Comments on: A Year of Cool Comic Book Moments - Day 59

By: Scott Free

Scott Free — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:15:52 +0000

This used to be one of my favorite issues of Uncanny when i was a lad, but after I grew up a bit and read it again, I realized how much Claremont ripped-off (not homaged, in my opinion but RIPPED-OFF, right down to the inceneration of the creature in the afterburners) a really great Ridley Scott deathtrap-suspense thriller. And that was the beginning of my loss of respect for him as a writer.

By: Neal K

Neal K — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:57:31 +0000

I think the real moment here is when we get a handy conversion of meters to feet....

Seriously, I love, love, love old Uncanny X-Men on a sentimental, nostalgic basis (there was a time in my youth when I was obsessed with collecting the entire run), but some of it really does not hold up as well as one would hope.

By: Hangman Jury

Hangman Jury — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:02:34 +0000

I'm still not sure I get what happened.

By: Ben Herman

Ben Herman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:56:02 +0000

The N’Garai were really H.P. Lovecraft-type creatures who used to inhabit the Earth in prehistory and who were banished to another dimension. Other writers later tied them in with the Elder God Chthon, author of the Darkhold... the allusions to Cthulhu and the Necronomicon are pretty obvious. So, the N'Garai are not aliens per say, but demonic entities. But, yeah, Uncanny X-Men #143 is an obvious homage to the Ridley Scott film Alien.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:32:56 +0000

Well, Byrne had nothing to do with the creation of the Brood. That was after he left and Cockrum came back on.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:03:10 +0000

Right, I mean Byrne is saying Claremont said "Alien!," as though he had no problem with the idea of homaging Alien.

And yet he has been mum on the whole Brood/Alien thing.

By: John Trumbull

John Trumbull — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:00:18 +0000

Just grabbed my copy of The X-Men Companion II off the shelf. Here is the quote that Greg was referring to: Peter Sanderson: Now, how did the Demon story come about [#143]? Byrne: [laughter] It came about the instant that I told Chris she [Kitty] was a young Sigourney Weaver. Chris said, "Why don't we..." and I said "All right." We decided just to do the last fifteen minutes of Alien and hoped originally that it would be a lot more subtle than the way it turned out. I thought that the reference to the movie in the book was a big mistake. [...] I was trying to be as far from the alien as I could get, and still suggest it. I guess I failed., because a number of people have said how much it does look like it. When I drew it I thought I was being really clever [laughter].

By: John Trumbull

John Trumbull — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:51:04 +0000

It wasn't Claremont that confirmed that issue #143 was inspired by Alien, Brian. It was Byrne.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:38:25 +0000

Thanks for the confirmation, Greg!

Now it's interesting, if Claremont would say that about this issue, I wonder why he's been so mum on the Brood?

By: Greg Hatcher

Greg Hatcher — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:28:01 +0000

So for them to not appear for six years, then appear a year after Alien, completely re-designed (and now visually similar to the alien from Alien) and in a comic with a plot reminiscent to Alien seems quite likely that an homage was intended.

According to an interview in the old Fantagraphics X-Men Companion, it was because Byrne told Claremont he was basing Kitty's face on a young Sigourney Weaver. I am pretty sure the exact quote was "As soon as I said that, Chris lit up and said 'Alien!' and that's where that story came from."

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:59:27 +0000

Close. N'Garai.

By: Johhny the Boy

Johhny the Boy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:36:49 +0000

Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't this alien-esque fellow a member of the D'Bari?

By: chad

chad — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:25:20 +0000

i remember that issue and moment well. not to mention how scary when the fried alien popped up again near kitty. still scary seeing that again

By: Si__

Si__ — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:08:20 +0000

When i was young, a wordy book like that didn´t bother me at all. Today, it makes me wonder 'how could i ever read that?'.

By: BrianHouston

BrianHouston — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:01:12 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80AkkimBS0 For my video's inspired by this coluemn. Thanks to Brian for many of these images.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:14:18 +0000

This fellow was a demon, though.

The Brood was a lot more direct than this, also. This only sort of evokes the feel of Alien (with a visually similar creature, of course) for a one-off story.

The Brood are a whole long term storyline and a long term villain (and again, I would not be surprised if Claremont were to argue that the Brood were not, in his mind, based on Alien).

But yeah, it is pretty odd.

By: Tuomas

Tuomas — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:05:08 +0000

So Claremont had not only one but two different copies of Aliens in X-men? Kinda lazy, at least he could've made the Brood and this feller be the same species.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:00:38 +0000

Different entity.

And yeah, the Brood certainly seemed an homage of Alien, although I do not believe I've ever seen Claremont confirm that.

By: Tuomas

Tuomas — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:56:43 +0000

Is that alien supposed to be a member of the Brood, or is it a different entity? If I remember correctly, the Brood were even more obviously copied from the Aliens: they looked like Aliens, they reproduced by laying eggs in host bodies, and so on.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:44:21 +0000

The Demons had appeared earlier, Greg, but they looked drastically different, not at all like the Alien from Alien.

So for them to not appear for six years, then appear a year after Alien, completely re-designed (and now visually similar to the alien from Alien) and in a comic with a plot reminiscent to Alien seems quite likely that an homage was intended.