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Aliens: Headhunters is a comic book short story that was first published by Dark Horse Comics in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents, Vol. 1 #117, in January 1997. Originally published in black and white, the story was written by Mike W. Barr, illustrated by Gene Colan, lettered by Sean Konot, and edited by Bob Schreck. The issue of Dark Horse Presents also featured an Aliens cover by artist Duncan Fegredo. The comic book short story was preceded by the short story prequel Aliens.

In Dark Horse's Aliens comics line, Aliens: Headhunters was preceded by Aliens: Lovesick, and was followed by Aliens: Pig.

Publisher's Summary[]

Two retirement-minded bounty hunters hope to make some quick cash by selling Alien skulls in "Headhunters," an all-new story by super-scribe Mike W. Barr and legendary artist Gene Colan.

Plot[]

Aliens (prologue) - Comic Shop News #500[]

After their wedding celebration, James and Carla Billings board their new spacecraft and decide to postpone their honeymoon to instead search for Alien infestations hoping to make extra money by collecting and selling more Alien skulls to afford the honeymoon of their dreams.

Headhunters - Dark Horse Presents, Vol. 1 #117[]

From the cockpit of their ship, Carla notices newly carved and uncharted tunnels in a nearby asteroid where they land in search of adult "bugs." James uses his rifle to defend himself against a creature while Carla locates the nest. While the newlyweds argue over whose bullet killed their most recent alien encounter, James is attacked and killed, leaving Carla unarmed and alone.

Reprint History[]

Dark Horse Comics[]

Aliens: Headhunters was eventually collected as part of Aliens Omnibus: Volume 6 in December 2008.

The comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on July 31, 2013, collected with Aliens: Tourist Season and reusing Duncan Fegredo's cover art from Dark Horse Presents, Vol. 1 #117.

Marvel Comics[]

Following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Alien comic books, the comic was collected as part of Marvel's Aliens: The Original Years Volume 3 collection, alongside many other later Dark Horse stories. The collection was released on November 22, 2022.

Behind the Scenes[]

Headhunters is notably one of seven black and white Aliens comics from Dark Horse that have never been reprinted in color, the others being Aliens: Countdown, Aliens: Border Lines, Aliens: 45 Seconds, Aliens: Elder Gods, Aliens: Tourist Season and Aliens: Once in a Lifetime.

Veteran comics artist Gene Colan also worked on the Predator series Predator: Hell & Hot Water.

Trivia[]

  • Headhunters was preceded by a short, two-page prologue that was published exclusively in Comic Shop News #500.[1] To date, this prologue has never been reprinted or collected anywhere else.

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References[]

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