Dark Horse To Reboot Comic Series

[Ultramorph]

Why is it gratuitous?  It's obviously a cross media project of sorts to tie everything together.

People moan about the comics and novels, then they do something different and people still moan.

Imagine that...

Since this isn't a debate I very much want to have, I'll just point out a few points.

Some people feel it's gratuitous because going back to Ripley is preventing the series from evolving in a new or interesting direction; this has been an argument since the decision to dredge Ripley up from the dead 17 years ago in A:R. On a more recent note, there's been a pretty common agreement that Out of the Shadows was good or decent despite the Ripley angle, not because of it. While there certainly are people who will flock to 35th anniversary media that has the familiar face of Ripley, most fans don't seem to love the idea.

As to "tying everything together," that can be done easily, and probably better, without the Ripleys. I understand some fans want everything to tie together, and I do respect their opinion, but is potentially having Amanda Ripley go from surviving Aliens on Sebastopol Station to getting caught up with Engineers really a good way to tie everything together?

As for fans demanding new things and then complaining about them, I agree with you to an extent. The only issue is that most of what has been done with the EU hasn't been original. Prometheus is a great original jumping off point, but it looks like the resulting EU will just be going back to an old, tired trough.

People just want something that's new and good.

But I will repeat: I've liked what we got so far (Out of the Shadows) and am looking forward to the new comics and novels, I just hope the Ripley angle starts taking a back seat.

[RakaiThwei]

As to "tying everything together," that can be done easily, and probably better, without the Ripleys. I understand some fans want everything to tie together, and I do respect their opinion, but is potentially having Amanda Ripley go from surviving Aliens on Sebastopol Station to getting caught up with Engineers really a good way to tie everything together?

I am curious to how that works out. The Ripley's not withstanding, I am curious to how they tie in everything but then again, they really aren't tying in EVERYTHING since.. you know, they're not counting the AvP movies or the old EU.

[SM]

Everything going forward.

Not the old stuff.

As I've said elsewhere, fans don't know what they want - only what they don't want.

[Ultramorph]

I would love all the new 2014 novels, comics, and Alien: Isolation to tie together. I just hope/wish they restrain the Ripley/Hicks fanwanking. I want more Engineer and black goo than I do Ripleys.

[Xenomrph]

I would love all the new 2014 novels, comics, and Alien: Isolation to tie together. I just hope/wish they restrain the Ripley/Hicks fanwanking. I want more Engineer and black goo than I do Ripleys.

Seconding this. If postponing the comics lets them tie in with Isolation or the new novels and whatnot in interesting ways, I'm all for it.

[RakaiThwei]

Maybe Ultramorph or myself should ask Sebela if this will tie in with Isolation and the novels.

[SM]

Just remember - NDA.

[RakaiThwei]

Just remember - NDA.

Right, right.. Good thing I haven't asked yet, or probably will ask if ever. Mhm..

[The1PerfectOrganism]

I would love all the new 2014 novels, comics, and Alien: Isolation to tie together. I just hope/wish they restrain the Ripley/Hicks fanwanking. I want more Engineer and black goo than I do Ripleys.

Seconding this. If postponing the comics lets them tie in with Isolation or the new novels and whatnot in interesting ways, I'm all for it.

I don't mind seeing Amanda but I swear to God if I see Ellen standing with an Engineer I'll pull my hair out.

[Ultramorph]

I would love all the new 2014 novels, comics, and Alien: Isolation to tie together. I just hope/wish they restrain the Ripley/Hicks fanwanking. I want more Engineer and black goo than I do Ripleys.

Seconding this. If postponing the comics lets them tie in with Isolation or the new novels and whatnot in interesting ways, I'm all for it.

I don't mind seeing Amanda but I swear to God if I see Ellen standing with an Engineer I'll pull my hair out.

I agree with both of you. We've already had Ripley training with Predators to fight Alien-Terminators, so hopefully they don't feel the need to do any that silly again.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together by year's end.

I might ask Sebela something along the lines of "Thoughts on Alien: Isolation?" His response is sure to be at least entertaining. Last time I asked him about AvP he said something like "There'll be Aliens and Predators and at some point they'll versus the bejeezus out of each other." NDAs are funny like that.

As far as if all the upcoming stuff will have connections (which I'm beginning to believe more and more that they will), I'm still curious about some of the wording in the Sea of Sorrows blurb, which has already ignited some debate over wording, particularly the "descendants" issue. The last line is "This second novel and its two tightly plotted tie-ins will directly relate to the first two films of the franchise, expanding the canon like never before." I'm not sure if that's just a mundane, badly worded reference to the other two books in the trilogy (a likely conclusion) or if they mean something else, like the comic series and Alien: Isolation. I've had no luck asking James Moore, since his blog wants a Google account I just can't seem to get set up. You can try at http://genrefied.blogspot.com/2013/11/alien-sea-of-sorrows.html.

I just thought I'd do a bit more exploring on the Amanda Ripley angle, comparing what we've seen from Isolation with the Palumbo cover. Here's the (admittedly rough) result of putting the two faces side-by-side:



For me the clincher is the set and color of both character's eyes, both seeming to be brown and set rather close. The mouths looks very similar as well, not to mention the hair(style).

As for the point about the suits looking like a different vintage, that could go either way. The character of the Aliens cover would fit right in in the general period of Alien.




Another thing I noticed on Palumbo's version of the cover is the vintage of the spacesuits the cocooned characters are wearing. While the helmets looks vaguely Prometheus-esque, the gloves make me think they're later, from around, again, the period of Alien:



Compare the bulky glove and possible shoulder pads with a suit from say, Alien: Isolation:



I'm becoming more and more convinced it's all connected.

[RakaiThwei]

I thought that these new comics were happening directly after Prometheus. You know.. around 2093 or 2094. That's a bit before Amanda Ripley being born, let alone conceived anyway.

[The1PerfectOrganism]

Well, if you remember the crew in the Cargo-bay wore gloves and suits that were very Alien-astronaut esque in Prometheus.
The two asthetics can work.

[Ultramorph]

True points. My response would be that all we've been told is that the Prometheus comic will be set shortly after the movie. Nothing has really been said about the others aside from some of them functioning as sequels to each other. Dark Horse has been pretty careful about what they give away.

[RakaiThwei]

If we take into the accounts of Ripley's statement in the ALIENS: Director's cut, by the time she had left to be onboard of the Nostromo, Ripley did tell her daughter that she would be home for her eleventh birthday. Assuming her age range is somewhere between 10 to 11, Amanda would be born around.. 2111 or 2112.

I'll be honest.. I personally do not want to think this person as being Amanda, but I would've assumed that the comics actually be set around the same time to form a very large, but very closely interconnected story. Then again they did say that each story was their own as well..

[Ultramorph]

It's one of those things where we won't really know until the comics hit stores. Aside from the resemblance between the character on the cover and what we've seen of Amanda Ripley and the fact that the comics have been delayed so "some things match up," it's a complete mystery. We should keep in mind that a lot of what DH has said was, at this point, a while ago, and that there has and continues to be a long time before release for things to change. The last time DH did a multi-comic crossover, back in '09/'10, quite a bit of time elapsed between series as well (particularly Predator and AvP), so it's not beyond reason to think that the Alien series could take place a ways after Prometheus.