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Aliens: Alien is a three-part comic book short story that was first published by Dark Horse Comics in the company's self-titled anthology series Dark Horse Comics #17-19, from January-March 1994. It was written by John Arcudi, illustrated by Paul Mendoza, colored by Jim Sinclair, lettered by Vickie Williams, and edited by Randy Stradley and Edward Martin III. Issue #18 of Dark Horse Comics also featured an Aliens cover by Mendoza.

In Dark Horse's Aliens comics line, Aliens: Alien was preceded by Aliens: Cargo, published concurrently with Aliens: Colonial Marines, Aliens: Earth Angel, Aliens: Crusade, Aliens: Labyrinth, Aliens: Music of the Spears and Operation: Aliens, and was followed by Aliens: Stronghold.

Publisher's Summary[]

#17: To his tribe, Suom isn't yet a man. But he has seen the Night Reaper, whose hideous reign of fear and death strikes at night and steals away by morning. Only Suom has seen the face of the Reaper and survived, and only he can conquer this beast in part one of "Alien," featuring beautiful art by Paul Mendoza and the story of a horrifying coming of age by John Arcudi.

#18: Dark Horse Comics #18 features part 2 of "Alien," John Arcudi's terrifying tale of a village ripped apart by the mysterious Night Reaper. Young Suom and his hunting party finally locate the beast, but it may be the last thing they ever do.

#19: In part 3 of John Arcudi's "Alien," the Faceless One may have saved Suom and Shius from the deadly Night Reaper, but at what cost to them, their village, and the future of Suom's tribe?

Plot[]

On a distant, unnamed world, a village of extraterrestrial humanoids have been terrorized by the "Night Reaper," a creature that preys on the tribe's weakest members under the cover of night while their strongest members are off hunting for food. After a particularly viscous and gruesome overnight attack perpetrated by the Night Reaper, the tribe's chieftain, Ar'Jum, organizes a hunting party in hopes of tracking and slaying the beast once and for all. Ar'Jum quickly enlists Shius and Klum to join the expedition as they "no longer have families," when Suom, a younger member of the tribe whose facial markings indicate he has not yet made or taken a life, demands to join the hunting party. While Ar'Jum initially discounts Suom's request due to his status within the tribe, but changes his mind when Suom reminds him that he is only member of their tribe to have witnessed the Night Reaper and survived, meaning he can positively identify the beast, making him an invaluable addition to the hunt.

Shortly before dusk, the four tribesmen leave their village on the hunting expedition. Not long before dawn, they start to worry their inability to track the beast can only mean that the Night Reaper may be stalking their village while they're away. Not a moment sooner, the Night Reaper leaps out and attacks Klum, killing him instantly with a headbite before whipping Ar'Jum with its tail, killing him as well. In an act of revenge, Shius sticks the beast with his large spear only to be doused in the creatures blood that burns through everything it touches. While the Alien is reeling from its wounds, Suom manages to get away with an injured Shius, to find shelter in the open plain, which would have been impossible if not for the severely damaged remnants of a ship that must have crash landed on their world long ago.

While Shius rests in the shade of the ships decaying hull, Suom investigates the rest of the abandoned vessel, and came across "strange things," technology he's never seen before, and a human corpse with a giant hole in its chest. Before long, Shius cries out to Suom thinking the sounds he's hearing outside might be the Night Reaper. To Suom's surprise, the sounds are actually being made by an entirely different creature altogether; A human, in an extravehicular spacesuit, that Suom dubs "the Faceless One." While a lack of communication leaves Suom and Shius unsure about whether they can trust him, Suom's fears are tempered when the Faceless One provides them with a warm fire and food. The mysterious visitor then gives Shius an injection which Suom believes may revive him until Shius ultimately succumbs to his wounds and passes on. While Suom starts to ponder whether Shius' death was the intended outcome, the two are attacked by the Night Reaper, but the beast is killed in the blink of an eye by the Faceless One's high-powered weapon.

After the initial shock wore off, Suom thanked the Faceless One for saving him and his people from the Night Reaper and asks the man if he can take the monster's head home to reassure his tribe of their safety. When the man denies Suom of his request, he cannot bear the thought of being denied of his prize and returning to his tribe empty handed after enduring so much pain and horror. Suom's paranoia leads him to believe the Faceless One must want the Night Reaper's head to become chieftain of Suom's tribe himself. Then, in a panic induced act of aggression, stabs the Faceless One through the chest with his large spear, killing him, only to return to his village as the sole survivor of the hunting expedition, holding the Faceless One's damaged helmet in the air for all in his tribe to see.

Reprint History[]

Dark Horse Comics[]

In the United Kingdom, Aliens: Alien was planned to be serialized and reprinted in 3 parts in Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #21-23, from March-May 1994. However, the cancellation of the magazine after issue 22 (April 1994) left the rerun unfinished.

The comic was eventually collected as part of Aliens Omnibus: Volume 5 in October 2008.

The comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on June 6, 2013, reusing Paul Mendoza's cover art from Dark Horse Comics #18.

Marvel Comics[]

Following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Alien comic books, the comic was collected as part of Marvel's Aliens: The Original Years Volume 2 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. The collection was released in January 2022.

Behind the Scenes[]

The comic is notable as one of the few Aliens stories from Dark Horse Comics to depict an alien species other than the Xenomorphs. Other notable non-Xenomorph aliens featured in the franchise include the lizard-like space travelers in Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation, the Reapers from Aliens: Reapers, the reptilian Xenomorph-eating alien from Aliens: Taste, the alien pilot shown in Aliens: Earth Angel, the extraterrestrial scientists in Aliens: Incubation, the alien monkeys in Aliens: Fire and Stone and, of course, the Predators and Engineers. Such species were for many years limited to Aliens comics from Dark Horse, although several recent Alien novels have also introduced non-Xenomorph species, such as Alien: Out of the Shadows and Aliens: Bug Hunt.

John Arcudi is a veteran writer of Aliens and Predator comics, having also worked on Predator: God's Truth, Predator: Big Game, Aliens: Reapers, Aliens: Genocide, Aliens: Stronghold, Aliens: Alchemy, Aliens: More Than Human and Predator: Prey to the Heavens. He was also the original writer on Dark Horse Comics' The Mask, which was turned into a theatrical film of the same name starring Jim Carrey.

Gallery[]

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