Aliens omnibus.

This volume collects the first three story arcs in Dark Horse Comics' classic Aliens series. The first two parts, Outbreak and Nightmare Asylum, are absolute classics that made a greater, more positive contribution to the Aliens canon than several of the films. The third part, Earth War (here titled Female War), is a much weaker story, however.

Set after the second movie, Outbreak follows the further exploits of Corporal Dwayne Hicks and Newt. Hicks' trauma and unanswered questions about his previous mission has led him to have a rocky career in the Colonial Marines, prone to drunken brawls. With Ripley nowhere to be seen, young Newt ends up involuntarily committed to an insane asylum, spending much of her time in a drugged daze. When Hicks finds himself drawn into a mission involving a trip to the alien home world, he breaks Newt out of confinement and smuggles her aboard his ship, hoping that the both of them can find closure despite the deadly circumstances. As always, however, the company has a different agenda.

I first read Outbreak circa 1991, collected into graphic novel format and purchased at a mall Waldenbooks. I was a devout Marvel kid, and had never read anything much darker than some Punisher and the original Eastman & Laird Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics. These early Aliens comics came as sort of a shock to my preteen system. The black and white art was moody and grim, and although I was a fan of the movies I wasn't accustomed to seeing this much detailed gore in my comic books. I was a little unsettled by the Aliens comics, but I also found them incredibly compelling. I would spend hours practicing my own xenomorph illustrations based on the artwork from the comics.

Thirty years later, Outbreak still holds up. Hicks and Newt were renamed Wilks and Billie in reprints when both characters were perfunctorily killed off in the opening credits of Alien 3 in 1992, but the story works best as a sort of alternate timeline and I therefore mentally filled in the original character names whenever the retconned ones came up in the text. The artwork in the omnibus has been colorized, which diminishes some of the stark impact of the original black and white, but it's still a fantastic-looking series.

For me, if Outbreak was the appetizer, Nightmare Asylum was the main course. With Earth overrun by aliens, Hicks and Newt find themselves unwilling guests on an orbiting space station run by a ruthless Colonial Marine officer obsessed with the idea of weaponizing his growing stock of xenomorphs and using them to reconquer Earth. The premise of the story—the attempt to tame and weaponize the aliens—is a natural fit for the Aliens universe, and echoes of it later turned up in Alien: Resurrection. Unlike Outbreak, the Nightmare Asylum artwork was color from the very beginning, and incredibly vivid color at that. For a franchise that tends towards dark tones, the effect was striking. Nightmare Asylum remains a great looking miniseries.

The omnibus includes with Earth War, here retitled Female War. Ripley, heroine of the movies, returns, but her introduction feels strange with the renaming of Hicks and Newt. Why are they so happy to see her? Why does she care for them? Just ignore it and blame Alien 3 for the awkwardness. This time, the story involves yet another return to the alien home world, this time to pick up a "Queen Mother" xenomorph that manages to look far less imposing than the cinematic alien queen. The xenomorphs are psychically connected and it's hoped that by dropping her on Earth they can get all the aliens to flock to her and then conveniently nuke them all in one massive strike.

While the first two story arcs were important parts of my youthful comic collection, I always left the Earth War graphic novel on the Waldenbooks shelf unpurchased. The artwork always struck me as so ugly, and such a major step down from Nightmare Asylum. I bought this omnibus because I finally wanted to read Earth War as an adult, with a more sophisticated palate. Unfortunately, younger me was right not to spend his precious allowance money on this particular installment in the series. The artwork still felt ugly and poor to me, and despite sharing the same writer as the previous series both the plot and characterization seemed to take a step down. The newly introduced Colonial Marines are characterization-free, the premise is kind of goofy, and the whole operation is taken care of with surprising ease. Compared to the first two volumes, Earth War felt muddled and rushed.

Despite ending on a tremendously weak note, this omnibus contains some excellent comics that add a great deal of flavor and excitement to the Aliens universe. Wholeheartedly recommended to fans of the movies.