Changes: Aliens: Crusade

Revision as of 14:28, 23 November 2015

Aliens: Crusade is an incomplete 10-part comic book story that was published by Dark Horse Comics in its UK-based Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #13-20, from July 1993-February 1994. It was written by Michael Cook, illustrated by Christian Gorny, lettered by Woodrow Phoenix and colored by Nick Abadzis. The ambitious, richly illustrated story dealt with the fate of England during the Xenomorph invasion of Earth, as chronicled in the early Aliens comics.

Only the first eight parts of the comic were ever published; the ninth and tenth chapters were originally set to appear in Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #21-22, but were delayed until issues 23-24 to allow the artists extra time to complete them.^[1] Aliens magazine was then cancelled after issue 22 as Dark Horse International, who published the magazine, went out of business. This left the remaining two episodes of the comic unpublished. To this day, the final parts have never been released and the comic has never been collected in any form.

In the Aliens comics line, Aliens: Crusade was preceded by Aliens: Sacrifice, published concurrently with Aliens: Colonial Marines (1993 series), Aliens: Rogue, Aliens: Taste, Aliens: Backsplash, The Compleat Aliens, Aliens: Labyrinth, Aliens: Salvation, Aliens: Cargo, Aliens: Alien, Aliens: Music of the Spears and Operation: Aliens, and was followed by Aliens: Stronghold.

Plot

As humanity works toward eradicating the Alien menace from the recently reclaimed planet Earth, a unit of elite corporate mercenaries is sent in to investigate why and how the retrograde and tribalized island of England has managed to avoid the Alien infestation all together... and find some disturbing answers.

Reprint History

Aliens: Crusade has never been collected or reissued and remains incomplete.

Behind the Scenes

The solicitations for the final installments of Crusade can be found in various promotional publications from Dark Horse Comics, such as Dark Horse Insider and Previews, and constitute the only information ever released about the missing episodes. The solicitation for part nine reads "where the horrors of the cathedral are revealed", while part ten teases that the story "reaches its conclusion with a climactic confrontation between Channon and the Alien Queen in the River Thames."^[2]

To this day, it is unknown whether the final parts of the story was actually completed, or whether the cancellation of the magazine meant they were scrapped before they were finished. However, issue 23 of Aliens magazine had been solicited, and so fans remain hopeful that the completed artwork does exist and will be included in a reprint in the future.

References

↑ Dave Hughes, Lee Brimmicombe-Wood. Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #21, p. 3 (1992), Dark Horse International.
↑ "Hasslein Blog - The Alien/Predator Comic Strips, Part Two". Retrieved on 2015-06-15.

[AliensMag2.21_3-1] Dave Hughes, Lee Brimmicombe-Wood. Aliens magazine, Vol. 2 #21, p. 3 (1992), Dark Horse International.

[Hasslein2-2] "Hasslein Blog - The Alien/Predator Comic Strips, Part Two". Retrieved on 2015-06-15.

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 '''''Aliens: Crusade''''' is an incomplete 10-part comic book story that was published by [[Dark Horse Comics]] in its UK-based [[Aliens (UK magazine)|''Aliens'' magazine]], Vol. 2 #13-20, from July [[1993]]-February [[1994]]. It was written by [[Michael Cook]], illustrated by [[Christian Gorny]], lettered by Woodrow Phoenix and colored by Nick Abadzis. The ambitious, richly illustrated story dealt with the fate of England during the {{Xeno}} invasion of [[Earth]], as chronicled in the early [[Aliens (comics line)|''Aliens'' comics]].
-Only the first eight parts of the comic were ever published; the ninth and tenth chapters were originally set to appear in ''Aliens'' magazine, Vol. 2 #21-22, but were delayed until issue 23-24 to allow the artists extra time to complete them.<ref name="AliensMag2.21 3">{{cite book|title=[[Aliens (UK magazine)|Aliens magazine]], Vol. 2 #21|author=[[Dave Hughes]], [[Lee Brimmicombe-Wood]]|publisher=[[Dark Horse International]]|year=[[1992]]|page=3}}</ref> ''Aliens'' magazine was then cancelled after issue 22 as [[Dark Horse International]], who published the magazine, went out of business. This left the remaining two episodes of the comic unpublished. To this day, the final parts have never been released and the comic has never been collected in any form.
+Only the first eight parts of the comic were ever published; the ninth and tenth chapters were originally set to appear in ''Aliens'' magazine, Vol. 2 #21-22, but were delayed until issues 23-24 to allow the artists extra time to complete them.<ref name="AliensMag2.21 3">{{cite book|title=[[Aliens (UK magazine)|Aliens magazine]], Vol. 2 #21|author=[[Dave Hughes]], [[Lee Brimmicombe-Wood]]|publisher=[[Dark Horse International]]|year=[[1992]]|page=3}}</ref> ''Aliens'' magazine was then cancelled after issue 22 as [[Dark Horse International]], who published the magazine, went out of business. This left the remaining two episodes of the comic unpublished. To this day, the final parts have never been released and the comic has never been collected in any form.
 In the ''Aliens'' comics line, ''Aliens: Crusade'' was preceded by ''[[Aliens: Sacrifice]]'', published concurrently with [[Aliens: Colonial Marines (1993 comic series)|''Aliens: Colonial Marines'' (1993 series)]], ''[[Aliens: Rogue]]'', ''[[Aliens: Taste]]'', ''[[Aliens: Backsplash]]'', ''[[The Compleat Aliens]]'', ''[[Aliens: Labyrinth]]'', ''[[Aliens: Salvation]]'', ''[[Aliens: Cargo]]'', ''[[Aliens: Alien]]'', ''[[Aliens: Music of the Spears]]'' and ''[[Operation: Aliens (comic)|Operation: Aliens]]'', and was followed by ''[[Aliens: Stronghold]]''.