Titan To Republish Original Aliens Bantam Novels

Started by Corporal Hicks, Oct 16, 2015, 08:11:11 AM

Author
Titan To Republish Original Aliens Bantam Novels (Read 73,508 times)

Lonely Universe

Oh this is great! I would imagine these will stretch into the later Dark Horse published novels as well. I'd buy every single one, despite already having the old printings.

Perfect-Organism

Quote from: Born Of Cold Light on Oct 16, 2015, 08:20:07 PM
How different are the novels from the comic book versions of the stories?  I'm thinking about getting these, but I don't just want to read something that won't give me anything new.

It's been ages since I read these and I actually never read the later volumes.  But the volume 1 which contains the Mark Verheiden series of books actually deviates somewhat from the original comics.  Hicks and Newt have been replaced with Wilks and Billie for starters.  If I remember correctly, the last story in this first volume (Female War) was significantly modified in some sections of the story.  It would be amazing if they restored Wilks and Billie, to Hicks and Newt but we won't know if they made that change till later.  It seems very unlikely to me.

Corporal Hicks

I believe that the first time the names were actually changed were for the books and then comics followed suite and replaced them for the reprints. I think. I'm never too sure what the timeline is. But in general they also expand outwards from the comics too, offer more insight into pretty much every element.

And I'd like to see them do an edition where it's Hicks and Newt and with some minor changes to their backstory. It'd never happen but it'd be nice enough to see.

Xenomrph

Quote from: Born Of Cold Light on Oct 16, 2015, 08:20:07 PM
How different are the novels from the comic book versions of the stories?  I'm thinking about getting these, but I don't just want to read something that won't give me anything new.
They're worth picking up. They expand on the plots and characters in ways that the comics couldn't (due to limitations of the medium, or length limitations, etc) and are generally better written narrative and character-wise than the comics they're based on.
The exception in my opinion is Labyrinth, I much prefer the comic over the novel.

hawkangel

So, are these canon? New Aliens EU reader here...

Lonely Universe

It's still sort of up in the air whether they are canon or not. They are definitely canon to the old EU, but that was supposed to be discontinued when Fire & Stone came out. No bother, they are worth reading anyway. You won't regret it, there's a lot of great stories in there.

There's a thread that chronologically lists everything in the current EU.

HuDaFuK

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Oct 17, 2015, 07:29:36 AMI believe that the first time the names were actually changed were for the books and then comics followed suite and replaced them for the reprints. I think. I'm never too sure what the timeline is.

Yeah, the altered characters were created for the books as they started coming out just after Alien 3, then they edited the comics and reprinted them a few years later (Earth Hive was published in 1992, the first edited version of Book One was Aliens, Vol. 1: Outbreak, published in 1996).

Born Of Cold Light

I've personally always felt that the Wilks/Billie switch was weak and pointless, and I always saw the EU as an alternate timeline.

RakaiThwei

Quote from: hawkangel on Oct 17, 2015, 02:59:52 PM
So, are these canon? New Aliens EU reader here...

Twenty years ago, they were..

Xenomrph

Quote from: RakaiThwei on Oct 17, 2015, 10:39:39 PM
Quote from: hawkangel on Oct 17, 2015, 02:59:52 PM
So, are these canon? New Aliens EU reader here...

Twenty years ago, they were..
Much more recently than that, actually.

Heck for all we know, they still are. :)

Lonely Universe

They really could be, I don't see why they would be reprinting them if not.

Perhaps since F&S didn't rock the world (& in light of the approaching films) Dark Horse & Titan decided to downplay the whole reboot until they have more solid ground.

Personally I think the original EU is too quality rich to lose most of it, give or take a few things.

Xenomrph

Agreed. There's some things I wouldn't mind abandoning I guess, but there's a bunch of really cool stuff I'd hate to lose.

Born Of Cold Light

Both the stories More Than Human and Three World War were explicitly set in the old continuity.  While there were definitely some duds, I do think it would be a terrible shame if the whole thing were scrapped.

predxeno

The novels are amazing, they often add new scenes or subplots that the comics just skip over; I always read the novels before the comics for this exact reason.

Ultramorph

Ultramorph

#29
I'll probably pick these up. I haven't read the old Dark Horse novels in 10 years or so. It'll be cool to revisit them. I wonder if they'll eventually reprint the DH Press novels, too?

Hopefully they reprint the Predator novels for that movie's 30th in 2017.

AvPGalaxy: About | Contact | Cookie Policy | Manage Cookie Settings | Privacy Policy | Legal Info
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Patreon RSS Feed
Contact: General Queries | Submit News