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Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation, originally titled Aliens, is a comic book short story that was first published by Dark Horse Comics in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents, Vol. 1 #24, in November 1988. The story is written in the form of an in-universe report by Aliens: Outbreak character Dr. Waidslaw Orona on the reproductive cycle of the Xenomorph, with accompanying imagery of Alien life and development. Originally published in black and white, the story was written by Mark Verheiden and Mark A. Nelson, illustrated and lettered by Nelson, and edited by Randy Stradley. The issue of Dark Horse Presents also featured Aliens cover art by Nelson. The comic serves as a tie-in to the six-issue series Aliens: Outbreak, produced by the same creative team.

In Dark Horse's Aliens comics line, Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation was published concurrently with Aliens: Outbreak, and was followed by Aliens: Nightmare Asylum.

Theory of Alien Propagation was later adapted as part of the novel Aliens: Earth Hive by Steve Perry, published in 1992.

Publisher's Summary[]

Writer Mark Verheiden and artist Mark A. Nelson present an all-new "side bar" story to Dark Horse's ongoing Aliens miniseries as they take us inside the mind of an Alien Queen!

Plot[]

Written by a civilian advisor to the Colonial Marine Corps, Dr. Waidslaw Oronoa's report titled Theory of Alien Propagation examines the Xenomorph species and its reproductive cycle, while speculating about their potentially hostile homeworld, their aggressive natural predators, and how they ultimately spread across the universe.

Reprint History[]

Dark Horse Comics[]

Aliens Theory of Alien Propagation One-shot

Cover to Aliens mini-comic by Nelson.

Shortly after its publication in Dark Horse Presents #24, the Aliens short story was given a stand-alone release as a mini-comic, published in February 1989. This edition featured new cover art by Mark A. Nelson and also included seven plates by Nelson showcasing Aliens artwork.

The short story was later collected as part of Aliens: Book One, a trade paperback re-release of Aliens: Outbreak, published in November 1989. A deluxe hard cover edition of Aliens: Book One, again including the Aliens short story, was released in June 1990.

The story received its current title, Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation, when it was collected alongside a number of other Aliens short stories featured in Dark Horse Presents in the Dark Horse Presents: Aliens trade paperback. The issue was published in April 1992 and featured a new cover by Simon Bisley, while the story itself was colored by Chris Chalenor.

In the United Kingdom, Theory of Alien Propagation was again reprinted in Aliens magazine, Vol. 1 #17, in June 1992.

Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation was collected as part of Aliens Omnibus: Volume 1 in July 2007.

The comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on February 13, 2013, collected with Aliens: The Alien and reusing John Bolton's cover art from Aliens, Vol. 2: Nightmare Asylum.

The comic was collected and released again as part of Aliens 30th Anniversary: The Original Comics Series, released on April 26, 2016 as part of Alien Day. This version was a hardcover, "oversized" (8 × 12) format collector's edition, featuring the original, unedited 1988 version of Aliens: Outbreak (including the original characters of Hicks and Newt). The collection also included a second related short story, Aliens: Lucky, along with a pin-up gallery of the original issue cover artwork, a foreword by Verheiden, an afterword by Nelson and a selection of Nelson's original pitch artwork. All three comics were presented in black and white, with Lucky being specially converted from its original color format for this release.

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 1 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. The collection was released in May 2021.

The short story was later collected as part of Aliens Epic Collection: The Original Years Vol. 1 in March 2023 alongside other early Dark Horse stories.

Behind the Scenes[]

The creative team of writer Mark Verheiden, artist Mark A. Nelson and editor Randy Stradley was the same that had produced Aliens: Outbreak, to which the short story acts as a tie-in.

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 Reapers from Aliens: Reapers, the reptilian Xenomorph-eating alien from Aliens: Taste, the alien pilot shown in Aliens: Earth Angel, the hunting village aliens from Aliens: Alien, the extraterrestrial scientists in Aliens: Incubation, the alien monkeys in Aliens: Fire and Stone and, of course, the Predators and Engineers. While such species were originally limited to Aliens comics from Dark Horse, several recent Alien novels have also introduced non-Xenomorph species, such as Alien: Out of the Shadows and Aliens: Bug Hunt.

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