Aliens Omnibus Volume 2 (v. 2) [Paperback]

Various (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Aliens Omnibus | Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Many humans have died horribly at the claws of the Alien. The surface ofEarth has been devastated to cleanse the beasts from our world. But thecommercial value of this scourge has never been in doubt, especially when thespecial properties of the Alien Queen's royal jelly are discovered. WillMankind once again risk its very survival as a species in order to sleep withthe Alien?Dark Horse Comics' critically acclaimed Aliens seriesset the bar for how the universe of a popular film could be expanded throughgraphic fiction. Aliens Omnibus Volume 2 collects more of these excitingseries in a value-priced, quality-format omnibus, featuring over four hundredstory pages in full color. Includes the complete story arcs of Genocide,Harvest and the never-before-collected, epic-length ColonialMarines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593078285
• ISBN-13: 978-1593078287
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "Alien" beyond Alien, June 26, 2008

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aliens Omnibus Volume 2 (v. 2) (Paperback)

The Aliens Omnibus Volumes 1 -3 have decided to bring us some of the best books the Alien universe has to offer. In Volume 2, this means we have 2 novels (Genocide and Harvest) and a 12-part series that deals with Colonial Marines. Each book brings something different to the table and, in some ways, explains to viewers what would happen if an organism the likes that no one has seen was introduced into the population.

Ahhh, the beauty.

While the two books deal with the same subject matter, they deal with it in surprisingly different ways. The first tells the tale of a chemically-produced substance that allows an Alien to become a Queen and gives an addict an addiction they will NEVER forget. While it has many nicknames, Royal Jelly is the most common and is sought after by many a capitalist. Enter the way that it is sought after and enter the way that men seek out, and die, for the fix of all fixes. The second book deals with something of the same manner, only science is god here and nanotechnology the deal of the day. In a way, it has the feeling of the first book and, in a way, it is a beast unto itself. Then there is the Colonial Marines series.

The series is perhaps the best in some ways because it shows how the species adapts to different environments. Water and the beast, air and the beast; the view sees the Alien and what happens to it when it is introduced to different hosts. It sort of reminds one of the dog burster from the third movie --- when you compare the way it carries itself to the bipedal types earlier encountered then you can see the difference in the beast.
Add in the human element and "the company" and you have an interesting little series on your hand.

Considering what you get, the Omnibus collections are beautiful things and are well worth getting. Even if you are not a big fan of the movies, they allow you to explore the Alien in a much different way. If started from the beginning (Book 1), you will even see where Aliens was going and what would have happened if Alien 3 did not occur and if the Alien made it to Earth.
If this sounds appealing, you will love it and love it gooood.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Good The Bad And The Ugly, July 17, 2010

By 

Elvis Zombie "Dustin" (Angola, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Aliens Omnibus Volume 2 (v. 2) (Paperback)

Sadly, the second Aliens Omnibus isn't as good as volume one. The first story collected here (Genocide) is really good. I give it a solid 5/5. Sure it has some campy moments with the introduction of a drug called xeno zip, but overall it's solid. Good action, good story, good fun. I enjoyed it. I even laughed out loud a couple of times at the effects xeno zip had on it's users. Too bad the other two stories are crud.

Harvest is bad. The protagonists are scumbags and you want them to die the moment you meet them. Some cool ideas here put poorly executed. 2.5/5

Colonial Marines is terrible. This is by far the worst of the Aliens stories I've read thus far. Can I give a negative rating? 1/5
The story makes no sense. I liked the way it started out, but about 20 pages in the thing just became a mess. Humanoid xenomorphs that carry guns and wear clothes? A crazy zealot named Father? You keep reading because you want answers. "What's going on?" you say to yourself. Guess what? The story sucks. Who wrote this crap? Whisky Tango Foxtrot Over....

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly better than Volume 1., March 8, 2009

By 

John S. Milas (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aliens Omnibus Volume 2 (v. 2) (Paperback)

Volume two contains stories in the same timeline as the original trilogy, and they're mostly good. There aren't any shorts this time, which is a little depressing. It means you basically have to dedicate more time to reading the volume unless you want to sit down and read little bits of each story at a time.

Genocide
Genocide is one of the best graphic novels in the Aliens series. It has an old, retro feel that doesn't detract from it like many other older comics. The story is simple and fun, and there's plenty of gore to go around. It concerns a capitalist who wants to obtain more royal jelly for a product he markets that's basically a steroid. He travels with a large team to an Alien infested planet populated by warring breeds. It's a simple tale, but it's a great read.
5/5

Harvest
Harvest I'd only looked at a couple times and never actually read before buying V.2. I really enjoyed it. It's got a really dark and forboding tone that feels a lot like the original movies. The plot is different, but engaging. I really enjoyed it.
4/5

Colonial Marines
Apparently, this is the first time all ten issues have been collected, so if you want to read it, Volume 2 is your best bet. Colonial Marines is decent. It sort of tries to be an epic version of Aliens but is sort of a mess. I've read that there were production problems, which makes sense. The style of the story changes with the art at least once and things are sort of confusing. I guess it wasn't successful either, because they end it in a really bad place. I mean it pretty much just ends when it gets interesting. I thought I'd really like it, but there are better Aliens comics out there.
3/5

Overall, again I'd say Aliens fans should go for this one. Genocide and Harvest are worth buying it for. Colonial Marines is good, but it's just a little confusing.