Dark Horse Announces Comic Adaptation of WILLIAM GIBSON’S ALIEN 3 Script

Dark Horse Comics today announced a new series adaptation of Alien3 based on the original script for the film by William Gibson. As reported by CBR, the script, which Gibson wrote based on early treatments for the third film in the Alien franchise, will be adapted and drawn by Johnnie Christmas (Angel Catbird, Sheltered, Firebug) with colors by Tamra Bonvillain (Doom Patrol, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur).

Alien3 is not the most fondly-remembered film in the series even by those who worked on it, with director David Fincher having publicly disowned the film. I’ll be honest that I remember very little about the final product aside from the facts that a) it takes place on a penal colony, and b) all of the characters introduced in Aliens die off-screen at the beginning of the movie (#JusticeForNewt). Gibson’s original script for the film is said to have focused heavily on the characters of Bishop and Hicks, as at the time of its writing Sigourney Weaver’s involvement in the sequel was in question. If that’s the case then it’s unclear at this point what liberties Christmas will take with the script in potentially beefing up Ripley’s presence – she and the xenomorphs are the stars of the series, after all.

Check out the preview art, including covers by Daniel Warren Johnson and Paolo Rivera, courtesy of CBR below, and look for William Gibson’s Alien 3 #1 to land in stores this November.

(Updated 3:30 Eastern to add release from Dark Horse)

MILWAUKIE, Ore., (July 12, 2018)—An Alien blockbuster is coming to a comic shop near you when Dark Horse Comics brings William Gibson’s original, unproduced Alien 3 script to life with the help of writer and artist Johnnie Christmas. While Gibson was a contributor in the early phase of the writing for Alien 3, ultimately most of his concepts never made it into the final film. As the father of the cyberpunk genre with titles like Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, Dark Horse is thrilled to see Gibson’s vision fully realized for the first time!

Following the deadly events of Aliens, the Union of Progressive Peoples intercepts the spaceship carrying the hibernating bodies of Ripley, Hicks, Newt, and Bishop. But unbeknownst to them, they have also picked up another deadly passenger whose discovery will unleash a race between two governments to weaponize the xenomorph in this horrifying and poignant Cold War-themed thriller.

With an intense script by Gibson (Neuromancer, Agency, Count Zero, Archangel), cinematic art by Johnnie Christmas (Angel Catbird, Firebug, Sheltered), vibrant colors by Tamra Bonvillain (Doom Patrol, Wayward, Uncanny Avengers), and a slate of variant covers by James Harren, Daniel Warren Johnson, Paolo Rivera, Tradd Moore, and Christian Ward, William Gibson’s Alien 3 is the “what if?” fans have been asking for!

William Gibson’s Alien 3 #1 (of five) goes on sale November 7, 2018, and is available for pre-order at your local comic shop.

Praise for William Gibson’s Alien 3:

“He [Gibson] was able to take the franchise’s existing elements of body horror and blow them out to unspeakably terrifying degrees. He put the aliens in new environments and warped forms. He built out the world of the series without over-explaining or hitting the Cold War metaphors too hard.”—Vulture