Alien3 #1

Aug 1992. Cover price £1.50.
48 pages. Full colour contents.
Dark Horse Comics International.

Edited by Dick Hansom.

Cover by Arthur Suydam.
r: detail from cover to Alien³ (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1992).

Contents:

 2 Grendel Returns! in-house advert for Grendel mini-series.

 3 Alien³ Contents. / Introduction by Dick Hansom. / Indicia

 4 20 Things You Should Know About Alien³ text feature by Dave Hughes.

 6 It's Competition Time!! (half page) / Comics & CD's (half page) advertisement.

 7 Alien³ w: Steve Grant; p: Christopher Taylor, i: Rick Magyar, lettering by Jim Massara, colouring by Mat Webb.

r: Alien³ (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1992).

24 Alien³ Movie Special Poster No 1 photo.

37 The Plastic Forces of the Imagination text feature by Dave Hughes, with grateful thanks to Barry Jones.

40 Aliens Vs Predator II w: Randy Stradley; a: Chris Warner.

r: UNKNOWN.

42 Trouble Comes in ³s text feature by Dave Hughes.

45 "A Bit Awry" Stephen Norrington interview by Dave Hughes.

47 Forbidden Planet advertisement.

48 Alien³ advertisement for Halcyon plastic model kit.

While there are teething troubles with the then newly-formed Dark Horse International's production values (the interior of the cover being printed in B&W, and the poster being blank on the opposite side), this is another high quality release. While the comic content primarily derives from the US mini-series, there's enough feature content to offset notions of this being a quick cash-in. Alien³ is notable for the distinction of being the first limited series to receive national distribution in the UK.

20 Things kicks proceedings off with facts about the film which offers up some details which might have slipped past film magazines. It is worth reading for a hilarious image of a dog clad in an Alien costume, which shows why it was such a bad idea. The main attraction, however, is the adaptation of the film, which follows events of the film, though there doesn't appear to have been any attempt to capture likenesses of the cast.

Models of the Aliens have always been popular, and The Plastic Forces of the Imagination does a decent job of highlighting Halcyon's process of bringing the figures into being. Information on the company itself is, unfortunately, absent. While we learn that the company was founded in 1987, we don't learn when. Was it in the summer? Before Christmas? It's a small detail, but it is bothering me now. Likewise, the size of the company isn't mentioned, leaving readers with the impression that it is five guys with a lot of time on their hands.

The biggest mis-step is the presentation of Aliens Vs Predator II, which is given two b&W pages. This would be fine if the story was to continue in the next issue, where in fact it continues in the third issue of Aliens. Nobody should be forced to buy two titles in order to understand a story, especially a strip drip-fed in such meagre installments, reinforcing the belief that a separate title for the film adaptation was a mistake - most readers familiar with the Aliens title would have gladly accepted the film adaptation appearing there.

Trouble Comes in ³s covers the troubled production, with insights into some corners of production which explains what ended up on screen. It isn't in-depth as it as should be for a dedicated title, but the problem here is that the piece is broken by a one-page interview with Stephen Norrington. The habit of positioning the tail of an articles apart from the body of the work is annoying every time I see it.

As an early title for the company this isn't a perfect way to showcase material, but there are enough elements alredy present to encourage reader interest.