In 1986, James Cameron's Aliens brought to theatres the horrors of a new kind of war against a terrifying enemy. Two years later, Dark Horse Comics released a direct follow-up to the events in the film. Years before any talk of a third Alien film, the comics series took fandom by storm, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Thirty years later, Dark Horse is still a valued partner of 20th Century Fox and joins them in celebrating the anniversary of Aliens with the release of this oversize collection of the original comics series.

In 1986, James Cameron's Aliens brought to theaters the horrors of a new kind of war against a terrifying enemy. Long before Alien3 was even a glint in director David Fincher's eye, Dark Horse Comics was already crafting a terrifying post-Alienscontinuity for Ripley, Hicks, and Newt. Earth is overrun by xenomorphs with no hope of saving it for humanity. But that doesn't mean just leaving it to the Aliens. Ripley has a plan to capture, from what they believe is the Alien homeworld, a "Queen Mother"--a super queen that rules multiple nests--and bring it back to Earth. There the Queen Mother will command the xenomorphs to gather where they can all be destroyed by nuclear bombs. Collects Aliens: Nightmare Asylum #1-#4 and Aliens: Female War #1-#4. Includes cover art for all issues.

Volume 2.

These are the comics stories that kept fear alive. Since 1988, whether there was an Alien film on the horizon or not, Dark Horse Comics delivered scares that audiences demanded. From the depths of space, to bizarre alien worlds, and even to surface of our own dear Earth, in the pages of comic books there were dozens of sequels and spinoffs to the films, as well as original stories that carried the monsters and the mythos to new heights. These are the Aliens Essential Comics--stories which have stood the test of time . . . and kept readers awake at night. In this first volume is the initial Aliens trilogy--Outbreak, Nightmare Asylum, and Earth War, in which Hicks and Newt--and eventually Ripley--join forces to battle an infestation of Aliens both on Earth and in the wider galaxy (all of these stories were written before the film Alien3 chronicled the deaths of the heroes of Aliens). Written by Mark Verheiden (who went on to write The Mask, Timecop, Battlestar Galactica, Daredevil, and many other films and television shows), and beautifully illustrated by Mark A. Nelson, Den Beauvais, and Sam Kieth, these stories are the perfect starting point for readers new to the Aliens mythos, and a volume to be treasured by longtime fans.

In 1986, James Cameron's Aliens brought to theaters the horrors of a new kind of war against a terrifying enemy. Long before Alien3 was even a glint in director David Fincher's eye, Dark Horse Comics was already crafting a terrifying post-Aliens continuity for Ripley, Hicks, and Newt. Earth is overrun by xenomorphs with no hope of saving it for humanity. But Ripley has a plan to capture a 'Queen Mother' - a super queen that rules multiple nests - and bring it back to Earth. There the Queen Mother will command the xenomorphs to gather where they can all be destroyed by nuclear bombs.

As Marvel prepares for a xenomorph invasion, rediscover the comic book legacy of ALIENS! Familiar faces star in tales that expand on the movie mythos! As Hicks and Newt undertake a deadly mission to find and destroy the creatures' homeworld, a deadly outbreak leaves the Earth overrun with Aliens! Billionaire Daniel Grant sets his sights on an Alien Queen - and scientist Stanislaw Mayakovsky must retrieve one of the galaxy's most precious substances: Alien royal jelly! But can even Earth's finest fighting force, the Colonial Marines, hold off the most frightening, relentless creatures in all of film? Aliens (1988) 1-6, Aliens (1989) 1-4, Aliens: Earth War (1990) 1-4, Aliens: Genocide (1991) 1-4, Aliens: Hive (1992) 1-4, Aliens: Tribes (1992) 1, Aliens: Newt's Tale (1992) 1-2, Alien 3 (1992) 1-3, Aliens: Space Marines (1992) 1-12; material from Dark Horse Presents (1986) 24, 42-43, 56; Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special (1991) 1; Dark Horse Insider (1989) 14-27

Wilks was a space marine with a near-fatal flaw: he had a heart. Billie was a child, the only survivor of a far-flung colony outpost. Thrown together in the last hellish night of an alien invasion, Billie and Wilks helped each other get out alive. Thirteen years later Wilks is in prison, and Billie lives in a mental institution, the nightmare memories of the massacre at Rim seared into her mind. Now the government has tapped Wilks to lead an expedition to the aliens' home planet to bring back a live alien. But the competition on Earth to develop the aliens as a new weapons system is brutal. When Wilks's team departs on their mission, a trained assassin trails them. And what follows is no less than guerrilla warfare on the aliens' planet--and alien conquest on Earth!