The Alien series has recently received a new impetus in the public consciousness with the release of the new film, “Alien: Romulus.” I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’ve seen both positive and negative reactions to it. Last week (August 28, 2024), the first issue of “Aliens vs. Avengers” by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic was released, which I really liked and look forward to continuing the series. There’s also a prequel TV series in development by “Legion”‘s Noah Hawley coming soon.
All of this made me want to look back at the older parts of the comic book series, both the frenetic era when there were very few movies, and the in-between period when the canon shifted and the comics filled in the gaps – the fascinating part being that different alternate timelines were essentially created by the various creative teams that have worked with Dark Horse over their nearly three decades.
I especially wanted to highlight some of the masters of horror movies, because as the old saying goes, “in space, no one can hear you scream.”
“Let’s assume there was an egg. I think it all starts with the egg.”
Originally published in Dark Horse Presents #101-102, “Incubation” by Ron Mars, Bernie Wrightson, Matt Hollingsworth and Sean Connott is a 12-page short story focusing on the showdown between another alien race and the Xenomorphs, and how that disaster led to the Xenomorphs’ arrival on Earth.
In some ways, the story is speculative, which makes it a bit more interesting. What we see in the frames is not necessarily what actually happened, but what the narrator thinks happened on board the ship. It is a compilation of what a man discovering a crashed spaceship on Earth thinks happened to the ship, parallel to what he thinks happened to himself, leading up to his final will. Sean Connott uses an interesting italic font choice for Ron Mars’ lengthy narration.
Bernie Wrightson’s artwork is superb. He captures the traditional design of the different life stages of the Xenomorph while still putting his own unique twist on the fully grown drones – befitting the host permutations of the different species. His shading is sublime and suits the horror aspects of the story perfectly. It’s also interesting that this piece was originally published in black and white. I think Matt Hollingsworth’s colors came in when this story was first collected and added a melancholic blue hue to much of the story.
“Did the last one pray?”
Now, the sad thing about “Incubation” by Marrs, Wrightson, Hollingsworth and Connott is that it’s a prologue. A prologue to a story that may never be published again: Batman/Alien. Maybe Marvel and DC will make a deal and it will be republished, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. If you can find it in the original series, in a collection (which includes the prologue story), or in the recent DC/Dark Horse crossover collection that came out just before the license was reverted (which doesn’t have the prologue, but does include a ton of other great crossover stories), then by all means, get it.
Still, “Incubation” works as an artistic, tense short story from a master of horror — a reminder that you don’t need huge page counts to tell an effective, memorable story.
Classic Comics Encyclopedia: Alien – Incubation
Alien – Incubation
Writer: Ron Mars
Artist: Bernie Wrightson
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Sean Connott
Publisher: Marvel Comics (Reprint Collection) | Dark Horse (Original Publisher)
Release date: November 23, 2022 (reprint edition) | September 28, 1995 – October 12, 1995 (first edition)
Alien: The Original Years Omnibus – Included in Volume 3
Read previous entries in the Classic Comics Compendium!
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