Do Aliens Dream? is a comic book short story that was published by Argus House in its UK-based Skeleton Crew magazine, Vol. 2 #2, in July 1990. Published in black and white, the story was written by Adrien Rigelsford, illustrated and inked by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood and edited by Dave Hughes.
As Dark Horse Comics had no involvement with Do Aliens Dream? (and do not hold the rights to it), it is not considered a part of the company's Aliens comics line and has never been collected in any form with the Dark Horse releases.
Overview
Do Aliens Dream? is unusual amongst Aliens comics for several reasons. Firstly, it was not solicited or published by Dark Horse Comics, by rather by British publisher Argus House. Second, it features no dialogue, and is presented entirely from the point of view of a Xenomorph, following the creature from the time it hatches as a Facehugger, through to impregnating a host and emerging as a Chestburster, before fleeing to a Hive inside an Atmosphere Processor on a planet that may or may not be LV-426.
Reprint History
Do Aliens Dream? has never been collected or reissued.
Behind the Scenes
Because it has never been reissued, Do Aliens Dream? has only ever been printed in black and white. This is something of a rarity when it comes to Alien comic books — while several stories from Dark Horse Comics' official Aliens comics line were originally published in black and white, most have subsequently been colourized for various re-releases. In fact, there are only seven Dark Horse Aliens stories that have never been reprinted in color — Aliens: Countdown, Aliens: Headhunters, Aliens: Border Lines, Aliens: 45 Seconds, Aliens: Elder Gods, Aliens: Tourist Season and Aliens: Once in a Lifetime. The only other story that has never been issued in color is the non-Dark Horse comic Illegal Aliens.
Skeleton Crew magazine was created in the UK by Dave Hughes (who went on to write for Aliens magazine for Dark Horse International) and focussed on "modern horror literature".[1] Despite modest beginnings as a self-published fanzine, it saw moderate success with its varied content of professional fiction and articles by and about such respected writers as Clive Barker, Brian Lumley and Ramsey Campbell. Within two years the magazine was picked up by Argus House which began publishing it as a professional magazine.[1] For its second professional issue, Hughes elected to focus on Aliens.
Like Hughes, illustrator Lee Brimmicombe-Wood would also go on to write for Aliens magazine, composing the publication's Technical Readout section, describing the technical aspects of much of the equipment seen in the film series. Brimmicombe-Wood's work in the magazine would eventually evolve into the book Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual, written by Brimmicombe-Wood and edited by Hughes.
Despite not being a Dark Horse publication, the cover art for the issue of Skeleton Crew containing the story is from a Dark Horse comic — specifically, it is John Bolton's cover art for Aliens: Female War #1, which was released the previous month.
Other articles included in the Aliens-themed issue of Skeleton Crew (among its regular dose of horror fiction, articles and reviews) were:
- Adrien Rigelsford's early speculations about the upcoming Alien III.
- Alien concept artist Chris Foss writing on his experiences working on the pre-production of the movie.
- Actor Brian Blessed expressing his love of the Alien movies.
- A long interview with James Cameron about his career by Philip Nutman.
- A review of the Dark Horse Aliens comics so far (at the time, only Aliens: Outbreak and Aliens: Nightmare Asylum had been released) by Nick Gillott.
- A one-page parody by Brimmicombe-Wood of Leading Edge Games' Aliens Expansion for their licensed boardgame.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Hasslein Blog - The Alien/Predator Comic Strips, Part One". Retrieved on 2015-06-12.