Aliens: Colonial Marines - No Man Left Behind is a one-shot comic book that was published by Dark Horse Comics in July 2012 that serves as a tie-in to the video game of the same name. It was written by Joshua Williamson, illustrated by Patric Reynolds, colored by Michael Atiyeh, lettered by Nate Piekos, and edited by Scott Allie and Daniel Chabon, with cover art by Menton Matthews III. The comic was made available for free exclusively at the San Diego Comic-Con 2012 at Dark Horse's booth (#2615).
In the Aliens comics line, Aliens: Colonial Marines - No Man Left Behind was preceded by Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven, published concurrently with Aliens: Inhuman Condition, and was followed by Alien: Isolation.
Overview[]
As well as the story, the comic also featured a series of Aliens pin-ups by artists such as Michael Atiyeh, Dan Brown, Davide Fabbri, Max Fiumara, Kyle Hotz, Lukas Ketner, Christopher Mitten, Joe Querio, Chris Scalf, Dave Stewart, and Wilfredo Torres.
Plot[]
Immediately preceding the events of Aliens: Colonial Marines, a squad of Colonial Marines were battling against a horde of Xenomorphs aboard the USS Sulaco when Weyland-Yutani PMCs arrived and took out both the Xenos, and the Marines, in an attempt at scorched earth, leaving only 'Doc' and Private O'Neal alive. After a close encounter with a group of Xenos, leading to the Doc saving O'Neal's life, the two come across a wounded PMC soldier, who cites that he just wants to see his wife. Suddenly, a Chestburster erupts from inside him.
After the two regroup with Captain Cruz and a group of marines, Doc realizes that it is no longer his job just to save lives, but to survive.
Reprint History[]
For many years, No Man Left Behind was never collected or reissued. This, coupled with its status as a convention exclusive, made it among the rarest Aliens comics published by Dark Horse. However, 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 4 collection, alongside many other later Dark Horse stories. The collection was released on March 14, 2023.
Goofs[]
- While the comic's story ties into its video game counterpart Aliens: Colonial Marines, several details and elements do not match up with Aliens: Colonial Marines. Most notably, O'Neal encounters W-Y PMCs in the comic, yet in the game, he has no knowledge of Weyland-Yutani being on the Sulaco until much later.
- The comic mistakenly calls the Xenomorph infested ship, the USS Sephora, when it was the Sulaco that was overrun by Xenomorphs.