Product Description: The old saying "You can't unbreak an egg" holds true, especially when that egg unleashes an interstellar scourge, the dreaded Alien. But as dangerous and lethal as this species has proven itself time and time again, some men cannot resist the awful gravity of the creatures' potential when merged with human science . . . and arrogance . . . and lust for power. But the cold contracts of these deals with the Devil also bring out the best in humanity, and the awful crucible of struggle against this interstellar cancer brings Man closer to his neighbors . . . and to his God. Dark Horse Comics' critically acclaimed Aliens series set the bar for how the universe of a popular film could be expended through graphic fiction. Aliens Omnibus Volume 3 collects more of these exciting series in a value-priced, quality-format omnibus, featuring nearly 400 story pages in full color. Includes the complete story arcs of Rogue by Ian Edginton and Will Simpson, and Labryinth by Jim Woodring and Kilian Plunkett, and the acclaimed tale Salvation, written by Dave Gibbons and illustrated by the incomparable Mike Mignola.
An awesome collection! Volume 1 & 2 were both very good collections of some fantastic, and average Alien comics. Female War and Colonial Marines are the two most negative points of the first two volumes, but there isn't anything as substantial as those in Volume 3 that's as big of a let down.
Rogue 4/5 If it weren't for some cheesy lines ripping off the first two movies, I'd give Rogue 5 stars. It's one of the mad scientist stories, following up Harvest from Volume 2. Rogue takes place after Genocide and concerns a man who's a spy for Grant Corporation, the owner of which is featured in Genocide. The other main characters include a pilot trying to uncover the conspiracy, a Marine who's tired of losing his men to experiments, and Dr. Ernst Kleist, a brilliant but evil scientist trying to harness the power of the Alien. Rogue is a pretty memorable story, and unfortunately some of the artwork is a little inconsistent. In the end, it's well worth the read.
Sacrifice 4/5 Sacrifice is a fantastic little one shot with great artwork, hearkening back to Den Beauvais's artwork in Nightmare Asylum, but a little more detailed. The story involves a small village that's had a problem with a single Xenomorph for nine months, which has essentially driven them insane. A lone woman survives a space ship crash landing and helps them out with the problem. First of all, I don't understand how the main character even survives the crash. Second, I'm not too crazy about the story's down-beat, anti-religion ending. It is a very good story though, and only another reason to buy this volume.
Labyrinth 5/5 Labyrinth is a masterpiece. It opens up with an intense, one-sided battle between Aliens and Colonial Marines, but then stops and continues in a mysterious way, carrying on the story of Anthony Crespi, the lone survivor of the account. It's another mad scientist story, this time Paul Church is the sinister guy conducting illegal experiments. The section that concerns his past encounter with the Aliens is one of the most disturbing, yet brilliant installments in all of Aliens literature and mythology period. I Labyrinth became unavailable by itself, I'd spend the money on this book for it alone. The artwork and story are both fantastic and classic and make this one of the greatest Alien stories out there.
Salvation 5/5 I really like desert island stories, and that's sort of what this is. I imagine David Twohy may have read this before he made Pitch Black, because there are some similar elements. It's got another religious themed plot, like Salvation, but doesn't really take a stance in the end. Salvation is really cool, and another great addition to the book.
Advent/Terminus 3/5 I'm not really sure why this isn't just a one-shot. It's about the same length as one, but is apparently in two parts. It's about four people who go into an ancient pyramid to find treasure. It reminds me a little bit of the first AvP movie. Hmmm. The story is a little unfocused, but in the end it's decent. Worth a read, but I'm a little neutral on it.
Reapers 4/5 Reapers is really short and features no dialog or narration. It's about some strange aliens that attack a hive and it ends with them harvesting the eggs. I actually laughed out loud upon the final page turn, because it's a pretty goofy story. If you can just accept the contrast between light-hearted pieces like this and heavy-handed stories like Labyrinth, than you'll enjoy it.
Horror Show 2/5 I just don't really get it. It takes place while Earth is still infested, and is about people living on the moon and having dreams about Aliens, which some guy is recording and selling to another guy. It's boring like Predator Blood Feud.
Volume 3 is worth it. Labyrinth, Rogue, Salvation, and Sacrifice are some great Aliens stories. Rogue and Labyrinth might be a little over the top, but not compared to stories like Female War, Genocide, and Colonial Marines. Most of these tales feature a subtle use of horror that gets under your skin and doesn't leave your mind for a while. I'd recommend this to Aliens fans and casual comic readers.
Rolling Seven or Eleven is NEVER lucky When Using Aliens as Dice!!!! Collected here are: (1) Rogue, (2) Labyrinth, (3) Salvation, (4) Sacrifice (5) Advent-Terminus (6) HorrorShow and (8) Reapers. It is one of the best collections because of some of these and it really, really makes the both the mouth and inner mouth water.
To name a few: The first is Labyrinth, a tale telling the story of a man named Dr. Church. When you start out you think that Dr. Church might be a little useful for winning back the planet (if you did not read the earlier Omnibus installments, read them for clarity if nothing more) and taking out some hives. He has an idea that the Alien's hivemind works on a low level telekinetic wavelength, doing to Aliens what scents do to ants. His experiments seem to indicate that, too, and the results he finds come at the cost of only a few workers and some of his cargo. The losses do prompt a look into what he is doing there, however, and the deeper look into what Dr. Church is doing showcases not only a mind busy as a bee but also one that has done something few drones have done. It has walked into a have and has walked away alive. The strange art-style of a world gone mad, the strange talks with a man that has truly lost a few marbles, aliens on leashes with boxcar racing number son their sides - you really need to see it to feel what has gone wrong with the world.
The second piece, Sacrifice, is a little piece of beauty showcasing the Alien through the eyes of Mike Mignola. This was something done in the middle years of what Mignola was/is and it is something reat, reminding me of a cross between his current work and the Doom that Came to Gotham (you should read that if you find it, too). It has all the elements you expect of Mignola: you get the complete story, a charater that has purpose, and you have a creature that evokes fear. Too often people writing the stories forget the fear aspect but Mike leaves you amongst the shadows and makes you wonder when something terrible will happen. He reminds me of a television in some ways and a book in others, taking the best of all mediums and drafting monsters in them. Along with that is a story about faith, faith in something bigger, and that completes it all. It is a must read.
And then there is the story of Rogue - a saga telling the story of Royal Jelly and what people are willing to do for it. While many people omit this part of the "new world" of the Alien, Rogue does not, and the completion of this shows you what has happened to quicken the drive of humanity. The same thing that gives Aliens the ability to become Queens also give people the highest high one can imagine, and the cloud makes people do crazy things. Sometimes they steal, sometimes they beg, and sometimes they find a hive of their own and try to walk in to get the best of the best. This story is one about humanity at their finest and, personally, I love it.
Yes, blessing come in small packages - and crawl down the throat of the unsuspecting so you can watch them grow. Its sort of like Candid Camera, only with Acid for Blood and a punchline with a joke entitled "LV-426" (Man, I never get tired of hearing that one!). Take the pleasure home with you and get the gift that keeps on living (and building hives in Iowa because there's some great beef strolling those fields, and "accidentally" taking out pesky neighbors)!
Dark Horse keeps the hits coming with Aliens Omnibus vol. 3! Aliens Omnibus Volume 3 to me definetly had the most chilling Aliens comics I have ever read! This Omnibus collects these stories: 1. Rogue, by Ian Edginton, art by Will Simpson, (4 stars), 2. Sacrifice, by Peter Milligan, art by Paul Johnson, (4 stars), 3. Labyrinth, by Jim Woodring,art by Kilian Plunkett (5 stars), 4. Salvation, by Dave Gibbons, art by Mike Mignola and Kevin Nowlan, (5 stars), 5. Advent/Terminus, by Anina Bennet and Paul Guinan, art by Paul Guinan, (4 stars), 6. Reapers, by John Arcudi and art by Simon Bisley, (5 stars), and lastly, 7. Horror Show, by Sarah Byam, art by David Roach, (3 stars). There was definently some great stories in this Omnibus, like the chilling Labyrinth, the religion-based Salvation, or the hilarious Reapers. First though, to start of the summaries, is Ian Edginton's Rogue. Rogue is not bad, I just never truly cared for it. The one idea I liked though was the (Spoiler Alert) fact that they made an "Alien King". This story, like sooo many others in this Omnibus deals with, surprise!, another mad scientest trying to use the Aliens for commercial value. The same backdrop idea just wears thin after awhile. The art is the only real good thing, it's pretty detailed, and drawn pretty good too. The only truly story like that is Labyrinth, which is chilling and horrific. After Rogue comes another fairly decent Aliens story, Sacrifice. This one, like Salvation, deals with the Aliens and religion. The art is different than most Aliens comics, so it was nice to see a change. Also, this one features a shocking plot twist. After Sacrifice comes the scariest Aliens graphic novel you will ever read: Labyrinth. The sientest's flashback is gripping, horrific, chilling, and terrifying, all at the same time. Jim Woodring came up with a real shocker. Plus the story starts out an action story, and then quickly changes modes to horror. After Labyrinth comes Dave Gibbons and Mike Mignola's acclaimed tale Salvation, and don't let the art throw you off, this one's awesome. It's also another one that centers around religion, like Sacrifice. After that comes Advent/Terminus, a one-shot that has a nice ending to it. Then comes the eight-page Reapers, which envovles humor, when a group of green armor- claded aliens(no, not the ones where used to) discover what facehuggers taste like. The weak Horror show, after that, just doesn't compare. The Aliens mostly appear in dreams, and the plot gets confusing at points. Not a great way to end the Omnibus, but it's pretty short so I can handle it. The Omnibus isn't short though, and at 376 pages it's well worth the price. Recomended, only for Labyrinth, Salvation, and Reapers though. 4 stars, or a grade: B-.
Anything Goes Trivia
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