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Aliens: Meltdown is a mini-comic that was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1992. It was included exclusively with the Sgt. Drake action figure produced by Kenner Products. The story was written by Dan Jolley, penciled by Rick Hoberg, inked by Ian Akin, lettered by Dan Nakrosis, and edited by Dan Thorsland, with cover art by Joe Phillips.
Meltdown was a part of the Aliens: Space Marines series, a number of mini-comics included exclusively with certain toys from Kenner's Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator toy lines. It was the fifth comic in the series, continuing the story from Aliens: Jungle Attack, and its story was continued in the subsequent comic, Aliens: Showdown.
Publisher's Summary[]
Sometime in the future...
Humankind has begun to explore space, colonizing planets throughout the galaxy. Leading the way are the SPACE MARINES, the toughest heavy metal warriors in the galaxy! Armed to the teeth with state-of-the-art weaponry, they keep the peace in a universe filled with danger... and ALIENS!
Vicious, gruesome, and deadly, the Aliens spit acid, and use slithering face huggers to capture their prey. Led by their sinister Queen, the Aliens are spreading everywhere, mutating into more deadly forms as they go. Earth's last defense: The Space Marines, known throughout the galaxy as the best bug-fighters around.
So lock and load, Marine, the invasion is on!
Plot[]
Having tracked the captured Lt. Ripley to the treetop Hive built by the Gorilla Aliens, Sgt. Drake rescues her from the clutches of one of the creatures by shooting out the branch from beneath it with his Smartgun. Now reunited, the entire team opens up on the Hive, destroying it. However, when they are attacked by a Queen they find themselves too low on ammo to defeat her. Fortunately, Bishop arrives in the rescue ship, scoops the Queen up in a containment cell, and dumps her into an active volcano. The Marines, satisfied their job is complete, head back to Earth for some R&R, not noticing a single undamaged Egg they leave behind, which is then found by another of the planet's native gorilla life-forms.
Reprint History[]
For many years, Aliens: Meltdown was never offered for individual sale anywhere and was exclusive to the Sgt. Drake toy from Kenner with which it was packaged, making it (along with the rest of the Aliens: Space Marines series) among the rarest Aliens comics from Dark Horse.
However, following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Alien comic books, almost all of the Aliens: Space Marines mini-comics were collected as part of Marvel's Aliens: The Original Years Volume 1 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. This marked the first time the previously rare Kenner comics had ever been reissued in a mass market format. The collection was released in May 2021.
Trivia[]
- Interestingly, Drake mentions at one point that the Gorilla Aliens are "almost as ugly as my old prison cellmates", which ties into background information for Drake (from Aliens) that states he only joined the Colonial Marines to escape a lengthy jail sentence.
Goofs[]
- When the Space Marines come across Ripley's flamethrower, the time is given as 0100 hours. However, in the previous comic, the Marines found the treetop hive at 0600 hours.
- In both Aliens: Desert Storm and Aliens: Operation: Rescue, Bishop states that the Aliens would impregnate Apone within the hour after capturing him. In Meltdown, it takes the Space Marines at least nine hours to find Ripley, meaning she should have been impregnated by the time they save her (although considering that Ripley is in the arms of a Gorilla Alien when she is found, it is possible she was still being transported to the Hive when the Space Marines arrived).
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