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Aliens: Apocalypse - The Destroying Angels is a fourt-part limited comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from January-May 1999. The series was written by Mark Schultz, illustrated by Doug Wheatley, colored by Chris Chuckry, lettered by Clem Robins and edited by Philip Amara. It featured covers by Schutlz.
A collected trade paperback edition was released in October 1999, edited by Chris Warner re-using the cover artwork from issue #4 by Schultz, slightly redesigned by Dark Horse designer Keith Wood. It was also collected in Aliens Omnibus: Volume 6 in December 2008.
In the Aliens comics line, Aliens: Apocalypse - The Destroying Angels was published concurrently with the short off-shoot story Aliens: Once in a Lifetime (February 1999), and followed by Aliens: Xenogenesis (August-November 1999).
Plot[]
Is it a coincidence that humans have met aliens in the cold reaches of space? Or is there something stitched into the very fabric of the cosmos that explains their inexorable spread through the galaxy? Deep-space rescue specialist Alecto Throop is about to find out that even a fight with the deadly creatures is nothing compared to meeting their masters... or the renegade human who has learned their secrets-- ancient secrets.
Is it a coincidence that humans have met aliens in our far future? Or is there something sinister unfolding in the universe that prefigures the aliens on an almost unfathomable scale? This is what Alecto Throop is asking. Throop is a deep-space rescue specialist cut from the same cloth as the late Lt. Ellen Ripley: tough, smart, beautiful and instinctual. But her instincts weren't enough to warn her of her latest mission. She's about to find out that even a fight with deadly aliens is nothing compared to meeting their masters... or the renegade human that has learned their secrets.
An alien "angel" has been met, as veil after veil is lifted, and Alecto Throop begins to grasp the enormity of the forces at work behind Dr. Lucien Keitel's deception. But, the aliens may represent only the brink of an unfathomable pit of cosmic horror. Join Throop Rescue and Recovery as they follow the elusive Keitel to a petrified world that was ancient long before life first crawled on Earth. Our universe has never seemed so big... so old... or so hideously dark.
Deep space rescue specialist Alecto Throop has been hot on the trail of the mysterious Dr. Lucien Keitel, always half a step behind. But now that she's found him, she may be sorry she did. Through Keitel, Throop is about to learn what may be the ultimate fate of the universe... and why it lies in the clutching claws of the aliens.
The android Baal's secrets may have been uncovered, but it's merely the first layer that Alecto Throop must peel back to get the answers she's been sent to find. There's the alien egg found aboard Throop's ship, and it involves the ancient "pilot" race that introduced the creatures to man's corner of the galaxy. Plus, the fate of Dr. Keitel is revealed . . . and along with it, the fate of the universe!
Behind the Scenes[]
Series writer/cover artist Mark Schultz also played a similar role as writer/cover artist of the Predator series Predator: Hell and Hot Water. Artist Doug Wheatley has recently gained much critical acclaim as the artist of Dark Horse's Star Wars: Dark Times.