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Aliens (comics)
Aliens: Sacrifice
Collecting the story originally serialized in Dark Horse U.K.'s Aliens title, Aliens: Sacrifice is a one-shot presenting perhaps the most emotionally powerful Aliens tale you will ever read. Stranded on an isolated planet, Ann McKay takes shelter in a remote village that is being terrorized by an Alien. She soon discovers that its inhabitants are hiding a horrifying secret from her. But to discover the truth she has to face her own innermost demons, and try to save the souls of the villagers at the same time.
50 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1993
84 people want to read
About the author
Peter Milligan
1,310 books393 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 28, 2017
I think the exploration of faith in Peter Milligan's Aliens Sacrifice is a riveting read. Ann, the main character, survives a crash and a close encounter with a xenomorph. She finds a settlement and as she grapples with her faith (it is revealed she is a priest), she learns of a terrible secret the colonists have been hiding from her. Finding her faith, she resolves to put her words into action. Yet interestingly, her sacrifice leads to the demise of her faith.
This is a quiet, unsettling psychological story. Milligan's pacing efficiently emphasizes Ann's turmoil as well as the tension amongst the members of the settlement. To me, the religious angle is reminiscent of Alien3 in which the inmates question and test their faith due to the presence of Ripley and an alien. Paul Johnson's art matches well, especially his creative use of panel frames and page layout. His illustrations convey the struggles of the characters, particularly the facial expressions of Ann, John, and Mad Ricketts.
This is a quiet, unsettling psychological story. Milligan's pacing efficiently emphasizes Ann's turmoil as well as the tension amongst the members of the settlement. To me, the religious angle is reminiscent of Alien3 in which the inmates question and test their faith due to the presence of Ripley and an alien. Paul Johnson's art matches well, especially his creative use of panel frames and page layout. His illustrations convey the struggles of the characters, particularly the facial expressions of Ann, John, and Mad Ricketts.
June 1, 2023
After a less than interesting tale with "Earth Angel" Dark Horse returns to the Aliens franchise with yet another one shot. These one shots don't seem to be as good as a full series, so I rather wish they would drop these one shots altogether sometimes. "Sacrifice" does a decent job setting the tone in a small amount of pages, but it just can't compete with a four issue styled series.
"Sacrifice" attempts to bring the tension and fear of the first movie back into the fold. This story starts with a woman, Ann, waking up after her ship crashed on a planet with a small settlement. She's the sole survivor and the people in the settlement are being terrorized by an Alien. Their hopes of Ann bringing help or weapons is entirely dashed when they find out she is just a regular person and not with the Colonial Marines or anyone that can really help them. One of the characters points out that a single Alien terrorizing a small colony that doesn't produce much of anything doesn't rate very highly on the emergency scale anymore. I thought this was actually a pretty interesting concept in the world of Aliens and it's probably pretty accurate. The part I found rather unbelievable is that these people have no weapons on an Alien world... until later one character hands her a grenade saying it's the only one left. So... they had grenades, but no guns? I don't get it, the whole construction of this colony in the face of Aliens being so common just makes no sense here. However, I think Milligan sacrificed setting logic to tell his specific horror story. (pun intended!)
Anyway, our main character Ann, whose mother was killed by the Aliens, finds out the colonists have figured out a way to keep the Alien at bay from attacking the colony, basically by feeding it. The part that makes no sense to me here is that, Aliens wouldn't really do this it seems to me. Aliens seem to overrun areas and kill nearly everything they can to their own detriment. In some cases it's sort of questioned if they even actually feed on their kills? Throughout the years it seems to be a bit conflicting on that tidbit of information... I like to assume they eat, but on a world filled with other animals, I would think the Alien is looking for hosts for a queen it longs to serve. Ah well, whatever, it just seemed weird that feeding it would keep it away as if they only crave human flesh, which I don't really think is the case.
Milligan tries to craft a story in the Aliens universe that intersects with horror and the question of faith in god. The particular way the story is crafted doesn't feel in line with the Aliens universe, but it's an interesting story as far as stories go. I think it would have been more powerful if not told in the Aliens setting though, if that makes any sense. So, I think the story, for me, is more around a two star.
The comic get a huge boost from Paul Johnson's art though. The art is very well done and every panel is extremely well crafted. The art is pretty stunning and when we are told of Ann's dreams of her mother, the panels take on a blue hue to separate them from the main story. There's a bit of a gritty edge to everything and one of the characters that has actually gone insane has this more unhinged style than the others. It's extremely well done at the end of the day and if we're lucky we'll see more art from Johnson grace the pages of Aliens. There's one panel where Ann faces the Alien as its standing on a stone pillar and that is probably my favorite panel in the whole book.
In the end, is this a must read for Aliens fans? Definitely not. It's rather a throw away tale as far as the universe is concerned. It's not terrible, but it's also not extremely memorable for being extremely compelling either. Hopefully our next installment of Aliens stories fairs a bit better, we'll see though.
"Sacrifice" attempts to bring the tension and fear of the first movie back into the fold. This story starts with a woman, Ann, waking up after her ship crashed on a planet with a small settlement. She's the sole survivor and the people in the settlement are being terrorized by an Alien. Their hopes of Ann bringing help or weapons is entirely dashed when they find out she is just a regular person and not with the Colonial Marines or anyone that can really help them. One of the characters points out that a single Alien terrorizing a small colony that doesn't produce much of anything doesn't rate very highly on the emergency scale anymore. I thought this was actually a pretty interesting concept in the world of Aliens and it's probably pretty accurate. The part I found rather unbelievable is that these people have no weapons on an Alien world... until later one character hands her a grenade saying it's the only one left. So... they had grenades, but no guns? I don't get it, the whole construction of this colony in the face of Aliens being so common just makes no sense here. However, I think Milligan sacrificed setting logic to tell his specific horror story. (pun intended!)
Anyway, our main character Ann, whose mother was killed by the Aliens, finds out the colonists have figured out a way to keep the Alien at bay from attacking the colony, basically by feeding it. The part that makes no sense to me here is that, Aliens wouldn't really do this it seems to me. Aliens seem to overrun areas and kill nearly everything they can to their own detriment. In some cases it's sort of questioned if they even actually feed on their kills? Throughout the years it seems to be a bit conflicting on that tidbit of information... I like to assume they eat, but on a world filled with other animals, I would think the Alien is looking for hosts for a queen it longs to serve. Ah well, whatever, it just seemed weird that feeding it would keep it away as if they only crave human flesh, which I don't really think is the case.
Milligan tries to craft a story in the Aliens universe that intersects with horror and the question of faith in god. The particular way the story is crafted doesn't feel in line with the Aliens universe, but it's an interesting story as far as stories go. I think it would have been more powerful if not told in the Aliens setting though, if that makes any sense. So, I think the story, for me, is more around a two star.
The comic get a huge boost from Paul Johnson's art though. The art is very well done and every panel is extremely well crafted. The art is pretty stunning and when we are told of Ann's dreams of her mother, the panels take on a blue hue to separate them from the main story. There's a bit of a gritty edge to everything and one of the characters that has actually gone insane has this more unhinged style than the others. It's extremely well done at the end of the day and if we're lucky we'll see more art from Johnson grace the pages of Aliens. There's one panel where Ann faces the Alien as its standing on a stone pillar and that is probably my favorite panel in the whole book.
In the end, is this a must read for Aliens fans? Definitely not. It's rather a throw away tale as far as the universe is concerned. It's not terrible, but it's also not extremely memorable for being extremely compelling either. Hopefully our next installment of Aliens stories fairs a bit better, we'll see though.
July 16, 2023
(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
A rather unique and captivating little tale, showing the former prowess Dark Horse was once known for. You will be unlikely to find someone reviewing this book who doesn't comment on Paul Johnsons seminal artwork. Again, how far do you think you would have to go to find a one shot illustrated like this nowadays? But it was Peter Milligan's interesting and inventive narrative that stood out just that little bit more for me, giving off more than a passing whiff of Star Trek TNG, which can never be a bad thing. This polished and proficient rumination on fear and faith was a welcome change of pace from so much of what I'd been reading lately. Sadly, they just don't make comics like this anymore. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
A rather unique and captivating little tale, showing the former prowess Dark Horse was once known for. You will be unlikely to find someone reviewing this book who doesn't comment on Paul Johnsons seminal artwork. Again, how far do you think you would have to go to find a one shot illustrated like this nowadays? But it was Peter Milligan's interesting and inventive narrative that stood out just that little bit more for me, giving off more than a passing whiff of Star Trek TNG, which can never be a bad thing. This polished and proficient rumination on fear and faith was a welcome change of pace from so much of what I'd been reading lately. Sadly, they just don't make comics like this anymore. 3.75/5
OmniBen.
August 31, 2013
Aliens: Sacrifice
Peter Milligan + Paul Johnson
Stranded on an isolated planet, Ann McKay takes shelter in a remote village that is being terrorized by an Alien. She soon discovers that its inhabitants are hiding a horrifying secret from her. But to discover the truth she has to face her own innermost demons, and try to save the souls of the villagers at the same time.
More on the religious theme (see Aliens: Salvation). A Knight Errant / Paladin wanders into a village being terrorized by a "dragon", and, as a Paladin must, takes it upon herself to "save the villagers"... even to the point of saving them from themselves.
Peter Milligan + Paul Johnson
Stranded on an isolated planet, Ann McKay takes shelter in a remote village that is being terrorized by an Alien. She soon discovers that its inhabitants are hiding a horrifying secret from her. But to discover the truth she has to face her own innermost demons, and try to save the souls of the villagers at the same time.
More on the religious theme (see Aliens: Salvation). A Knight Errant / Paladin wanders into a village being terrorized by a "dragon", and, as a Paladin must, takes it upon herself to "save the villagers"... even to the point of saving them from themselves.
December 11, 2013
Truly stunning artwork almost manages to lift this oddly lifeless tale out of the murk of mediocrity. In it, a single survivor of a downed space transport tries to understand the lengths the community she has shacked up with will go to in order to preserve peace with an alien roaming the wilderness around them. With more unbelievable moments than one can count and a largely unlikeable cast of characters, Sacrifice stands as a testament to the highly talented artists involved, and little more.
2 Highly Unlikely and Illogical Decisions for Aliens: Sacrifice.
2 Highly Unlikely and Illogical Decisions for Aliens: Sacrifice.
July 15, 2016
A story with a powerful message about faith and giving your life for what you believe. In this book, the alien could be any supernatural monster and the story would be the same. But it's an alien and it works quite well. This is a powerful story, highly recommended.
October 19, 2021
Peter Milligan writes a mediation on faith and survival. The paintings by Paul Johnson are riveting. "Aliens: Sacrifice" can be read as a dark tale in the Alien-verse. However it is the use of the Xenomorph as a reflection of how humans react to a specific situation. The use of religion is not a distraction of the horror engendered but a integral part of the moral dilemma presented in the context of sacrifice. This is one of the most powerful stories in the Alien-verse which rises above stories of the action/adventure/horror of Colonial Marines and Weyland-Yutani situational stories.
(This is how I see Milligan's use of sacrifice to bring up thorniest of questions in American political debate- abortion. The religious aspect of the characters and how they interact is crucial to the current moral problem. The hallmark of challenging SF is to bring up moral questions by analogy.)
This is well worth reading and thinking about.
(This is how I see Milligan's use of sacrifice to bring up thorniest of questions in American political debate- abortion. The religious aspect of the characters and how they interact is crucial to the current moral problem. The hallmark of challenging SF is to bring up moral questions by analogy.)
This is well worth reading and thinking about.
September 20, 2021
This had an interesting morality and religious dilemma that closely resembles the trolley problem. I wish this had dove deeper into the plot, it seemed like it was very rushed throughout. The illustrations are the best I have seen for the series so far, very detailed, smooth, and excellent lighting.
June 17, 2025
Read as part of Aliens Omnibus volume 3. This Omnibus volume is smaller than the typical graphic novel size, and the readability - especially of the art - suffers for it; it's harder to follow the action, and the xenomorph doesn't feel nearly as scary.
Otherwise, Milligan has written a short, but good, addition to the Aliens mythology.
Otherwise, Milligan has written a short, but good, addition to the Aliens mythology.
February 6, 2025
She was THAT close to the explosion of that grenade, and you're telling me the only thing that happened to her was that she was blinded? Yeah, I'm not so sure about that one, comic writer. She should be missing one limb at least after something like that.
Issue #1
Issue #1
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2022
Very good unique take with propably best painted art I ever seen in a comic.Its kept short so it doesn't get boring, and mystery is very strong here. Strongly recommend to especially fans of first film.
July 24, 2024
been reading thru the aliens omnibuses & this is the first comic worth saying much about ... beautiful & written with vision and conviction; very unusual/singular in context as well
October 30, 2024
While this would make for a stunning short film, the artwork is what takes the cake here.
December 29, 2025
énorme poulet et je pèse mes mots (ca suit pas trop le lore mais ca s'en sort avec une tape sur l'épaule)
February 1, 2026
The color palette left a little to be desired. Artwork was very appropriate for the universe.
August 12, 2015
Quite short. Not enough to really connect to any of the characters. But then, I didn't really want to.
The very idea that even after adventuring in the universe and encountering these death-machines that are the xenomorphs, people would still believe in an antiquated superstition such as "god". It puts me off.
2 out of 5 stars.
The very idea that even after adventuring in the universe and encountering these death-machines that are the xenomorphs, people would still believe in an antiquated superstition such as "god". It puts me off.
2 out of 5 stars.
August 26, 2020
One of the better DH Alien standalones, about literal sacrifice and faith. I enjoyed it. The writing was smart.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews