Showing posts sorted by relevance for query alien. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query alien. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2009

'Alien: The Illustrated Story' by Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson


‘Heavy Metal’ magazine scored a genuine coup by winning the licensing rights to 20th Century Fox’s science fiction thriller ‘Alien’. The magazine made the most of this bounty by arranging to publish a number of books dealing with the film, including ‘The Book of Alien’, a behind-the-scenes look at the film’s production; and ‘Alien: The Illustrated Story’. With art by Walter Simonson and story by Archie Goodwin, Alien: The Illustrated Story was a larger size ‘graphic novel’, released in the Spring of 1979, prior to the film’s debut on May 25. As such, it contained spoilers, so that before I saw the film I knew what was going to happen….

Sections of ‘Alien’ were serialized in the May and June issues of Heavy Metal, and I’ve scanned some of those excerpts for presentation here. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the book’s contents by presenting the ‘Alien-specific pages’. I will say that the book stays true to the film’s script, while at the same time successfully presenting the material in a memorable and distinctive way. Unfortunately, comic adaptations of subsequent Alien films (I’m thinking of Dark Horse’s Alien3 effort in particular) have strayed from this attitude, and have tended to come across as sub-par efforts to cash in on the licensing rights.

Suffice it to say that the ‘Alien’ graphic novel does a great job of communicating the film’s creepy, and sometimes gory, nature. Simonson is adept at presenting H. R. Giger’s unique style of ‘bio-mechanoid’ artwork throughout the book, starting with the careful illustration of the ‘Alien’ title. The one area where the comic falls a bit short, is in mimicking the very dark and drizzly look of the film’s spaceship interiors; but this was in the days before computer graphics programs were available for creating the more complex color and texture schemes such fidelity would have required.

The ‘Alien’ creature is so much a part of pop culture mythology nowadays that it is perceived in a kind of amiable light (as it sometimes appears in the Brewster Rockit: Space Guy’ comic strip), but back in 1979 the creature was a genuinely scary thing. In fact, when Kenner released the first ‘Alien’ toy in ‘79, kids were so frightened by it that some stores actually removed it from their shelves, forcing would-be buyers to ask the store managers for the toy to be brought up from the stock room - !

Fans of the film and comic art in general may find it worthwhile to add ‘Alien: The Illustrated Story’ to their collection. It’s an interesting and worthwhile effort at the sort of synergistic marketing that’s commonplace nowadays for every and all Summer Blockbusters, but back in ’79, it was a bit novel and innovative. 20th Century Fox had undoubtedly learned of the immense power of cross-marketing after the tumult two years earlier of ‘Star Wars’, and was aware that the fans of that film would be lining up for ‘Alien’, as well as happily handing over cash for associated memorabilia.












Sunday, May 5, 2019

The Book of Alien

The Book of Alien
by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross
Heavy Metal Books 
May 1, 1979


Forty years ago, 20th Century Fox was kicking off a major marketing campaign for the movie Alien, which was going to premiere on May 25, 1979. 

By today's standards the campaign was rather modest, but remember, Fox was just beginning to learn the lessons of the success of Star Wars two years previously.


As well, Alien was rated R, which meant that Fox couldn't tap the children's market with its lucrative franchises for toys, thermoses, lunch boxes, bedsheets, clothing, dishware, etc. Kenner did release an 18" Alien toy, but it prompted an outcry from angry parents

Ahhhh, those were the days.............


Which brings me to 'The Book of Alien'. I purchased the original book back in '79, but lost it over the ensuing years. During that time the book went out of print and used copies in good condition became quite exorbitant.




And so, for this post, I'm relying on a copy that was published in the UK by Star Books. These copies can be purchased for a modest price at your usual online vendors. 

In May, 2012 Titan Books reissued the book, and these copies also are quite affordable.



'The Book of Alien' (112 pp) contains a wealth of behind-the-scenes photographs and artwork, with remarks about the process of making the film from Ridley Scott, Dan O'Bannon, Ron Cobb, Roger Christian, and H. R. Giger, among others.


There are sure to be at least some tidbits and anecdotes within the pages of 'The Book of Alien' that are new to you, and illustrate some of the complexities and challenges that had to be overcome back in the days when computer-generated special effects really didn't exist. Indeed, it's a testament to the skill of the producers that forty years later, the film retains its effectiveness as a sci-fi horror feature.



'The Book of Alien' will be worth its while to Baby Boomers and sci-fi fans who remember the excitement associated with the film back in those long-ago days...........but even if you weren't around back then, it's a good way to see how far things have come since 1979. But the craftsmanship used in the making of Alien has its lessons even for film-makers of today, in my humble opinion.




Tying in with the film's 40th anniversary, Titan will be releasing a deluxe hardcover volume titled 'The Making of Alien' that goes above and beyond 'The Book of Alien'. 'The Making of Alien' is scheduled for a July 23 release, and is priced (tentatively) at $37.


Sunday, July 10, 2022

Alien Vault

Alien Vault
The Complete Story and Legacy
by Ian Nathan
Epic Ink, 2019
Alien Vault first was published in 2011 by Voyageur Press. In 2019, publisher Epic Ink acquired the rights to issue a more elaborate 40th anniversary edition, also titled Alien Vault.
I recently came across the 40th anniversary edition on the shelves of a 'bargain' outlet for less than $10, so I decided to purchase it and provide an overview here at the PorPor Books Blog.
Author Nathan has written 'Vault' books for other franchises, such as The Terminator, as well as books on noted directors such as Ridley Scott, Tim Burton, the Coen Brothers, and the Coppolas. 
At 10.25 x 19 inches, Alien Vault is a thick, well-made book with a slipcase cover. The inside covers of the book are fitted with pockets, within which lodged bits of Alien ephemera, such as stickers, placards, and facsimiles of Ridley Scott's shooting script. It's a nice little exemplar of a multimedia presentation, and indicates that the author and the publisher took this chance to capitalize on the 40th anniversary quite seriously.

Among copious pictures, author Nathan provides an overview of the film. His prose style is relatively smooth and engaging, save for the chapter devoted to Ripley, where he goes into an overly labored exegesis on the innovative nature of the character in terms of the depiction of women in sci-fi films. There's nothing here that hasn't been said before in many other analyses of Alien

Elsewhere in Alien Vault Nathan provides anecdotes and observations about the genesis of the film, the cast and crew, the process of filming, and its reception (at a test screening in Dallas in the Spring of 1979, audience members reportedly lurched out of their seats and headed to the restrooms to vomit).
Nathan makes clear that during the filming, none of the actors saw the film as being anything more than a large-budget 'B' movie, and that is how most critics saw the film upon its release in May, 1979. So it's interesting to see how, over the years, the film has come to be seen as one of the greatest films of the 1970s, a touchstone of artistic cinema, and a pop culture icon.
As a 40th anniversary edition, Alien Vault devotes its final chapter to the sequels and prequels of the franchise, including insider anecdotes about Prometheus and an account by the author of an on-site visit to the studio in Australia where Ridley Scott was shooting Alien: Covenant.
The book closes on a note of some uncertainty, as Fox has not green-lit Scott's anticipated third entry in the Prometheus series. It does appear that an Alien TV series is in preproduction, but whether it actually makes to to the small screen remains to be seen.
Summing up, if you're a fan of the film, and you can find Alien Vault for an affordable price, then you may want to pick it up. While it lacks the in-depth nature of J. W. Rinzler's The Making of Alien (2019), it is a serviceable history of the film and franchise.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Book Review: Inseminoid

Book Review: 'Inseminoid' by Larry Miller


1 / 5 Stars

In the aftermath of the success of the 20th Century Fox film ‘Alien’ in the Summer of 1979, schlock producers released a stream of low-budget imitations: ‘Alien Contamination’ (1980) ; ‘Inseminoid’ (aka ‘Horror Planet’) (1981);  ‘Parasite’ (1982); and ‘Xtro’ (1982).



This novelization of 'Inseminoid' (158 pp) was released in April, 1981 by UK publisher New English Library.

Team Nova is an archeology expedition housed in an installation on a remote planet. In the course of excavating some ancient ruins, the team discovers a burial crypt containing a deceased alien creature, preserved in a sealed, coffin-like chamber.

When the alien is returned to the laboratory, it gradually comes back to life, to the astonishment of the crew. However, their carelessness about securing the alien proves their undoing, as the creature succeeds in escaping, and rapes crewmember Sandy.

The hapless Sandy rapidly devolves into a pregnant, homicidal quasi-alien, endangering the lives of the rest of the crew. Can the surviving members of Team Nova kill Sandy…or will she succeed in giving birth to the alien offspring ?

I never saw more than brief snatches of trailers of ‘Inseminoid’ when it was released back in the early 80s. Needless to say, the segments I did see confirmed the film’s low-budget, schlocky underpinnings. The film did have a strong cast of veteran British actors, including Stephanie Beacham (‘Dynasty’, ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’), Victoria Tennant (‘Flowers in the Attic’), and Judy Geeson (‘Star Trek Voyager’).

The novelization differs from the film in terms of selected scenes and events (i.e., the fate of Sandy). But not unsurprisingly, the novelization really fails to improve on the original script, in terms of making a dud narrative into something worthwhile. Some of the goofy contrivances that take place in ‘Inseminoid’ exist for no other reason than to provide the film with an opportunity to display disemboweled corpses, a la Alien.

What little suspense that exists in the narrative comes about mainly because the crewmembers of Team Nova are abysmally stupid and clumsy. In the end, I wound up rooting for the monster, if only because so many of the horny, dim-witted crew-members deserved to die.

In summary, even the most dedicated fans of Bad Films may want to pass on the novel or DVD of 'Inseminoid'.

Saturday, April 24, 2021

Alien Landscapes

Alien Landscapes
By Robert Holdstock and Malcolm Edwards
Mayflower Books, NY 1979


The sci-fi boom that followed the success of Star Wars led to a surge of books devoted to genre art, and one of the foremost of these was 'Alien Landscapes'.

This is one of two coffee-table books co-authored by the late Robert Holdstock (1948 - 2009) and Malcolm Edwards (b. 1949), the other being 'Realms of Fantasy' (1983).

At 120 pages in length, measuring 11 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, this is a well-made art book, printed on heavy stock with a library-friendly hardcover binding.


The book is modeled as a travelogue to ten of the better-known worlds depicted in the science fiction of the interval from the 1950s to the 1970s:


The artists who were commissioned to supply three pieces for each world read like a British who's-who of sci fi illustration in the 1970s, and include Angus McKie, Tony Roberts, John Harris, and Les Edwards, among others.


On the main, the artwork represents the airbrush-centered aesthetic that dictated album and book cover art in the 1970s. Unfortunately, many of the pieces in 'Alien Landscapes' suffer from underexposure and as a result are difficult to make out. This is particularly true of Bob Fowke's illustrations for 'Hothouse'; after scanning and increasing the Brightness function, I was able to see details that are otherwise illegible.


Why this problem wasn't detected in the proofs stage and corrected is a mystery. I'm accustomed to underexposure being an issue in modern printing, when computer monitors are used at 100% brightness for composing art and failure to correct for this in the printed version can have consequences, but in 1979 there was no such thing as scanners and digital composing.....just a camera, and some 35mm film.


As for the art in relation to the books it is based on: at one point or another I have read some of the works depicted in 'Alien Landscapes' (I haven't read the books by Blish, Asimov, Clement, Niven, or Harrison) and I found the art adequately represented the scenery in the book. That said, most of the novels in 'Alien Landscapes' are not ones that I would call must-reads, and indeed, I have no intention ever of reading 'Cities in Flight', 'Foundation', or 'Mission of Gravity, as they are likely to be stupefyingly boring...........?!



The verdict ? If you're a fan of 70s sci-fi art, or a dedicated fan of the novels profiled in the pages of 'Alien Landscapes' then it may be worth picking up; copies of the hardcover version in decent condition have asking prices of under $25 at your usual online retailers.  

Monday, June 11, 2012

Book Review: Men Like Rats

Book Review: 'Men Like Rats' by Robert Chilson

2 / 5 Stars

‘Men Like Rats’ (Questar, 212 pp., March 1989) features a striking cover by Barclay Shaw.

‘Men’ is essentially a treatment of the theme introduced into SF by A. Bertram Chandler’s ‘The Giant Killer’ (1945) and William Tenn’s story ‘The Men in the Walls' (1963, later expanded into the novel ‘Of Men and Monsters’, 1968). 


Basically, mankind finds itself reduced to roach-like scavenging among the habitations of aliens vastly superior in size and intellect.

‘Men’ takes place in the future, when some vaguely described calamity has resulted in mankind occupying a vast series of rooms, or chambers, of alien design. The main function of these rooms seems to be as storage places or waypoints for an endless stream of packaged goods, conveyed from location to location by seemingly magical energy fields, elevators, and conveyor belts.

Toting spears, dressed in clothing salvaged from the textiles scavenged from the bales of goods flowing from one room to another, men have set up small fiefdoms or tribes among the various chambers in this alien warehouse.

As the novel opens, Rick, an experienced wanderer among the chambers, is seeking his fortune, and a chance to meet up with female tribals, among the cans and bales of one of the sections of the warehouse. Life among the chambers is not easy; the Sentiences that have erected the warehouse are becoming increasingly exasperated with the depredations of the humans, and a bevy of predatory animal, boobytraps, and robots have been seeded into the warehouse in an effort at vermin control. 


As he journeys deeper into the alien labyrinth, Rick stumbles on disturbing evidence that some of the tribes ruling selected cargo bays may in fact not be human....but they have a liking for human flesh.....

On the whole, ‘Men’ is a fast-moving, at times humorous tale that follows the adventures of Rick among the various tribes in the warehouse. There are plenty of stone-age battles, and violent encounters with monsters, as Rick makes his way to the territory of the most affluent and influential of tribes.


Unfortunately, the novel's backstory suffers from inadequate exposition. Author Chilson's passages devoted to the alien logistical system, however descriptive in nature, are resolutely presented from Rick's POV; and as a  member of a stone-age Cargo Cult, Rick's knowledge of his surroundings are vague and child-like.

There is no omniscient narration that discloses to the reader the exact nature of the landscape in which our hero is cavorting. 

As the novel progressed I became increasingly tired of the diffuse character of Chilson's prose: is the strange green terrain the alien equivalent of synthetic turf ? Are the giant colored blocks stacked in the cargo bays an alien child's toy ? Are the enormous boxes filled with edibles the equivalent of alien MREs ?

While less allegorical in nature than Tenn's 'Monsters', 'Men Like Rats' also will strike some readers as too opaque in nature. It's a workmanlike effort, but not much more, at this sub-genre of sf.

Friday, December 31, 2021

Alien Legion: Slaughterworld

Alien Legion: Slaughterworld
Epic Comics / Marvel, 1991
'Alien Legion: Slaughterworld' was published by Marvel's Epic Comics imprint in 1991.

This trade paperback compiles issues 1 (April 1984) and 7 to 11 (April 1985 - December 1985) of the comic book series issued by Epic.

The writing cores were handled by Marvel's veteran writer Alan Zelentz, with Chris Warner providing pencils, Phil Felix lettering, and Bob Sharen the coloring.

The major story arc, encompassed by issues 7 to 11, has our heroes crash-landing on an uncharted planet following a fight with an armada of Harkilon spaceships. As fate would have it, a group of Harkilons also have landed on the planet, and it's only a matter of time before the two groups cross paths.......and the shooting starts.
But what neither adversary realizes is that the planet's indigenous, humanoid life forms are dangerous in their own right......and operate in concert with a species of carnivorous plant life that uses its scent to lure unsuspecting prey into its clutches.
With his ship out of action, wounded Legionnaires, aggressive Harkilons, and dangerous local flora and fauna, it's all that Captain Sarigar can do to keep his force alive, much less in a position to be rescued.......  
'Alien Legion: Slaughterworld' offers 1980s sci-fi with a straightforward plot and plenty of action, which was the goal of its creator, Carl Potts, who saw the series as a grittier, more violent presentation of space opera than was the norm.
To provide a respite from relying on too many ray-gun battles to drive the narrative, writer Zelentz provides some side dramas, one centered on the series' maverick mainstay, Jugger Grimrod. Along with the usual squabbling among the Legionnaires, there's also sub-plots involving shapeshifting Harkilons, Legion deserters who leave their fellows open to danger, and a clandestine romance between golden boy Torie Montroc and an attractive female diplomat. 
Chris Warner's art is well done, especially considering that it has to generate quite a few panels-per-page to accommodate Zelentz's script and its abundant speech balloons, thought balloons, and text boxes.
Copies of 'Slaughterworld' can be purchased for under $10 from online vendors. The contents also are bundled into the 2009 Dark Horse Alien Legion Omnibus volume 1. 

If you are a fan of the Alien Legion franchise, or 80s sci-fi comics - particularly those inspired by Star Wars - then you may want to obtain a copy. It offers Old School fun, free of the pretentiousness that afflicts so many contemporary sci-fi comic books, and that's not a bad thing.