Saturday, May 3, 2025

Alien³ #1-3 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)


1992's third installment in the Alien movie series could have been so much better than what audiences received. Cyberpunk author William Gibson was originally tasked with writing a script that included elements of the Cold War, government corruption and religious fervor. Rushed to complete before a potential Hollywood strike, producers were unimpressed with Gibson's original treatment. They called it 'uninteresting'. So Fox Studios issued a number of rewrites. A film that was supposed to quickly capitalize on the success of James Cameron's 1986 action heavy sequel, Aliens, languished in pre-production for several years, resulting in some of it's stars to become unavailable or in the case of actress Carrie Henn, who played 12 year old survivor Newt; age out of their roles.

Alien³ would eventually see Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley crash landing on a former prison work colony along with a facehugger that survived from the previous film. Ripley believes that Newt's body is being inhabited by a Xenomorph embryo. However, an autopsy proves otherwise. That's because the facehugger choose another host - Ellen Ripley!

This 3-issue adaptation produced by Dark Horse Comics was written by Steven Grant. Except for some awkward translations of curse words into more comics friendly words and phrases, any qualms with the plot or scripting shouldn't be directed at Grant. The writer was tasked with a script that seemed doomed from the start. The same cannot be said about the artwork.

Pencils and inks for this mini were by Christopher Taylor and Rick Magyar. Their adult Xenomorph warrior referred to as a 'Dragon' Alien, because its 4-legged frame with a long tail was the result of bonding with the penal colony's guard dog, is impressive. But one has to wonder if Taylor and Magyar had ever seen either of the previous Alien films because their facehugger looked like a miniature Xenomorph with hair instead of an albino scorpion. 

Ripley looks like, well anyone but actress Sigourney Weaver. But at least the artists seemed not to confuse her with another actor. The oplikeness of Bishop looks more like Paul Reiser's character of Carter Burke, right down to the curly pompadour hairstyle and long trench coat! As for likenesses of the inmates, that's kinda hard to assess. They're pretty much all clones of one another as a lice infestation on the planet results in all of the colonists shaving their heads.

Alien³ would go on to make an estimate of $160-180 million dollars thanks in part to its Memorial Day weekend opening. Only the third installment in the Lethal Weapon series would outpace the space horror. Despite making three times as much as it's budget, the film is considered the worst of the Ripley films and tied with the franchise crossover Alien V. Predator: Requiem as the most underperforming of the franchise.

This would not be Weaver's final appearance in the Alien series. In 1997, she would return, this time as a clone, in Alien: Resurrection. Time would also see William Gibson returning to the franchise as a comic book writer. In 2018, Dark Horse published a 5-issue adaptation of what Alien³ could have been with William Gibson's Alien 3

The covers for Alien³ #1-3 were all painted by Arthur Suydam.    

Completing this review completes Task #7 (A Movie Adaptation) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.


No comments:

Post a Comment