Chris's Reviews > Alien 3

The making of the film Alien 3 is arguably more interesting than the film itself. It went through so many variations, so many writers and directors were attached, multiple ideas were attempted and rejected that it's astounding (or completely unsurprising) that the final product was as lackluster as it was.

I really love the idea of going back to original scripts and publishing them, either as books or beautifully illustrated comics as has been done many times before. So, when I heard William Gibson's original script for Alien 3 was being adapted for comics, I knew I'd have to get it.

He takes the story in a very different direction from the final film, arguably a more interesting one. The biggest drawback is the lack of Ellen Ripley's character, a requirement as Sigourney Weaver wasn't planning on returning at that stage. It does allow Corporal Hicks played by Michael Biehn in Aliens to take a more central role, but his actual character isn't all that fleshed out... he mostly reacts to what's going on around him.

The story is much more about biological warfare and combines the horror of the first with the action of the second. Whether it would have worked as a film is anyone's guess but I think it would have been more interesting than the one we got. It also left the door open for what could have been the most interesting sequel of the franchise.

The artwork is pretty solid, although of the characters based on actors only Bishop really looks like Lance Henriksen. The variations of the xenomorphs were interesting and I really liked the design of some of the space stations.

As a stand-alone sequel to the Alien franchise this book is mildly entertaining, but the appeal of seeing what could have been is the real draw-card.