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Aliens / Predator / Prometheus Universe
Aliens: Stronghold
Dr. Caspar Nordling is developing a micro-organism that is deadly to Aliens, but not to people. He's had a lot of luck engineering selective viruses to kill rats and weevils, but this is something altogether different. Highly speculative. Highly volatile. Just like the doctor himself. In a remote sector of the galaxy, on an isolated Grant-Corp space station, the thin line between science and horror is narrowing, and Philip and Joy Strunk, two company employees, are finding themselves on the short end of the cut.
112 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 1996
2 people are currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
John Arcudi
945 books101 followersJohn Arcudi has made a name for himself by scripting comics that manage to combine long-running subplots with impeccable characterization and action sequences, making for some of the most exciting and consistently good comics out today.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 9, 2021
The men behind The Mask on an Aliens comic. A husband and wife team are sent to a company outpost to do a security audit on a facility run by a doctor with his all synthetics team. I loved Jeri the synthetic Alien. Arcudi has so much fun with the character. Arcudi and Mahnke come up with ways to have fun with the Aliens concept while still giving us lots of xenomorph fighting action.
September 13, 2024
Another good read for the Alien universe. Nice mini series. Recommended
November 22, 2023
Very good
August 12, 2016
Second edition of the collected edition originally published as a 4-issue mini-series. This one is Volume 8, the last one of the "Aliens Library" revised editions of previous series. All previous seven have also been adapted as novels published by Bantam, but this one wasn't (curiously the series that followed, ALIENS: BERSERKER, was novelized.)
Written by John Arcudi (who previously co-wrote ALIENS: GENOCIDE), the story references previous volumes of the series in the form of Grant Corporation (from GENOCIDE); Jeri the synthetic alien who talks based on the prototype created by Stan Mayakovski (from ALIENS: HARVEST); and a towering acid-resistant and heavily-armed synthetic named Dean designed to eradicate aliens (from ALIENS: TRIBES.)
Much like ALIENS: ROGUE and ALIENS: LABYRINTH, it is again a story of company representatives, married couple Philip and Joy Strunk, sent to a remote research station to investigate the weird experiments of one of their scientists. This time, it is Dr. Caspar Nordling who works on virus research to eradicate aliens. Of course, there's a "controlled" hive next to it where he can get his subjects. Not surprisingly, the doctor has gone a little coucou from being alone for so long with a crew of only synthetics, and he has started to sell some alien eggs on the black market.
Despite the familiar premise, the story goes into original territory and the twists and turns of the story make for an enjoyable read. Artist Doug Mahnke previously worked with Arcudi on THE MASK and THE MASK RETURNS (and right after STRONGHOLD, they did THE MASK STRIKES BACK) so facial expressions are his specialty. The art is clean, the character designs and expressions are realistic, and the panel angles are cinematic. There is also some humor, especially with the alien robot Jeri when he is forced to smoke cigars. The final part is all-action, as the aliens are let loose in the station, and the Strunks are helped by the crew of synthetics (now armed with weapons) and Dean back to their ship.
So much like THE MASK, it's a great mix of mystery, humor and action mixed with some horror.
NOTE: the characters Dean and Jeri are more than likely a reference to the antics of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The synthetic who is the repairman for other of his kind is named Dr. Payne, because Nordling find him a "Payne" in the butt.
Written by John Arcudi (who previously co-wrote ALIENS: GENOCIDE), the story references previous volumes of the series in the form of Grant Corporation (from GENOCIDE); Jeri the synthetic alien who talks based on the prototype created by Stan Mayakovski (from ALIENS: HARVEST); and a towering acid-resistant and heavily-armed synthetic named Dean designed to eradicate aliens (from ALIENS: TRIBES.)
Much like ALIENS: ROGUE and ALIENS: LABYRINTH, it is again a story of company representatives, married couple Philip and Joy Strunk, sent to a remote research station to investigate the weird experiments of one of their scientists. This time, it is Dr. Caspar Nordling who works on virus research to eradicate aliens. Of course, there's a "controlled" hive next to it where he can get his subjects. Not surprisingly, the doctor has gone a little coucou from being alone for so long with a crew of only synthetics, and he has started to sell some alien eggs on the black market.
Despite the familiar premise, the story goes into original territory and the twists and turns of the story make for an enjoyable read. Artist Doug Mahnke previously worked with Arcudi on THE MASK and THE MASK RETURNS (and right after STRONGHOLD, they did THE MASK STRIKES BACK) so facial expressions are his specialty. The art is clean, the character designs and expressions are realistic, and the panel angles are cinematic. There is also some humor, especially with the alien robot Jeri when he is forced to smoke cigars. The final part is all-action, as the aliens are let loose in the station, and the Strunks are helped by the crew of synthetics (now armed with weapons) and Dean back to their ship.
So much like THE MASK, it's a great mix of mystery, humor and action mixed with some horror.
NOTE: the characters Dean and Jeri are more than likely a reference to the antics of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The synthetic who is the repairman for other of his kind is named Dr. Payne, because Nordling find him a "Payne" in the butt.
July 16, 2022
It's funny that you can show people's faces melting but you can't write "fuck".
What the frig.
What the frig.
August 22, 2023
Solid 4.5
As usual, I read the comics in the usual single issue format.
This is the first series written by John Arcudi and his name didn't stick out to me at the time, but later on the Aliens universe I saw his name pop up more and by then I always knew I'd be getting a good story. Well, here we are, his first foray into the Aliens universe as far as I know and what an awesome story. I read this when I was pretty young originally, so I was pretty happy with just about any Aliens content, but if I was an adult, I probably would have cringed at yet another mad scientist tale. Especially with Aliens: Labyrinth so close by. Granted Aliens - Music of the Spears came out right before and it was a real breath of fresh air for the Aliens series, showing what you could really do with the franchise... albeit some people didn't really like it based on the letters column in the comics, ah well. I thought it was an interesting branch to something new.
So, on the heels of "Music of the Spears" we find ourselves visiting "Stronghold" and it has pretty much a similar story backdrop as "Labyrinth." Despite the tried and true trope of secret corporate research facility researching the dangerous organisms to fight them... Arcudi brings us an incredibly well written tale. He manages to do quite a bit with the small space he's given, creating characters that are well written and enjoyable to deal with while in tense situations. While Arcudi's story is hardly new or "fresh" as you could say, it's just so well written it's hard not to enjoy. One of the parts I loved about his story is the nods toward other series. The facility in question is run by Grant Corporation, you may remember them all the way back to the stories when the Royal Jelly drug hit the market in the Aliens universe. My favorite part though is that this story features yet another robot Alien that is designed for Hive infiltration. Dr. Mayakovsky is even referenced as someone whose research was used to build Jerri in this series. You can read all about the adventures of Mayakovsky in Aliens: Hive.
Our story begins with two corporate inspectors to check on a facility in remote space where an Alien hive has been allowed to prosper. They are there to check on the facilities operations and to check in on the good Dr. Nordling. Our two protagonists are the husband and wife team, both doctors, the Strunks. This facility is different from others we've seen because the only human there is Dr. Nordling and his team of androids. Naturally this would seem to get lonely, but there is one female android, Lizzy, and as we have seen in prior lore they are "fully functional" as Data would say. However, when Joy Strunk observes Nordling and his inappropriate touching it's rather disturbing and lends to the concept that this man has gone off the deep end more than we previously saw.
So, the Strunks are off and looking into the facility and it's accounting of the project. The real joy is meeting the team of androids that work with Nordling. It is such a homage paid to Asimov in I, Robot, that if you are familiar with the tale you'll be pleasantly surprised here. Granted the Aliens androids were clearly taken from the concept of that Asimov story, but Arcudi does a great job of making it feel more related than some of the other stories.
Naturally, when the Strunks stumble upon some suspicious accounting, the real conflict hits the fan. We are treated to the last issue being action packed from beginning to end. The art by Doug Mahnke was simply excellent. The art really stood out and set the mood and stage for a lot of the conflict and action within the story.
In the end, this was a real treat. It may be the same story we've all read before, but Arcudi gives us enough variation, coupled with outright good writing, it's a very enjoyable tale. Strangely, this is the one of the few four issue comics that did not get a novelization during this era. I don't know if one was ever scheduled, but we just never get one.
As usual, I read the comics in the usual single issue format.
This is the first series written by John Arcudi and his name didn't stick out to me at the time, but later on the Aliens universe I saw his name pop up more and by then I always knew I'd be getting a good story. Well, here we are, his first foray into the Aliens universe as far as I know and what an awesome story. I read this when I was pretty young originally, so I was pretty happy with just about any Aliens content, but if I was an adult, I probably would have cringed at yet another mad scientist tale. Especially with Aliens: Labyrinth so close by. Granted Aliens - Music of the Spears came out right before and it was a real breath of fresh air for the Aliens series, showing what you could really do with the franchise... albeit some people didn't really like it based on the letters column in the comics, ah well. I thought it was an interesting branch to something new.
So, on the heels of "Music of the Spears" we find ourselves visiting "Stronghold" and it has pretty much a similar story backdrop as "Labyrinth." Despite the tried and true trope of secret corporate research facility researching the dangerous organisms to fight them... Arcudi brings us an incredibly well written tale. He manages to do quite a bit with the small space he's given, creating characters that are well written and enjoyable to deal with while in tense situations. While Arcudi's story is hardly new or "fresh" as you could say, it's just so well written it's hard not to enjoy. One of the parts I loved about his story is the nods toward other series. The facility in question is run by Grant Corporation, you may remember them all the way back to the stories when the Royal Jelly drug hit the market in the Aliens universe. My favorite part though is that this story features yet another robot Alien that is designed for Hive infiltration. Dr. Mayakovsky is even referenced as someone whose research was used to build Jerri in this series. You can read all about the adventures of Mayakovsky in Aliens: Hive.
Our story begins with two corporate inspectors to check on a facility in remote space where an Alien hive has been allowed to prosper. They are there to check on the facilities operations and to check in on the good Dr. Nordling. Our two protagonists are the husband and wife team, both doctors, the Strunks. This facility is different from others we've seen because the only human there is Dr. Nordling and his team of androids. Naturally this would seem to get lonely, but there is one female android, Lizzy, and as we have seen in prior lore they are "fully functional" as Data would say. However, when Joy Strunk observes Nordling and his inappropriate touching it's rather disturbing and lends to the concept that this man has gone off the deep end more than we previously saw.
So, the Strunks are off and looking into the facility and it's accounting of the project. The real joy is meeting the team of androids that work with Nordling. It is such a homage paid to Asimov in I, Robot, that if you are familiar with the tale you'll be pleasantly surprised here. Granted the Aliens androids were clearly taken from the concept of that Asimov story, but Arcudi does a great job of making it feel more related than some of the other stories.
Naturally, when the Strunks stumble upon some suspicious accounting, the real conflict hits the fan. We are treated to the last issue being action packed from beginning to end. The art by Doug Mahnke was simply excellent. The art really stood out and set the mood and stage for a lot of the conflict and action within the story.
In the end, this was a real treat. It may be the same story we've all read before, but Arcudi gives us enough variation, coupled with outright good writing, it's a very enjoyable tale. Strangely, this is the one of the few four issue comics that did not get a novelization during this era. I don't know if one was ever scheduled, but we just never get one.
February 5, 2021
Stronghold was a much lower-key affair than many of the Aliens stories, and that made a very refreshing change. Having a small number of characters kept the story nice and tight. As with all the good Aliens stories, the focus is barely on the xenomorphs, but on the humans - or in this case the humans and synthetics. This story introduces the best synthetic since Bishop, and that's Jeri who's build to look, sound and move like a Xenomorph, but can talk. Constantly wise-cracking and complaining Jeri steals the limelight entirely.
The other high point was the traditional Asimov robotics laws which are both Jeri's strength and weakness. Some really clever scenes are played out with these laws being forefront to the synthetics' behaviours.
The artwork was pretty standard for the time.
This one really surprised me by how good it was.
The other high point was the traditional Asimov robotics laws which are both Jeri's strength and weakness. Some really clever scenes are played out with these laws being forefront to the synthetics' behaviours.
The artwork was pretty standard for the time.
This one really surprised me by how good it was.
October 17, 2021
"Aliens: Stronghold" by Arcudi and Mahnke is a fast paced story which the horror is not in the Xenomorphs but humans. Dr. Nordling is working to create a disease to destroy the Xenomorph menace but has a sideline business to supplement his Grant Corporation salary. When Philip and Joy Strunk are there to inspect the security of the deep space research facility. Questions are raised by the story in how human/synthetic relationships work when it is a single human in a world of synthetics. The result is unsettling.
There are issues raised in the story which could have been developed further but aren't given the time to explore in a four issue mini series.
This is a worthy addition to the Alien-verse. Mainly due to the character of Jeri. Read and enjoy then think of how much deeper the series would have been if those Xenomorph issues had been explored.
There are issues raised in the story which could have been developed further but aren't given the time to explore in a four issue mini series.
This is a worthy addition to the Alien-verse. Mainly due to the character of Jeri. Read and enjoy then think of how much deeper the series would have been if those Xenomorph issues had been explored.
Read
February 22, 2022Equals stupid and fun.
Let me just say Jeri the alien is a great character. Who knew a robotic Alien who smokes Cigars would become a favorite of mine, but here we are. There's also a gigantic robot who murders aliens...so robots are pretty great in this.
The human characters are less desirable. Everyone is kind of shitty, bad, or evil. None of them are that interesting, and they are just not the part I cared about in this story. And sadly they took a good chunk of the story.
So overall a 3 out of 5.
Let me just say Jeri the alien is a great character. Who knew a robotic Alien who smokes Cigars would become a favorite of mine, but here we are. There's also a gigantic robot who murders aliens...so robots are pretty great in this.
The human characters are less desirable. Everyone is kind of shitty, bad, or evil. None of them are that interesting, and they are just not the part I cared about in this story. And sadly they took a good chunk of the story.
So overall a 3 out of 5.
February 9, 2025
When i read in the introduction that humor would play a major role in this work I was skeptical, but the character of Jeri lends a completely ridiculous component tot he story that readers will either absolutely love and chortle at or despise as a blight on the franchise. I happen to enjoy Jeri's role, but you may not. The art is gorgeous. I love the splash battle pages with Dean near the end. The protagonists and antagonists as well as the ending is either cliche' or hits the perfect guilty pleasure sunday afternoon sweet spot. One of the more original Alien stories I've read.
November 22, 2021
This has to be one of the best volumes in the Aliens series. Super good plot, lots of humorous redemption, interesting dynamics of intra-synth and synth-human relationships. I also like how this referenced Harvest's xenomorph camouflage for synths, this was a neat concept and was glad they decided to keep this concept alive.
March 15, 2021
I wanted it to be wacky and fun ala THE MASK. What we get is one alien that smokes a cigar. That's it. Disappointing.
December 11, 2013
One of the most entertaining entries in Dark Horse's cross-medium expansion of the Aliens universe, Stronghold offers a cast of extremely memorable characters that breathe life into what is an otherwise cliched story. Once again, a group of people stumble across a madman's attempts to use the Aliens for his personal gain under the guise of studying them in the name of science, all within the bowels of some far flung settlement where the "Company" and any futuristic police force have no idea what is going on. Sounds exactly like every other Aliens comic right?
Wrong. Because in this you have an Alien (synthetic) that talks and has a personality. In this, the synthetics outnumber the number of human characters. And in this, not everything goes according to the predictable route readers of other comics in this Universe might expect.
Hats off to John Arcudi and all involved in this one. It's a welcome spin on the typical Aliens tropes and should be read by all fans of this great monster of the twentieth century.
4 Cigar Chomping Aliens for Stronghold.
Wrong. Because in this you have an Alien (synthetic) that talks and has a personality. In this, the synthetics outnumber the number of human characters. And in this, not everything goes according to the predictable route readers of other comics in this Universe might expect.
Hats off to John Arcudi and all involved in this one. It's a welcome spin on the typical Aliens tropes and should be read by all fans of this great monster of the twentieth century.
4 Cigar Chomping Aliens for Stronghold.
May 9, 2011
Now, here's something unusual. The Dark Horse Aliens franchise typically serves up dark and brooding stories of a dystopic future society, where life is cheap and the Alien acts as a catalyst for the evils that men do to each other. Here though the concept is turned into a mystery novel, and there's an unusual cast with unclear motives for the reader to suspect. The xenomorph itself really doesn't add that much to the storyline here, the book functions more like a whodunnit mystery paired with a bit of Asimov-style philosophic questions about artificial life. Entertaining but not really helping the series forward.
April 12, 2011
Pretty much built on funnybook melodrama. Really, skip this and find a copy of Aliens: Labyrinth.
April 12, 2016
Very original
Great story from start to finish some people may be wondering how a alien can hold a gun and smoke answer he is Geri a synthetic and at the end of the comic was Geri saying dc comics green lanterns famous phrase starting in with in darkest night and brightest day
Great story from start to finish some people may be wondering how a alien can hold a gun and smoke answer he is Geri a synthetic and at the end of the comic was Geri saying dc comics green lanterns famous phrase starting in with in darkest night and brightest day
March 18, 2015
A creepy and entertaining Aliens tale that is somewhat reminiscent of Days of the Dead.
August 17, 2015
Really enjoyed this one. One of the best and most interesting storylines so far. Very inventive. And the art was decent.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
September 14, 2019
Would love to see this one as a movie.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews