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Alien Omnibus #6
Aliens Omnibus Volume 6
Mankind has always struggled to balance exploration and exploitation when stepping into new lands. In the era of the colonization of space, the discovery of new wonders is countered by the awful realities when species once separated by light years of airless void are suddenly thrown together, and the heady intoxication of discovery becomes the feral nightmare of a battle for supremacy. Humanity's arrogance and greed have helped the Alien plague spread, and now men and women must step forward to ensure that the future of the galaxy does not become the age of the Alien!
* Featuring the talents of Mark Schultz, Chuck Dixon, Ian Edginton, Doug Wheatley, Gene Colan, Phil Hester, Eduardo Risso, and many more.
* Collects Apocalypse, Xenogenesis #1 - 4, "Head Hunters", "Tourist Season", Aliens: Pig, "Border Lines", the Aliens: Special, "Purge", "Glass Corridor", "Stalker", "Wraith", and "Once in a Lifetime"
* Featuring the talents of Mark Schultz, Chuck Dixon, Ian Edginton, Doug Wheatley, Gene Colan, Phil Hester, Eduardo Risso, and many more.
* Collects Apocalypse, Xenogenesis #1 - 4, "Head Hunters", "Tourist Season", Aliens: Pig, "Border Lines", the Aliens: Special, "Purge", "Glass Corridor", "Stalker", "Wraith", and "Once in a Lifetime"
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2009
12 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Mark Schultz
377 books47 followersMark Schultz is an American writer and illustrator of books and comics. His most widely recognized work is the creator-owned comic book series Xenozoic Tales, which describes a post-apocalyptic world where dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures coexist with humans. In 1993, Xenozoic Tales was adapted into an animated series titled Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and a video game of the same name. Schultz's other notable works include various Aliens comic book mini-series published by Dark Horse and a four-year run on the DC Comics series Superman: The Man of Steel. In 2004, Schultz took over the scripting duties of the Prince Valiant comic strip.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 14, 2021
A lot of the short stories in this volume are black and white only, originally appearing in Dark Horse Presents, a black and white anthology comic.
Apocalypse by Mark Schultz & Doug Wheatley- ★★★★
It feels like Alien: Covenant may have borrowed from this some, at least in tone. Alecto Throop has been hired to go after a doctor who was following the Nostromo flight plan. The story brings in the Engineers along with some heady, high concept stuff about how Xenomorphs are a force to wipe the cosmos from time to time to start over. There's also an owl along for some reason. It makes no sense but it looks cool. Doug Wheatley's art is fantastic.
Once in a Lifetime by Mark Schultz, Phil Amara, & Rick Leonardi- ★★★
Something of a sequel to Aliens: Apocalypse Rick Leonardi provides some solid art to this short story. Black and White.
Xenogenesis by Tom and Mary Bierbaum & Dave Ross- ★★
David Ross's art is decent and the colors pop but there's zero story here. It's just images of 4 soldiers fighting Aliens for 80 pages. You might not think that would get boring but it did.
Headhunters by Mike W. Barr & Gene Colan- ★
I couldn't make heads or tails of this story, It didn't flow together at all. Nice pencil art from classic Marvel artist Gene Colan though. Black and White.
Tourist Season by Beau Smith & Gray Morrow- ★★★
Aliens attack a tourist planet that fulfills dreams of making Westerns. It's little more than an excuse for the xenomorph version of Cowboys Vs. Aliens. It's kinda fun but definitely hokey. Black and White.
Pig by Chuck Dixon & Flint Henry- ★★★
A group of thieves decide to steal from a spaceship crash that is overrun by Aliens. Their idea is to strap explosives onto a pig and let it loose into an hive. I think you can see where this is headed from there. I'm not a fan of Flint Henry's art. It looks kind of oatmeal-y.
Border Lines by Darko Macan & Tommy Lee Edwards- ★
This was some kind of Vietnam parallel but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. It's almost like it was put through Google Translate a few times. Black and White.
45 Seconds by Darko Macan & Frank Teran- ★★
A quick story of a soldier trying to escape a hive before a bomb explodes. The twist at the end was dumb and the art didn't always translate well. Black and White.
Elder Gods by Nancy A. Collins & Leif Jones- ★★★
Great concept combining Aliens and C'Thulu. However, Collins needs to learn to write for comics. This was basically reading a prose story with some accompanying illustrations. Black and White.
Purge by Ian Edginton & Phil Hester- ★★★
This. was. interesting. It's about a colony of lepers. Their leprosy has kept the chest bursters from, well, bursting. On top of that, there's a cool android / alien hybrid. It's a shame Dark Horse didn't do more with this concept.
Glass Corridor by David Lloyd- ★★★
A hired killer whose suffering from remorse is trapped on a spaceship with an Alien. Some nice character development for a short story.
Stalker by David Wenzel- ★★
Vikings fight an Alien. David Wenzel is a very good artist, but not the greatest writer. The book is littered with stilted, macho dialogue. Given the basis of the story, it seems like a missed opportunity by not making this a retelling of Beowulf with an Alien replacing Grendel.
Wraith by Jay Stephens & Eduardo Risso- ★★
It's a good concept, to make an Alien an urban legend among teenagers on an outpost colony. It works well when it's all about Eduardo Risso's art while the teenagers are being chased through a cave. Stephens makes some poor decisions with the story though. He has the teenagers talking in their version of slang. It makes the story hard to get into when you need to translate everything the kids say into modern English. Also the end 2 pages, feel tacked on, unnecessary and essentially ruin the rest of the story.
Apocalypse by Mark Schultz & Doug Wheatley- ★★★★
It feels like Alien: Covenant may have borrowed from this some, at least in tone. Alecto Throop has been hired to go after a doctor who was following the Nostromo flight plan. The story brings in the Engineers along with some heady, high concept stuff about how Xenomorphs are a force to wipe the cosmos from time to time to start over. There's also an owl along for some reason. It makes no sense but it looks cool. Doug Wheatley's art is fantastic.
Once in a Lifetime by Mark Schultz, Phil Amara, & Rick Leonardi- ★★★
Something of a sequel to Aliens: Apocalypse Rick Leonardi provides some solid art to this short story. Black and White.
Xenogenesis by Tom and Mary Bierbaum & Dave Ross- ★★
David Ross's art is decent and the colors pop but there's zero story here. It's just images of 4 soldiers fighting Aliens for 80 pages. You might not think that would get boring but it did.
Headhunters by Mike W. Barr & Gene Colan- ★
I couldn't make heads or tails of this story, It didn't flow together at all. Nice pencil art from classic Marvel artist Gene Colan though. Black and White.
Tourist Season by Beau Smith & Gray Morrow- ★★★
Aliens attack a tourist planet that fulfills dreams of making Westerns. It's little more than an excuse for the xenomorph version of Cowboys Vs. Aliens. It's kinda fun but definitely hokey. Black and White.
Pig by Chuck Dixon & Flint Henry- ★★★
A group of thieves decide to steal from a spaceship crash that is overrun by Aliens. Their idea is to strap explosives onto a pig and let it loose into an hive. I think you can see where this is headed from there. I'm not a fan of Flint Henry's art. It looks kind of oatmeal-y.
Border Lines by Darko Macan & Tommy Lee Edwards- ★
This was some kind of Vietnam parallel but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. It's almost like it was put through Google Translate a few times. Black and White.
45 Seconds by Darko Macan & Frank Teran- ★★
A quick story of a soldier trying to escape a hive before a bomb explodes. The twist at the end was dumb and the art didn't always translate well. Black and White.
Elder Gods by Nancy A. Collins & Leif Jones- ★★★
Great concept combining Aliens and C'Thulu. However, Collins needs to learn to write for comics. This was basically reading a prose story with some accompanying illustrations. Black and White.
Purge by Ian Edginton & Phil Hester- ★★★
This. was. interesting. It's about a colony of lepers. Their leprosy has kept the chest bursters from, well, bursting. On top of that, there's a cool android / alien hybrid. It's a shame Dark Horse didn't do more with this concept.
Glass Corridor by David Lloyd- ★★★
A hired killer whose suffering from remorse is trapped on a spaceship with an Alien. Some nice character development for a short story.
Stalker by David Wenzel- ★★
Vikings fight an Alien. David Wenzel is a very good artist, but not the greatest writer. The book is littered with stilted, macho dialogue. Given the basis of the story, it seems like a missed opportunity by not making this a retelling of Beowulf with an Alien replacing Grendel.
Wraith by Jay Stephens & Eduardo Risso- ★★
It's a good concept, to make an Alien an urban legend among teenagers on an outpost colony. It works well when it's all about Eduardo Risso's art while the teenagers are being chased through a cave. Stephens makes some poor decisions with the story though. He has the teenagers talking in their version of slang. It makes the story hard to get into when you need to translate everything the kids say into modern English. Also the end 2 pages, feel tacked on, unnecessary and essentially ruin the rest of the story.
April 17, 2021
Really solid writing and art direction across the board here.
October 29, 2020
Continuing the pattern established in the previous volume, the sixth and final collection in this series is long on invention and ideas, but lacking in consistency and, in too many of the stories, in quality.
Too often, these stories feel like ones that just weren't good enough to make into the earlier collections in the series and the sheer, uneven jumble of art styles - a common feature of these collections - is far more pronounced than usual here, distractingly so.
It's not all bad, of course. Some stories, like 'Pig', 'Purge', 'Glass Corridor' and 'Apocalypse' are strong but too many are a letdown. 'Stalker' immediately stands out, pitting an alien against vikings (an inspired mash-up), but ends on a flat note. Most of the rest at least an interesting core idea, they're just not all that memorable.
Too often, these stories feel like ones that just weren't good enough to make into the earlier collections in the series and the sheer, uneven jumble of art styles - a common feature of these collections - is far more pronounced than usual here, distractingly so.
It's not all bad, of course. Some stories, like 'Pig', 'Purge', 'Glass Corridor' and 'Apocalypse' are strong but too many are a letdown. 'Stalker' immediately stands out, pitting an alien against vikings (an inspired mash-up), but ends on a flat note. Most of the rest at least an interesting core idea, they're just not all that memorable.
January 25, 2016
If all you have ever know about the Alien storyline is the movies then read this. There is so much more to discover about the killer alien species. Fantastic storyline and characters. Highly recommended
April 4, 2022
Apocalypse was beautiful illustrated. The story was good too. I got confused a couple times like when they meet Keitel, only for the next panel be them waking up in a tent, remeeting him.
Once in a Lifetime was very different graphically but the story is connect to the first story. I didn't care for this one much.
Xenogenesis was interesting and good. The art was very colorful, almost too much. But the story was really good, even though there a few flaws. I still liked it overall.
Headhunter I couldn't enjoy. It's illustration is stetchy, unpolish, and super hard to figure out what was happening. Not good.
Tourist Season was good. I liked they they were trying something new with cowboys and old west feeling. I wish there had been more story and build up.
Pig was ok. I liked the story but I didn't care for the art style. It makes everything look disgusting and gross. But the ending was funny.
Border Lines was good. I got a little confused in beginning, but it was cleared up by end. I wish there was more backstory, just to know why, but it was a pretty short story.
45 Seconds was meh. It's short, no real story, other than maybe the main guy might be clairvoyant? It was ok.
Elder Gods is just a lesson never trust an kind of fanatic with anything, even if it to get them out of the way. Good story.
Purge was cool. I like that this explore aliens reaction with diseases. Synthetic aliens was something I like see, as I feel it would be something humans would do.
Glass Corridor moved too fast. I wasn't even sure that the ship had left the planet before events occurred. I like the story but it defiantly need more context and background.
Stalker was very good. I liked that they did a whole medieval, Viking story. Love the ending and how it ties back to the future. That was just cool.
Wrath was good. Interesting seeing through preteens eyes than capable adults.
Once in a Lifetime was very different graphically but the story is connect to the first story. I didn't care for this one much.
Xenogenesis was interesting and good. The art was very colorful, almost too much. But the story was really good, even though there a few flaws. I still liked it overall.
Headhunter I couldn't enjoy. It's illustration is stetchy, unpolish, and super hard to figure out what was happening. Not good.
Tourist Season was good. I liked they they were trying something new with cowboys and old west feeling. I wish there had been more story and build up.
Pig was ok. I liked the story but I didn't care for the art style. It makes everything look disgusting and gross. But the ending was funny.
Border Lines was good. I got a little confused in beginning, but it was cleared up by end. I wish there was more backstory, just to know why, but it was a pretty short story.
45 Seconds was meh. It's short, no real story, other than maybe the main guy might be clairvoyant? It was ok.
Elder Gods is just a lesson never trust an kind of fanatic with anything, even if it to get them out of the way. Good story.
Purge was cool. I like that this explore aliens reaction with diseases. Synthetic aliens was something I like see, as I feel it would be something humans would do.
Glass Corridor moved too fast. I wasn't even sure that the ship had left the planet before events occurred. I like the story but it defiantly need more context and background.
Stalker was very good. I liked that they did a whole medieval, Viking story. Love the ending and how it ties back to the future. That was just cool.
Wrath was good. Interesting seeing through preteens eyes than capable adults.
July 8, 2019
Pretty action packed. Some interesting new looks but not many. The movies had the them of "should we research these aliens should we not?". These volumes as a whole are more about accepting that no matter the cost, we will get what we want from these things. Leaps in advancement often cost many lives in real life, sometimes through war or other means and reasons.
This particular volume was a pretty easy read. After this, the next comic to read is the AvP comics, regarding chronology. There's a story in the last volume that says it's concluded in the AvP comics. It's continuation won't be found in this 6th volume.
This particular volume was a pretty easy read. After this, the next comic to read is the AvP comics, regarding chronology. There's a story in the last volume that says it's concluded in the AvP comics. It's continuation won't be found in this 6th volume.
February 10, 2025
The story "Apocalypse" had good art for one of these, but overall this is a consistently mid collection of one-shots. None of them do anything particularly memorable, which is a shame because I still remember a handful of the previous stories from when I read them circa 2013.
November 25, 2016
Easily the worst of the collections but they were mostly entertaining and got me through Thanksgiving.
June 11, 2017
Unfortunately the last collection is the weakest one. Still, there is a few nice stories and some great art. If you are a fan, go for it, otherwise leave it.
June 15, 2019
Plot twisting, adventure and action! :D Brilliant Crisp High Five! :D Review to Come! D
March 23, 2020
How many military operations against xenomorphs do we really need?
August 31, 2023
Excellent
September 1, 2015
19/8/2015: Read "Headhunters", which was eventually included in this collection. I found the art style much too confusing. It was only in pencils, not coloured. I found this too indistinct to follow what was being shown.
I'll give this one 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Read "Pig" which was a cute little story with a double meaning for the title. Rather throw away, really, and the art was a bit 'messy' - like it was deliberately making the features of people and things 'ugly', yet not exactly realistic.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Read "Borderlines", which was done in black and white. Very quick story, just showing the kind of lengths people are willing to go to when in danger and/or fear. Not really much to it, no good connection to any of the characters. Art was one of my least favourite styles.
2 out of 5 stars.
"Aliens: Special" was 2 other stories, called "45 Seconds" and "Elder Gods".
"45 Seconds" was very short, and shows very briefly how it all could go wrong in just 45 seconds when you're up against Aliens.
"Elder Gods" was another story revolving around a 'religion' that's sprung up since the War on Earth. It appears to be based on some movie-writer (a commentary on Scientology?), and the followers come to believe that the Xenomorph is the embodiment of a Satan-style demon-lord. Oh no, not again...
Also it was in black and white.
3 out of 5 stars.
"Tourist Season" was a bit strange. At first I thought it was all androids in a 'western' setting. But apparently not. Art was ok, except for being black and white.
3 out of 5 stars.
20/8/2015: Read "Once In A Lifetime" this morning. Began quite well, with an interesting 'hypothesis' about the 'natural' state of a hive of Xenomorphs which haven't encountered humans. Not sure how accurate/likely this could be. Sadly it ended in much the same way as I've come to expect from the world of Aliens.
3 out of 5 stars.
Read "Purge" this afternoon. Wow. This one I was really impressed with. Another really interesting concept. The art was great. It felt like it was the beginning of a larger series, like this was just the first comic. I wish it was. I'd be really happy finding out more about the main character Ellie.
This was easily a 4.5 star story, by itself.
25/8/2015: Read "Glass Corridor", "Stalker" and "Wraith" this morning.
All were easy to read, quick 'tales'. "Stalker" was the most memorable of the three, being a tale within a tale. The art was quite nice in all three.
2.5 stars for "Glass Corridor".
3 stars for "Stalker".
2.5 stars for "Wraith".
28/8/2015: "Apocalypse" has very interesting art. Quite different from anything else in all I've read so far. I really liked it. I enjoyed the strong female character, and the inclusion of the non-human character (I adore owls).
But once again we have some crazies who worship the Xenomorphs. And a real crazy who's trying to find a way to live among them. And he kind of does, which is intriguing, but ultimately futile. And not to spoil anything, but the 'big reveal' is something I wanted more of.
4 out of 5 stars for this one.
"Xenogenesis" I ~really~ enjoyed. I may be the minority, but I loved the art in these. The story was good, but not spectacular - a shame for something that was supposed to be showcasing 'the future' for the series.
Ultimately a flop, I can sort of see why there was a lack of Aliens comics for 10 years after this series.
Having said that, I wish they'd at least finished the damn story. Was it supposed to end with this huge question: "What the hell are you, dude?"
Tell me!
Also 4 out of 5 stars for this one.
Overall, I'll give the collection a 4 out of 5 stars.
I'll give this one 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Read "Pig" which was a cute little story with a double meaning for the title. Rather throw away, really, and the art was a bit 'messy' - like it was deliberately making the features of people and things 'ugly', yet not exactly realistic.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Read "Borderlines", which was done in black and white. Very quick story, just showing the kind of lengths people are willing to go to when in danger and/or fear. Not really much to it, no good connection to any of the characters. Art was one of my least favourite styles.
2 out of 5 stars.
"Aliens: Special" was 2 other stories, called "45 Seconds" and "Elder Gods".
"45 Seconds" was very short, and shows very briefly how it all could go wrong in just 45 seconds when you're up against Aliens.
"Elder Gods" was another story revolving around a 'religion' that's sprung up since the War on Earth. It appears to be based on some movie-writer (a commentary on Scientology?), and the followers come to believe that the Xenomorph is the embodiment of a Satan-style demon-lord. Oh no, not again...
Also it was in black and white.
3 out of 5 stars.
"Tourist Season" was a bit strange. At first I thought it was all androids in a 'western' setting. But apparently not. Art was ok, except for being black and white.
3 out of 5 stars.
20/8/2015: Read "Once In A Lifetime" this morning. Began quite well, with an interesting 'hypothesis' about the 'natural' state of a hive of Xenomorphs which haven't encountered humans. Not sure how accurate/likely this could be. Sadly it ended in much the same way as I've come to expect from the world of Aliens.
3 out of 5 stars.
Read "Purge" this afternoon. Wow. This one I was really impressed with. Another really interesting concept. The art was great. It felt like it was the beginning of a larger series, like this was just the first comic. I wish it was. I'd be really happy finding out more about the main character Ellie.
This was easily a 4.5 star story, by itself.
25/8/2015: Read "Glass Corridor", "Stalker" and "Wraith" this morning.
All were easy to read, quick 'tales'. "Stalker" was the most memorable of the three, being a tale within a tale. The art was quite nice in all three.
2.5 stars for "Glass Corridor".
3 stars for "Stalker".
2.5 stars for "Wraith".
28/8/2015: "Apocalypse" has very interesting art. Quite different from anything else in all I've read so far. I really liked it. I enjoyed the strong female character, and the inclusion of the non-human character (I adore owls).
But once again we have some crazies who worship the Xenomorphs. And a real crazy who's trying to find a way to live among them. And he kind of does, which is intriguing, but ultimately futile. And not to spoil anything, but the 'big reveal' is something I wanted more of.
4 out of 5 stars for this one.
"Xenogenesis" I ~really~ enjoyed. I may be the minority, but I loved the art in these. The story was good, but not spectacular - a shame for something that was supposed to be showcasing 'the future' for the series.
Ultimately a flop, I can sort of see why there was a lack of Aliens comics for 10 years after this series.
Having said that, I wish they'd at least finished the damn story. Was it supposed to end with this huge question: "What the hell are you, dude?"
Tell me!
Also 4 out of 5 stars for this one.
Overall, I'll give the collection a 4 out of 5 stars.
June 22, 2016
Yet another collection of Aliens comics. though as with the last one it feels like all of the best stories have already been told and now we are left with the leftovers.
Still there are a few nice stories here too. Havoc, Apocalypse, Glass corridor and Stalker are fairly worth wile. They are by no means any of the better stories, but still enjoyable.
Then we have the ones like Xenogenesis, Tourist season and Once in a lifetime which a just boring with artwork I personally don't like.
Not a collection I'd go out of my way to get, but I'd most likely borrow from a friend or the library.
Still there are a few nice stories here too. Havoc, Apocalypse, Glass corridor and Stalker are fairly worth wile. They are by no means any of the better stories, but still enjoyable.
Then we have the ones like Xenogenesis, Tourist season and Once in a lifetime which a just boring with artwork I personally don't like.
Not a collection I'd go out of my way to get, but I'd most likely borrow from a friend or the library.
November 7, 2015
While I think that the stories in here are a bit of a mixed bag, with some being rather entertaining and others rather less so, I rated this at 4 stars because when it came out it took a raft of one-shot Aliens comics like Aliens: Pig that had previously only been issued in the US and made them available elsewhere. I'm not sure if they have all subsequently been released, but it was nice to be able to read them without having to import issues individually.
September 27, 2013
a bunch of short stories from the aliens universe, most of them are pretty good, some aren't that good. Some are long and some are short, but generally the whole thing is pretty good. not the best comic ive read though.
October 23, 2020
3 stars for Stalker, Glass Corridor, Tourist Season, and Wraith, which are all pretty entertaining entries in the mythos. Xenogenesis is terrible and pretty much killed off Aliens comics for a while. The rest are just ok.
January 31, 2016
Without the inclusion of "Apocalypse" this would be an extremely ho-hum collection of "Alien" stories. They saved the least for last.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews