Xenopedia
Register
Advertisement
Xenopedia

Aliens is a 52-page "oversized" (9 × 12) format comics magazine that was published in the United Kingdom from December 1997-February 1998 by Titan Comics. It contained serialized reprints of existing Aliens comic books from Dark Horse Comics for the UK market, along with articles, news and interviews pertaining to the Alien franchise.

Poor sales led to the magazine being cancelled after just three issues.

Overview[]

Titan Comics launched their Aliens magazine in late 1997 to coincide with the release of Alien Resurrection in theaters; correspondingly, one of the first comic book reprints to feature in the publication was the comic adaptation of the film. As well as comic reprints, the magazine also featured original articles on the Alien franchise and, beginning with issue 2, a news section detailing upcoming releases of Alien merchandise, under the title "The Company Bulletin". Articles were principally written by Eric Frederickson, and the magazine was edited by Marcus Hearn.

Poor sales saw the magazine being cancelled after only three issues had been published. Cut short by this cancellation was the magazine's reprints of Aliens: Berserker and Aliens: Mondo Pest, which were left incomplete after just one installment each.

Contents[]

Issue 1 (Dec 1997)
  • Alien Resurrection (part 1 of 2)
  • Earth Angel (part 1 of 2)
  • Additional features:
    • Article: "The Beginner's Guide to... Alien Resurrection" by Eric Frederickson, a guide to the development, cast and crew of Alien Resurrection.
    • Article: "Character Profile: Ripley" by Eric Frederickson, about Ellen Ripley's journey across the first three Alien films.
    • Article: "Alien Archivist" by Eric Frederickson, an interview with Alan Adler, 20th Century Fox prop archivist.
  • Cover art: Promotional image from Alien Resurrection
Issue 2 (January 1998)
  • Alien Resurrection (part 2 of 2)
  • Earth Angel (part 2 of 2)
  • Additional features:
    • The Company Bulletin —
      • "Three Aliens Captured in Box", about the upcoming VHS box set of the first three Alien films.
      • "Disc-Shaped Objects", about the release of the Alien Resurrection soundtrack on CD.
      • "Japanese Unveil Alien Sculptures", about a Japanese Alien and Predator figure set.
    • Article: "Giger's Alien" by Dave Hughes, about H. R. Giger's sometimes troubled relationship with Hollywood studios.
    • Article: "Beasts" by Jonathan Rigby, evaluating the imagery and subtext of the first three Alien films.
    • Contest: Win Alien Saga box sets
  • Cover art: Promotional image from Alien Resurrection
Issue 3 (February 1998)
  • Aliens: Berserker (part 1 of 4, incomplete)
  • Aliens: Mondo Pest (part 1 of 2, incomplete)
  • Additional features:
    • The Company Bulletin —
      • "The Fifth Element", about the production of a fifth Alien film.
      • "Company Releases New Combat Simulation", about the upcoming release of the Aliens versus Predator video game.
    • Contest: Win Alien Resurrection merchandise and soundtrack CDs
  • Cover art: Re-uses cover from Aliens: Berserker #2 by Kilian Plunkett

Unpublished issues[]

The following issues were solicited/planned but never published. As such, their contents may not be entirely accurate and is almost certainly incomplete.

Issue 4 (March 1998)

Trivia[]

  • Aliens magazine shares its title with the similar Aliens magazine published from 1991 to 1994, first by Trident Comics and later Dark Horse International. Despite being officially unrelated, both publications are remarkably similar in format, featuring comic book reprints for the UK market alongside exclusive articles and news on the Alien franchise. In a further coincidence, author Dave Hughes worked on both publications.
  • The interviews with H. R. Giger and Jean-Pierre Jeunet teased for issue 4 were originally scheduled to appear in issue 3.[1] Given the sudden cancellation of the magazine, it is dubious whether these interviews were ever conducted at all.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. Eric Frederickson. Aliens #2, p. 51 (1998), Titan Comics.
Advertisement