Aliens Omnibus, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Mark Verheiden (Author), Mark A. Nelson (Author), Den Beauvais (Author), Sam Keith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 3, 2007

Dark Horse Comics took the industry by storm with its release of Aliens, a comics series that for the first time captured the power of film source material and expanded its universe in a way that fans applauded worldwide. Now, the first three Dark Horse Aliens series - Outbreak, Nightmare Asylum and Female War - are collected in a value-priced, quality-format omnibus, featuring nearly 400 story pages in full color. Written by screen and television scribe Mark Verheiden (The Mask, Battlsestar Gallactica) and illustrated with consummate skill by Mark A. Nelson, Den Beauvais and Sam Kieth, Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 is an essential piece of the Aliens mythos and a great entry point into the storied Dark Horse Aliens library.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593077270
• ISBN-13: 978-1593077273
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A definitive (if heavily edited) Aliens collection, February 24, 2008

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aliens Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

When the relatively unknown Dark Horse comics picked up the torch for Aliens in 1989, fans of the classic sci-fi series were in for a real treat. What followed in years to come was a series of stories that were largely hit-and-miss...some of the stories were excellent, while others were mediocre at best. Others still were too bad to mention, playing on traditional comic book fatantasticism to create new spins on the Alien mythos that made purists like myself hang their heads in shame. What the Aliens Omnibus: Volume 1 collects is the greatest of all the Aliens comics...the first wave written as direct sequels to the 1986 cinema classic, "Aliens".

Long-time fans of the Dark Horse Aliens series will be happy to see these great collections in one volume. When I look back and realize that I've been following these comics for nearly 20 years, going to the comic book store with my dad when I was just a kid to pick them up, I still can't beleive that it's actually been so long. What I find more amazing is that even in my mid 20's, I can still remember half of these comics, panel-to-panel and word-to-word...which is where my utter confusion set-in.

Fans and collectors should know immediately...these comics are NOT the same comics that you read 15-20 years prior. Being that they were originally written as direct sequels to the events of Aliens, the star characters of these comics were Corporal Hicks and Newt. What we will find right away upon opening up the Omnibus is that we're not reading the tale of Hicks and Newt anymore, but of "Wilks" and "Billie" respectively.

Apparently, in 1996 Dark Horse re-released and re-mastered the original 3 stories, changing the names of certain characters, re-writing dialog and completely redrawing and re-inking many panels. The story, while realtively similar, has also been re-worked to incorporate these changes. To differentiate Newt from "Billie", Newt was redrawn with slightly more gaunt features and brunette hair. Wilks looks pretty much the same as Hicks, except for the name change. These changes precipitate quite a few inconsistencies in the rest of the stories contained in the Omnibus.

As I mentioned earlier, those of us who have already read these comics in their original form may remeber certain story elements and events that occur within the comic, and find that those events no longer happen in this Omnibus. I specifically remember Ripley being coerced into helping the Company with a plan to capture the Aliens, or they would wake either Hicks or Newt out of hypersleep to do it instead. I also recall an exchange between Newt and Ripley, in which Newt strikes Ripley across the face, demanding to know why she left her alone. So we are looking at more than cosmetic or character name changes here...we're now looking at an entirely different story altogether. Further adding to the confusion is the appearence of Billie in Female War (the third part), who now sports a blonde hair color and even goes by "Newt" in at least 1 or 2 panels.

Regardless of these heavy edits, this is a great collection of comics that Aliens fans will love. When you look at it as being an "alternate reality" to the existing Aliens mythos, it is very simple to look past all of the changes and inconsistencies with the established Alien/Aliens mvoies. Unfortunately, due to the events of Alien 3, Dark Horse felt the need to make these changes for the re-release, and this collection reflects those changes.

For those of you who have the original comics, hang on to them! Now that they've become so rare and hard to find, you're probably looking at some great collector's items in the future (even if comic books are not appreciating in value as much as they used to). For those younger fans who are not familiar with the originals, or those of you who are just discovering these classic tales, by all means pick this up! You're treated to 3 great stories, plus a very interesting follow-up tale. Sadly, this Omnibus does not collect the individual cover art for each part, which would have been a nice addition. I beleive there is an Aliens compendium of art from the comics that includes the cover art, where you may find it.

Great colors, great reading and a great price make this a must-have for Aliens fans...don't miss it!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the sequels could've been, December 7, 2007

By 

Skylansky "sklyansky82" (Hope, AK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aliens Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

The stories collected here take place after the events of Aliens (or Alien 2). And its very depressing to read, when one begins to realize the amount of great stories that could've been told on the silver screen, but weren't. In short, in the graphic novels, Newt and Hicks live, and ultimately, the xenomorph ends up being brought back to Earth and end up forcing the human race off of the planet.

Granted, its one thing to write this stuff in a comic, and produce it in a movie, but a number of the stories collected here could've been brought to the silver screen on a lower budget. It really brings to light the folly of killing Newt and Hicks at the beginning of Alien 3. (Alien 3 was a decent movie of course, but sequels to Aliens could've been so much more!)

In short, I'd highly recommend the Aliens Omnibus. They're excellent stories, but are depressing in the sense that they're vastly superior to what was produced in Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some downright lazy editing, but a worthy entry in the Omnibus series., March 8, 2009

By 

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

This review is from: Aliens Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

This came out soon after the AvP Omnibus and includes the original trilogy of Aliens stories and two shorts. Originally, these were released before 1992, but then Hicks and Newt were killed off and for some reason Dark Horse thought they had to change their names to better fit continuity. It's kind of annoying, I just want to white out their names and change them back to Hicks and Newt because there are points where it's really hard to justify the name changes.

Outbreak
Outbreak (especially in the context of the first two movies) is a really interesting story. It's a 6 issue, so it's longer than normal. It picks up after Aliens now that Newt and Hicks, sorry Wilks and Billie have returned to Earth. Billie is in a psych ward and Wilks is in jail. What pisses me off is that Ripley's name stays the same. So Dark Horse changes the names to go with the continuity, but not Ripley's... The only way I can justify the name changes is to say that they've changed their names legally to escape from Weyland Yutani. Anyway, as the story starts there's no direct Xenomorph threat. That's what really made this story different from the first two movies. It would've made a good miniseries adaptation because it has an episodic feel. It's more of a sci-fi drama than a horror as well. There's a lot of good character development and when the Xenomorphs finally start taking over the planet, the story has a very epic feel. I mean epic. This is a very good graphic novel.
4/5

Nightmare Asylum
Alright, if there is one graphic novel that totally dominates the others, this is it. I read one of the original non-edited copies a long time ago and was totally blown away. The artwork is absolutely amazing and the story and atmosphere feel very much like the second movie. It picks up right where the first one left off and continues as Wilks and Billie, and their new android friend Bueller escape Earth's infestation and find themselves at a Colonial Marine research station headed by an insane General trying to train Aliens to take back the Earth. The writing of this installment is genius and that helpe to make it very captivating. I wish it was equal in length to Outbreak, than it would truly be perfect. This is a reason alone to buy this book.
5/5

Female War
This picks up a little after the second story now that Ripley has returned. There is some lazy editing throughout with several references to Newt and Hicks that pop up later. This story is ugly to look at after the fantastic art of the second story, and also has no real likeable characters. The story becomes confusing and...let me stop myself. Female War just sucks. It's widely known to be one of the worst entries in the series and it definitely is.
2/5

Theory of Alien Propagation
This is a short that's supposed to be an exerpt from the crazy doctor responsible for the outbreak in the first story. It deals with theories on alien propagation.
3/5

The Alien
This brings back the same Space Jockey that appeared in Outbreak and I believe who showed up in Female War. It's weird, interesting, I don't know what to say. There's sort of a diplomatic meeting between him and the President that doesn't necessarily go as planned.

Overall, this is a good book. Strangeness aside, it's good for Aliens fans. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to anyone, but it is worth buying for Aliens fans.