The Immortals of the ALIEN Franchise: #1 - John Bolton

So with the pending release of Alien: Covenant this week I thought it would be an excellent time to look back and appreciate some of the people who have made A L I E N one of the most iconic and timeless franchises of the cinema era.

I think it goes without saying that H. R Giger was one of the most significant contributors to the franchise, with his Necronom IV artwork being the basis of the entire Xenomorph Alienverse! His artwork is a constant feature on this forum, always being shared and appreciated so I have skipped Sir Giger in lieu of another artist whom deserves more recognition for his contributions to the franchise.

John Bolton is a British comic book artist and illustrator most known for his dense, painted style, which often verges on photorealism. He was one of the first British artists to come to work in the American comics industry a phenomenon which took root in the late 1980s and has since become standard practice.

From 1989 Bolton devoted himself to horror, his favorite genre. Known for a great number of covers for Dark Horse Comics and adaptations of horror movies and novels.

His artwork on the Alien Franchise novels and Dark Horse comics are dark, visceral and nightmarish, contrasting but complimenting the sleek psudo-sexual biomechanical artwork of H.R Giger. His artwork had became synonymous with the legendary Dark Horse Comics, and he was chosen to be the cover artist of the Aliens Library Editions from Bantam Books. His illustrations included new xenomorph variants including the King Alien in Alien: Rogue, the Palatine from Alien: Earth War, The Empress / Queen’s Mother from Aliens: Earth Hive, Aliens: Female War & Aliens: Genocide.

Take a look at his artworks below.

Palatine

The Empress / Queen's Mother

The King

Newt's Tale

All images are copyrighted to John Bolton / Dark Horse Comics / Bantam Books.