This beautifully illustrated 48-page trade paperback spotlights writer James Robinson, who delivers a compelling and action-packed script which plays to Matt Wagner's atmospheric and visually stunning renderings. Unknowingly, Kyle Reese went back in time to protect Sarah Conner from the second of two Terminators sent from the future to alter the past. In this one-shot special, we encounter the very first Terminator to be sent back through time, a female version of the 800-model, but just as deadly, if not more so. Her mission: to kill John Conner's mother! The Sarah Conner that she finds has a mission of her own: to kill her new husband and take off with his vast wealth before ever having a baby!
Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator is a comic published by Dark Horse Comics about fictional characters from three separate movie series: Alien, Predator, and The Terminator. The series was in four parts, with parts 2-4 having a tagline on their cover.
Plot
Part 1
The story begins in a sewer-residing community at an undisclosed location (possibly on Earth). The characters are looking for someone, whom they find in the form of a seemingly decrepit woman in rags. At her request they attempt to help her stand, at which point she begins to attack them, beating the larger men easily before Annalee Call (Winona Ryder's character from Alien Resurrection) identifies herself to the woman, who is revealed to be Ripley #8, the clone of Ellen Ripley (also from Alien Resurrection). Call then takes Ripley back to her base of operations, where she expresses her sadness that Ripley left her after their promise to stay together after Alien Resurrection. She informs Ripley of a new military operation on the science station Typhoon, involving a hybrid Alien super soldier, led by a Dr. Trollenberg. Also at this point, Ripley explains that she nearly didn't sign on for her position on the Nostromo ship. The story moves to Dr. Trollenberg working on the super soldier. He is approached by General Helm, who is in charge of the station and intent on shutting down the project after Trollenberg requested cybernetic components. The doctor then opens fire and proceeds to kill the general and his two guards, before changing his voice to match the general's and hailing the bridge, informing them that the general will remain with him in the lab till the completion of the project and can only be contacted there. He finishes by throwing the three bodies into a vat of acid. Back at Call's base, Ripley is still yet to be convinced to join the mission to stop Trollenberg's project. Ripley mentions that she no longer has nightmares about the aliens; she plainly states that they "can't be stopped. The aliens are coming and the human race is going to suffer... they just do what they have to do. And then you're dead and it's over". Eventually Call blackmails Ripley, saying she will inform the military of her location, to which Ripley replies: "I could learn to hate you". Meanwhile a Predator is travelling towards the Typhoon, intent on hunting the super soldier. Call, her crew and Ripley infiltrate the station disguised as "the World's Most Unexceptional Food Delivery Service", and after killing the guards move into Trollenberg's lab. Inside, they find Trollenberg, who proceeds to kill two of Call's crew (Echo and Saud) before the cloaked Predator decapitates him with its disc, leaving Call, Ripley and the survivors stunned. Immediately, the now decloaked Predator is thrown back into the room, only to be followed by the hulking form of the prototype supersoldier who proceeds to fight the Predator.
Part 2: Monster vs. Machine
Ripley, Call and her surviving crew (Blades and Voorman) stand stunned as the prototype supersoldier and Predator fight, noting that the super soldier is almost impervious to harm and is able to absorb metal objects to regenerate damage. After tearing off one of the Predator's arms, the super soldier moves to absorb a portion of the exterior bulkhead of the lab, opening a hole into the vacuum which quickly dispatches the Predator. Moving quickly back towards their shuttle (Carthage), with Trollenberg's head, the heroes quickly escape before the space station explodes from the breach, meanwhile the super soldier boards a smaller science vessel/escape pod, taking with it some alien chestbursters. As the space station explodes, Ripley has a bad feeling that the super soldier survived and, in the 'science pod', the super soldier commences work on a second super soldier who was also near completion. Call suggests she hack into Trollenberg's skull to learn more about him, explaining that the skull and its wiring "is very weird... advanced in some ways, in others a real antique". Once inside Trollenberg's memory, she encounters a shell program and is approached by an interactive recording of John Connor, who goes on to explain the Skynet war, concluding with the "Skynet Resurrection Program" which used a model known as the Crypto Terminators (of which Trollenberg was one) which were capable of existing in civilization indefinitely until such time that technological advancements would allow for a new generation of Terminators which would be unstoppable (during this, scenes from Trollenberg's existence are shown, including the creation of the super soldier). The recording finishes with "the victorious forces of the 21st Century salute you... and wish you good luck". Logging out of Trollenberg's memories, Call expresses concern that this is simply another great cover up in history, although the discussion is cut short by three Predator space craft surrounding their ship before a trio of Predators teleport on board. Voorman attacks one of the Predators but is easily knocked away, whilst another grabs Ripley and cuts lightly at her arm with its wrist blades, watching as her acidic blood burns the floor. The three Predators then teleport off the ship with Ripley before their craft disappear as if they never were there. Elsewhere, the science pod reaches its destination (revealed in Part 3 as the Navy heavy cruiser Euphrates) and the prototype disembarks, now accompanied by a new super soldier.
Part 3: Ripley... And Company
On the Carthage Voorman is being treated by Blades for the head injury he received from the Predator attack. Call surmises the Predators knew of Ripley's genetic heritage just as they did and that they most likely want her to assist in the threat posed by the super soldiers; she even wonders if they too encountered John Connor's sleeper virus, and ultimately decides they must use all this new information to their advantage. On one of the Predators' spacecraft, Ripley stands on a teleportation pad watching the Predators remove their helmets, who then leave her to go about their business. Ripley comments "Just when I think my life can't get any stranger... Just when I think I've fallen as far as I can fall... The bottom drops out and I wind up amazed and horrified all over again". She considers herself to now be beyond terror or outrage, even towards the Predators or their current disinterest in her. She walks through the craft, observing the work of the Predator armourers, and notes that the Predators are exuding an aura of menace throughout the 'heavy, nitrogen-rich air' of their craft, directed not at her, who she considers they currently deem worthless, but at something else, something connected to her DNA. Ripley finds herself in a trophy room filled with dozens of Alien corpses and body parts, and understands that the Predators' lives revolve around the Aliens and that they know that both the super soldier and she are part Alien, which leads her to wonder if they are merely adding her to their trophy collection. A Predator moves up behind her, reaching for her, causing her to recoil in anger, punching the Predator to little effect before he throws her over his shoulder and carries her away. She is taken to a circular operating table and tied down whilst a breathing apparatus is attached to her face, followed by a thin needle drill moving towards her. She resists throughout, comparing them to the military who created her, commenting "I guess I haven't fallen past terror after all...". On the Euphrates, the ship's commanding officer complains about the 'android survivors' of the Typhoon and the super soldiers' request to be transferred to a high security asteroid facility. The CO has been uneasy since they arrived and has them restricted to the science pod. He approaches the pod and explains the delay, much to the original super soldier's displeasure, who demands access to the bridge, which the CO denies them. Shortly after a message arrives from Command, refusing the super soldiers access to the 'Black Asteroid'; this results in both super soldiers re-entering the science pod, then quickly launching and ramming the pod further into the Euphrates. The super soldiers then disembark with firearms, quickly killing the crew present before the prototype super soldier begins to absorb parts of the cruiser's interior, which results in critical damage to the ship's primary systems, including life support. On the Carthage, Call has determined that the Predators would be following the most likely course of the super soldier towards the nearest large source of Aliens genetic material, Los Alamos 235, the 'Black Asteroid'. Back on the Predators' spacecraft, Ripley experiences a dream where she is swimming in Aliens and encounters a ghostly image of a traditional Terminator endoskeleton before awaking. Regaining consciusness, Ripley notices a scar on the left rear side of her neck and is lead from the operating table, past an assembled room of Predators in formation, to a viewing screen of Los Alamos 235, sensing that there are Aliens within and that the Predators extracted this information from her DNA, from the Alien 'genetic memory'. Nearby, the Euphrates is granted access to the Black Asteroid and quickly opens fire on the station's control room. Back on the Predators' craft, Ripley has returned to the room of assembled Predators and undergoes a pre-battle ritual where she is given an Alien tooth necklace and is covered in Predator blood warpaint. Throughout the process, Ripley considers that there are monsters in this world, but the Predators are not them—instead, they simply do what they must to survive and maintain balance in the universe when it comes to the Aliens, and that they see the arrival of the Terminator hybrids as an imbalance to the ecology of the stars, with that being the true evil. She understands that at any other time she would instead be merely a "scalp on their belts", but the current situation has made them allies and she knows "they didn't much care for my human side... But, oh, do they respect and approve of the Alien in me!". Ripley knows she will soon "do battle with the great abomination from Earth's wretched past", as the super soldiers take control of the ship and make their way to a room filled with fully-grown Aliens in containment tubes. Ripley looks forward to destroying the man-made "agents of true human evil", and in regards to the Aliens on board, she will "ride the whirlwind to glorious annihilation. Until then, I am learning to love the Alien".
Part 4: Future Hell
The next day, hidden amongst the smaller asteroids around Los Alamos 235, the Carthage and her crew watch the space surrounding the Black Asteroid, where an entire fleet of military ships have arrived to retake the station only to be wiped out by a powerful energy surge launched from the asteroid's entry point, draining the station of all external power and lowering its defences. The Carthage moves towards the station, entering unnoticed through the entry point as Call wonders whether the Predators have already made it here and if Ripley's still alive. Inside, Ripley lies alongside a Predator on the ground in a field of orange smoke as a monstrous super soldier crouches over them, bearing the appearance of a dark blue, muscular, bald humanoid with red eyes, fangs, clawed hands and biomechanical 'veins' at its neck and wrists. Ripley considers that the day hadn't turned out like she'd hoped as she underwent the ritual the day before, remembering how they entered the asteroid, slipping unnoticed past its defenses and the fleet outside. They had observed that, in less than 24 hours, the two super soldiers had created an entire sophisticated manufacturing plant which quickly grew more of the new blue skinned hybrids, and Ripley and the Predators attacked without hesitation. Quickly, as on the Typhoon, the Predators were killed at every turn and even when a dying Predator activated its self-destruct device a super soldier sacrificed itself, wrapping its larger body around the Predator to absorb almost the entirety of the blast. Ripley crawled away from the scene of the battle, finding herself amongst a stockpile of fully-grown Aliens, and saw a chance to even the odds and do what she was born to do, deactivating the stasis effect of the tubes, "to release the Hounds of Hell!". The Aliens quickly set upon the super soldiers and the Aliens' true power was revealed when a Predator killed one with his shoulder cannon, showering nearby super soldiers with acidic blood, critically wounding the hybrids. The remaining Predators used this to their advantage, unleashing blasts which spilt fatal bursts of acidic blood, killing both super soldiers and Aliens together with each shot although, ultimately, they were themselves overwhelmed by the Aliens once the last of the new super soldiers had died. Ripley watches the carnage, frozen in place as the remaining Predators and super soldiers die, but the appearance of the prototype super soldier refocuses her and she follows through the station after him, knowing that if he escapes all their sacrifices will be for nothing. Rounding a corner, Ripley strikes out at the shadows of Call and Voorman, believing them to be the prototype, to the shock of all three of them. Ripley doesn't care for how they got there and insists that they go back the way they came and leave the station, telling them they will not survive if they go on any further and that there is nothing they can do. In the end, Ripley thanks Call: "You did the right thing, bringing me back out into the black, I know that now. Please -- go. Let me do what I can do... Let me finish the job". Voorman agrees with Ripley and drags Call back to the Carthage, commenting that Call is "a lot closer to human than she is" as they leave. As Ripley returns to follow the original super soldier, the station begins to shake as the internal structure starts to collapse. Reaching the Carthage, Call frees herself of Voorman's grip and starts to run back into the station after Ripley, but Voorman quickly captures her and takes her aboard the Carthage, tying her to one of the seats to stop her from going after Ripley again. Throughout the process, Call resists Voorman's actions, commenting that she brought Ripley out here and forced all of this on her. Meanwhile, Ripley slips on board the ship the prototype boards. The Carthage quickly exits the station, followed soon after by the super soldier's ship, just as the station explodes. Ripley stalks towards the prototype, moving through the ship's internal piping. Ripley considers the similarities to what happened a time long ago on the Nostromo's escape pod, the Narcissus, where she was at the controls and the enemy stalked her instead. She realises that even now, with the roles reversed, she is just as terrified as she was then as she leaps forward to kill the prototype with a Predator knife, only to be knocked aside due to its superior speed and reflex response. Deciding to go with 'Plan B', Ripley cuts her left arm with the blade, waving it to spread her acidic blood as the super soldier holds her above him, his hands around her neck and right shoulder respectively. Ripley's blood begins to burn through the viewing panel of the airlock door, causing flames from the explosion that surrounded the ship to flood in, resulting in its destruction. On board the Carthage, Call has been released from the seat and is at one of the monitors when Blades comments on an explosion that occurred, separate from the one of the station, prompting Call to comment that it was Ripley finishing the job: "She cleaned up the mess that we stumbled into. What the Connor virus told me -- about Skynet returning? She closed the book on that. I know she did. I forced her back out there. I got her into this. I'm going to have to live with that. I hope she made her peace. I think she got her dignity back. And her soul, maybe. Yeah. And her soul. And maybe she saved mankind's soul in the bargain. Let's go home."
In the year 2032, John Connor and his resistance forces wage war against Skynet, a soulless super-computer bent on exterminating mankind. Sensing ultimate defeat, Skynet goes into hiding. Centuries later, it is awakened by stealth Terminators posing as human scientists. Now an even deadlier Skynet is using the science of the far future to create invincible Terminators by gene-splicing their human tissue with the DNA of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy -- Aliens! Earth's only chance lies in the hands of a legendary heroine named Ellen Ripley and an uneasy alliance with another deadly non-terrestrial race, the man-stalking super-hunters known only as Predators! The Predators understand that Skynet threatens all life in the universe, and so they wade in on the side of humanity...but can these feral killers be trusted? Collecting the four-issue series.
Info From Dark Horse Comics Site (TPB & The Four Individual Issues):
Aliens loose in the Tokyo subways of the future is bad news. But when these monstrous beasts are pursued by Predators, the fiercest hunters in the galaxy, bad quickly becomes worse. Caught in the middle is Becca Shaw, a reckless journalist on the trail of Gideon Suhn Lee, a mysterious techno-billionaire who won't let anything stand between him and the secrets to immortality that the Predators hold. When Becca and Gideon clash, it might be the Aliens and Predators that run for cover!
In an opulent city of the future, a mysterious techno-baron controls the fate of the world. But, even with his vast riches and power, the black-clad figure known as Nor cannot stop the hand of death. Or can he? His thoughts are consumed by his latest discovery: a crash-landed Predator ship. It's his belief that Predators hold the key to eternal life. But even if he stands before the answers he seeks, is he willing to go through the Predators' deadly Alien cargo to get it?
Becka Shaw is a talented reporter. Her one flaw? She doesn't know when to quit. And when Aliens appear in a Hong Kong-style city, it's a safe bet that her flaw may prove fatal. On field assignment in Africa, she was reporting on a political uprising. But her journalistic sense uncovered a strange trail of clues. Like a moth to a flame, Becka can't resist breaking the story of a lifetime. No more than Predators can resist hunting the galaxy's deadliest killing machines.
Aliens loose in a futuristic city causing mayhem and bloodshed is one thing. When they are pursued by Predators, the fiercest hunters in the galaxy, things quickly go from bad to worse. One of the people caught in the middle is Becka Shaw, devil-may-care journalist and all-around trouble magnet. The other is Nor, techno-baron with a dark past. Becka won't let anyone get in the way of her story. Nor won't let anything stand between him and the secrets to immortality that the Predators hold. When these two clash, it might be the Aliens and Predators that run for cover!
Journalist Becka McBride and mystery man Gideon Lee finally come face to face -- though not in the way you'd expect. But there's still the matter of Aliens running around the sewers and subways. As Lee, Becka, and hired mercenary, Cabot, prepare for a final hunt, they know a band of Predators is waiting in the shadows to take on whoever is left standing.
Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series featuring an eponymous character (a paranormal investigator) created by Tiziano Sclavi for the publishing houseSergio Bonelli Editore. Though published in Italy, the series is mainly set in London, where the protagonist lives, though he occasionally travels elsewhere.
Sclavi's progressive disinvolvement has left other authors the task of carrying forward character continuity. Dark Horse Comics has published the English version of Dylan Dog. The series is also published in Croatia by Ludens, in Serbia by Veseli Četvrtak and Expik Publications, in Denmark by Shadow Zone Media, in the Netherlands by Silvester, in Poland by Egmont Polska, in Spain by Aleta Ediciones, and in Turkey by Rodeo and Hoz Comics.
Publication history
Dylan Dog was created by Tiziano Sclavi, an Italian comics and novel writer, while the graphic representation of the character was elaborated mainly by Claudio Villa, who was its first cover artist too, taking the inspiration from the English actor Rupert Everett, as he saw in the movie Another Country.[1][2] The character was named for poet Dylan Thomas.[3] Dylan Dog series debuted in October 1986 with a comic book entitled "L'alba dei morti viventi" ("Dawn of the Living Dead"), plotted and scripted by Tiziano Sclavi and illustrated by Angelo Stano; it proved to be a huge publishing success in the years to come. May 2003 saw the publication of Issue 200, entitled "Il numero duecento" ("The Number Two-Hundred"), plotted and scripted by Paola Barbato and drawn by Bruno Brindisi. In August 2011, the series has reached the number 300, entitled "Ritratto di famiglia" ("Family Portrait").
Annuals
In August 1987 a special annual release was added to the monthly series, called Numero Speciale (Special Issue), with one story longer than usual and, in addition, small extra books on various horror-related subjects. Another annual release was added in March 1991, L'almanacco della paura ("The Fear Almanac"): together with Dylan Dog stories, it includes articles and curiosities about film, literature, and other topics, all related to the horror theme. January 1993 saw the appearance of a new annual book, the Dylan Dog Gigante ("Giant-Size Dylan Dog"), so called because it was much larger than the monthly book and because it contained more stories. Dylan Dog maxi (Maximum Dylan Dog) came out in July 1998. This was another annual release that collected together three previously unpublished stories.
Specials
In October 1990 an irregularly numbered issue came out: Dylan Dog e Martin Mystère - Ultima Fermata: l'incubo! (Dylan Dog and Martin Mystère - Last Stop: Nightmare!). It presented an unpublished story in which the nightmare investigator teamed up with another famous Bonelli character, Martin Mystère. Alfredo Castelli and Tiziano Sclavi wrote and plotted this story, and Giovanni Freghieri did the drawings. The story had a sequel in 1992.
Characterisation
Dylan Dog is a penniless nightmare investigator ("L'indagatore dell'incubo") who defies the whole preceding horror tradition with a vein of surrealism and an anti-bourgeois rhetoric. His clothes are one of his defining characteristics: he always dresses the same way, in a red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans; he bought twelve identical outfits after the death of his lover Lillie Connolly. Even during the worst weather, he never wears an overcoat or even carries an umbrella, since, according to him, an overcoat "would ruin his look", and he thinks that an umbrella is a "useless invention. Especially when it doesn't rain." One of the principal supporting characters in the series is his assistant (or rather, comic relief), Groucho, a punning double of Groucho Marx. Another supporting character is Inspector Bloch, who was his superior when he worked at Scotland Yard and remains his father figure (in fact he calls Dylan "Old boy") even after Dylan struck out on his own to become a private investigator specializing in the supernatural. Dylan lives with Groucho at 7 Craven Road in a cluttered apartment with a doorbell that screams. His hobbies include playing the clarinet and constructing a model ship which he apparently never manages to finish; he has many phobias, including claustrophobia, fear of bats and acrophobia. Dylan is also particularly susceptible to motion sickness, which is one of the reasons why he rarely travels, and anyway never by plane. Once an alcoholic, he now never drinks. He is a vegetarian and animal rights supporter. Dylan cares little for many aspects of modern life. He hates cellphones and to record his memories, he still uses a feather-pen and an inkpot. Naturally, he loves literature (poetry in particular), music (his tastes range from classical to heavy metal), and horror films. Though perpetually penniless, he doesn't seem to be interested in money. In fact, the usual first piece of advice he gives to numerous clients who have found themselves in his study over the years is to go to a psychiatrist or psychologist. He does not believe in coincidences.
He's also a hopeless romantic who loves and loses a new woman in nearly every issue. In fact, in a majority of his cases, his clients are women, with whom he often has a sexual relationship.
Setting
The series is mainly set in London, where the protagonist lives, though he occasionally travels elsewhere, such as imaginary realms such as "La zona del crepuscolo" (Twilight Zone). His address is Craven Road n°7, London, in reference to director Wes Craven.[citation needed] Supporting characters
Inspector Bloch, Dylan's superior when he worked at Scotland Yard, remained his friend and father figure even after our hero quit the force. Bloch and Dylan often help out in each other's cases. Bloch is more rational and grounded than Dylan and often disregards supernatural explanations. He is an old but competent officer who dreams of retirement. Though Dylan causes enough trouble on his own, Bloch is also plagued by his hapless underling, Jenkins, whom he constantly threatens to sentence to a life of directing traffic. His graphic representation was inspired by English actor Robert Morley and is named for crime, horror and science fiction author Robert Bloch.
Groucho was a Groucho Marx impersonator whose character became his permanent personality (hinted to be because of memory loss in 'Oltre quella porta' issue 228). Now he lives and works with Dylan Dog as his professional sidekick. He enjoys puns and women, though he does not share his employer's luck with the ladies. Groucho's goofy, off-beat personality helps temper Dylan's moodiness. He also reminds his boss when their finances are in dire straits (almost always), shows up with a pistol in the nick of time and throws it in Dylan's hand right on time, and makes tea. At some point in every issue Groucho makes one or two jokes that annoy Dylan and the person listening to the joke (often a client of Dylan's). An example: "...once, I had a dog which could utter its own name. It was named Woof."[4]
In 1994 Italian director Michele Soavi directed the film Dellamorte Dellamore (known abroad as Cemetery Man or Of Death and Love), with a screenplay written by Giovanni Romoli and based on Tiziano Sclavi's similarly titled novel.[6] Francesco Dellamorte (his mother's surname was Dellamore) - a sort of Italian alter ego for Dylan Dog - appears for the first time in the third special issue of Dylan Dog, Orrore nero (Black Horror), released July 1989, in which he met the Nightmare Detective, but the Sclavi's novel was written before the special issue.
Francesco Dellamorte also appears in a short (comic book) sequel to Orrore nero, entitled Stelle cadenti (Falling stars), where Dylan, Groucho, Francesco and Gnaghi are walking together during saint Lawrence's night, watching shooting stars and talking about life and death. But they are not alone, that night...
English actor Rupert Everett played the protagonist, Francesco Dellamorte, while Italian model and actress Anna Falchi played the female lead. Although Everett, playing Dellamorte, wore Dylan Dog's trademark costume, the Dylan Dog character did not appear in the movie.
Kevin Munroe has directed an official American film adaptation of Dylan Dog starring actor Brandon Routh as the title character. Differences between the comic result in the film being set in New Orleans instead of London, the character of Groucho being replaced by an un-dead sidekick called Marcus due to issues for the production to acquire the rights to use the Groucho Marx name and style, another difference is Dylan Dog's Volkswagen Beetle being black with a white hood instead of the opposite like in the comic. The film also appears to be much lighter in tone and more action-oriented, lacking the surreal feeling, the black humor and the melancholy of the comic book, and the Dylan character is portrayed like more of a scientist-adventurer in the vein of Indiana Jones, rather than the romantic loner he is in the comics. It was originally going to premiere on Halloween 2010 in Italy but has since been pushed back to an April 29, 2011 release. The film has been produced by the independent company Platinum Studios.
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