We recently learnt that Titan would be publishing Prometheus: The Art of the Film. It turns out Titan is also going to re-publishing a number of older Alien books as well:

“With Prometheus on the way, they are replicating the format for themselves, with Alien: The Illustrated Story: The Artists’ Edition, now renamed from “The Original Edition” to closer mirror the IDW editions. The volume will reprint the original art of the Heavy Metal Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson adaptation of Ridley Scott’s Alien at the 14″ x 17″ size.

The volume will also include colour tryout pages, the Goodwin script, an interviews with Simonson as well as his signature on every copy. Titan are also making the original story available in colour paperback at a… slightly more affordable price as Alien – The Illustrated Story.”

This comes from Bleeding Cool and is the first official announcement regarding the re-release. According to Amazon The Book of Alien and the Colonial Marine’s Technical Manual are also going to be re-published. If you’re interested in The Illustrated Story, be sure to Like their Facebook page.

For the first time in almost a decade, an Aliens story will be featuring in Dark Horse Presents, it has been announced:

The story is written by John Layman and the artwork is being done by Sam Keith. It was also revealed back in July that these pair would be working on a new Aliens series. Whether this is related to that series is unknown at the moment.

Liam Sharp’s novella, Alien – Fast Track to Heaven, was also recently released. You can find that online or in your local comic shops. Look out for news of an upcoming 2nd novella.

I have just uploaded my latest review for the recently released Alien Vault: The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film:

“So what can Alien Vault really offer us that previous books (there are a few more than the 2 I listed) can’t? Well, that’s an incredibly easy question: Passion. Alien Vault came across as a personal account, as if I was sat across from Ian Nathan, talking to him and hearing the excitement in his voice as we discussed his favorite movie.”

You can read (and should read) the entire review here. As well as that, I also spoke to author Ian Nathan recently and I’ve uploaded our interview as well.

We also had 2 winners for our Alien Vault competition, Alex Hislop and Kanani Coward. Congratulations to both of them!I hope you all enjoy the review and the interview and if you’re interested in buying a copy then Amazon has a bargain!

Back in June an AvPGalaxy forum member discovered a new book coming out: Alien Vault: The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film.

“Alien Vault reveals the details behind the making of the groundbreaking 1979 science-fiction horror film, one of the cult classics of the genre. This licensed, behind-the-scenes guide examines the creation of the movie via director Ridley Scott’s hand-drawn storyboards, concept sketches, script pages, spaceship blueprints, never-before-seen production photos, and rare collectible memorabilia.“

It’s being written by Ian Nathan, a well known journalist for Empire. It is scheduled for publication on the 2nd of September. However, Ian Nathan was at the London Film & Comic Con early July with some early copies of the book and Andrew Clark was lucky enough to get a copy. Check out some of the pictures he took of the book.

Last week saw the release of the first issue of the Predators prequel comic series and the second issues was released barely days ago. The final two issues are due out on the 23rd and 30th of June. Below are links to previews for all 4 issues:

• Predators #1
• Predators #2
• Predators #3
• Predators #4

The prequel features two stories, one featuring a squad of Navy SEALs & Nolan, the other featuring Royce. So if you’re interested in finding out what happened to these characters prior to the events of the movie, be sure to pick the comics up from your local comic book shop (or online failing that!).

Dark Horse have just posted up a six page preview of the upcoming prequel series to Predators:

Written by Marc Andreyko, David Lapham and drawn by Guilherme Balbi, Gabriel Guzman, the prequel series delves into the backstory of both Royce and Nolan. The first issue is due out June 09, 2010, with each issue following a weekly.

Aint It Cool News has broken the news that long time Predator comic publisher Dark Horse is going to be publishing numerous comics for Predators:

“There’s a reason all of our characters end up in the position they find themselves in, in the film. My character is a mercenary and he’s extremely morally questionable, even for a mercenary. That helps him in his occupation in the prequel but whether he can adapt and evolve from that that will determine if he survives in the film.”

From the sounds of it we’ll be seeing prequels focusing on the characters, an adaptation of the film told from the perspective of Isabelle and a sequel following that. Don’t forget to read the entire article at AICN. Thanks to FearPeteySodes and VikingSpawn for the heads up.

Comic writer and artist, Liam Sharp, recently talked to Comic Book Resources regarding the upcoming novella he is creating for Dark Horse, Fast Track to Heaven:

“The Aliens universe is quite convoluted so – given that my story is relatively short – I wanted it to be accessible to anybody, and as close as I could get in tone to the original movie,” Sharp told CBR. “[Editor Chris Warner] wanted something that really pitted the everyman with the Alien, so my story is very much about the humans, too. It’s set at a contemporary time to the first movie, more or less, and you’ll see some of the design elements are taken from that. I’ve also made a few clear nods to the original classic Walt Simonson graphic adaptation of the movie, which was terrific. Other than that, I’ve avoided looking at other Aliens comics – there’s too much temptation to be influenced!”

Sharp talks a great deal about the project and his aims for the comic. The article also includes a 2 page preview that looks absolutely wonderful. This is certainly one to keep our eyes on boys and girls. Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven is due out June 16, 2010.

It’s been sometime since I’ve posted anything up regarding the literature side of the franchise. I thought it might be time I post a round up of the news. A new Aliens novella has been announced:

Written and illustrated by Liam Sharp, the comic is due out June 16th. Issue one of AvP: Three World War went on sale today. Three World War is written by Randy Stradley, author of the original AvP comic series. There are already a few reviews online.

The covers for the next 2 issues are also up on Dark Horse’s website. Both Alien and Predator series’ have completed their run and are due to trade back publication release, Aliens being the first on April 14th. Be sure to keep an eye on literature board for the latest news.

We recently had chance to interview Chris Warner, the man behind the recent omnibus releases and the latest comic series from Dark Horse:

“The most important thing was figuring out how we wanted to go about the re-launches, story-wise. Over the years, and through a variety of editorial pilots, the franchises had sort of roamed all over the landscape, and we needed to think hard about how we wanted these new series to play out. Through conversations with Mike Richardson and Randy Stradley, we determined the directions we wanted to pursue”

We speak about the relaunchs, the omnibus and he even divulges some new info on Three World War. Be sure to check it out.

In related news, Dark Horse recently unvieled the cover for Aliens #4 and released the preview for Predator #2.