad General Spears who breeds xeno's with a mad scheme to train them and use them to take back earth. This of course makes Hicks relise that Spears is nuts. Spears while weary of them keeps them alive because their experience of the bugs.Newt still comes to terms wth the loss of her lover she had in the first book and Hick trys to lead an uprising to stop Spears plan.

This book is wicked..the story wicked, the action wicked...the art work buy Den Beauvais fantastic.
This is a vast improvement from the the last book. and is a must for an Aliens fan.

Aliens book three: Female War

So after Spears attempt failed which causes Ripely to come out of hiding joining up with Hicks and Newt and formulates a plans to lure the high Queen to one city drawing the rest of the hive and nuking it.
Ripley's departure and absence is explained well and does make a number of nods to the movies. He relationship is with Newt is strained and Hicks doesnt trust her which is far more intresting then the main story. 

The art work buy Sam Keith who worked on Sandman and while intresting I did not think it was ideal for the story. With a silly plot and odd set of stylized art work it not the most impressive of the books but still needed for completion sake for an Aliens fan.

So if your going start collecting comics those three books are a good starting point. All three can be found in Aliens Omnibus volume one.