Alien Encounters is a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 anthology

Comics anthology

Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of comics that are too short for standalone publication.- U.S. :- UK :British comics have a long tradition publishing comics anthologies, often weekly...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 published by FantaCo Enterprises

FantaCo Enterprises

FantaCo Enterprises was an American comic book store and publishing company founded by Thomas Skulan and based in Albany, New York. As a publisher, FantaCo was known for its idiosyncratic line-up of mostly black-and-white titles, including the humorous Hembeck Series and the horror title Gore Shriek...

 and then Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics

Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...

. The comic debuted with FantaCo in 1981, and in 1985 was revived by Eclipse, where (starting over from issue 1) it ran for fourteen issues until 1987.

Eclipse began publishing the title soon after the cancellation of Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds

Alien Worlds was a science fiction anthology comic book published by Pacific Comics and, later, Eclipse Comics, in the early 1980s. The title was edited by Bruce Jones and April Campbell.-Publication history:...

, a similar science-fiction themed anthology.

Publication history

Several noteworthy creators worked on the series, including Stephen R. Bissette

Stephen R. Bissette

Stephen R. Bissette is an American comics artist, editor, and publisher with a focus on the horror genre. He is best known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC comic Swamp Thing in the 1980s....

, John Bolton, joe Chiodo

Joe Chiodo

Joe Chiodo is an artist and colorist who has worked in the comics industry. He has been recognized for his work with a nomination for the Comics Buyer's Guide Favorite Colorist Award in 1997 , and in 1998 under his own name.-Biography:Chiodo was born on January 22, 1958, the youngest of four boys...

, Richard Corben

Richard Corben

Richard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...

, Howard Cruse

Howard Cruse

Howard Cruse is an American alternative cartoonist known for the exploration of gay themes in his comics.Cruse was raised in Springville, Alabama, the son of a preacher and a homemaker. His earliest published cartoons were in The Baptist Student when he was in high school. His work later appeared...

, Chuck Dixon

Chuck Dixon

Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...

, Rick Geary

Rick Geary

Rick Geary is an American cartoonist and illustrator.-Biography:Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. Geary was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the Heavy Metal and National Lampoon magazines...

, Bruce Jones

Bruce Jones (comics)

Bruce Jones, whose pen names include Philip Roland and Bruce Elliot, is an American comic book writer, novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter whose work included writing Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk from 2001-2005.-Early career:...

, David Lloyd

David Lloyd (comic artist)

David Lloyd is a British comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore.-Career:...

, David Mazzucchelli

David Mazzucchelli

David Mazzucchelli is an American comic book artist and writer. His latest work is the award-winning graphic novel, Asterios Polyp.-Career:...

, Gray Morrow

Gray Morrow

Dwight Graydon "Gray" Morrow was an American illustrator of paperback books and comics.-Biography:Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Morrow is best known as art director of Spider-Man between 1967 and 1970 and as illustrator of the syndicated Tarzan, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant comic...

, Timothy Truman

Timothy Truman

Timothy Truman is an American writer, artist and musician. He is best known for his stories and Wild West-style comic book art, and in particular, for his work on Grimjack , Scout, and the reinvention of Jonah Hex, with Joe R. Lansdale...

, Thomas Yeates

Thomas Yeates

Thomas Yeates is an American comic book and comic strip artist known for his work on characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and on other properties such as Conan and the Zorro comic strip.-Selected works:...

, and Mike Zeck

Mike Zeck

Mike Zeck is an American comic book illustrator.-Biography:Zeck was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania to Michael and Kathryn Jean Zeck...

.

Catherine Yronwode

Catherine yronwode

Catherine "Cat" Yronwode is an American writer, editor, graphic designer, typesetter, publisher, and practitioner of folk magic with an extensive career in the comic book industry....

 edited Alien Encounters for Eclipse, which was noted for its racy, pulp magazine

Pulp magazine

Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...

-inspired covers, and was sometimes criticized for featuring gratuitous nude scenes.

Other media

The story "Nada" from Alien Encounters #6 served as partial inspiration for the 1988 John Carpenter

John Carpenter

John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...

 film They Live

They Live

They Live is a 1988 science fiction/horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Frank Armitage ....

.