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A Short Comics and Books history
Dark Horse Comics leased the rights for both Alien (1979), and Predator (1987) from owner Twentieth Century-Fox, creating numerous miniseries about them. In 1989, Aliens appeared in Dark Horse Presents #34, Predators in #35, and finally pitted the two against each other in #36 - the idea coming from editor/artist Chris Warner.
Dark Horse collected the three stories into their own comic, Aliens vs. Predator #0 (1990), which led into a four-issue series by writer Randy Stradley and artist Phillip Norwood. That proved popular enough to be collected into the first Aliens vs. Predator trade paperback, which gave birth to the franchise. Before long, the two enemies found themselves in a three-way battle with Terminators, and another time including super-characters Witchblade and The Darkness from Image Comics.
Most stories have been collected as trade paperbacks, but some Dark Horse volumes might be hard to find. Many are out of print, and Dark Horse are not permitted by Fox to reprint them, as Fox want the focus on the new film. But they can be found - www.darkhorse.com has many back issues for sale, and most bookstores and comic shops will have a few TPBs on hand.
Also, Dark Horse has often teamed up with other publishers for crossovers - like Superman and Batman from DC Comics - and those publishers aren't under any restrictions. Bantam Books also got in on the act in 1994, with writers Steve and Stephani Perry adapting Aliens vs. Predator: Prey into novel form, followed by S.D. Perry with AvP: War in 1999. David Bischoff added a sequel to Prey called AvP: Hunter's Planet in 1994.
With so much material available, it means that no matter whether it's the Aliens or the Predators who lose on the printed page, all of us fans are the winners!
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Alien Vs Predator Comics
Dark Horse Heroes special:
DH Comics #01: 
Dark Horse Presents series
Dark Horse Specials
