Alien Legion

Alien Legion
Publication information
Publisher Epic Comics
Format Limited series
Genre
Publication date April 1984 – August 1990
Number of issues 38
Creative team
Creator(s) Carl Potts
Alan Zelenetz
Frank Cirocco
Collected editions
Alien Legion: Slaughterworld ISBN 0-87135-763-1
Omnibus Volume 1 ISBN 1595823948

Alien Legion is a science-fiction comic-book series and associated titles created by Carl Potts, Alan Zelenetz, and Frank Cirocco for Marvel Comics's Epic Comics imprint in 1983. It features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French Foreign Legion.

Publication history

Alien Legion — cover-titled The Alien Legion for its first series and initial graphic novel — features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French Foreign Legion. Its characters include leader Sarigar, whose lower half is serpentine; the fully humanoid Torie Montroc; and an alien of the Thraxian race, Jugger Grimrod.

Primary creator Carl Potts and co-creators Alan Zelenetz (writer) and Frank Cirocco (penciler) developed the concept, and in 1984 Marvel Comics' Epic Comics imprint launched the first of several Alien Legion miniseries and one-shots. Potts said in 2000,

The original concept was the 'Foreign Legion in space' and all the legionnaires were human. ... Then I created the humanoid/serpentine design that later became Sarigar and decided that the Legion should include a wide variety of species. This was in the early '70s. By the time I got around to developing the idea further in the early '80s, Star Wars obviously became an influence. The Alien Legion universe is a giant extrapolation of the American democratic melting-pot society where different races and cultures work together for the common good while dealing with the pluses and problems that the nation's diversity creates.[1]

The franchise debuted with Marvel/Epic Comics' The Alien Legion #1-20 (cover-dated April 1984 - June 1987).[2] The 18-issue Alien Legion (Oct. 1987 - Aug. 1990), minus the "The", followed, generally scripted by Chuck Dixon and penciled by Larry Stroman.[3] Afterward came the three-issue Dixon-Stroman miniseries Alien Legion: On The Edge (Nov. 1990 - Jan. 1991);[4] the two-issue Dixon-Stroman Alien Legion: Tenants of Hell (1991);[5] the one-shot cover-titled Alien Legion: Grimrod and copyrighted Alien Legion: Jugger Grimrod (Aug. 1992), by Dixon and artist Mike McMahon;[6] the single-issue Alien Legion: Binary Deep (Sept. 1993), by Dixon and Argentine artist Enrique Alcatena;[7] and the three-issue miniseries Alien Legion: One Planet at a Time (April–July 1993), by Dixon and penciler Hoang Nguyen.[8]

Additionally, Marvel/Epic published two spinoffs: Marvel Graphic Novel #25 (cover-titled Marvel Graphic Novel: The Alien Legion),[9] released in 1986 and containing the story "A Grey Day To Die" by writers Potts and Zelenetz, penciler Cirocco, and the first series' regular inker, Terry Austin;[10] and the one-shot crossover with another series Law Dog and Grimrod: Terror at the Crossroads (1993).[11][12]

As well, two short stories appeared: the 10-page “Tough Enough”, by writer Dixon and penciler Douglas Braithwaite, in the Marvel/Epic magazine Epic (cover-titled Epic: An Anthology) #3 (1992);[12][13] and the 12-page “Altered State”, by writer Potts and artist Alcatena, in Heavy Hitters Annual #1 (1993).[12][14]

Dark Horse Comics announced it was publishing a new Alien Legion series in 2010 [15] but the series was delayed. Instead of being produced by Dark Horse, the new four-issue series, Uncivil War, was published in 2014 by Titan Comics. The new series was co-plotted by Potts and Dixon, scripted by Dixon, with art by Stroman and Potts.[16]

A collected hardcover edition of Uncivil War will be published by Titan in Feb., 2015.

Collected editions

Some of the stories have been published in trade paperback form. Alien Legion: Slaughterworld (1991; ISBN 0871357631), collects The Alien Legion #1 & 7-11.[17][18]

Checker Book Publishing released the books Force Nomad and Piecemaker, collecting the second series, and Footsloggers, collecting the first six issues of the first volume. Titan Books published trade paperbacks of the On the Edge and Tenants of Hell miniseries.

Dark Horse Comics published the Alien Legion Omnibus Volume 1 in December 2009 (ISBN 1-59582-394-8), collecting the first seven story arcs of the original Epic Comics series; and Alien Legion Omnibus Volume 2 in May 2010 (ISBN 978-1-59582-494-3), rounding out the first series including the graphic novel.

Titan Comics is continuing to publish omnibus collections of the original Epic Comics material in chronological story order.

In other media

In the 2007, Carl Potts' Alien Legion screenplay was optioned by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and The Walt Disney Company. In 2010, Bruckheimer exercised the option, buying the screenplay and assigning Game of Thrones show runner David Benioff to do a rewrite.

References

  1. ↑ "Interview: Carl Potts". PopImage.com. May 2000. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  2. ↑ 'Alien Legion (Marvel, 1984 series) at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ↑ 'Alien Legion (Marvel, 1987 series) at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ↑ 'Alien Legion: On the Edge' at the Grand Comics Database
  5. ↑ 'Alien Legion: Tenants of Hell' at the Grand Comics Database
  6. ↑ 'Alien Legion: Jugger Grimrod' at the Grand Comics Database
  7. ↑ 'Alien Legion: Binary Deep' at the Grand Comics Database
  8. ↑ 'Alien Legion: One Planet at a Time' at the Grand Comics Database
  9. ↑ Marvel Graphic Novel #25. Grand Comics Database.
  10. ↑ Wiacek, Win (June 4, 2011). "Alien Legion: A Grey Day to Die – An Epic Graphic Novel". ComicsReview.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  11. ↑ Lawdog [sic] and Grimrod: Terror at the Crossroads. Grand Comics Database.
  12. 1 2 3 "One-Shots". AlienLegion.com (official site). Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  13. ↑ 'Epic (Marvel, 1992 series) at the Grand Comics Database
  14. ↑ Heavy Hitters Annual #1. Grand Comics Database.
  15. ↑ Geddes, John (November 16, 2009). "'Alien Legion' prepares for blast-off". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2009..
  16. ↑ http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/07/19/new-titan-series-for-2014-alien-legion-adler-sally-of-the-wasteland-scarlett-couture-and-accident-man/
  17. ↑ 'Alien Legion: Slaughterworld' at the Grand Comics Database
  18. ↑ Weiner, Robert G. (200). Marvel Graphic Novels and Related Publications: An Annotated Guide to Comics. Raleigh, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-7864-2500-6.

External links

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