ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[SM]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

[Engineer]

Wow!

Ok, so I was curious about this thread, and went ALL the way back to the very beginning and read everything up to now! This thread should be kept permmenately! It has everything!

Emotional highs and lows
Canon debates
Speculations and theories
Insults
People getting banned
Celebrity appearances
Trips down memory lane (i.e., alien trilogy on ps1, hell yea! Good ol' days)
And a dash of real facts occasionally sprinkled in!

Oh the drama! It's all here! This made for a better story than AvP:R and A:CM, both! Lol

More seriously though, I have some catching up to do on the new canon. I have the Titan trilogy, and I'm really looking forward to diving into those, especially book 3. I haven't yet touched or obtained any parts of fire and stone, but I've been VERY intrigued by everything I've heard about it. I'm still working on beating isolation; it stressed me out so much that I haven't been able to get the nerve up to finish it! Haha.

I own most of the materials released between 1988 and 2010, and while some of the comics and novels were really good, I never felt like they were officially part of the series. They were all more of a 'what if' scenario to me. Don't get me wrong; some of the stories I really wanted to be part of the official canon, they just didn't quite fit for me. My favorite stories were probably genocide, rogue and I also really like music of the spears (it was odd, but a unique direction/angle that I appreciated). Most of the other EU stuff I felt was terrible, like original sin and DNA war. The avp stories I liked too (except the movies), but never really felt like they fit in either.

I like the fact that fox is trying harder to maintain a stronger continuity/consistency. And with fire and stone, being official, it still has ties to the predators which is interesting. In fact, it seems like a stronger tie now in my opinion. I'd be ok without predators being part of the alien series officially, but if they respect both series well enough in their own rights, I'm ok with them being tied together too.

I don't like the idea of alien 3 being retcon'd (alien 4 I don't care about so much) but I have a feeling that alien 5 won't be a retcon, at least not in the way we're all use to (time will tell though), And I'd like to hear more about what's in store for predator 4. Prometheus 2, I think has potential, especially if mr. Scott is moving away from "gods and dragons." But aside from the visuals, really the only thing about prometheus 1 I liked was that it trampled all over the avp movies! I got a lot of satisfaction out of that! Lol

With all that being said, I'm overall very happy to hear that the stories in the EU that I never felt like they fit in, aren't being squeezed in and explained with half assed rational. But they aren't being denounced either. That fact actually makes me want THIS book more! The extra content is a huge plus too; I really want to know more about those things too, like space beast for example!

The big icing on the cake for me would/will be if A:CM gets the same treatment! I've read here that isolation got mentioned in this book, which I was extremely happy to hear! Isolation deserves canon status! But A:CM not so much!

So my one big question, which I saw about a half dozen people ask but it never got answered, is: what's the status on A:CM? Did it get ignored or left out of this book??

[SM]

Spoiler

There's no references to the events depicted in A:CM.

There's the odd reference to Isolation, Fire & Stone, Out Of The Shadows, and River of Pain, but none reveal any great detail.

But they aren't being denounced either.

It wouldn't be possible in this kind of book to say "The Aliens never invaded Earth", but the events are just the films, plus the media mentioned above.

[close]

[Engineer]

Spoiler

There's no references to the events depicted in A:CM.

There's the odd reference to Isolation, Fire & Stone, Out Of The Shadows, and River of Pain, but none reveal any great detail.

But they aren't being denounced either.

It wouldn't be possible in this kind of book to say "The Aliens never invaded Earth", but the events are just the films, plus the media mentioned above.

[close]

Spoiler

Thanks SM! Yea I knew addressing the EU wasn't really this books intention, but it wasn't necessary to mention the Titan trilogy, isolation or fire and stone but it did. Maybe it was just for promotional reasons, but nonetheless I'm still liking this direction from fox so far! Of course, that can all change for the worst! I'll be upset if alien 5 utilizes time travel for example, but I doubt that's what we're in for.

On another note, maybe this should be canon, because of the soundtrack! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cbBlYfTbA44 Lol, totally jk.

[close]

PS. SM, if it's not in violation of any NDAs, can you tell us what was your favorite part about this book? Whether you had a hand in it or not? Just curious...

[SM]

Spoiler

I think they'd like to tie in as much of their Alien IP into the films as possible, but at the same time appreciate it just isn't possible after 25 years of different media, creators and licensees.  It seems like it was simpler to just draw a line under everything and start with Out Of The Shadows and go from there.  They'd already decided on the scope of what it would cover long before I ever got involved.  It was interesting seeing references to things that weren't going to be released for another 12 months.

[close]

My favourite part is probably the Prometheus and Resurrection stuff - the stuff about Alien and Aliens was always going to be the gold quality stuff, but some of the 'lesser' films had some really good content.  I don't think I'm speaking out of school if I say that neither Prometheus nor Resurrection is among Danelle's favourites and it comes out in the writing - and this is for the better.  It allows the author to be critical of the film while being the 'Company voice' that can be critical of the characters actions.  There's two stand out pieces, one from Vickers perspective and another from Gedimans that are brilliant.  The stuff relating to Aliens (the film) takes up a fair old chunk of the book (due to 7 of the 10 illustrations being from that film), but I was happy to see the 'not as popular' flicks not get shafted.

My 'hand' was fact checking and proof reading.  I contributed a couple of captions here and there John's EEV and Betty illustrations.

And I got a character named after me.  Which was nice.

[Corporal Hicks]

One question Hicks, does it theorize in the book why the alien in the Nostromo was different from the aliens on LV-426, is it age or casts probably?

I don't recall them talking about specific appearances. They do theorize over behavioural differences though. How they act without a Queen, etc. They also talk about a possible cast system. .

And in the new beginnings section, on the xeno armor page, there's a weird head piece on the xeno, can you elaborate on what is it and how it works, or just upload a picture of the page? 

It's something to control the Alien. A shock harness of sorts if I remember rightly.

"fluff"?

Sorry it's something I've picked up quite recently from the gaming groups. It essentially means in-universe reasons. Not as widespread as I thought?

It's a guy expressing an arguably overconfident - just like the second film - second hand opinion using language just like the second film

Definitely. It's just that section trying to be in character.

Spoiler

I think they'd like to tie in as much of their Alien IP into the films as possible, but at the same time appreciate it just isn't possible after 25 years of different media, creators and licensees.  It seems like it was simpler to just draw a line under everything and start with Out Of The Shadows and go from there.  They'd already decided on the scope of what it would cover long before I ever got involved.  It was interesting seeing references to things that weren't going to be released for another 12 months.

[close]

The references to the other media aren't particularly large though. It's more of a comment here, a comment there.

My favourite part is probably the Prometheus and Resurrection stuff - the stuff about Alien and Aliens was always going to be the gold quality stuff, but some of the 'lesser' films had some really good content.  I don't think I'm speaking out of school if I say that neither Prometheus nor Resurrection is among Danelle's favourites and it comes out in the writing - and this is for the better.  It allows the author to be critical of the film while being the 'Company voice' that can be critical of the characters actions.  There's two stand out pieces, one from Vickers perspective and another from Gedimans that are brilliant.  The stuff relating to Aliens (the film) takes up a fair old chunk of the book (due to 7 of the 10 illustrations being from that film), but I was happy to see the 'not as popular' flicks not get shafted.

I thought the Resurrection section was quite short actually and it was a real shame the Prometheus section wasn't allowed to theorize a bit more. I really liked it when they made some small comments about the Engineers. That Gediman thing took me quite by surprise. I wasn't expecting to see something trying to develop his character.

[HuDaFuK]

My favourite part is probably the Prometheus and Resurrection stuff - the stuff about Alien and Aliens was always going to be the gold quality stuff, but some of the 'lesser' films had some really good content.

Totally agree.

I don't think I'm speaking out of school if I say that neither Prometheus nor Resurrection is among Danelle's favourites and it comes out in the writing - and this is for the better.  It allows the author to be critical of the film while being the 'Company voice' that can be critical of the characters actions.

I did get a good giggle out of how the book keeps referring to the USM and their project on the Auriga in such derogatory terms.

Definitely. It's just that section trying to be in character.

More than that, it's supposed to be an interview excerpt.

I thought the Resurrection section was quite short actually and it was a real shame the Prometheus section wasn't allowed to theorize a bit more.

Yeah, it felt disappointingly hampered, obviously by the fact they can't mess with the second movie. Understandable, but a shame.

That Gediman thing took me quite by surprise. I wasn't expecting to see something trying to develop his character.

Yeah, that was great

[SM]

Sorry it's something I've picked up quite recently from the gaming groups. It essentially means in-universe reasons. Not as widespread as I thought?

"fluff" sounds inconsequential and dismissive.

The references to the other media aren't particularly large though. It's more of a comment here, a comment there.

From memory, beyond the timeline the most prominent is a reference to Brackett.  Odd mention of the Marion or Amanda,  and not much more than a sentence when they do pop up.

I thought the Resurrection section was quite short actually and it was a real shame the Prometheus section wasn't allowed to theorize a bit more.

I think in terms of page count it's about the same as Alien, oddly enough.  A lot of info from Alien is in the section about the creature though.

[Corporal Hicks]

Sorry it's something I've picked up quite recently from the gaming groups. It essentially means in-universe reasons. Not as widespread as I thought?

"fluff" sounds inconsequential and dismissive.

Well it's certainly not intended as such. As I said, it means in-universe reasons. I'll reword it.

From memory, beyond the timeline the most prominent is a reference to Brackett.  Odd mention of the Marion or Amanda,  and not much more than a sentence when they do pop up.

Yeah, that's exactly it. Enough to be in there and easily recognized.

I think in terms of page count it's about the same as Alien, oddly enough.  A lot of info from Alien is in the section about the creature though.

Seemed much shorter when reading it. Granted I didn't count the pages at that point.

*Fixed.

[System Apollo]

I've been looking everywhere for this book. How is it? Is the content official?

[TheBATMAN]

Nice preview but you forgot the key question, is it honestly worth the money?

[Corporal Hicks]

I've been looking everywhere for this book. How is it? Is the content official?

It's certainly official.

Nice preview but you forgot the key question, is it honestly worth the money?

That's for you to decide! I've shown you what's in it.

[Valaquen]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I only read that one extract so I won't judge the whole tome.

[𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔈𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔥 𝔓𝔞𝔰𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯]

And I got a character named after me.  Which was nice.

Was it the Walmart company man?

[Corporal Hicks]

If it's any consolation that tone is only one page.

Yeah that's what I was thinking, I only read that one extract so I won't judge the whole tome.

The pictures in the gallery should be good enough quality for you to read some of the other sections.