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Aliens Comics are a number of comic book lines that included a number of limited series, one-shots and short stories published by Dark Horse Comics set in the Alien universe, starting with the first comic series in 1988.

According to the company's editors, Dark Horse decided early on to compose the line as a series of miniseries, one-shots and short stories rather than as a continuing unlimited series in order to continually allow for new creative blood and the freedom to change creative direction; to avoid the need for filler issues or creative staleness; and to accommodate for possible/inevitable scheduling delays between series.

Originally serving as an immediate continuation of the story after James Cameron's Aliens for the first three miniseries, the first two comics series (originally titled simply Aliens, and then Aliens: Book One and Aliens: Book Two, in collected form) featured the characters Rebecca "Newt" Jorden and Corporal Dwayne Hicks as the main protagonists, while the third (Aliens: Earth War) reintroduced Alien-film-franchise heroine Lt. Ellen Ripley, as well. These series dealt with an Alien infestation that had spread to the Earth, one of the central developments of the Aliens comics series.

After the release of the film Alien³, though, which featured the deaths of Newt, Hicks and Ripley, in order to keep the events in the stories relevant to the Alien universe, Dark Horse Comics changed the names--and therefore identities--of these lead characters in all reprints and collected editions of the first three miniseries, as well as in their accompanying novelizations. Newt became Billie, Hicks became Wilks and Ripley became a synthetic version of the heroine. The stories were also retitled in reprint editions to their current names: Aliens: Outbreak, Aliens: Nightmare Asylum and Aliens: Female War. The effects of the Alien infestation on Earth would continue to play prominent or background roles in all subsequent Aliens comics, but starting with the fourth miniseries (Aliens: Genocide) the stories would come to focus on new characters and events in the Aliens universe. Dozens of Aliens stories would follow featuring work from top names in the comic book industry and incorporating a wide variety of artistic styles, from black and white, to painted airbrush, to typical comic book style illustration. This lasted until 1999's Aliens: Xenogenesis.

In 2009, after a ten year hiatus, Dark Horse Comics relaunched its Aliens line with a new limited series.

Chronological releases[]

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