Dark Horse Comics Publisher Mike Richardson Responds to Loss of ‘Alien/Predator’ Licenses

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It didn’t take long for Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson to respond to the news that after 30 years of publication, Marvel would be taking over the licenses for ‘Aliens’ and ‘Predator’ comics.

Richardson’s response of social media indicated that he was not surprise by the move by Marvel/Disney, “As the new owners of Fox, this is their right, of course. Dark Horse has been one of the longest-standing and most successful of Fox’s licensing partners over the nearly 35 years we have worked with them.”

Update on Aliens and Predator comics: pic.twitter.com/5jXJVrs9AJ

— Dark Horse Comics (@DarkHorseComics) July 2, 2020

Richardson also discussed the long history of the licenses at Dark Horse and their influence on the film franchises, stating that “Our first Aliens series, written by Mark Verheiden and illustrated by Mark A. Nelson, was a smash success, moving away from the generic storylines common in film and television-based titles and toward actual sequels to the original material. The success of Aliens led directly to another series based on a Fox science fiction film, Predator, written by Mark Verheiden and illustrated by Chris Warner. This first series was the basis for the Predator film sequel, and Warner’s iconic first issue cover served as the inspiration for the sequel’s film poster. The natural extension of those licenses led Dark Horse to come up with the monster hit, Aliens vs Predator. Mixing the two franchises was a huge success with fans, and became one of the most successful series in the history of the direct market.”