Recommendations

[Gates]

Okay...I'm officially bored in my down time...I've read everything that I wanted to and I'm now interested in checking out a few of the Alien or AvP comics/graphic novels...

What are your recommendations?

I'm not looking for anything overtly silly or laughable, more so looking for something dark and gritty in terms of art and story...let me know what you think I would be interested in...please list a few different ones...

Thanks in advance...

[Corporal Hicks]

Nightmare Asylum & Destroying Angels are a must.

[fluxcap]

"Labyrinth" is good, but "Tribes" is required reading.

[Gates]

Thanks guys...I'll look into all four, see which ones I can get my hands on...

[echobbase79]

Outbreak was good. So was Sacrifice.

[Kimarhi]

Salvation/Sacrifice were good (you can get it in one tpb).  Labyrinth is one of the more "alien" stories.  Alchemy takes elements of Alien and Alien 3 and uses them pretty well.

Nightmare Asylum and Tribes are good Aliens style comics.

There is actually one nonserious comic in the series I'm quite fond of titled Alien Stronghold.  Quirky story but in a very lovable way.  One of my top five tpb's of the series, despite not being very alienish.

There are alot of them that start off good, but fall away at the middle or the end.  Colonial Marines, for me personally Avenging Angels (I only really dug the Alien themed artwork, but didn't care for the story), Female War (and not just because of the superdeformed artwork) etc.

Some of the novels are infinately superior to the the comic version.  Berserker and Music of the Spears come to mind, and I actually liked being able to tell who a character was in Perry's version of The Female War.

[SiL]

Recommendations:

Labyrinth
Nightmare Asylum
Tribes
Salvation
AvP
AvP: Eternal

Anything written by S. D. Perry is certainly worth a look, especially her Labyrinth and Berserker novel tie-ins; can't honestly recommend Earth Hive/Outbreak, or any version of Female War in existence. Think what you will of the art, the story itself just blows after Nightmare Asylum; Music of the Spears (the novel) is a fun ride, very interesting concept ... and has ninjas; and both the comic and novel of Genocide are certainly worth a look.

Stories you should read if you can get your hands on them would be Hive/Harvest - Same story, different name - Alchemy and Stronghold.

[Huol]

Read the comic: Aliens: Kidnapped.
Just kidding, it's horrible, avoid it.

[Corporal Hicks]

There are alot of them that start off good, but fall away at the middle or the end.  Colonial Marines, for me personally Avenging Angels (I only really dug the Alien themed artwork, but didn't care for the story), Female War (and not just because of the superdeformed artwork) etc/

I chased that down just for the Space Jockey stuff in it. Really enjoyed both the story and the artwork.

[Kimarhi]

Recommendations:

Labyrinth
Nightmare Asylum
Tribes
Salvation
AvP
AvP: Eternal

Anything written by S. D. Perry is certainly worth a look, especially her Labyrinth and Berserker novel tie-ins; can't honestly recommend Earth Hive/Outbreak, or any version of Female War in existence. Think what you will of the art, the story itself just blows after Nightmare Asylum; Music of the Spears (the novel) is a fun ride, very interesting concept ... and has ninjas; and both the comic and novel of Genocide are certainly worth a look.

Stories you should read if you can get your hands on them would be Hive/Harvest - Same story, different name - Alchemy and Stronghold.

AvP was okay though it is still just a predator book with Aliens in it.

Eternal was pretty interesting, and the Aliens were actually lethal, but they didn't play a huge part in the story.  Like the artwork though.  The two pages where the two Aliens are running around in their nest with their mouths open was pretty cool and had shades of the original alien design. 

I actually preferred the comic version of Hive to the novelization.  Both version suffered from dull characters, but had interesting concepts.

I despised Genocide except for the artwork of the ships. 

As for the novel of Female War, the comic was pretty stupid, and the novel changed some things around but made it slightly more believable..........but I thought the characters were better balanced than they were in the novels of Earth Hive and Nightmare Asylum.  Of course, it loses steam as soon as they confront the queen.

Miss Perry does do a good job with Labyrinth, but I don't think the quality is that much better than the original comic.

As for Kidnapped............I've always been a fan of futures where human's have no values other than things that benefit themselves.  Kidnapped is that kind of story, as everybody is a selfserving arrogant prick (with the exception of the android).  Thus in a way I like it.  It IS a terrible Alien story for the most part however.

[SiL]

AvP was okay though it is still just a predator book with Aliens in it.

i liked the story and the pretty artwork. Naff colouring, though.

Eternal was pretty interesting, and the Aliens were actually lethal, but they didn't play a huge part in the story.

If they'd made the issues longer, or given it a few more issues, I think it could've been perfect. Two Aliens, four Preds, and the aliens do damage!

I actually preferred the comic version of Hive to the novelization.

Hmm... never read the novel. Does it explain just what the hell actually happened to Norbert?

Miss Perry does do a good job with Labyrinth, but I don't think the quality is that much better than the original comic.

Damned sight better than most other novels. And lightyears ahead of Earth Hive.

It IS a terrible Alien story for the most part however.

I was always kind'a partial to the bugger. Sure, no adult Aliens, really, but it was a neat story and didn't outstay its welcome.

[Kimarhi]

Norbert just gets ripped apart by the Aliens.

Kidnapped is weird.  I really like the materialistic future it portrayed, and it did try to bring back sexual overtones to the series..........but it had no awe factor, nor any money panels or action.  I still like it, but like your take on Eternal, I felt it needed that one extra step to make it worthwhile.

But then again thats the primary fault of 90% of the comics/novels.  They are right there, but they never give the extra oomph to the stories/characters to knock your socks off. 

They'll nail the setting down and forget the characters.  Get interesting characters, forget the story.  Have a good story, and ruin it with mushroom headed badguy zealots.

I think the most maddening thing about the comics isn't that their terrible, its that there average where the writers show flashes of potential.

I'll also throw out some other oneshots.

Aliens Glass Corridor
Aliens Pig (again with the individuals driven by greed)

Its worth checking out Aliens Purge to see how the movies/comics influence each other. 

[SiL]

Norbert just gets ripped apart by the Aliens.

How anticlimactic. Looks like he explodes in the comic

I felt it needed that one extra step to make it worthwhile.

This is true. And I can't remember it being explained why the burster never grew up, either. Been a while since I read it, though.

[Kimarhi]

It was carrying that disease.





I'll have to check out Harvest, he might've died differently for real.  Shirley (if I remember the author right) actually added some action scenes that were not in the original, so he might have died differnetly.  Honesty cannot remember.

[Corporal Hicks]

Sheckley He's dead now.