Aliens

It's been some years since Kenner held the rights to either Alien or Predator, but current rights-holder NECA has been steadily paying homage to the Kenner Predator era with a few different releases. Soon, it will be venturing into Kenner's Alien line as well, but to kick things off, NECA is releasing a two-pack through Toys 'R Us commemorating the original Kenner set.

There are a lot of things that happen regularly in comics that I've never really understood, and chief among them has been the sheer number of superhero crossovers with Aliens and Predator. I mean, I understand wanting to see Aliens and Predators fight each other because they're both these mysterious, lethal alien enemies, where one's a cunning, vicious hunter and the other's an almost mindless biologically driven killing machine, a natural contrast that makes them cool opponents for each other and a deadly combination for anyone who gets trapped between them. The thing I don't get is why you'd want to throw Superman or Batman in there, if only because of the sheer amount of storytelling gymnastics you have to do to make it work. And yet, they happen all the time, and I have long since accepted that it's Just Not My Thing. And then I read Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens, and now I get it. Mostly because the first story in this collection ends with Dredd taking off his shirt (while leaving his helmet on, of course), and fighting the Predator with a knife.

Dark Horse Comics is bringing back its Alien comics franchise in a big way this year with a set of four mini-series set immediately after the most recent movie, Prometheus. The company has revealed the names of the four series writers: Aliens will be by Chris Roberson, Predators will be written by Joshua Williamson, Paul Tobin will write the Prometheus series, and Aliens vs. Predator will be by Ch

Get a look at Tuesday's links, after the jump.

Bandai's AvP S.H. MonsterArts debuted a few months back at SDCC 2013, but the Bluefin Tamashii Nations booth had a brand-new Predator Wolf figure and plenty of new Xenomorph and Predator accessories alike on hand for New York Comic Con. Aliens will get to fire the figurative opening volley in the 7" toy war with the Predators, with the Alien Warrior (from 2004's AvP) figure arriving in Februa

Godzilla, King Kong and Rodan are going to want to start stocking up on thermal camouflage and acid-shielding; Bandai's S.H. MonsterArts action figure line will be joined by both Aliens and Predators in 2014.

If mechs, aliens and superheroes are your cup of tea, NECA's 2013 Toy Fair lineup is like... well, it's like a huge vat of tea that somebody could fall in while being chased by police. NECA's got quite a few detailed Pacific Rim and Aliens figures in the pipleine, plus massive 1/4 (18"+) scale Avengers movie toys and Batman '89 and, yes, Batman '66 figures...

This year's winner of the Eisner award for Best Anthology, Dark Horse Presents has been one of ComicsAlliance's favorite titles since it was relaunched in 2011 to continue the classic and influential series' tradition of showcasing emerging talent alongside some of the greatest writers, artists and cartoonists mainstream and underground comics has to offer...

On sale now is Dark Horse Presents #14, the new issue of Dark Horse's prestigious anthology series that showcases emerging talent alongside some of the greatest writers, artists and cartoonists comics has to offer, as well as promising new and underground talents...

This is an exciting time for space exploration, with the Curiosity rover rolling across Mars, analyzing soil samples and detecting radiation. But as wondrous as the science is, it's hard to forget the romance of pulp space exploration: brilliantly colored landscapes, bizarre creatures with improbable physiology, foreign cultures with languages and beliefs that don't quite fit human perception...