I'm not a "back in the day" kind of guy, even though I have far too many days in the back. Dwelling on past glories doesn't make the past any more glorious and can blur the focus on the future, where the rest of your life will actually be spent, like it or not. That said, I've been having serious flashbacks lately. I'm editing the relaunches of two lynchpin Dark Horse titles, specifically Aliens and Predator. In the late 1980s, those series based on Fox film blockbusters put Dark Horse on the map, and I was part of the first creative teams along with Mark Verheiden, Mark Nelson, and others. It was a great time, a small revolution in comics history, books that were an important beachhead in the comics-to-film invasion we've seen in recent years. And were it not for the success of those books, there might not be a Dark Horse today. And I'd have to get a real job.
And I'm working with writer John Arcudi again, another blast from the past. I've known John forever, and we first worked together on another movie-related project (The Terminator), him writing, me drawing. Later, as an editor I hired him to write The Mask, and you know how that turned out. So, when the opportunity came to crew these revivals, John was the first person I wanted onboard. John has, in fact, traveled the Aliens and Predator roads before, turning out some of the best tales in the storied histories of the titles, but this time he's piloting both flagships, something not done since Mark Verheiden helmed both titles at the beginning of our Aliens and Predator journeys. A little back-in-the-day mojo couldn't hurt, right?
Then there's Zach Howard, who's pencilling Aliens. While Zach and I don't go way back, we've worked together before, on his creation (with Sean Murphy) Outer Orbit, one of the funniest, best-looking comics in recent years. Editing that project was a gas, and I knew that Zach's passion and skill would knock Aliens out of the park. I love being right all the time. Javier Saltares, our new Predator artist, has never worked with me, but our careers have crossed paths. Javier illustrated Aliens vs. Predator: War, which sprang from a serialized AvP strip I doodled many centuries ago, and Javier drew the longest run of the dark superhero series X after I'd put in some time on the book. Finally I get to work with Javier instead of leaving him a mess to clean up. Javier's work always kicks ass, and there are few books more appropriate for ass-kicking than Predator.
If you want to get a look at what John, Zach, Javier, and the other talented pros involved have in store, check out the Free Comic Book Day: Aliens/Predator preview, which should be available at all fine comics shops come May 2. And did I mention that the book is free? Pick it up, and sometime many years from now you'll be able to tell your kids about how, back in the day, you were there when Aliens and Predator roared back to life.
And your kids will look at you funny, as usual.
--Chris Warner, Senior Editor