Alien - The Illustrated Story [Paperback]

Archie Goodwin (Author), Walt Simonson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: September 4, 2012 | Series: Alien

Vacant. Two space helmets resting on chairs. Electronic hum. Lights on the helmets begin to signal one another. Moments of silence. A yellow light goes on. Electronic hum. A green light goes on in front of one helmet. Electronic pulsing sounds. A red light goes on in front of the other helmet. An electronic conversation ensues. Reaches a cresendo. Then silence.

And when the silence is broken... the crew of the Nostromo must grapple with a terrifying life force they cannot leash, nor even comprehend - the Alien!

The stunning color graphic novel of Ridley Scott's legendary sci-fi thriller!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"As I read it, I kept thinking, 'This is a super-strong adaptation,' and, 'If the movie were never made, and no one had ever seen Alien, this graphic novel would probably be considered one of the best sci-fi comics ever.'" – Comic Book Resources

“An incredible example of how to adapt a motion picture into a graphic novel.” – TG Daily

“Incredible...the illustrated story of Alien is unlike any movie adaptation I've read. It manages to capture the essence of the film, the pacing, the terror, and the lived in feel better than any film-to-comic I've ever encountered. Reading the book, I could even hear the notes from Jerry Goldsmith's score and the actual sound design.” “The sequential storytelling on display, an incredible collaboration between between Goodwin and Simonson working from the shooting script (and early cuts of the film), is as elegant and well-paced as a comic can be.” – Huffington Post

“"entirely satisfying...should be seeked out by any fan of the franchise." - GeekNewWave

About the Author

Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles Creepy and Eerie, and for Marvel he set up the creator-owned Epic Comics as well as adapting Star Wars into both comics and newspaper strips.

Walt Simonson is one of the most highly regarded comics creators around, having written, pencilled or inked Batman, Michael Moorcock's Elric, Fantastic Four, The Hulk and Superman, to name but a few!

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books; First Edition edition (September 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1781161291
• ISBN-13: 978-1781161296
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 0.7 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "ALIEN" Art Edition exceeds expectations... November 25, 2012

By Twobyfour

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm a rabid fan of IDW publishing and their "Artists Edition" reprints of original art comic stories, and was excited when I saw the solicitation for this Walt Simonson edition from Titan Books. The cover itself is a knockout, the tone and texture of the reprinted internal pages are amazing, crystal clear with warts and all, the occasional scratch out or white out marks leap off the page. This was one of the first true graphic novel adaptations of a major motion picture, and Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson had made a name for themselves as a team during their stellar run on DC comics "Manhunter" series that ran in Detective comics, and the team brings an epic moodiness and tone to this story. The adaptation is so well done that over 30 years later, none of the books original impact is lost. Toss in facsimile pages of the original Goodwin script, and some gorgeously colored Simonson pages and you have a world-class package. This edition falls squarely in "must-have" territory, it's that good.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic! November 1, 2012

By Alex Sheikman

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a big fan of Goodwin's stories and Simonson's art, and when I heard about this edition being shot directly from Simonson's original art boards, I decided to give this a try. I am so glad I did. The story treatment is excellent, the storytelling is smooth and exciting, and Simonson's art (even though maybe not as polished and sophisticated as it is today) is just a pleasure to see this size. The rendering techniques are really fun and are remenisent of his earlier illustrations for Manhunter (a strip that he illustrated over another Goodwin script), but his figure work is much more solid.

Reading the introduction I learned that most of the lettering was done on different overlays and not on the original art, so in order to put this together Titan scanned both the original art boards and the lettering overlays and combined them to enable for folks to read the book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every penny (and then some) October 31, 2012

By Andrew

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Whether you're a fan of Ridley Scott's film "Alien" or a fan of comic book artist Walt Simonson, this book is for you. Be warned: the book is oversized at 13.8" x 1 x 19.9". It's scanned directly from Walt's original art and reproduced at the same size. Since the pages are scanned from the originals they include corrections, paste-ups and even coffee stains. Also included in the book is Archie Goodwin's script, Walt's two page try-out for Fox (featuring a very different alien, since there were no reference pictures available), an interview with Walt and letterer John Workman, and an afterword by Walt. As a great companion piece to this book, order this one too:Alien - The Illustrated Story (Facsimile Cover Regular Edition). And If you're a fan of Mr. Simonson as I am, this book is even better:Walter Simonson's The Mighty Thor: Artist's Edition HC (rather pricey now).