Aliens: Xenogenesis was a four-issue limited miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics from August–November 1999. The series was written by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, drawn by David Ross and inked by Andrew Pepoy. It was lettered by Sean Konot, colored by Dan Jackson and edited by Philip Amara. Cover art was provided by Ross and Pepoy.

The series was eventually collected in Aliens Omnibus: Volume 6 in December 2008.

Aliens: Xenogenesis was part of Dark Horse's franchise-crossing Xenogenesis event in 1999, and was released in conjunction with Predator: Xenogenesis, and Aliens vs. Predator: Xenogenesis. The three stories loosely interconnected stories shared a similar new art style that was a departure from the usual styles of art and storytelling found in the series till then.

In the Aliens comics line, Aliens: Xenogenisis was followed by no new Aliens comics from Dark Horse for ten years. The hiatus ended with the release of the Aliens/Predator Free Comic Book Day Flip Issue in May 2009.

This marked a relaunch of all three of Dark Horse's Predator, Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator lines in anticipation of the release of the 2010 film Predators and to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the release of the film Alien.

It was then followed by the new Aliens 2009 miniseries from May-Dec. 2009.

Plot (Warning: Spoilers)Edit

Official description of individual issues:

This is it: the future of Aliens starts now with Xenogenesis! In the distant future, the existence of the horrific Aliens is no longer a secret. Now, with space colonies scattered throughout the galaxy, a mega-corporation has formed a strike force to take the offensive against the monsters. For the first time, humanity has a fighting chance!

Something—or someone—is murdering colonists on the planet of Salazar VII, and Strikeforce is caught smack in the middle. When a small contingent of would-be Alien hunters steals Max Sakada's ultra-tech weaponry, things go from bad to bloody in a hurry. Plus, Robbie Mulligan starts to suspect that teammate Sierra Cruz might be as dangerous to humans as she is to Aliens.

Eden Alexander can handle her share of trouble and then some, but even she has her limits. She reaches those limits when she and Bishop Hawke are caught in the middle of a freak

storm and a conspiracy seeded by the very powers behind Strikeforce! As this duo faces a terrifying underwater battle with Aliens, Strikeforce's resident berzerker, Xerxes, is about to become the unwilling host for a chestburster!

Whatever yarns Xerxes may spin about being immortal, he's the only one who could ever walk away from a chestburster. But his Strikeforce comrades had better find him in the bowels of the hive before Aliens rip him to shreds. And through it all, Bishop Hawke has been following a trail of deception that now leads straight to the Company man known as Shaw. Is he the man pulling the strings behind Strikeforce? And if so, does that mean the team has been a pawn from the start?

Behind the ScenesEdit

Marking a drastic departure from the traditional style of the comics produced till then, the Xenogenesis event was heralded by the company as the beginning of "the future of Aliens comics", but the poorly received stories actually marked the death-knell of all three of Dark Horse's Predator, Aliens, and AVP lines for the next ten years. The stories are mostly panned by fans as contradicting previous material and written/drawn in a "comic booky" style completely inconsistently with the spirit of the rest of the company's historic material for the lines.

Husband and wife writing team Tom & Mary Bierbaum were best known for their work on DC Comics' Legion of Superheroes series.

The future military organization known as Strikeforce seen in the story was first introduced in Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species.

See alsoEdit

• Dark Horse Comics
• Aliens (comic series)
• Xenogenesis
• Predator: Xenogenesis
• Aliens vs. Predator: Xenogenesis
• Strikeforce