20 Things You Didn't Know About Aliens
17. The Comic Follow Up Was Retconned Due To Alien 3
In 1988, Dark Horse Comics worked on a number of comics that acted as a continuation of Aliens, further exploring the universe and the fate of its surviving characters.
The comics featured a number of original characters from the film, including Ripley, Newt and Hicks, and sets up a grim premise: Newt ends up in a mental institution and the world gets overrun with Xenomorphs.
The release of the sequel Aliens 3 provided the comic giants with a problem. Alien 3 killed off Newt and Hicks in the opening, tearing a hole in the comics continuity.
Dark Horse Comics went back and edited the series, renaming primary characters and making Ripley a synth, effectively retconning the series.