Alien Legion - Publication History

Publication History

Alien Legion — cover-titled The Alien Legion for its first series and initial graphic novel — features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French Foreign Legion. Its characters include leader Sarigar, whose lower half is serpentine; the fully humanoid Torie Montroc; and an alien of the Thraxian race, Jugger Grimrod.

Primary creator Carl Potts and co-creators Alan Zelenetz (writer) and Frank Cirocco (penciler) developed the concept, and in 1984 Marvel Comics' Epic Comics imprint launched the first of several Alien Legion miniseries and one-shots. Potts said in 2000,

The original concept was the 'Foreign Legion in space' and all the legionnaires were human. ... Then I created the humanoid/serpentine design that later became Sarigar and decided that the Legion should include a wide variety of species. This was in the early '70s. By the time I got around to developing the idea further in the early '80s, Star Wars obviously became an influence. The Alien Legion universe is a giant extrapolation of the American democratic melting-pot society where different races and cultures work together for the common good while dealing with the pluses and problems that the nation's diversity creates.

The franchise debuted with Marvel/Epic Comics' The Alien Legion #1-20 (cover-dated April 1984 - June 1987). The 18-issue Alien Legion (Oct. 1987 - Aug. 1990), minus the "The", followed, generally scripted by Chuck Dixon and penciled by Larry Stroman. Afterward came the three-issue Dixon-Stroman miniseries Alien Legion: On The Edge (Nov. 1990 - Jan. 1991); the two-issue Dixon-Stroman Alien Legion: Tenants of Hell (1991); the one-shot cover-titled Alien Legion: Grimrod and copyrighted Alien Legion: Jugger Grimrod (Aug. 1992), by Dixon and artist Mike McMahon; the single-issue Alien Legion: Binary Deep (Sept. 1993), by Dixon and the monomial artist Alcatena; and the three-issue miniseries Alien Legion: One Planet at a Time (April-July 1993), by Dixon and penciler Hoang Nguyen.

Additionally, Marvel/Epic published two spinoffs: Marvel Graphic Novel #25 (cover-titled Marvel Graphic Novel: The Alien Legion), released in 1986 and containing the story "A Grey Day To Die" by writers Potts and Zelenetz, penciler Cirocco, and the first series' regular inker, Terry Austin; and the one-shot crossover with another series Law Dog and Grimrod: Terror at the Crossroads (1993).

As well, two short stories appeared: the 10-page “Tough Enough”, by writer Dixon and penciler Douglas Braithwaite, in the Marvel/Epic magazine Epic (cover-titled Epic: An Anthology) #3 (1992); and the 12-page “Altered State”, by writer Potts and artist Alcatena, in Heavy Hitters Annual #1 (1993).

Dark Horse Comics announced it is publishing a new Alien Legion series in 2010.