Alien Legion

Alien Legion — cover-titled The Alien Legion for its first series and initial graphic novel — features a military unit, Force Nomad, similar to the French Foreign Legion. Its characters include leader Sarigar, whose lower half is serpentine, the fully humanoid Torie Montroc, and Jugger Grimrod, an alien of the Thraxian race, .

Primary creator Carl Potts and co-creators Alan Zelenetz (writer) and Frank Cirocco (penciler) developed the concept, and in 1984 Marvel Comics' Epic Comics imprint launched the first of several Alien Legion miniseries and one-shots. Potts said in 2000,

The original concept was the 'Foreign Legion in space' and all the legionnaires were human. ... Then I created the humanoid/serpentine design that later became Sarigar and decided that the Legion should include a wide variety of species. This was in the early '70s. By the time I got around to developing the idea further in the early '80s, Star Wars obviously became an influence. The Alien Legion universe is a giant extrapolation of the American democratic melting-pot society where different races and cultures work together for the common good while dealing with the pluses and problems that the nation's diversity creates.[1]

The franchise debuted with Marvel/Epic Comics' The Alien Legion #1-20 (cover-dated April 1984 - June 1987).[2] The 18-issue Alien Legion (Oct. 1987 - Aug. 1990), minus "The", followed, generally scripted by Chuck Dixon and penciled by Larry Stroman.[3] Afterward came the three-issue Dixon-Stroman miniseries Alien Legion: On The Edge (Nov. 1990 - Jan. 1991);[4] the two-issue Dixon-Stroman Alien Legion: Tenants of Hell (1991);[5] the one-shot cover-titled Alien Legion: Grimrod and copyrighted Alien Legion: Jugger Grimrod (Aug. 1992), by Dixon and artist Mike McMahon;[6] the single-issue Alien Legion: Binary Deep (Sept. 1993), by Dixon and Argentine artist Enrique Alcatena;[7] and the three-issue miniseries Alien Legion: One Planet at a Time (April–July 1993), by Dixon and penciler Hoang Nguyen.[8]

Additionally, Marvel/Epic published two spinoffs: Marvel Graphic Novel #25 (cover-titled Marvel Graphic Novel: The Alien Legion),[9] released in 1986 and containing the story "A Grey Day To Die" by writers Potts and Zelenetz, penciler Cirocco, and the first series' regular inker, Terry Austin;[10] and the one-shot crossover with another series Law Dog and Grimrod: Terror at the Crossroads (1993).[11][12]

As well, two short stories appeared: the 10-page “Tough Enough”, by writer Dixon and penciler Douglas Braithwaite, in the Marvel/Epic magazine Epic (cover-titled Epic: An Anthology) #3 (1992);[12][13] and the 12-page “Altered State”, by writer Potts and artist Alcatena, in Heavy Hitters Annual #1 (1993).[12][14]

Dark Horse Comics announced it was publishing a new Alien Legion series in 2010 [15] but the series was delayed. Instead of being produced by Dark Horse, the new four-issue series, Uncivil War, was published in 2014 by Titan Comics. The new series was co-plotted by Potts and Dixon, scripted by Dixon, with art by Stroman and Potts.[16]

In 2009, Carl Potts' Alien Legion screenplay was optioned by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and The Walt Disney Company.[20] In 2010, Bruckheimer exercised the option, buying the screenplay and assigning Game of Thrones show runner David Benioff to do a rewrite.

• "Alien Legion". (Official site)
• Carl Potts at the Lambiek Comiclopedia
• Alien Legion (1984) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
• Alien Legion (1987) at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)