Aliens Vol.1 #5

Jun 1991. Cover price £1.50.
52 pages. Colour & B&W.
Trident Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Martin Skidmore.

Cover by Chris Warner.
r:

Contents:

 2 Contents / Title Credits / Indicia

 3 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

 4 Aliens Untitled, part five, w: Mark Verheiden; a: Denis Beauvaus, lettering by Bob Pinaha.

r: Aliens (Dark Horse) #02 (Dec 1989).

12 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

13 Predator The Heat, part five, w: Mark Verheiden; a: Chris Warner, lettering by Jim Massara, colouring by Chris Chalenor.

r: Predator #02 (Jun 1989).

28 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

29 Aliens Vs Predator Untitled, part five, w: Randy Stradley; p: Phil Norwood, i: Karl Story, lettering by Pat Brosseau.

r: Aliens Vs Predator (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1990).

50 Subscriptions (half page) / Model Aerodrome (quarter page) advertisement for Aliens models. / Fantasy World (quarter page) advertisement for June opening of Another World.

51 Letters Page readers' mail.

52 Aliens - the Graphic Novel, the Portfolio, the Hardback in-house advertisement.

Spears launches, and heads for Earth with his 'trained' aliens, abandoning his men. Newt and Hicks manage to stow away on his ship, though are unable to prevent the mad scheme when Spears locks himself in the cockpit. as Butler - alone with the aliens, the general's men either dead or hiding - transmits a final message to Newt. Gateway Earth Station responds to the arrival of the ship, asking for identification, and stating that there are no landing coordinates. Earth has been considered lost to the aliens. Hicks and Newt realise the only way to get off before Spears lands on Earth is with the emergency escape pod, and in their rush to get away can't check for signs of sabotage.

As satisfying as it is to see Newt escape certain death once more, the situation Earthside is intriguing. With the officials aboard the space-station regarding Earth a hopeless cause, we have to consider the possibilities this offers up - giraffe aliens, manatee aliens, hippo aliens... If, as so often depicted, they are resilient enough to adapt to any circumstance, does this mean they have made in Antarctica a suitable nest? WHich brings up, of course, the question of a Thing crossover.

Or better, Aliens Vs the Thing Vs Predators Vs Terminators.

Throw in a few ED-209's and it will be more entertaining than the human mind can cope with.

Schaefer is woken with a bucket of water in his face, discovering ust how committed Eschevera is to providing him with a painful, protracted death. Managing to escape, he heads for the jungle, hoping to disappear. As he runs, Predators begin to clear out his adversaries.

From the sound of the screams, I figured those things were starting to enjoy themselves.

It was only a matter of time before they turned their attention towards me.

Picked up by his own people, Schaefer is told that the Predators' only interest is in him.

Rasche realises that the authorities intend to hand Schaefer over - using his anger to his advantage, he takes out his federal babysitters, exiting with the helmet in his possession once more, heading for the meeting which has been arranged...

The final panel sets up a stand-off between humans and Predators atop the Pan-Am building, which is both slightly anachronistic and very amusing reading the story now. While the tropical segments of the strip have never quite felt as sticky and uncomfortably hot as they should, the New York sequences are better depicted. Unfortunately the colouring isn't quite up to the task of conveying the feel of the city, with swathes of bright colours limiting the effect to a degree.

Sickly Rhynth are discovered, yet the lethargic behaviour isn't treated as a serous ailment. Shigeru Chigusa, son of the company's head, announces that is en route, as alien face-hugger corpses are discovered on Ryushi, although Dr. Revna isn't sure precisely what he is looking at. Deciding to investigate Iwa Gorge, he discovers Predators rather than the aliens he was looking for, and is soon discovered. In a race for his life, his vehicle smashes into the Predator vessel causing an immense explosion.

There are a few extremely amusing incidental scenes, as well as some very attractive art, yet five issues in and we're still to see the two aliens go at each other. This isn't a complaint, as the plot is growing into a maze of conflicts and puzzles, which seems to be working for the strip. Machiko Noguchi is beginning to get some really good scenes, and her interactions with employees - Scott, in particular - makes the slow pace worthwhile.

Spaceship names are hard to get right. Sometimes the names are a bit soft and unconvincing, as if the visual component was more important than the name, though here a rather strong name causes problems - the Lector may or may not be a direct reference to The Silence of the Lambs, but it distracts from what has, so far, been a carefully constructed world.

If readers were getting impatient, the aliens finally make their presence known.

#04

Aliens Vol.1

#06