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Aliens: Night Strike is a mini-comic that was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1992. It was included exclusively with the Snake Alien action figure produced by Kenner Products. The story was written by Dan Jolley, penciled by John Nadeau, inked by Steve Moncuse, lettered by Dan Nakrosis, and edited by Dan Thorsland, with cover art by Joe Phillips.
Night Strike was a part of the Aliens: Space Marines series, a number of mini-comics included exclusively with certain toys from Kenner's Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator toy lines. It was the ninth comic in the series and the first comic from Series 2 of the Aliens toy line, continuing the story from Aliens: Fireball from Series 1. Its story was continued in the subsequent comic, Aliens: Swarm.
Publisher's Summary
Sometime in the future...
Humankind has begun to explore space, colonizing planets throughout the galaxy. Leading the way are the SPACE MARINES, the toughest heavy metal warriors in the galaxy! Armed to the teeth with state-of-the-art weaponry, they keep the peace in a universe filled with danger... and ALIENS!
Vicious, gruesome, and deadly, the Aliens spit acid, and use slithering face huggers to capture their prey. Led by their sinister Queen, the Aliens are spreading everywhere, mutating into more deadly forms as they go. Earth's last defense: The Space Marines, known throughout the galaxy as the best bug-fighters around.
So lock and load, Marine, the invasion is on!
Plot
As the Space Marines face off against a seemingly insurmountable horde of Bull Aliens on Terraform 3, help arrives in the form of an attack craft under the control of an unknown pilot, which strafes the Xenomorphs and slaughters them, while Lt. Ripley finished off the Queen with her Power Loader and flamethrower. The attack ship lands and the pilot reveals himself as a special forces soldier code-named ATAX, Alien Tactical Advantage Explorer. Meanwhile, Bishop is attacked by a Snake Alien while securing the perimeter. As the Space Marines prepare to do battle, ATAX dons his Bio-Boost Disguise Armor, a combat exosuit that also disguises the wearer as a Xenomorph. A.T.A.X quickly tears through the attacking Snake Aliens, but is then captured by a Flying Queen, which carries him away.
Reprint History
A reprint of Aliens: Night Strike was included with NECA's updated Snake Alien figure. However, other than the Kenner and NECA figures with which it has been packaged, for many years the comic was never offered for individual sale anywhere, making it (along with the rest of the Aliens: Space Marines series) among the rarest Aliens comics from Dark Horse.
However, following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Alien comic books, almost all of the Aliens: Space Marines mini-comics were collected as part of Marvel's Aliens: The Original Years Volume 1 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. This marked the first time the previously rare Kenner comics had ever been reissued in a mass market format. The collection was released in May 2021.
Behind the Scenes
The art team behind Night Strike, John Nadeau and Steve Moncuse, would go on to produce another mini-comic in the Aliens: Space Marines series, Aliens: Swarm. This is one of only two times the same team of artists produced more than one entry in the series; Brandon McKinney and Karl Kesel also produced both Aliens: Showdown and Aliens vs. Predator: The Ultimate Battle. Nadeau also worked on several other entries, but either alone or with different partners.
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