I've come across many new publications this year - bought a few, been sent a few, wanted a few that I never nabbed, etc. Of all the wonderful, wonderful books I've looked at in 2012, easily the coolest thing I've seen is this nice little ditty fro Titan Books.
Described thusly by the publisher...
Two of comics’ greatest talents joined forces in 1979 to bring Ridley Scott’s epic Alien motion picture to the comic book page. Out of print for over thirty years, this brand new edition (released in time to coincide with Scott’s latest opus Prometheus) has been meticulously restored from original artwork in Walt Simonson’s studio — presenting for the very first time the definitive artist’s edition of the greatest sci-fi horror ever produced.
...ALIEN: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY is spread over 64 very nicely re-produced pages, and finally returns this graphic 'Album' to the hands of Geeks after an absence of several decades.
The title's original (Heavy Metal presented) 1979 run became the first graphic novel to make the New York Times bestseller list, and I'm told this new issuance has been 'been meticulously restored from original artwork in Walt Simonson’s studio' and is considered a definitive 'artists edition.'
It looks pretty great - its provocative, imaginative, and colorful storytelling skillfully walks a delicate tightrope between comfortably familiar (we do, after all, know the tale of ALIEN by this point) while remaining an utterly unique and fresh interpretation of Ridley Scott's progenitor material. It's kind of amazing.
Titan sent over a few pages of this bock for your esteemed consideration - note that all of the images on this page are EMBIGGENABLE!
ALIEN: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY is now available as a graphic novel paperback HERE.
An amped up, fancier version will be available late next month (ish)...
This oversized hardcover edition, meticulously restored from original artwork in Walt Simonson’s studio, presents for the first time the definitive edition of the classic SF movie. It collects Alien: The Illustrated Story b/w comic strip, scanned from from the artist’s original art boards, plus an in-depth interview with Simonson, the original script pages, color tryouts and sketches.
....and is already up for pre-order HERE. Very cool stuff from a historical perspective, or for folks who are simply as crazy for ALIEN as I am.
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Glen Oliver
