Aliens can rip their way through nearly any foe, making prey of even the staunchest opponents. But how do they match up against God?

That's the question posed, obliquely, in a pair of Aliens one-shots from Dark Horse. Initially published separately in 1993, they were reissued as a package in 2001.

In Sacrifice, lady preacher Ann McKay is the sole survivor when her vessel crashlands on a colonial planet. The inhabitants are fearful people, terrorized by a lone alien with whom they've made a dreadful pact. The preacher, who encountered aliens once before as a child, vows to break the bargain and face the demon alone, bound to determine if it's truly an instrument of evil.

Sacrifice, written by Peter Milligan and starkly illustrated by Paul Johnson, paints a grim picture of colonial life in a future where aliens roam the galaxy. The story begs the question how McKay, fleeing the conflagration of her wrecked spaceship, still had her luggage when it came time to suit up for duty, but otherwise, it's a gripping tale of personal faith in the face of fear. One can easily see how the creature could inspire such awe and terror that it raises questions of supernatural intent! McKay's resolve in this tale is admirable -- and believable.

Salvation takes things a little further, but is less successful in doing so. The Company has captured aliens and is hoping to seed a planet with them -- there are ample native primates on the world to provide alien hosts -- for future use in biowarfare. But the ship's containment is breached and the captain goes mad -- and he and a pious ship's cook (an odd choice, since the entire crew was at the captain's disposal) are the only apparent survivors after they flee in a small escape pod.

The ship crashes and the aliens survive -- and do just what the Company expects them to do. That leaves our zealot cook to try and find some way to escape the primitive world, all the while conversing with God as if the whole ordeal was orchestrated simply to test his convictions. The story, written by Dave Gibbons and roughly sketched by Mike Mignola, is less successful; the cook's Victorian-sounding inner dialogue, which serves for narration, doesn't work well with the frantic pace of the action or the desperate terror of his circumstances.

- Rambles
written by Tom Knapp
published 23 August 2003