Newt Was Ripley's Perfect Heir as Proven by Dark Horse's Aliens Comics

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While Newt's time in theAlien franchisewas short-lived thanks to Aliens film sequel, Alien 3, she had a longer life in Dark Horse Comics. EllenRipley may have remained the face of the franchise, but Newt would have been her perfect successor. In the comic sequel trilogy, beginning with Aliens: Outbreak, the girl becomes a young woman who continues her hero's legacy.

In 1988, Dark Horse Comics began a new saga for Aliens' Hicks and Newt, who survived at the end of Aliens. The two are forced to face more human and xenomorph threats as Earth falls to alien infestation.  Aliens: Nightmare Asylum, continues the story of Newt and Hick's fight against the xenomorphs, ending with the return of Ripley. This story concludes in Aliens: Female War (also known as Aliens: Earth War). Thanks to Alien 3 killing off Hicks and Newt in 1992, Newt was renamed Billie in the comics following her off-screen death and Outbreak's reprints.

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Despite the name shift, there is no doubt Newt's journey was intended to be a mirror of Ripley's in the comics. After growing up and being saved by Hicks for a second time in Aliens: Outbreak by Mark Verheiden and Willie Schubert, Newt finds herself face to face with Ripley — albeit a synthetic version of her. The xenomorphs have been haunting her since her youth. However, in Aliens: Female War, she gets the chance to pay the favor forward. A young girl on Earth — Amy — has been taken by xenomorphs and Newt is hellbent on saving her — because she recognizes herself in her. With Ripley's aid, Newt succeeds. While on the surface this is simply a great show of humanity, it also suggests Newt would've been the perfect choice to step into