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Alien Omnibus #3
Aliens Omnibus Volume 3 by Ian Edginton
Collects #1-4Labyrinth #1-4SalvationThe old saying "You can't unbreak an egg" holds true, especially when that egg unleashes an interstellar scourge, the dreaded Alien. But as dangerous and lethal as this species has proven itself time and time again, some men cannot resist the awful gravity of the creatures' potential when merged with human science . . . and arrogance . . . and lust for power. But the cold contracts of these deals with the Devil also bring out the best in humanity, and the awful crucible of struggle against this interstellar cancer brings Man closer to his neighbors . . . and to his God. Dark Horse Comics' critically acclaimed Aliens series set the bar for how the universe of a popular film could be expended through graphic fiction. Aliens Omnibus Volume 3 collects more of these exciting series in a value-priced, quality-format omnibus, featuring nearly 400 story pages in full color.
Unknown Binding
First published March 4, 2008
17 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
Ian Edginton
796 books147 followersEdginton sees part of the key to his success coming from good relationships with artists, especially D'Israeli and Steve Yeowell as well as Steve Pugh and Mike Collins. He is best known for his steampunk/alternative history work (often with the artist D'Israeli) and is the co-creator of Scarlet Traces, a sequel to their adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. With 2000 AD we has written Leviathan, Stickleback and, with art by Steve Yeowell, The Red Seas as well as one-off serials such as American Gothic (2005).
His stories often have a torturous gestation. Scarlet Traces was an idea he had when first reading The War of the Worlds, its first few instalments appeared on Cool Beans website, before being serialised in the Judge Dredd Megazine. Also The Red Seas was initially going to be drawn by Phil Winslade and be the final release by Epic but Winslade was still tied up with Goddess and when ideas for replacement artists were rejected Epic was finally wound up - the series only re-emerging when Edginton was pitching ideas to Matt Smith at the start of his 2000 AD career.
With D'Israeli he has created a number of new series including Stickleback, a tale of a strange villain in an alternative Victorian London, and Gothic, which he describes as "Mary Shelley's Doc Savage". With Simon Davis he recently worked on a survival horror series, Stone Island, and he has also produced a comic version of the computer game Hellgate: London with Steve Pugh.
He is currently working on a dinosaurs and cowboys story called Sixgun Logic. Also as part of Top Cow's Pilot Season he has written an Angelus one-shot.
http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Edgi...
His stories often have a torturous gestation. Scarlet Traces was an idea he had when first reading The War of the Worlds, its first few instalments appeared on Cool Beans website, before being serialised in the Judge Dredd Megazine. Also The Red Seas was initially going to be drawn by Phil Winslade and be the final release by Epic but Winslade was still tied up with Goddess and when ideas for replacement artists were rejected Epic was finally wound up - the series only re-emerging when Edginton was pitching ideas to Matt Smith at the start of his 2000 AD career.
With D'Israeli he has created a number of new series including Stickleback, a tale of a strange villain in an alternative Victorian London, and Gothic, which he describes as "Mary Shelley's Doc Savage". With Simon Davis he recently worked on a survival horror series, Stone Island, and he has also produced a comic version of the computer game Hellgate: London with Steve Pugh.
He is currently working on a dinosaurs and cowboys story called Sixgun Logic. Also as part of Top Cow's Pilot Season he has written an Angelus one-shot.
http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Edgi...
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 9, 2021
Rogue by Ian Edginton and Will Simpson- ★★★
A mad scientists uses both humans and xenomorphs in his experiments. Besides that it's your standard Aliens fare. Humans do stupid, selfish things. Aliens break loose and kill everyone.
Sacrifice by Peter Milligan and Paul Johnson - ★★
A priest crash lands on a planet and finds some other colonists along with something much more sinister. In typical Milligan fashion, he overwrites this. Like all of the early Vertigo books he wrote, he's in love with his own words. Johnson's painted art is OK. It's not very detailed at times. I couldn't even tell what gender characters were when they were introduced.
Labyrinth by Jim Woodring and Killian Plunkett- ★★★★
Another mad scientist conducting experiments on Aliens and humans story, but this one is so well done. Woodring amps up the horror. It's really messed up. You can see how this influenced Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, both with the character of David and all the insane experimentation stuff.
Salvation by Dave Gibbons, Mike Mignola, and Kevin Nowlan - ★★★★★
Aliens drawn by Mike Mignola? Yes, please! Two crew members crash land on a planet when their cargo of Aliens gets free. They have to learn to survive when they discover the Aliens made it to the planet as well. Gibbons knows when to let the art speak for itself. He keeps the narration to a minimum. It's just the main character's thoughts. Mignola and Nowlan draw the fell out of this.
Advent / Terminus by Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan - ★★★
A quick little story about some treasure hunters looting a pyramid with some Aliens left as guardians.
Reapers by John Arcudi and Simon Bisley - ★
I don't even know what this was. There are no words (in this story or to explain how bad this was). It's just a bunch of images of Aliens fighting some beefy, green humanoid race.
Horror Show by Sarah Byam and David Roach - ★★
Eh, this was not good. It's about a doctor who treats people's nightmares after the Earth was overrun by Aliens. It's not very coherent, just a bunch of imagery of people being attacked by Aliens in their dreams.
A mad scientists uses both humans and xenomorphs in his experiments. Besides that it's your standard Aliens fare. Humans do stupid, selfish things. Aliens break loose and kill everyone.
Sacrifice by Peter Milligan and Paul Johnson - ★★
A priest crash lands on a planet and finds some other colonists along with something much more sinister. In typical Milligan fashion, he overwrites this. Like all of the early Vertigo books he wrote, he's in love with his own words. Johnson's painted art is OK. It's not very detailed at times. I couldn't even tell what gender characters were when they were introduced.
Labyrinth by Jim Woodring and Killian Plunkett- ★★★★
Another mad scientist conducting experiments on Aliens and humans story, but this one is so well done. Woodring amps up the horror. It's really messed up. You can see how this influenced Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, both with the character of David and all the insane experimentation stuff.
Salvation by Dave Gibbons, Mike Mignola, and Kevin Nowlan - ★★★★★
Aliens drawn by Mike Mignola? Yes, please! Two crew members crash land on a planet when their cargo of Aliens gets free. They have to learn to survive when they discover the Aliens made it to the planet as well. Gibbons knows when to let the art speak for itself. He keeps the narration to a minimum. It's just the main character's thoughts. Mignola and Nowlan draw the fell out of this.
Advent / Terminus by Anina Bennett and Paul Guinan - ★★★
A quick little story about some treasure hunters looting a pyramid with some Aliens left as guardians.
Reapers by John Arcudi and Simon Bisley - ★
I don't even know what this was. There are no words (in this story or to explain how bad this was). It's just a bunch of images of Aliens fighting some beefy, green humanoid race.
Horror Show by Sarah Byam and David Roach - ★★
Eh, this was not good. It's about a doctor who treats people's nightmares after the Earth was overrun by Aliens. It's not very coherent, just a bunch of imagery of people being attacked by Aliens in their dreams.
April 17, 2021
Really solid writing and art direction across the board here.
November 22, 2022
I've enjoyed reading these volumes. My boyfriend lends them to me very happily, even though I end up holding onto them for months because my college courses limit my reading time severely.
These volumes all collect continued stories involving some of the fiercest aliens in cinematic sci-fi horror, Xenomorphs. They're ugly, they're full of acidic blood, and they love to kill, in every form of their life cycle.
These volumes never cease to be grotesquely awesome at showcasing the idiocy and pride of human beings who think they can control organisms of any kind or turn a profit off of them.
These volumes all collect continued stories involving some of the fiercest aliens in cinematic sci-fi horror, Xenomorphs. They're ugly, they're full of acidic blood, and they love to kill, in every form of their life cycle.
These volumes never cease to be grotesquely awesome at showcasing the idiocy and pride of human beings who think they can control organisms of any kind or turn a profit off of them.
October 8, 2019
There are some great ideas and moments in Volumes 1 & 2 and a couple of great arcs, but it's here that things really escalate. Consistently great (until right near the end at least).
September 23, 2011
For anyone who has yet to encounter some aspect of the transmedia franchise that originated with Alien, the relatively low-budget Sigourney Weaver monster thriller directed by Ridley Scott and brilliantly designed by H.R. Giger, here’s a thumbnail synopsis. Alien stories are dominated by the Alien xenomorph’s fascinating biology, more or less modeled on that of social insects like bees or ants, the Alien is an apparently asexual exoskeletal creature that serves an egg-laying queen. Eggs hatch the larval "facehugger" parasite in the presence of potential hosts (triggered by infrared? who the heck knows). Facehuggers, which look basically like a pair of bony hands glued together at the wrists by a dangling scrotum and a long prehensile tail, can scramble creepily around for a short time on their own, but exist to leap onto the host’s face, forcibly intubate (impregnate?) them with a pupa, and drop off as a wasted husk. The pupa takes a week to ten days to hatch as a "chest-burster" nymph (so named, because it eats its way out of the living, usually oblivious host), which itself takes about a week to a month of voracious predatory activity to reach maturity as an adult drone. See? This is an educational review.
Okay, that’s all icky and everything, but so what, you might say? Well, for one thing, the typical adult Alien is a speedy, praeternaturally strong carnivore about 8 feet tall, bipedal, and skeletal with strong, clawed six-fingered hands, a prehensile tail ending in a spear-point, extremely sharp teeth, and a skull-punching tubular "tongue" that has sharp teeth of its own. And, lest you plan to shoot, cut, or break off one of its appendages in self-defense, the Alien’s blood is a fictionally-strong acid that will burn through nearly everything: metals, glass, plastics, stone, faces. And it’s an ambush predator. And, as a drone devoted to the service of a queen, where there’s one, there are typically dozens about, so watch your step. And it can exist in a dormant state in a vaccuum (or the absence of hosts/food) for an apparently indefinite period of time, so infestations are next to impossible to eradicate.
(There’s actually a great story that explores the Malthusian problems arising from planets harboring large Alien populations called
“Genocide”, but that appears in Aliens Omnibus Volume 2. Incidentally, Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 is more or less an entertaining set of sequels to Ridley Scott’s and James Cameron’s movies and so is definitely worth checking out. I read both of those books long before I discovered GoodReads, so will not bother to backfill a review for either.
Anyway, surround any stage of the xenomorph’s development with a minor cast of humans, and bang! instant conflict. As it stands, stories in the Alien universe always seem to share three other components: (1) the political backdrop is an amoral establishment of corporations or multi-state (planetary) actors wholly indifferent to the well-being of individual citizens, (2) the vast majority of the universe works as a teamster, mercenary, or corporate hack (colonists show up largely as wallpaper and fodder), and (3) all women are sex goddesses, which is to say omnipresent if demographically rare, scantily-clad, and immortal. In other words, even though women make up at best only 25% of the Alien universe population, you can reasonably expect that in any Alien encounter they will be among the (frequently lone) survivors, have Barbie-like proportions, and wear minimal clothing. In other words, for want of a convenient name, I'll take to calling her Protagone whenever she appears as a major character. Now, there is no good reason I can think of for this dreary and predictable convention to have established itself in the Alien literary canon, but there you have it.
Notwithstanding the kink that serves no literary purpose (given that other genres handle titillation far better and more universally), the Aliens franchise is a theme that should offer fertile ground for variation.
Given all that, you should be able to determine whether or not to read this particular anthology from the following quick summary.
Omnibus #3:
Rogue – King Alien; Protagone (albeit not illustrated as a typical sex goddess per se) escapes from mad scientist’s remote experimental lair: 4 stars
Sacrifice – lone Alien (no eggs) haunts an isolated colonial outpost, who rely on human sacrifice to keep the wolf from the door. Protagone here is an interloper who uncovers the madness and sets out to kill the monster without to purge the monsters within. 5 stars
Labyrinth – Doc Jock and boff toy encounter a mad scientist (this one uses Aliens as mice in his unethical maze experiments). This extended tale is significantly improved via flashback of the mad scientist’s disturbing origins. Nothing and no one here is what it seems. Here we have first-rate storytelling. 5 stars
Salvation – Fundamental Christian/lone survivor is castaway on an island planet with an Alien (he regards as a demon). This is a clever tale that shows how deftly someone with a hyper-religious perspective can cope with (and might spin) previously unimaginable horror. 5 stars
Advent/Terminus – a motley crew of archaeologists/would-be grave robbers straight out of central casting (including the requisite android boff toy) visit an ancient alien pyramid known to be infested with/protected by Aliens. The whole is entirely predictable and the lack of characterization here renders this more of a static video game in comics form than a story. 2 stars
Reapers – unmemorable and mostly unremembered. I think this was a vaguely videogame-like expedition featuring nonhuman harvesters of Alien eggs. 1 star would be generous
Horror Show – New, proprietary technology allows dreams to be recorded and played back for mass-consumption, like movies. The logical unethical exploitation? Use the guise of therapy to trigger -- and thus capture -- the nightmares of traumatized Alien survivors for resale! This can’t end well… but for whom? 3 stars
Okay, that’s all icky and everything, but so what, you might say? Well, for one thing, the typical adult Alien is a speedy, praeternaturally strong carnivore about 8 feet tall, bipedal, and skeletal with strong, clawed six-fingered hands, a prehensile tail ending in a spear-point, extremely sharp teeth, and a skull-punching tubular "tongue" that has sharp teeth of its own. And, lest you plan to shoot, cut, or break off one of its appendages in self-defense, the Alien’s blood is a fictionally-strong acid that will burn through nearly everything: metals, glass, plastics, stone, faces. And it’s an ambush predator. And, as a drone devoted to the service of a queen, where there’s one, there are typically dozens about, so watch your step. And it can exist in a dormant state in a vaccuum (or the absence of hosts/food) for an apparently indefinite period of time, so infestations are next to impossible to eradicate.
(There’s actually a great story that explores the Malthusian problems arising from planets harboring large Alien populations called
“Genocide”, but that appears in Aliens Omnibus Volume 2. Incidentally, Aliens Omnibus Volume 1 is more or less an entertaining set of sequels to Ridley Scott’s and James Cameron’s movies and so is definitely worth checking out. I read both of those books long before I discovered GoodReads, so will not bother to backfill a review for either.Anyway, surround any stage of the xenomorph’s development with a minor cast of humans, and bang! instant conflict. As it stands, stories in the Alien universe always seem to share three other components: (1) the political backdrop is an amoral establishment of corporations or multi-state (planetary) actors wholly indifferent to the well-being of individual citizens, (2) the vast majority of the universe works as a teamster, mercenary, or corporate hack (colonists show up largely as wallpaper and fodder), and (3) all women are sex goddesses, which is to say omnipresent if demographically rare, scantily-clad, and immortal. In other words, even though women make up at best only 25% of the Alien universe population, you can reasonably expect that in any Alien encounter they will be among the (frequently lone) survivors, have Barbie-like proportions, and wear minimal clothing. In other words, for want of a convenient name, I'll take to calling her Protagone whenever she appears as a major character. Now, there is no good reason I can think of for this dreary and predictable convention to have established itself in the Alien literary canon, but there you have it.
Notwithstanding the kink that serves no literary purpose (given that other genres handle titillation far better and more universally), the Aliens franchise is a theme that should offer fertile ground for variation.
Given all that, you should be able to determine whether or not to read this particular anthology from the following quick summary.
Omnibus #3:
Rogue – King Alien; Protagone (albeit not illustrated as a typical sex goddess per se) escapes from mad scientist’s remote experimental lair: 4 stars
Sacrifice – lone Alien (no eggs) haunts an isolated colonial outpost, who rely on human sacrifice to keep the wolf from the door. Protagone here is an interloper who uncovers the madness and sets out to kill the monster without to purge the monsters within. 5 stars
Labyrinth – Doc Jock and boff toy encounter a mad scientist (this one uses Aliens as mice in his unethical maze experiments). This extended tale is significantly improved via flashback of the mad scientist’s disturbing origins. Nothing and no one here is what it seems. Here we have first-rate storytelling. 5 stars
Salvation – Fundamental Christian/lone survivor is castaway on an island planet with an Alien (he regards as a demon). This is a clever tale that shows how deftly someone with a hyper-religious perspective can cope with (and might spin) previously unimaginable horror. 5 stars
Advent/Terminus – a motley crew of archaeologists/would-be grave robbers straight out of central casting (including the requisite android boff toy) visit an ancient alien pyramid known to be infested with/protected by Aliens. The whole is entirely predictable and the lack of characterization here renders this more of a static video game in comics form than a story. 2 stars
Reapers – unmemorable and mostly unremembered. I think this was a vaguely videogame-like expedition featuring nonhuman harvesters of Alien eggs. 1 star would be generous
Horror Show – New, proprietary technology allows dreams to be recorded and played back for mass-consumption, like movies. The logical unethical exploitation? Use the guise of therapy to trigger -- and thus capture -- the nightmares of traumatized Alien survivors for resale! This can’t end well… but for whom? 3 stars
May 12, 2019
Each volume out does the other in shock value and bring something new to the audience. Volume 3 is rediculous crazy. The whole franchise is super rapey but this one stands out on particular.
June 2, 2022
Some incredibly dark comics including one with an Alien King. Overall all these artists put in so much work and it really shows. Loving these collabs and stories so much.
August 30, 2023
To finální hodnocení je u tohohle vždycky těžký. Takže asi takhle- 3 první a nejdelší příběhy mě bavily, snad úplně nejvíc z celé komiksové série. Jeden další byl krátkej a zvláštní/matoucí a zbylé tři kratší mě nezaujaly. Takže overall bych tomu všemu dala horší 4
Sice se s tím pořád opakuju, ale hrozně mě tu baví ta diverzita uměleckých stylů :P
taková osobní side note- Labyrint za mě ze všech nejlepší ale i nejnechutnější
Sice se s tím pořád opakuju, ale hrozně mě tu baví ta diverzita uměleckých stylů :P
taková osobní side note- Labyrint za mě ze všech nejlepší ale i nejnechutnější
July 29, 2024
putting butch women in my dungeon for pleasure
June 22, 2016
Horror, action and a good deal of ethical questions...
There's quite a few stories in this book, but I'll pick a few favourites.
Labyrinth and its introduction, while it doesn't have the best artwork, it's one of the most disturbing and interesting stories I've read about the aliens. Lot's of tiny tidbits of information on the creatures and how they work as well as interesting and engaging characters. Definitely a story I'd recommend!
Salvation with its religious themes and madness is right up my alley. Once again, not the best artwork, but it fits the story and that's good. It reminds a good deal of the themes of Alien 3 with both religion, self sacrifice and horror. Easily a favourite!
Then we have Sacrifice. And I'm not really sure of what I think of this one. On the one hand it's quite well written and with art fitting the story. And on one hand It's not really my cup of tea. I can't really say what's wrong but it's a weird case of love/hate for me. I'd recommend it just for others to see if they'd like it.
Rogue is the story that really lowers the rating, though. The art's bland and the characters are boring. It ties in a bit in Colonial Marines , but as I never liked the ending of that particular story this one doesn't do it for me either.
...I really do love the cover by the way.
There's quite a few stories in this book, but I'll pick a few favourites.
Labyrinth and its introduction, while it doesn't have the best artwork, it's one of the most disturbing and interesting stories I've read about the aliens. Lot's of tiny tidbits of information on the creatures and how they work as well as interesting and engaging characters. Definitely a story I'd recommend!
Salvation with its religious themes and madness is right up my alley. Once again, not the best artwork, but it fits the story and that's good. It reminds a good deal of the themes of Alien 3 with both religion, self sacrifice and horror. Easily a favourite!
Then we have Sacrifice. And I'm not really sure of what I think of this one. On the one hand it's quite well written and with art fitting the story. And on one hand It's not really my cup of tea. I can't really say what's wrong but it's a weird case of love/hate for me. I'd recommend it just for others to see if they'd like it.
Rogue is the story that really lowers the rating, though. The art's bland and the characters are boring. It ties in a bit in Colonial Marines , but as I never liked the ending of that particular story this one doesn't do it for me either.
...I really do love the cover by the way.
November 8, 2015
Zatím asi nejlepší vetřelčí omnibus, který jsem četl. Příběhy mají i tentokrát podobnou premisu: zlé korporace nebo šílení vědci se snaží vetřelce zneužít ke svým účelům, vybouchne jim to do ksichtu a mariňáci - a tentokrát dokonce i kněží - to musejí hasit, přesněji řečeno bojovat o vlastní přežití. Tři z příběhů svou vynalézavostí a originalitou scenáristickou i kresebnou vynikají nad ostatní (Oběť, Labyrint, Vykoupení), ostatní čtyři jsou z kategorie "neurazí ani nenadchne". Kvůli zmíněným třem ale tenhle Omnibus rozhodně stojí za předčtení - nejen proto, že jeden z příběhů kreslil tvůrce Hellboye Mike Mignola. Celkové hodnocení 70 %
March 16, 2017
Solid collection of Alien shorts. I love the universe and its partially the design of the alien itself that makes me attracted to the franchise so having a book full of its art is a good draw. I picked up volume 3 of the Omnibus series only because it features Mignola's Alien story which I'd had a tough time finding.
The first story, Rogue, has very late 80s/early90s comic book art which, despite its horribleness, I love. It's a pretty stock Alien story - evil corporation exploiting the blue collar/military workforce. It does introduce a male alien though, which is very interesting and the short has a lot to say about masculinity. It isn't quite explored enough but it's a good enough story.
Sacrifice is the second story and has really amazing ethereal art. It's also one of the better explorations of the religious themes explored in the franchise. It's quick but is really interesting and maybe the highlight of this volume.
Labyrinth came next and has a pretty fitting title; while the narrative eventually became fairly stock for an Alien story (mad scientist/evil corp, etc) there's a lot of layers to the narrative and some complicated structure here. All it really ends up doing is making the pacing a mess but it's definitely a satisfying read for any gorehound Alien fans.
Salvation was the story I came for - it's Mignola's take on the universe, and really I just came for the art. His rendering of the Alien is truly magnificent. As for the story, it's alright, a little too quick, but he does do a great job of actually combining the corporate and religious themes of the franchise into one - which only makes its short length all the more disappointing. If you follow my movie reviews you might recall that Fincher's inability to actually merge the two themes was my biggest gripe (outside of CGI) about Alien 3, so Mignola's success here is a little bittersweet. Mostly sweet though, because damn that art. His style isn't for everyone but there's nothing else like it.
The last three stories - Advent/Terminus, Reaper, and Horror Show were very quick. Horror Show was very interesting but ultimately too short to explore anything meaningfully. Reaper was bizarre. Advent/Terminus felt...redundant and kinda stale.
Overall worth browsing through for Sacrifice and Salvation - especially if you're interested in all the religious iconography this franchise has featured.
The first story, Rogue, has very late 80s/early90s comic book art which, despite its horribleness, I love. It's a pretty stock Alien story - evil corporation exploiting the blue collar/military workforce. It does introduce a male alien though, which is very interesting and the short has a lot to say about masculinity. It isn't quite explored enough but it's a good enough story.
Sacrifice is the second story and has really amazing ethereal art. It's also one of the better explorations of the religious themes explored in the franchise. It's quick but is really interesting and maybe the highlight of this volume.
Labyrinth came next and has a pretty fitting title; while the narrative eventually became fairly stock for an Alien story (mad scientist/evil corp, etc) there's a lot of layers to the narrative and some complicated structure here. All it really ends up doing is making the pacing a mess but it's definitely a satisfying read for any gorehound Alien fans.
Salvation was the story I came for - it's Mignola's take on the universe, and really I just came for the art. His rendering of the Alien is truly magnificent. As for the story, it's alright, a little too quick, but he does do a great job of actually combining the corporate and religious themes of the franchise into one - which only makes its short length all the more disappointing. If you follow my movie reviews you might recall that Fincher's inability to actually merge the two themes was my biggest gripe (outside of CGI) about Alien 3, so Mignola's success here is a little bittersweet. Mostly sweet though, because damn that art. His style isn't for everyone but there's nothing else like it.
The last three stories - Advent/Terminus, Reaper, and Horror Show were very quick. Horror Show was very interesting but ultimately too short to explore anything meaningfully. Reaper was bizarre. Advent/Terminus felt...redundant and kinda stale.
Overall worth browsing through for Sacrifice and Salvation - especially if you're interested in all the religious iconography this franchise has featured.
December 22, 2021
I'm going to jump to my favorite, Labrynth. I read it as a novel, and the comic is just as good. I loved the mad scientist and the whole set up. I loved his backstory and seeing comic version just makes it clearer and more horrifying.
Ok, so Rogue was another I read in novel form, this one the same. I do love seeing it in comic because the battle between aliens is better and cooler.
Sacrifice is...blah, to me. It a good one but I'm not a very religious person so it hard to relate to the main characters morals and ideology. I just don't care for this one.
Salvation was really cool. I really like the whole thing. I like see the environment and creature of this unknown world. And the character evolution of his mental state were interesting to read.
Advent/Terminus was ok. Pretty general story line. I really liked the Egyptian enviroment, but it was a small part they use as the set up. I didn't like the writing stlye, it was hard to read and messed with my eyes a bit.
Reaper was really cool. No words, pure visual story. It was really interesting seeing another alien species dealing with xenomorphs.
Horror Show was interesting half way through. The beginning felt jumbled, and overload with information. But it was a descent story. One that could connect to the AVP Toy story because of the floating city orbiting earth. And the whole visual hallucination and virtual reality vibes it has.
Ok, so Rogue was another I read in novel form, this one the same. I do love seeing it in comic because the battle between aliens is better and cooler.
Sacrifice is...blah, to me. It a good one but I'm not a very religious person so it hard to relate to the main characters morals and ideology. I just don't care for this one.
Salvation was really cool. I really like the whole thing. I like see the environment and creature of this unknown world. And the character evolution of his mental state were interesting to read.
Advent/Terminus was ok. Pretty general story line. I really liked the Egyptian enviroment, but it was a small part they use as the set up. I didn't like the writing stlye, it was hard to read and messed with my eyes a bit.
Reaper was really cool. No words, pure visual story. It was really interesting seeing another alien species dealing with xenomorphs.
Horror Show was interesting half way through. The beginning felt jumbled, and overload with information. But it was a descent story. One that could connect to the AVP Toy story because of the floating city orbiting earth. And the whole visual hallucination and virtual reality vibes it has.
August 25, 2020
While there are some duds among the miniseries collected in this third omnibus, the average level of quality felt markedly higher than in Vol. 2.
The highlights of this volume are Sacrifice and Salvation. Both featured exceptionally good artwork. Sacrifice involves a priest investigating how an isolated group of colonists manage to coexist with an alien lurking nearby. Salvation has a thinner plot, but gorgeous Mike Mignola artwork.
The remaining stories are mostly decent, but there's a particularly heavy reliance on formulaic mad scientist tropes. Once a scientist or doctor character is introduced you can guess where the plot is headed: "I've tamed the alien! Oops!"
The highlights of this volume are Sacrifice and Salvation. Both featured exceptionally good artwork. Sacrifice involves a priest investigating how an isolated group of colonists manage to coexist with an alien lurking nearby. Salvation has a thinner plot, but gorgeous Mike Mignola artwork.
The remaining stories are mostly decent, but there's a particularly heavy reliance on formulaic mad scientist tropes. Once a scientist or doctor character is introduced you can guess where the plot is headed: "I've tamed the alien! Oops!"
July 15, 2025
Golden Age of Dark Horse Alien Comics
Prior to the release of Alien 3 (1986-1991), Dark Horse Comics released some really stellar Aliens graphic novels via Dark Horse Presents and limited series. This collects a now non-canon storyline (with names altered to fit the continuity), that upon its initial release saw a grown-up Newt, older Hicks, still bifurcated Bishop, as well as Ripley battling the Alien threat on their home world, a space station and eventually Earth. A great alternative, what-could’ve-happened collection of stories written by some great authors and illustrated magnificently. I think this collection is now out-of-print.
Prior to the release of Alien 3 (1986-1991), Dark Horse Comics released some really stellar Aliens graphic novels via Dark Horse Presents and limited series. This collects a now non-canon storyline (with names altered to fit the continuity), that upon its initial release saw a grown-up Newt, older Hicks, still bifurcated Bishop, as well as Ripley battling the Alien threat on their home world, a space station and eventually Earth. A great alternative, what-could’ve-happened collection of stories written by some great authors and illustrated magnificently. I think this collection is now out-of-print.
December 4, 2020
I enjoyed Salvation and Sacrifice. Reapers was also a quick, fun entry into the Alien universe. The rest for bad to ok. There's some good art here but most of the stories are the standard company exploits people to capture aliens/scientist goes rogue to get what he wants variety that so many Alien spinoffs have been when the authors don't have anything interesting to say. Too many of these also use the jelly drug idea introduced in earlier volumes that's always been stupid to me.
August 26, 2018
Another foray into the universe of the Xenomorph. Some of the stories are excellent, others are meh.
May 8, 2019
Brilliant Alien Action Review to Come! :D
April 7, 2024
Another solid collection of alien stories including some some creative short stories. These omnibus are great!
January 20, 2020
After a pair of (to put it kindly) patchy first two volumes, they finally got there. Aliens Omnibus, Vol. 3 is (mostly) excellent and a pleasingly varied collection of seven stories about humans vs. Xenomorphs.
'Rogue' is a strong opener. True, it's basic theme of over-confident humans using science and technology to try and tame or engineer the aliens for their own uses, and it all going predictably, bloodily tits-up has been much-explored. But it's done well here.
Shorter, at just 50 pages, 'Sacrifice' is one the best, most imaginative tales of the series so far. Religious-themed Alien stories don't sound like they should work but this absolutely does. A creepy tale about religious mania and a community built on fear this is an essential read (scripted by Peter Milligan) and, for the tone and content of the story, perfectly illustrated (by Paul Johnson).
In 'Labyrinth' we're back on tech-gone-bad territory. But, this action-packed, blood-red, unrelentingly paced, twisty-turny story by Jim Woodring throws a lot more than that at the wall. A mad, mad romp. Great, dark, dark fun.
'Salvation' scripted by Dave Gibbons and drawn by Mike Mignola (that bloke who does Hellboy and whose art is instantly, instantly recognisable) is another shorter story. Fifty pages of survival horror and religiosity, it works as a good companion piece to 'Sacrifice' and, if not quite as good, has a lot to say and enjoy while it does so.
Finishing off this edition, there's an excellent, brief media satire in 'Advent/Terminus', a largely text-free short that's basically Aliens vs. Space Orcs (illustrated by the ever-restrained and subtle Simon Bisley) called 'Reapers' and finally, 'Horror Story' an intelligently nightmarish short story scripted by Sarah Byam. These three creative, unusual takes on the Alien universe are a fine way to finish off an omnibus that's rekindled my interest in what was, until this point, a disappointing series.
'Rogue' is a strong opener. True, it's basic theme of over-confident humans using science and technology to try and tame or engineer the aliens for their own uses, and it all going predictably, bloodily tits-up has been much-explored. But it's done well here.
Shorter, at just 50 pages, 'Sacrifice' is one the best, most imaginative tales of the series so far. Religious-themed Alien stories don't sound like they should work but this absolutely does. A creepy tale about religious mania and a community built on fear this is an essential read (scripted by Peter Milligan) and, for the tone and content of the story, perfectly illustrated (by Paul Johnson).
In 'Labyrinth' we're back on tech-gone-bad territory. But, this action-packed, blood-red, unrelentingly paced, twisty-turny story by Jim Woodring throws a lot more than that at the wall. A mad, mad romp. Great, dark, dark fun.
'Salvation' scripted by Dave Gibbons and drawn by Mike Mignola (that bloke who does Hellboy and whose art is instantly, instantly recognisable) is another shorter story. Fifty pages of survival horror and religiosity, it works as a good companion piece to 'Sacrifice' and, if not quite as good, has a lot to say and enjoy while it does so.
Finishing off this edition, there's an excellent, brief media satire in 'Advent/Terminus', a largely text-free short that's basically Aliens vs. Space Orcs (illustrated by the ever-restrained and subtle Simon Bisley) called 'Reapers' and finally, 'Horror Story' an intelligently nightmarish short story scripted by Sarah Byam. These three creative, unusual takes on the Alien universe are a fine way to finish off an omnibus that's rekindled my interest in what was, until this point, a disappointing series.
February 20, 2020
‘Sacrifice’ and ‘Salvation’ are the best parts of this book by far. Both of those stories are smaller scale, more personal stories with only a few (or one) Aliens.
May 25, 2010
Aliens was pretty much my first fandom. I saw the movie when I was a kid and was completely hooked. So it was inevitable that I eventually track down some of the Dark Horse omnibus editions, and equally inevitable that I start with the one that featured a story drawn by Mike Mignola.
On the book as a whole, well, I didn't love it. There's some good stuff, and it's still Aliens, at the end of the day, but it goes some places that don't always interest me as much, and it dips more heavily into body horror even than the movies ever did. A few of the stories had a lot of potential, but most fell short for one reason or another. The one that didn't for me was the Mike Mignola one, although I might be considered a little bit biased.
Still, not a bad read, especially if you're a fan of the franchise. And Dark Horse's omnibus editions are all pretty sharp, if nothing else.
On the book as a whole, well, I didn't love it. There's some good stuff, and it's still Aliens, at the end of the day, but it goes some places that don't always interest me as much, and it dips more heavily into body horror even than the movies ever did. A few of the stories had a lot of potential, but most fell short for one reason or another. The one that didn't for me was the Mike Mignola one, although I might be considered a little bit biased.
Still, not a bad read, especially if you're a fan of the franchise. And Dark Horse's omnibus editions are all pretty sharp, if nothing else.
January 26, 2025
Stories and their approximate page counts in this volume include:
Rogue (100): Solid. A fairly standard alien story.
Sacrifice (50): Gorgeous art, and a very good story, with a slightly heavy-handed ending.
Labyrinth (100): The art was only fair, but this one had an excellent, anatomical sense of horror that was quite developed. I liked it quite a bit, although the ending left some important things to be explained.
Salvation (50): Artwork by Mike Mignola. While the story is nothing really revolutionary, it's not at all bad. And Mignola's aliens are glorious to behold.
Advent/ Terminus (20): meh.
Reapers (10): Gorgeous on every level.
Horrow Show (35): This one sort of explores some nice themes, but the plotting and the art are both really confusing. I'd like to see this same story rewritten much better.
Rogue (100): Solid. A fairly standard alien story.
Sacrifice (50): Gorgeous art, and a very good story, with a slightly heavy-handed ending.
Labyrinth (100): The art was only fair, but this one had an excellent, anatomical sense of horror that was quite developed. I liked it quite a bit, although the ending left some important things to be explained.
Salvation (50): Artwork by Mike Mignola. While the story is nothing really revolutionary, it's not at all bad. And Mignola's aliens are glorious to behold.
Advent/ Terminus (20): meh.
Reapers (10): Gorgeous on every level.
Horrow Show (35): This one sort of explores some nice themes, but the plotting and the art are both really confusing. I'd like to see this same story rewritten much better.
May 5, 2017
Had this book ended at page 320, I would have given it a solid four stars. The art is consistently good in the first three quarters of the book, varying in style but consistent in high quality. The storytelling just gets better with each arc, up until the critically acclaimed story, "Salvation". They are true horror, and brilliantly executed. Unfortunately, the shorts and one offs that complete the last pages of the book contribute very little. Most are exposition heavy, cliche, or pretty much just punchline setups. It's a disappointing ending to an otherwise fantastic book, and excellent addition to the alien mythology.
I highly recommend all of the longer stories in this volume to any fan of science fiction or horror comics, and definitely to any comic reader who likes the Aliens franchise.
I highly recommend all of the longer stories in this volume to any fan of science fiction or horror comics, and definitely to any comic reader who likes the Aliens franchise.
July 11, 2016
These collections have been a real mixed bag but this is easily the most consistently entertaining one so far. Some really memorable stories in here, and at times surprisingly disturbing (looking at you Labyrinth). Plus you've got Mike Mignola doing art for one story, and Mignola doing Aliens is every bit as great as that sounds. Still some rough patches (the stories towards the end felt somewhat unintelligible to me and really let the collection down a bit), but lots to enjoy and well worth a read for an Aliens fan.
October 1, 2011
Much better than the second volume. Some really good stories in this collection. At some points it feels a little rough and cliched, but there's a really good variety in the artwork and some of the themes. I might be biased because a few of the stories take slants more like other horror comics. [return][return]Really good and I wish the quality of the second volume had been like this. My favorite of the series so far.
Want to read
January 10, 2011Supongo que to-readeé este tomo porque Milligan escribió un par de números. De todos modos, me parece que esos números ya los tengo en otra edición, así que una vez que los lea veo si busco los otros por otros medio, si des-to-readeo este, si subo la edición en castellano (me parece que la sacó Planeta) o qué comino.
August 5, 2015
This is the only record I could find on Goodreads that includes Horror Show.
Not fond of this particular one. I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Was that the point? Were you supposed to be confused?
Whatever. 2 out of 5 stars.
Not fond of this particular one. I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Was that the point? Were you supposed to be confused?
Whatever. 2 out of 5 stars.
May 30, 2008
Reprints some fun Aliens comics from the early 90s.. Things like this and nirvana lyrics were about all I read at that time
January 6, 2013
Contains some of the chilliest and disturbing stories regarding one of cinema's most iconic space monsters.
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