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Aliens vs. Predator is a three-part comic book short story that was first published by Dark Horse Comics in the anthology series Dark Horse Presents, Vol. 1 #34-36, from November 1989-February 1990. It was the first comic in the now extensive Aliens vs. Predator comics line. Originally published in black and white, the story was written by Randy Stradley, pencilled by Phill Norwood, inked by Karl Story, lettered by Pat Brosseau, and edited by Stradley. The issues of Dark Horse Presents also featured Aliens and Predator cover art by Chris Warner. The comic served as a prequel to the four-issue series of the same name.

As well as being the first Aliens vs. Predator comic, the short story in fact represents the origin of the entire Alien vs. Predator franchise; its final installment, in Dark Horse Presents #36, marks the first official appearance together of the Alien and Predator creatures, and was the first ever media to bear the Aliens vs. Predator title. In order to mask the true nature of the crossover, the first two installments were billed as simply Aliens and Predator, respectively, with the full title withheld until the third and final installment.

In the Aliens vs. Predator comics line, Aliens vs. Predator (1989 short story) was followed by Aliens vs. Predator.

Publisher's Summary[]

#34: This issue of Dark Horse's premier title features the fantastic climax of Book Two of Leopoldo Duranona's Race of Scorpions, the final episode of the current adventures of Michael Kraiger's radioactive misfit, The Zone, and a special Aliens story by Chris Warner and Randy Stradley that will kick off one of Dark Horse's most exciting projects!

#35: Bursting out from the pages of their best-selling mini-series, the Predator's hunt continues as chronicled by Randy Stradley and Chris Warner! It's a lead-up to the biggest surprise project Dark Horse has planned for the upcoming year!

#36: The most eagerly-awaited storyline begins in this month's issue of Dark Horse Presents! They are the galaxy's most deadly alien races; now, the time has come for them to meet at last! It's the Aliens and Predator together in one story! The confrontation of the century brought to you by Randy Stradley and film designer (The Abyss and RoboCop II) Phillip Norwood! The story will then continue in a full-color miniseries coming out next month!

Plot[]

AVPQueen1

The clan's captive Queen.

AVPDachandevTopknot

Dachande defeats Top-Knot.

As bored pilots Tom Strandberg and Scott Conover of the Lector provide narration in the form of an introspective conversation about nature versus technology, a Predator Mother Ship flies past (mistaken by the pilots as a meteor) carrying a captive Xenomorph Queen, harvesting its eggs for seeding planets with "game" to prepare inexperienced Un-Blooded Predators for their initiation in a Xenomorph hunt. Leader of the hunting party, Broken Tusk, is preparing for the hunt before being alerted by a subordinate that fellow Predator Top-Knot won a recent fight to claim the right to choose their hunting grounds. Top-Knot ultimately challenges Broken Tusk, but is defeated by him.

AVPshortblooding

Top-Knot bloods a subordinate.

Broken Tusk chooses the planet of Ryushi to conduct his hunt, unbeknownst to him that a colony of humans had established themselves on the planet. Top-Knot instead leads another hunt on a marsh-covered planet that the party had seeded with Xenos. After a successful skirmish with the creatures, Top-Knot bloods a subordinate.

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Reprint History[]

Aliens vs. Predator was collected and released as issue 0 of the comic series of the same name in July 1990, edited by Diana Schutz. It has subsequently been integrated into the first full Aliens vs. Predator series and has generally been collected alongside it ever since.

However, the short story has been reprinted separately from the first Aliens. vs. Predator series once — in the limited-release promotional comic Aliens vs. Predator: Special Collector's Edition in 2010, included exclusively with copies of the Hunter Edition of the video game Aliens vs. Predator.

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