version 4 - The Alien Encyclopedia

1. Preface„In space, no one can hear you scream.“ ...do I need to say more? I could make a long list of quotesfrom the Alien movies to illustrate how present the franchise still is, even after over 30 years, probablystarting with „Game Over, man!“. But I don't want to bore you with common knowledge, becauseif you read this, you may already know all these quotes in your sleep. I go out on a limb andsay that EVERY person has some kind of angle to these films, whether you're art house or mainstream.Starting with the unsettling and sexually suggestive imagery to creating the first (and, surprisingly,pretty much the only) female action hero of cinema history to Aliens featuring one of thegreatest movie showdowns ever.And it didn't end with the movies. Like every successful movie franchise, the Alien saga hasspawned a vast Expanded Universe in the form of comics, novels, video games and even action figures.But as fictional universes get bigger, problems arise. Things can easily get confusing, andsometimes, also even contradict each other. Now multiply this problem, and you get a picture whatthe folks doing Star Wars have to work with. I feel you, guys! Considering Alien, I'll get into thisproblem in the „About this book“ section, but just take the first Aliens comics. They made these beforethe third movie came out and of course, they contradicted Alien³, who can blame them? Theytried to fix this in reissues, but still...So, the need for some kind of guide arises that tries to make sense of the whole mess and providesan overlook when the situation gets foggy. Unfortunately, a definitive guide to the Alien universehas yet to be made. This is where this book comes in. And while we're at it, this is actually not thefirst encyclopedia I have written. I have done this for the Matrix universe, too, and for some time, itwas available on www.matrix-faq.com. Long story short, the website is now defunct (personalbudget cuts...) and due to a USB stick formatting screw-up on my behalf, the guide is now completelylost. Sorry, almost completely lost. There is still an old printed-out version of it in my belongings.Perhaps, one day, when I get over how disappointing Matrix Revolutions was...What you are reading now is already the fourth version of the Encyclopedia, finished only aboutone year after its initial release. With the release of Prometheus, 2012 has been a very exciting yearfor Alien fans, and this new edition reflects this major addition to the Alien canon with over 40 newpages devoted to the movie and its massive promotional campaign. Also new is a third appendixwith Alien-themed scale charts, made possible thanks to the kind permission of several talentedartists. And you have barely time to catch your breath, with the release of the Aliens: Colonial Marinesvideo game just around the corner. Things stay excited in the Alien universe, and the Alien Encyclopediawill continue to be a part of it. Enjoy!- Markus FriebeDecember 15, 2012