Aliens: Wraith: Comic Overview, Plot & Lore

Published: July 15, 1998
Editor: Philip Amara
Writer: Jay Stephens
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Colorist: Chris Chalenor
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Format: 22-page one-shot
Setting: Agri-colony Tirgu-Mires

Aliens: Wraith is a July 15, 1998 Dark Horse Comics one-shot written by Jay Stephens and drawn by Eduardo Risso, with colors by Chris Chalenor and letters by Clem Robins. Ronnie del Carmen drew the cover. Roark was the newest arrival at Tirgu-Mires, a fourth-generation agri-colony worked with Chigusa machinery. He met a local girl named Hope. Under the colony, a cave held a pale Xenomorph the youths called the Wraith.

Plot Summary

Roark Arrives At Tirgu-Mires

Hope on a Chigusa rover beside the harvester at Tirgu-Mires in Aliens: Wraith

Roark arrived at Tirgu-Mires on Hope's rover. The colony was in its fourth generation and ran on Chigusa machinery, and the crew had not seen a migrant come through before. They took him for an outposter, someone from off the settlement, and they stared. Hope got him away from the crew.

Hope Invites Roark To The Evening Fire

Among the colony huts, Hope asked Roark to that evening's bush jam, the youths' gathering around a fire, so the others at Tirgu-Mires could meet him. She gave her name and set the meeting for 15:00. The rover crew had stared at him as a newcomer. At the fire the local youths would meet him, and he would hear about the cave.

Batik Names The Missing Youths

At the fire, Batik named a cave where at least twelve youths had vanished, including a youth called Specs the year before. The adults at Tirgu-Mires called the cave structurally unsafe and had not sent a rescue. The youths had another account: a white skeletal monster, the Wraith, and no one who had gone in had come back. Roark wanted to see the cave anyway. Batik agreed to lead him, and the group left the fire.

Hope And Batik Drive Roark To The Cave

Hope and Batik drove Roark through the trees to the cave. A torn Weyland-Yutani sheet covered the entrance, and the youths pulled it aside. Roark went in alone at first. The others waited at the mouth. Going in was a dare, and he did not have to finish it.

Roark Finds The Missing Youth's Skull

Roark lighting skulls set in the resin in Aliens: Wraith

Inside the cave, Roark found skulls set in the resin. Eyeglasses on one of them marked the body as Specs, the youth who had vanished the year before. Hope had followed him in. Roark had read about these creatures. A Facehugger fixed a host in front of the eggs, and a Chestburster broke out through the chest.

The Pale Xenomorph Attacks In The Cave

The pale Wraith attacking Hope and Roark in Aliens: Wraith

The Wraith came out of the resin behind them and spat acid. It caught Hope and Roark before they could get back to the entrance, where Batik and the others were waiting. Roark had treated the name as a local story. The creature in the tunnel was an adult Xenomorph, and the resin around Specs was the same material it had used on the youths who had not come back.

Roark Breaks Through The Tunnel Wall

Roark and Hope carrying a torch through the tunnel in Aliens: Wraith

Hope and Roark got clear of that first attack and turned back through the tunnel with a torch. Hope took the Wraith for a sick, old creature. Roark did not trust that. The Wraith had killed the others fixed in the resin, and it was close enough to kill the two of them. He broke through a cracked wall and opened another passage before the tunnel ended with the creature behind them.

Roark Burns The Xenomorph's Arm

Roark burning the Wraith's claw with a torch in Aliens: Wraith

The Xenomorph's arm came through the crack after them, and Roark put the torch into it. The arm burned, and acid from the wound ran onto the rock. That stopped it coming any farther through the crack. Hope and Roark went on down the passage he had opened, with the Wraith behind them in the tunnel they had left.

Hope Reaches The Chemical Pool

The passage opened on a pool of green chemical that smelled like a septic plant. Hope went out onto the surface, and Roark followed with the torch. The Wraith was behind them, on the far side of the crack he had burned, and they could not see another way out of the chamber.

The Xenomorph Climbs Out Of The Pool

The pale Wraith in the chemical smoke in Aliens: Wraith

The Wraith came up out of the pool and came after Hope and Roark across the chemical. Roark dropped the torch, the flame hit the surface, and smoke filled the chamber. The torch had been their only light. The creature was between them and the tunnel, so he pulled Hope toward a hole in the rock that led out, with the smoke and the fire between them and the Wraith.

Hope And Roark Climb Out Of The Cave

Roark and Hope tumbling clear of the cave in Aliens: Wraith

Hope and Roark climbed through the hole while the chemical smoke came up behind them, and they came out on the rocks above the cave. Roark was sure the fire had killed the Wraith. The other youths were there with the buggy. Hope was coughing from the smoke, and Batik wanted to know what had been in the cave.

Marines Enter The Buried Ship

Colonial Marines in the buried derelict under Tirgu-Mires in Aliens: Wraith

Colonial Marines put the group under quarantine and asked how many had been in the cave, and whether any other youths were involved. Batik answered for the whole group. The Marines killed them after the count. One of the Marines reported the group dealt with, ordered Team Two on to the colony, and took his own unit down to the site. In the buried chamber they found an Engineer derelict, with the pilot's seat fixed in the resin.

Key Characters

Roark was the newcomer at Tirgu-Mires. He went into the cave, found Specs in the resin, burned the Wraith's arm, and climbed out with Hope after the torch fell in the chemical.
Hope was the local girl who invited Roark to the evening fire and followed him into the cave. She was with him when the Wraith attacked, and she went out onto the chemical pool.
Batik named the cave and the twelve missing youths, led Roark out there, and later put the whole group on the Marine count. The Marines killed the youths after that.
Specs had vanished in the cave the year before. Roark found him fixed in the resin, with his eyeglasses on the skull.
The Wraith was the pale Xenomorph in the cave, the creature behind the local story. It attacked Hope and Roark, took a torch to the arm, and came up out of the chemical pool.

Editions

Dark Horse Comics published Aliens: Wraith as a one-shot on July 15, 1998. The story runs 22 pages. Jay Stephens wrote it, and Eduardo Risso drew it. Dark Horse collected the one-shot in Aliens Omnibus Volume 6 in December 2008, with Pig, Apocalypse, Xenogenesis, and other short Aliens stories from the same stretch of the line. Marvel collected it again in Aliens: The Original Years Omnibus Vol. 3, a hardcover released on November 23, 2022.

Behind The Scenes

Jay Stephens wrote Aliens: Wraith, and Eduardo Risso drew the story. Chris Chalenor colored the pages, and Clem Robins lettered them. The interior credits page lists Ronnie del Carmen for the title illustration, with Chalenor and Dark Horse Digital. Philip Amara edited the one-shot, and Amy Arendts handled design. Dark Horse lists the comic as full color, 32 pages, which includes the cover and the ads around a 22-page story.

Conclusion

Aliens: Wraith is Jay Stephens and Eduardo Risso's July 1998 Dark Horse one-shot. It follows Roark and Hope from the Chigusa agri-colony Tirgu-Mires into a cave the youths called the Wraith. The comic ends when Colonial Marines kill the witnesses and enter the buried derelict under the colony.