Ugh, I remember coming across Labyrinth as a little kid. I was sneaking into my dad's comic book boxes late one night and I flipped through some of the pages; not a great thing for a 7 year old to find lmao
It's amazing to actually see someone commenting on the 90's Dark Horse Alien comics. It's even more amazing you did a top 3 list of them. But I would pick up "Music of the Spears" in place of "Labyrinth", because Dr. Church from Labyrinth is clearly an unrealiable narrator, so the reader never knows if he's telling the truth about his experiences on the hive. Also, he's pretty much classic mad scientist. However, "Music of the Spears" has a mad musician as main antagonist, it explores whether Aliens are capable of attachment, and also has a great ending for a comic book.
Also Aliens vs Ninjas! Seriously though, half of comic book storytelling is the artwork, and while Tim Hamilton's work is fine, Kilian Plunkket's work is singular. I find it kind of puzzling why an unreliable narrator would be a negative? It's a deliberate narrative tactic that adds more nuance to the story. You have to ask yourself whether the whole hive experience ever happened. OR even more interesting, it might be a Life of PI situation where he's telling the truth about what happened, but through metaphor. Don't get me wrong, I like Music of the Spears, just don't think it's top echelon material.
Alpha Rookie Well, don't get me wrong, "Labyrinth" is a top Alien DH comic book, but in the end, I find *Dr. Church* a less interesting villain than I do find *Mr. Damon Eddington*. *Dr. Church* is a very subtle "mad scientist" villain, and an unreliable narrator, which does not detract his character, but makes the reader wonder if the whole "xenos = hell" backstory is nothing but *Dr. Church* terrible pervert mind at work. So, in a way, "Labyrinth" most shocking element wouldn't be *Dr. Church* horrendous ordeal at the xenomorph hive, instead it would be his *demented and derranged mind*. "Labyrinth" is a good horror story, but it goes too much by the book (horror cliché), on my opinion. On the other hand, "Music of the Spears" isn't a top notch classic horror storytelling like "Labyrinth", but it is an *unique top metastorytelling*. It's not just about an artist going slowly mad over the search for a perfect art, but also an unique critique about the entertainment industry at the time, if you think about it as a *metastory*. I can only imagine how hard it must be for writers, pencillers and inkers to create top quality comic books, and at the same time, how hard it must be for them not to get proper recognition. It is the same problem *Mr. Damon Eddington* goes through in "Music of the Spears", and it shows how it slowly erodes his state of mind, making him more and more crazy and unstable. Also, "Music of the Spears" shows the Xenomorph less as the cosmic horror "Labyrinth" did, and more as a common or perhaps natural everyday occurence, which is in itself culture shock horror. People aren't scared by the Xenomorph, they know the creature, they interact with it on daily basis and they treat it more like a dangerous dog than a cosmic abomination. One character even *volunteer* to breed a Xenomorph, how crazy someone must be to volunteer for it, I wonder? Not only that, but since Xenomorphs have become like dogs and cats in "Music of the Spears", the reader is left to wonder if the same would apply from the Xenomorph viewpoint, that is, if the Xenomorph look at us not as food or host, but also as a sort of pet. It is a little and subtle alien psychology touch to the story that makes it great, and the ending is very poetic and karmic, making it less like a chronicle and more like a fable. I know list choices are subjective, but in the end, I would choose "Music of the Spears" in place of "Labyrinth" essentially because I have never seen anything like it. I hope you understand me, and keep making great videos like this one. Marco, signing out.
+Marco Túlio Todeschini Coelho Very thorough and insightful comments. Next time I read it I'll keep your your thoughts in mind. Thanks for the discussion!
+Marco Túlio Todeschini Coelho AlphaMale here: it's funny, I've read basically every single novelization of Alien/Predator and the only one I couldn't was Music of the Spears. There was something about the plot and the style of writing I just couldn't get into. I should probably go back abd give it another try. I might even still own a copy.
I agree with you all the way. Labyrinth is hands down the best Aliens story. It be great if someone (20th century fox) made it into a live action movie one day.
Wonder if the scene with the pregnant women in AVPR took after labyrinth. Man that movie was screwed up. And dark. Like really, really dark. Seriously. I couldn't see any of the cool stuff.
The only way I've recently been able to watch it is on 4K UHD and of course, with the picture settings just slightly tuned to up the brightness a tad bit.
Thanks for the recommendations, Alpha Rookie! Can't wait to read these on my kindle. I'm definitely most excited to read Labyrinth. I'm glad that you mentioned Aliens. I do feel that James Cameron's action sequel is an incredible movie, and at that, one of the best movie sequels ever made. However, it unfortunately reduced the Xenomorph to little more than space ants. The original Xenomorph was something beautiful, terrifying, and pure. And it certainly was one of the best uses of Lovecraftian horror. Mankind's first steps among the stars introduce it to the unimaginable nightmares lurking in the beyond. I love the Alien vs Predator franchise, but I do miss the original idea behind the Alien. It represents the kind of horror that I crave and can't get enough of, and is an inspiration to my own art. I don't see the Xenomorph ever being something of true horror and mystique like it was when it first debuted on the big screen because it was such a popular thing. But hopefully someday someone can get us close to that in film. Once again, thanks for uploading another great video. Looking forward to seeing your future content and recommendations.
My idea for a third alien covenant/prometheus movie is as follows: The engineers are the main characters in the movie and comes to the planet that was in the Prometheus movie. There they find Weyland inside the crashed spaceship. They have a blue elixir which they empty all over him and bring him to life. But while doing this the Deacon from the Prometheus movie sneaks into their spaceship and hide it self in one of the ventilation chambers. In the next part they arrive at the planet from alien covenant and find the other robot(Walter) who is david's twin.The engineers use the blue elixir and repairs him. Once awaken the engineers and Weyland get to know all the horrible things that David has done, and weyland says "we have to stop David" . They set course for origae. When they arrive,they scans all the planet,and finds the planet is full of hostile organisms except on a high mountain where they discover that there are humans inside a cave. Inside the cave they meet a herd of children, who tell that when they had lived on the planet for over ten years, they began to be attacked by Xenomorphs and all the adults died or were turned into these creatures. There were also great giants developed by someone the children calls David. The engineers get ready to wipe out all the Xenomorphs that David has created, but the great giants manage to escape with one of the engineers' spaceships. The engineers and Weyland hunts the spaceship and manage to force the spaceship down on the planet lv426.Where it start sending a distress signal. The engineers return to Origae to find David, but discover that he has escaped. In the last part we see David arriving and meeting an unknown alien species on a tropical like planet. But when he and the unknown aliens have left the spaceship,the deacon slips out of the ship and is seen running toward the nearest settlement. And that makes the cliffhanger that ends the third movie. The ending movie could have a duration about five hours ?
Seeing the synthetic looking like a xenomorph brought made me thinknof something. By any chance is there such a thing as a rouge Xenomorph? One that actually has a mind of its own and instead does what it wants intead of helping the hive. Seems like it would be a great comic.
BTW, Aliens: Labyrinth also has a couple of full novel adaptations as well, and while I can't speak for one of them, Stephen Perry's adaptation of it is phenomenal. I've worn the spine out on that book, as I have most of my Aliens novels.
Jim Woodring has a Graphic Novel also covering aliens Labyrinth. I may have been thinking of that. I went to go double check my sources before posting here again and believe I may have just been thinking of the GN (which I've never gotten my hands on) in my original post. sorry for any confusion.
Wasn't the doctor from Labyrinth taken to a dying nest where the xenomorphs were dying off for an unexplained reason and they were getting extremely desperate which in part explains their nightmarish behaviors?
Wow all the videos you guys put out are really well done, keep it up!! You guys should do a top 3 terminator comics (DARK horse) their not talked about much.
Thank you for the compliment! I'm sure we'll eventually get around to it. In the mean time, if you haven't already stumbled upon it, we have a podcast where we discuss all the Terminator movies and a Robocop comics video where we dive into Robocop vs Terminator.
James Cameron knows science fiction. That's why the terminator series did so well. The movie "Aliens" made the series even better because it gave an explanation on where all the eggs came from by adding the queen.
Or worse depending on your perspective. A lot of people feel Cameron's Aliens ruined the Lovecraftian mystery behind the creature from the first movie by over explaining it.
No that wasn't my point. I love both Alien and Aliens. And I agree their both enjoyable. I'm just saying that explaining mysteries isn't always an improvement. I'm able to compartmentalize the movies so I can still get the sense of Lovecraftian unknown from the first movie even after seeing the sequels and Prometheus, but others might feel like revealing mysteries takes away from the horror and wonder of the first film. Prometheus is a good example in the case of the "space jockey." No one ever thought that it was a suit, an exoskeleton. And even after watching Prometheus, and going back watching Alien, it's obvious that it's an 15 foot tall creature with an elephantine proboscis and everything. The mystery of that creature was crucial. The thesis of that movie was that as humans explore the universe, they're going to expose themselves to shit that is so beyond their comprehension that this one creature (xenomorph) could cause so much horror and panic. And the xeno from the first movie is a total mystery. We don't know if it's intelligent, if it's killing out of instinct or malice or what. And that makes it scary. But in Aliens, now it's an ant. But don't get me wrong, I love Aliens. I'm just saying there's generally something lost in sequels, even really good ones. In this case it's that sense of mystery.
Stronghold and Salvation are both unexpected and interesting additions to the list. Not that I'll complain, it's actually kind of refreshing. My favourite Alien comics are (In no particular order) Book One + Two, Labyrinth, Sacrifice, Salvation, Apocalypse, Glass Corridor, Havok and Music of the Spears.
I have a copy of Stronghold and it was my favorite Dark Horse Alien comic of all time. Might get Labyrinth next, since I read it only online. There's an another favorite Alien comic that I love, called "Aliens: Destroying Angels" which is not by Dark Horse though.
Hmm, could have sworn it was. I am probably remembering it wrong. I love that story too. The premise/great reveal is that the Aliens are the universe's way of getting rid of sapient life that finds a way to spread beyond its own solar system. An answer to the Fermi paradox if you will. They destroyed the Space Jockeys and are about to destroy the Humanity too. That's cosmic horror. The _universe itself_ hates us! Of course that doesn't fit the new Prometheus/Covenant continuity, but who cares?
The Earth infestation is pretty good has the company has been warned over and over again by Ripley about how dangerous the Xenomorph can be ok due to an unfortunate accident by a stupid human cult at a facility is how the Xeno's spread all over the earth but still. I hope Disney get their fingers out and do a TV series on the Earth Infestation as we will see humanity almost brought to extinction.
I don't like comics never had any interest in them... Then I had to stumble onto this channel and get excited about comics because now there's something I actually want to find and read.
wasnt there an Alien story set in a medieval European setting, where a knight fights a xenomorph? i remember seeing pages of this when i was a kid (many moons ago) ive googled this, but cant find anything what so ever
he makez them out ta be little more than ROACHES!?! i used ta like the Story, butnow, i cant get the summation outta mah head. they coulda did without dat shit, man
Choices for Dark Horse Aliens storyline antagonist: A: Amoral Corporate Enterprise B: Crazy Religious Cult C: Psychopath Mad Scientist And I’m ok with that.
But, honestly my favorite might be Kidnapped. It’s super weird and nihilistic and ultimately the real predator is a “class 10 virus” and everything gets nuked in the same vein as Return of the Living Dead.
hi alpha rookie, I don't know too much about comics but with the Alien Covenant movie coming up I want to get into the whole Alien Predator Engineer universe, where would you suggest I start with the comics???
If you just want something that mirrors the movies universe, read Aliens Vol 1, 2, and 3. It follows the events after the first 2 movies. For Predator, the first 3 big stories follow the events of the Predator movie, with Dutch's brother as the main character. If you just want really good stories, follow our advice from this video and our others about Predator and AVP comics. Also, watch our first video about Aliens Retrospective, it goes into some detail about what you're asking. Prometheus is only in "Fire and Stone" and "Life and Death" but you'll definitely need to have watched the movie first.
Great picks. I really wish Kilian Plunkett illustrated the Colonial Marines series. I say this with no disrespect to any of the original artists because that series has great artwork, but Kilian Plunkett was one of the few who drew the technology from the Aliens universe in a format that very closely resembled the films. It doesn't hurt that his Xenomorph depictions were sleek, and lethal in appearance.
Aliens Book 2, Nightmare Asylum is my favorite. If youre a fan of the Aliens movie then Nightmare Asylum is an essential buy. Great story about Newt and Hicks and Bishop and Earth overrun with Aliens. The painted artwork is absolutely beautiful too. Funny thing about the comic too. After the Alien 3 movie came out the names of Hicks, Newt and Bishop were changed in the Nightmare asylum comic story to Wilks, Billie and Bueller. But the actual story is about Hicks, Newt and Bishop and the story is supposed to be following on from the Aliens movie. Because the Alien 3 movie killed those characters off Dark Horse comics changed the names of Hicks, Newt and Bishop to the other names i mentioned.
Dan Beauvais' artwork is phenomenal. We talk about the name change in our Dark Horse Aliens history video. Would love to eventually see a film tackle an Earth infestation! BTW Dark Horse announced it will be releasing a limited hardcover of the Nightmare Asylum material for "Alien Day" 2017 the way the did for the initial series last April.
Hey buddy. Yeah Den Beavais is a master artist, I like how he paints really intricate paintings but he keeps the comicbook page panels simple and clear so the reader doesn't get confused. Where does the Female War story, drawn by Sam Kieth fit in with the Aliens book 1 graphic novel, and Aliens book 2 Nightmare Asylum ?
Bought 3 volumes of the alien omnibus. Turns out they are books, not comics, was rather upset by that. Guess I'll try to track Down the comics individually
+The Hasty Slowpoke Wow, didn't even know that existed. It looks like you bought "The Complete Aliens Omnibus" rather than just Aliens Omnibus. Was published last year, so that wasn't even a thing when we started doing these videos. If you want the comic stuff, just look at the name of authors and artists. That way you'll know if it is novels or comics.
+Gregg Jackson The Defiance series that's currently coming out has been great. Definitely check out the trade when it comes down the line. There's a mini starting in April by James Stokoe that has. E really excited.
I actually thought Labyrinth was great, *aside* from that weird little section about Church's background. I actually thought it was the weak part of Labyrinth, from a story perspective. Like he had two ideas for an Aliens story, and Dark Horse shot down his wacky surrealist one, so he just stuck it into Labyrinth as the "background" for the "villain" character. Either that or Dark Horse said he had to hit 4 issues and he got to the conclusion too quickly, because halfway through the third issue, right as the story is rocketing towards the climax, suddenly it spends 24 pages (basically one issue's worth, but spread across issues 3 and 4) on this surreal, fairly canon-stretching story about a Young Doctor Church, before rubber-banding back to the "present" and going about its business. Still, I love Labyrinth. Just not for the same reasons you do, apparently. Will agree that the visuals for that section are pretty evocative though.
+LawlCakes I don't know, but I love the Education Connection music in your video. I've always had a sot spot for those dumb commercials. Share us around, spread the word and all that good stuff.
It comes from a story drawn by Kelley Jones called Hive in which a roboticist who had specialized in making robot ants to explore ant colonies, makes a robot xenomorph to retrieve "royal jelly" a very powerful narcotic found only in xenomorph colonies. It's a pretty cool story actually.
Not all of them, but a lot. Each around 350-400 pages worth. There are 6 volumes of omnibuses for Aliens alone. Check out our video about comics that sort of explains it. ua-cam.com/video/fw8d_k2Lg9o/v-deo.html
I probably should have paid more attention to the image I used while talking about it. Here's a pretty good breakdown of what I was getting at: www.cbr.com/year-of-the-artist-day-15-mike-mignola-part-5-the-amazing-screw-on-head/
OK, that makes sense. It was more meant that we were trying to make a "mainstream" video that would garner more views "virally" with an easy to click name, rather than a more random video like we did on Horror Siege.
How would you rank the Omnibus volumes from good to not so good of the Predator, Alien, and AVP omnibus? I'm planning on getting at least one from each category, but maybe more. Any recommendations would be helpful, thanks!
First Aliens omni if you want the sequel to James Cameron's movie that never was, but get third omni for best group of stories. The first Predator omni is basically a sequel to the movie. I think my favorite Predator stories were in the fifth omni. For AvP just get the first. The second is all the horrid Claremont stuff. If I was ranking Aliens Omnis from best to worst I'd go 3, 2, 4, 5, 6. They all have at least one good story except for 6 I guess. First omni is its own thing, and it's totally not necessary to read the others which are pretty much standalone stories. Dark Horse used to sell the stories by themselves in their own individual trades so if you do some digging for used copies you could get the "best of" a la carte style for pretty cheap. In that case, you'd be on the lookout for these: Genocide Harvest Labyrinth Salvation Stronghold Alchemy Hope that helped!
I can't remember if it was labrynth or not but there's one alien comic where a mother/son get taken by a hive. The hive was in desperate need of hosts and so tried to force the son to breed with his mother, who had her limbs amputated and sealed by the xenos. He refused and instead killed his mother and escaped.
Ah man, I liked the RE books. Basically in the same way as the Aliens/Predator stuff. Then again I read them in high school. At the time, it was such a great expansion of that franchise before there were CGI movies and live action movies and comics etc.
Trying to get through the novels. I thought berserker would be great,however it was terrible. The far left,ultra liberal,man hating ruined the book. The loopholes were everywhere and the story ended up being so stupid. Wasted my time on this one.
Don't know what you're talking about since it's been decades since I read it, but I don't remember anything resembling your thoughts. It was written in the 90's by a woman (adapted from comics written by men) long before any woke culture came mainstream. Maybe you're looking for something that isn't there and maybe represents your psyche more than what the book is saying.
Also, a man makes the ultimate sacrifice hopping in the machine that will likely kill him or render him a prisoner in his own body/mind to save people. That's the opposite of man-hating, the man is sort of a hero.
Alpha Rookie how about,pop,telling laura he cares about her,and then laura goes on a half page tirade about him being a male chauvinist pig,just because of this. Or now that Laura wants to break up,with pop, he is now a rape threat? There was no justification for any of this,in the novel. It's almost like you missed a whole book,when you read this. You can't figure why any of the people feel the way they do. It's just very poorly written.
+tahna dana Isn't that 2000 AD? 2000 AD stuff has been a pretty big blind spot for me, though I have a copy of Ro-Busters on the shelf I've been meaning to get to...
Alpha Rookie yes rogue trooper is one of 2000 AD.. war machine is a one shot story...check it out! will simpson did the art...he also did the art of one of the greatest alien comic...Aliens: Berserker ...2000 AD is pretty much where i got started liking euro comics better than americans....judge dredd is not just about killing all criminals for me...its what i called its high science fiction...like high fantasy
+tahna dana Paul Mendoza is the artist for Berserker, with a script by John Wagner, who is of course a co-creator of Judge Dredd. You're right, it is a good Aliens story. Dredd has had sooooooo many stories, it's difficult to find an entry point...
Alpha Rookie oh wait..what i meant was alien rogue...hehe...for me judge dredd is a lot like robocop...its a british satire take on america (hanch the blue,the red and the eagle..its obviously intentional and that is why they have them changed for the new movie) policing the world even after it has ended
+Mark DiMaggio Sorry, no. We've thought about that as time has gone on and we've addressed it a bit, but sometimes it helps get the point across. You're not wrong to ask though. Lately we either write around it or just start bleeping the F word out. Other words though. . . We try our best to find balance between being ourselves and self censoring. I'd say our newer stuff isn't as "strong" in the language department. I guess it really depends on the subject manner sometimes.
+Gar 'Chaurai we say the same thing. We're not big on whoring ourselves out on social media, so we just grow organically. Share our stuff with your friends etc.
+Priest Morrison we stuck to the post Earth War stuff. We talk about the original comics in our first vid a little. We'd rather cover those in their own video.
+Uriel Gonzalez There are 6 Aliens Omnibuses total I think and they are comprehensive meaning they contain everything in order of publish date. As I say in the video, Salvation and Labyrinth are both in the fourth Omnibus so that's a good one to nab.
Well, once you get on the Internet, log into the world wide web. You'll be good there as long as you stay away from any parties about lemons, or a goat special edition. Happy internetting!
Ugh, I remember coming across Labyrinth as a little kid. I was sneaking into my dad's comic book boxes late one night and I flipped through some of the pages; not a great thing for a 7 year old to find lmao
I did a similar thing. It was awesome
Man...Why only top 3? Shoulda done a top 10 or at the very least 5.
Good list, and don't worry; Everyone has more integrity than Buzzfeed.
Brock Samson even hank.
Brandon Graham Bahahahaha!!!!!!!!
No.
Brock Samson I
It's amazing to actually see someone commenting on the 90's Dark Horse Alien comics. It's even more amazing you did a top 3 list of them. But I would pick up "Music of the Spears" in place of "Labyrinth", because Dr. Church from Labyrinth is clearly an unrealiable narrator, so the reader never knows if he's telling the truth about his experiences on the hive. Also, he's pretty much classic mad scientist. However, "Music of the Spears" has a mad musician as main antagonist, it explores whether Aliens are capable of attachment, and also has a great ending for a comic book.
Also Aliens vs Ninjas! Seriously though, half of comic book storytelling is the artwork, and while Tim Hamilton's work is fine, Kilian Plunkket's work is singular. I find it kind of puzzling why an unreliable narrator would be a negative? It's a deliberate narrative tactic that adds more nuance to the story. You have to ask yourself whether the whole hive experience ever happened. OR even more interesting, it might be a Life of PI situation where he's telling the truth about what happened, but through metaphor. Don't get me wrong, I like Music of the Spears, just don't think it's top echelon material.
Alpha Rookie Well, don't get me wrong, "Labyrinth" is a top Alien DH comic book, but in the end, I find *Dr. Church* a less interesting villain than I do find *Mr. Damon Eddington*. *Dr. Church* is a very subtle "mad scientist" villain, and an unreliable narrator, which does not detract his character, but makes the reader wonder if the whole "xenos = hell" backstory is nothing but *Dr. Church* terrible pervert mind at work. So, in a way, "Labyrinth" most shocking element wouldn't be *Dr. Church* horrendous ordeal at the xenomorph hive, instead it would be his *demented and derranged mind*. "Labyrinth" is a good horror story, but it goes too much by the book (horror cliché), on my opinion. On the other hand, "Music of the Spears" isn't a top notch classic horror storytelling like "Labyrinth", but it is an *unique top metastorytelling*. It's not just about an artist going slowly mad over the search for a perfect art, but also an unique critique about the entertainment industry at the time, if you think about it as a *metastory*. I can only imagine how hard it must be for writers, pencillers and inkers to create top quality comic books, and at the same time, how hard it must be for them not to get proper recognition. It is the same problem *Mr. Damon Eddington* goes through in "Music of the Spears", and it shows how it slowly erodes his state of mind, making him more and more crazy and unstable. Also, "Music of the Spears" shows the Xenomorph less as the cosmic horror "Labyrinth" did, and more as a common or perhaps natural everyday occurence, which is in itself culture shock horror. People aren't scared by the Xenomorph, they know the creature, they interact with it on daily basis and they treat it more like a dangerous dog than a cosmic abomination. One character even *volunteer* to breed a Xenomorph, how crazy someone must be to volunteer for it, I wonder? Not only that, but since Xenomorphs have become like dogs and cats in "Music of the Spears", the reader is left to wonder if the same would apply from the Xenomorph viewpoint, that is, if the Xenomorph look at us not as food or host, but also as a sort of pet. It is a little and subtle alien psychology touch to the story that makes it great, and the ending is very poetic and karmic, making it less like a chronicle and more like a fable. I know list choices are subjective, but in the end, I would choose "Music of the Spears" in place of "Labyrinth" essentially because I have never seen anything like it. I hope you understand me, and keep making great videos like this one. Marco, signing out.
+Marco Túlio Todeschini Coelho Very thorough and insightful comments. Next time I read it I'll keep your your thoughts in mind. Thanks for the discussion!
Alpha Rookie Thank you. I appreciate you reading my comments.
+Marco Túlio Todeschini Coelho AlphaMale here: it's funny, I've read basically every single novelization of Alien/Predator and the only one I couldn't was Music of the Spears. There was something about the plot and the style of writing I just couldn't get into. I should probably go back abd give it another try. I might even still own a copy.
The Labirynth should be made a movie adaptation
I agree with you all the way. Labyrinth is hands down the best Aliens story. It be great if someone (20th century fox) made it into a live action movie one day.
Wonder if the scene with the pregnant women in AVPR took after labyrinth. Man that movie was screwed up. And dark. Like really, really dark. Seriously. I couldn't see any of the cool stuff.
Yeah, I only saw bits of it because it was on in the same room, but I didn't bother really even looking at it because I couldn't see dick-all.
Broken Ghost no Alien VS Predator R the movie was so dark it was hard to see anything
The only way I've recently been able to watch it is on 4K UHD and of course, with the picture settings just slightly tuned to up the brightness a tad bit.
"Aliens: genocide" is another one of my favourites, along wither the 3 you mention.
Thanks for the recommendations, Alpha Rookie! Can't wait to read these on my kindle. I'm definitely most excited to read Labyrinth.
I'm glad that you mentioned Aliens. I do feel that James Cameron's action sequel is an incredible movie, and at that, one of the best movie sequels ever made. However, it unfortunately reduced the Xenomorph to little more than space ants. The original Xenomorph was something beautiful, terrifying, and pure. And it certainly was one of the best uses of Lovecraftian horror. Mankind's first steps among the stars introduce it to the unimaginable nightmares lurking in the beyond.
I love the Alien vs Predator franchise, but I do miss the original idea behind the Alien. It represents the kind of horror that I crave and can't get enough of, and is an inspiration to my own art. I don't see the Xenomorph ever being something of true horror and mystique like it was when it first debuted on the big screen because it was such a popular thing. But hopefully someday someone can get us close to that in film.
Once again, thanks for uploading another great video. Looking forward to seeing your future content and recommendations.
Thank you for the kind words.
My idea for a third alien covenant/prometheus movie is as follows:
The engineers are the main characters in the movie and comes to the planet that was in the Prometheus movie.
There they find Weyland inside the crashed spaceship. They have a blue elixir which they empty all over him and bring him to life.
But while doing this the Deacon from the Prometheus movie sneaks into their spaceship and hide it self in one of the ventilation chambers.
In the next part they arrive at the planet from alien covenant and find the other robot(Walter) who is david's twin.The engineers use the blue elixir and repairs him.
Once awaken the engineers and Weyland get to know all the horrible things that David has done, and weyland says "we have to stop David" .
They set course for origae. When they arrive,they scans all the planet,and finds the planet is full of hostile organisms except
on a high mountain where they discover that there are humans inside a cave.
Inside the cave they meet a herd of children, who tell that when they had lived on the planet for over ten years,
they began to be attacked by Xenomorphs and all the adults died or were turned into these creatures.
There were also great giants developed by someone the children calls David.
The engineers get ready to wipe out all the Xenomorphs that David has created, but the great giants manage to escape with one of the engineers' spaceships.
The engineers and Weyland hunts the spaceship and manage to force the spaceship down on the planet lv426.Where it start sending a distress signal.
The engineers return to Origae to find David, but discover that he has escaped.
In the last part we see David arriving and meeting an unknown alien species
on a tropical like planet.
But when he and the unknown aliens have left the spaceship,the deacon slips out of the ship and is seen running toward the nearest settlement.
And that makes the cliffhanger that ends the third movie.
The ending movie could have a duration about five hours ?
dude, you picked my exact top three. I feel pretty strongly that Aliens: Rogue deserves honorable mention.
Seeing the synthetic looking like a xenomorph brought made me thinknof something. By any chance is there such a thing as a rouge Xenomorph? One that actually has a mind of its own and instead does what it wants intead of helping the hive. Seems like it would be a great comic.
That's actually a pretty good idea...
Thumbs up if you came here for the talking xenomorph
BTW, Aliens: Labyrinth also has a couple of full novel adaptations as well, and while I can't speak for one of them, Stephen Perry's adaptation of it is phenomenal. I've worn the spine out on that book, as I have most of my Aliens novels.
Is there more than one adaptation? Kyle's a big fan of the book. He read the story that way first which gives us both different perspectives.
Jim Woodring has a Graphic Novel also covering aliens Labyrinth. I may have been thinking of that. I went to go double check my sources before posting here again and believe I may have just been thinking of the GN (which I've never gotten my hands on) in my original post. sorry for any confusion.
Wasn't the doctor from Labyrinth taken to a dying nest where the xenomorphs were dying off for an unexplained reason and they were getting extremely desperate which in part explains their nightmarish behaviors?
+kalajel Yeah pretty much. Did we say something different? We've done so much stuff hard to keep track.
No it's a fair point. He's also an unreliable narrator so it's possible that none of that even happened.
Why do you think he's unreliable? It's not implied that it may have never happened...is it?
Wow all the videos you guys put out are really well done, keep it up!! You guys should do a top 3 terminator comics (DARK horse) their not talked about much.
Thank you for the compliment! I'm sure we'll eventually get around to it. In the mean time, if you haven't already stumbled upon it, we have a podcast where we discuss all the Terminator movies and a Robocop comics video where we dive into Robocop vs Terminator.
Colonial Marines was good. Vasquez' sister was in it.
Sadly Prometheus has ballsed up the continuity.
My folks are moving and I just found labyrinth, stronghold, rogue
Along with predator concrete jungle
Kilian Plunkett Aliens art was and forever will be, perfect.
+Xenomorph HEAR HEAR!
Alpha Rookie i like aliens genocide
My favorite is Stronghold. Indeed Dean and Jeri are my favorite duos. Wish they adapted into a show.
They could do it like a Three's Company style sitcom with a laugh track and everything.
I still have Labyrinth and Salvation from the 1990s. That's two of the three!
I bought volume 3 because of this video. I gotta finish reading preacher first but I'm immediately reading volume 3 first
+Dalton Moen Nothing bad about finishing Preacher first, it deserves your attention. Amazing book.
Is labyrinth the one where they are put into a tunnel system and discover that aliens sense fear?
+135Fenrir Yeah
James Cameron knows science fiction. That's why the terminator series did so well. The movie "Aliens" made the series even better because it gave an explanation on where all the eggs came from by adding the queen.
Or worse depending on your perspective. A lot of people feel Cameron's Aliens ruined the Lovecraftian mystery behind the creature from the first movie by over explaining it.
Alpha Rookie If you think about it, does it really matter? The movies are enjoyable either way.
Alpha Rookie But I'll respect your opinion of you think Aliens was bad.
No that wasn't my point. I love both Alien and Aliens. And I agree their both enjoyable. I'm just saying that explaining mysteries isn't always an improvement. I'm able to compartmentalize the movies so I can still get the sense of Lovecraftian unknown from the first movie even after seeing the sequels and Prometheus, but others might feel like revealing mysteries takes away from the horror and wonder of the first film. Prometheus is a good example in the case of the "space jockey." No one ever thought that it was a suit, an exoskeleton. And even after watching Prometheus, and going back watching Alien, it's obvious that it's an 15 foot tall creature with an elephantine proboscis and everything. The mystery of that creature was crucial. The thesis of that movie was that as humans explore the universe, they're going to expose themselves to shit that is so beyond their comprehension that this one creature (xenomorph) could cause so much horror and panic. And the xeno from the first movie is a total mystery. We don't know if it's intelligent, if it's killing out of instinct or malice or what. And that makes it scary. But in Aliens, now it's an ant. But don't get me wrong, I love Aliens. I'm just saying there's generally something lost in sequels, even really good ones. In this case it's that sense of mystery.
Alpha Rookie Ok
Jeri is fucking awesome
Stronghold and Salvation are both unexpected and interesting additions to the list. Not that I'll complain, it's actually kind of refreshing.
My favourite Alien comics are (In no particular order) Book One + Two, Labyrinth, Sacrifice, Salvation, Apocalypse, Glass Corridor, Havok and Music of the Spears.
My faviret aliens comics are nightmare asylum, stronghold, labyrinth, dead orbit and a few others
I bought stronghold when it first came out years back
I have a copy of Stronghold and it was my favorite Dark Horse Alien comic of all time. Might get Labyrinth next, since I read it only online. There's an another favorite Alien comic that I love, called "Aliens: Destroying Angels" which is not by Dark Horse though.
Hmm, could have sworn it was. I am probably remembering it wrong. I love that story too. The premise/great reveal is that the Aliens are the universe's way of getting rid of sapient life that finds a way to spread beyond its own solar system. An answer to the Fermi paradox if you will. They destroyed the Space Jockeys and are about to destroy the Humanity too. That's cosmic horror. The _universe itself_ hates us! Of course that doesn't fit the new Prometheus/Covenant continuity, but who cares?
The Earth infestation is pretty good has the company has been warned over and over again by Ripley about how dangerous the Xenomorph can be ok due to an unfortunate accident by a stupid human cult at a facility is how the Xeno's spread all over the earth but still. I hope Disney get their fingers out and do a TV series on the Earth Infestation as we will see humanity almost brought to extinction.
I don't like comics never had any interest in them... Then I had to stumble onto this channel and get excited about comics because now there's something I actually want to find and read.
+Jabe Born Seriously best compliment we can get. Thanks!
How do you not have 50,000 subs yet?
Because REASONS!!!
2018! Great video.
Labyrinth is the most messed up comic I've ever read in my life
Labyrinth is fucking amazing! Dr Church is a lot like Fabius Bile
I really don't like Labyrinth much, but good list. Cool channel too.
The music you used from Alien 3 is beautiful.
+voice of amos it just struck me halfway through editing. Top 3, Alien 3. Had to do it and it worked
wasnt there an Alien story set in a medieval European setting, where a knight fights a xenomorph? i remember seeing pages of this when i was a kid (many moons ago) ive googled this, but cant find anything what so ever
There is a one-shot called Aliens: Stalker that has Vikings in it. Maybe that?
Alpha Rookie maybe, it was so long ago, I’m probably misremembering since I can’t find anything on it
Not the first eight part black and white? Disappointing.
This was great. I'm totally going to read these too!
he makez them out ta be little more than ROACHES!?!
i used ta like the Story, butnow, i cant get the summation outta mah head. they coulda did without dat shit, man
good suggestions, but you should take time to explain a bit more
Choices for Dark Horse Aliens storyline antagonist:
A: Amoral Corporate Enterprise
B: Crazy Religious Cult
C: Psychopath Mad Scientist
And I’m ok with that.
But, honestly my favorite might be Kidnapped. It’s super weird and nihilistic and ultimately the real predator is a “class 10 virus” and everything gets nuked in the same vein as Return of the Living Dead.
I love aliens I have all the comics and all the movies
He sounded like WildCat in the beginning...
I like the idea of number two
hi alpha rookie, I don't know too much about comics but with the Alien Covenant movie coming up I want to get into the whole Alien Predator Engineer universe, where would you suggest I start with the comics???
If you just want something that mirrors the movies universe, read Aliens Vol 1, 2, and 3. It follows the events after the first 2 movies. For Predator, the first 3 big stories follow the events of the Predator movie, with Dutch's brother as the main character. If you just want really good stories, follow our advice from this video and our others about Predator and AVP comics. Also, watch our first video about Aliens Retrospective, it goes into some detail about what you're asking. Prometheus is only in "Fire and Stone" and "Life and Death" but you'll definitely need to have watched the movie first.
Where can i buy these books online? Help
Rookie, could you also do a list of best Predator and AvP comics?
+Yourgs Vazouras It's on the list to get to.
Great picks. I really wish Kilian Plunkett illustrated the Colonial Marines series. I say this with no disrespect to any of the original artists because that series has great artwork, but Kilian Plunkett was one of the few who drew the technology from the Aliens universe in a format that very closely resembled the films. It doesn't hurt that his Xenomorph depictions were sleek, and lethal in appearance.
Aliens Book 2, Nightmare Asylum is my favorite. If youre a fan of the Aliens movie then Nightmare Asylum is an essential buy. Great story about Newt and Hicks and Bishop and Earth overrun with Aliens. The painted artwork is absolutely beautiful too.
Funny thing about the comic too. After the Alien 3 movie came out the names of Hicks, Newt and Bishop were changed in the Nightmare asylum comic story to Wilks, Billie and Bueller. But the actual story is about Hicks, Newt and Bishop and the story is supposed to be following on from the Aliens movie. Because the Alien 3 movie killed those characters off Dark Horse comics changed the names of Hicks, Newt and Bishop to the other names i mentioned.
Dan Beauvais' artwork is phenomenal. We talk about the name change in our Dark Horse Aliens history video. Would love to eventually see a film tackle an Earth infestation! BTW Dark Horse announced it will be releasing a limited hardcover of the Nightmare Asylum material for "Alien Day" 2017 the way the did for the initial series last April.
Hey buddy. Yeah Den Beavais is a master artist, I like how he paints really intricate paintings but he keeps the comicbook page panels simple and clear so the reader doesn't get confused.
Where does the Female War story, drawn by Sam Kieth fit in with the Aliens book 1 graphic novel, and Aliens book 2 Nightmare Asylum ?
do more!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great video ! Thanks.
Great review! Thanks!
Thanks!
Bought 3 volumes of the alien omnibus. Turns out they are books, not comics, was rather upset by that. Guess I'll try to track Down the comics individually
www.cheapgraphicnovels.com/_search.php?page=1&q=aliens+omnibus&x=0&y=0
+The Hasty Slowpoke Wow, didn't even know that existed. It looks like you bought "The Complete Aliens Omnibus" rather than just Aliens Omnibus. Was published last year, so that wasn't even a thing when we started doing these videos. If you want the comic stuff, just look at the name of authors and artists. That way you'll know if it is novels or comics.
Cool to see someone giving these comics their due, but the foul language cheapens the work here. You an ex con or something?
+L.A. November 2019 so you have to have been in jail to cuss now?
Totally agree with this list ... has there been anything note worth since? The Fire and Stone series I found was a let down.
+Gregg Jackson The Defiance series that's currently coming out has been great. Definitely check out the trade when it comes down the line. There's a mini starting in April by James Stokoe that has. E really excited.
I actually thought Labyrinth was great, *aside* from that weird little section about Church's background. I actually thought it was the weak part of Labyrinth, from a story perspective. Like he had two ideas for an Aliens story, and Dark Horse shot down his wacky surrealist one, so he just stuck it into Labyrinth as the "background" for the "villain" character. Either that or Dark Horse said he had to hit 4 issues and he got to the conclusion too quickly, because halfway through the third issue, right as the story is rocketing towards the climax, suddenly it spends 24 pages (basically one issue's worth, but spread across issues 3 and 4) on this surreal, fairly canon-stretching story about a Young Doctor Church, before rubber-banding back to the "present" and going about its business.
Still, I love Labyrinth. Just not for the same reasons you do, apparently. Will agree that the visuals for that section are pretty evocative though.
good taste. labyrinth is the best.
number one is good too!
I rember reading number 1 in school was so cool
New omnibus book coming out soon
Totes agree on Labyrinth and Stronghold. Would be my #1 and #2 pick, Destroying Angel would prolly be my third.
GENOCIDDEEEEEEE!!!!! Rip
I like the explaining and reasoning of each comic and why you enjoy them, this is the first video I have seen and you just earned a sub
no superman vs alien ??
Colonial Marines, my favorite Alien comic. Good mention about the Aliens being over exposed.
How do I have more subscribers than you?..
You honestly deserve so many more viewers!
+LawlCakes I don't know, but I love the Education Connection music in your video. I've always had a sot spot for those dumb commercials. Share us around, spread the word and all that good stuff.
+Alpha Rookie I love the thumbnail for this video 😂
So the talking xenomorph is a android? Eh seems legit
It comes from a story drawn by Kelley Jones called Hive in which a roboticist who had specialized in making robot ants to explore ant colonies, makes a robot xenomorph to retrieve "royal jelly" a very powerful narcotic found only in xenomorph colonies. It's a pretty cool story actually.
Superman Aliens
Cool video! My personal favourites are the first three series and Aliens: Fire and Stone
Wait so Aliens Omnibus is like a pack that contains all comics into one ?
Not all of them, but a lot. Each around 350-400 pages worth. There are 6 volumes of omnibuses for Aliens alone. Check out our video about comics that sort of explains it. ua-cam.com/video/fw8d_k2Lg9o/v-deo.html
I think I need to get labrynth
+TheRubberStudiosASMR I think you need to get Labyrinth
Are you sure you are using the term "negative space" properly? Not saying that youre not, but it doesnt really click with the definition i know.
I probably should have paid more attention to the image I used while talking about it. Here's a pretty good breakdown of what I was getting at:
www.cbr.com/year-of-the-artist-day-15-mike-mignola-part-5-the-amazing-screw-on-head/
Alpha Rookie ah yes, i get it now. :) thanks for the response and the interesting article
can you please tell me what the difference between the Aliens 97 and 2016 omnibus? or are they just a newer print?
Jesus bless you
Aww I was expecting you to say Alien Rogue D; that one was pretty good xD
Good choice of music.
Yup, messed up story. Maybe for a really dark film.
+Dr Wolfenstein I wonder how many people will get the joke? Alien 3 music, Top 3 Aliens comics, see what I did there?
Nice! :D
hell NO
Colonial Marines!!!
SnakeFinger
would be awesome if they made an AVP anime series!
ClickHole is an obvious satire website, but go for that low hanging fruit, fellas.
+BurtSampson I'm confused, are you upset because we sort of made fun of Clickhole?
More because you took it seriously but yeah.
OK, that makes sense. It was more meant that we were trying to make a "mainstream" video that would garner more views "virally" with an easy to click name, rather than a more random video like we did on Horror Siege.
How would you rank the Omnibus volumes from good to not so good of the Predator, Alien, and AVP omnibus? I'm planning on getting at least one from each category, but maybe more. Any recommendations would be helpful, thanks!
First Aliens omni if you want the sequel to James Cameron's movie that never was, but get third omni for best group of stories. The first Predator omni is basically a sequel to the movie. I think my favorite Predator stories were in the fifth omni. For AvP just get the first. The second is all the horrid Claremont stuff. If I was ranking Aliens Omnis from best to worst I'd go 3, 2, 4, 5, 6. They all have at least one good story except for 6 I guess. First omni is its own thing, and it's totally not necessary to read the others which are pretty much standalone stories. Dark Horse used to sell the stories by themselves in their own individual trades so if you do some digging for used copies you could get the "best of" a la carte style for pretty cheap. In that case, you'd be on the lookout for these:
Genocide
Harvest
Labyrinth
Salvation
Stronghold
Alchemy
Hope that helped!
I can't remember if it was labrynth or not but there's one alien comic where a mother/son get taken by a hive. The hive was in desperate need of hosts and so tried to force the son to breed with his mother, who had her limbs amputated and sealed by the xenos. He refused and instead killed his mother and escaped.
Yes that's Labyrinth
You desurve more subs
Thanks. We're getting there. Tell your friends!
funny story...
I ordered Alien Labyrinth on Amazon but I accidentally bought the novelization by S.D Perry.
That's also a good read!
+Dead Head at least that's still good and worth reading
Alpha Rookie Perry's writing is pretty good. I just didn't like his resident evil series though.
Would you guys recommend any other books?
Ah man, I liked the RE books. Basically in the same way as the Aliens/Predator stuff. Then again I read them in high school. At the time, it was such a great expansion of that franchise before there were CGI movies and live action movies and comics etc.
Tarkin.
wait you sound like mini lad
Offensive. SAD!
I followed Alien: Rogue back in '95
ALIENS- DEAD ORBIT 👌
Love Dead Orbit! We just released a video about it!
MAKE A SPOILED VIDEO OF LABYRINTH GOD PLEASE
I don't know how much more we'd have to say about it. What do you mean by a spoiled video?
Sorry should have explained that better.
Could you do a video on only labyrinth where you go in depth with it?
Jeri the xenomorph would be an awesome movie
I'm sure filmmakers don't want to do it because they'll think it makes the Xenomorph less scary, but as an entertaining concept it's great.
Alpha Rookie i think if jeri ever gets a Movie it will have this deadpool vibe
Trying to get through the novels. I thought berserker would be great,however it was terrible. The far left,ultra liberal,man hating ruined the book. The loopholes were everywhere and the story ended up being so stupid. Wasted my time on this one.
Don't know what you're talking about since it's been decades since I read it, but I don't remember anything resembling your thoughts. It was written in the 90's by a woman (adapted from comics written by men) long before any woke culture came mainstream. Maybe you're looking for something that isn't there and maybe represents your psyche more than what the book is saying.
Also, a man makes the ultimate sacrifice hopping in the machine that will likely kill him or render him a prisoner in his own body/mind to save people. That's the opposite of man-hating, the man is sort of a hero.
Alpha Rookie re read. The whole pop/laura story line. Almost all of Laura's dialogue,is so irrational.
Alpha Rookie how about,pop,telling laura he cares about her,and then laura goes on a half page tirade about him being a male chauvinist pig,just because of this. Or now that Laura wants to break up,with pop, he is now a rape threat? There was no justification for any of this,in the novel. It's almost like you missed a whole book,when you read this. You can't figure why any of the people feel the way they do. It's just very poorly written.
You're gonna make me re-read this book only so I can be right.
ever read dave gibbons war machine?? for the heavy metal magazine
+tahna dana Isn't that 2000 AD? 2000 AD stuff has been a pretty big blind spot for me, though I have a copy of Ro-Busters on the shelf I've been meaning to get to...
Alpha Rookie
yes rogue trooper is one of 2000 AD.. war machine is a one shot story...check it out! will simpson did the art...he also did the art of one of the greatest alien comic...Aliens: Berserker
...2000 AD is pretty much where i got started liking euro comics better than americans....judge dredd is not just about killing all criminals for me...its what i called its high science fiction...like high fantasy
+tahna dana Paul Mendoza is the artist for Berserker, with a script by John Wagner, who is of course a co-creator of Judge Dredd. You're right, it is a good Aliens story. Dredd has had sooooooo many stories, it's difficult to find an entry point...
Alpha Rookie
oh wait..what i meant was alien rogue...hehe...for me judge dredd is a lot like robocop...its a british satire take on america (hanch the blue,the red and the eagle..its obviously intentional and that is why they have them changed for the new movie) policing the world even after it has ended
Just picked up vol. 3
Can you not cuss so much, not trying to be mean, thank you
+Mark DiMaggio Sorry, no. We've thought about that as time has gone on and we've addressed it a bit, but sometimes it helps get the point across. You're not wrong to ask though. Lately we either write around it or just start bleeping the F word out. Other words though. . .
We try our best to find balance between being ourselves and self censoring. I'd say our newer stuff isn't as "strong" in the language department.
I guess it really depends on the subject manner sometimes.
Alpha Rookie okay thank you for replying
It doesn't mean there will always be cussing, it just means there might be some.
666 subcribers
+lime the duck looked at 665 and thought about making a joke, got lazy
Have you done a Top Ten AVP Comics?
+Gar 'Chaurai we're in the planning stages of a versus video, but not just AvP, like Batman vs Predator etc etc etc
Alpha Rookie
Ah, okay. Can't wait for those videos to come out. I'm surprised you don't have more subs. Your videos are top notch.
+Gar 'Chaurai we say the same thing. We're not big on whoring ourselves out on social media, so we just grow organically. Share our stuff with your friends etc.
no Earth War?
+Priest Morrison we stuck to the post Earth War stuff. We talk about the original comics in our first vid a little. We'd rather cover those in their own video.
Coo, coo
whats the alien omnibus
www.amazon.com/Aliens-Omnibus-Vol-Mark-Verheiden/dp/1593077270/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484793092&sr=8-1&keywords=aliens+omnibus
Alpha Rookie what i meant was does it contain all of the alien comics or just the best ones?
+Uriel Gonzalez There are 6 Aliens Omnibuses total I think and they are comprehensive meaning they contain everything in order of publish date. As I say in the video, Salvation and Labyrinth are both in the fourth Omnibus so that's a good one to nab.
Any knows a good website so i can search for Aliens scan ?
+In Dakk Check The Internet, it's pretty good.
+Alpha Rookie any good sites on the internet
Well, once you get on the Internet, log into the world wide web. You'll be good there as long as you stay away from any parties about lemons, or a goat special edition. Happy internetting!
+Alpha Rookie X)