Comic Vine Review

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Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #1 - Chapter One

4

Get ready for the two iconic franchises to face off! As expected, a bunch of unlucky humans are trapped in the middle of all the chaos.

The Good

As a big fan of both sci-fi franchises, I'm beyond happy that Ariel Olivetti is handling the artwork. The Predators are fit and formidable and the Xenomorphs are nightmarish. The handling of the unnerved humans is equally commendable, but it's the emphasis on lighting and graphic violence which leaves a particularly strong impression (many fingers are lost in this story). We open on a lush and vibrant planet, but it's not long before we're trapped in the interiors of ships and the deadly aliens are covered in darkness. The background may fade away from time to time, but when it's there, it's every bit as much of a character as the humans and aliens are. And while we're talking about the visuals, it's more than worth adding that E.M. Gist's cover is magnificent; it's a perfect way to bring the franchise back. If that cover doesn't grab your attention, I just don't know what will.

If you've read the intro page (if not, what gives?), then you'll see this story takes place between PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE #4 and PREDATOR: FIRE AND STONE #1. That's right, this story is crammed between two comics which haven't even come out yet. PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE #1 was only recently released and we've yet to see the first chapter of the Predator limited series. Seeing as writer Christopher Sebela throws us right into the middle of a story we know very little about, it can be a pretty jarring experience and have you constantly saying, "wait, what?" I'll babble more about that in the bad, but there's also some positives to this method. First and foremost, it makes me want to learn more. Every time the cast mentioned a previous event (like they're tired of fighting or why someone's locked away), it left me wanting to discover why. Unfortunately, it seems like it'll be a decent amount of time before I get those answers, but it most certainly boosted my interest in the Prometheus limited series and raised my expectations. It looks like that story's going to have a crazy ride. Secondly, this is an awesome teaser for the upcoming limited series about the Yautja. This feels like a teaser of what's to come and, man, I'm left wanting more!

Even though we feel in the dark with many of the details, Sebela still makes it a gripping and engaging adventure. The opener is a great way to return to the franchise and it isn't too long before everything begins to hit the oh-so-bloody fan. There's obviously the need for a lot of exposition, but it still comes off as organic dialogue and it doesn't weigh down the pacing. I may not know all that much about it just yet, but I'm absolutely left wanting to receive more insight into Elden. Plus, that cliffhanger is total fan service. May I please have the next issue right now?

The Bad

Even though this style of storytelling makes me want to learn more and see how everything goes down in PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE, feeling totally in the dark is never all that fun. I don't mind picking up the pieces as we move along and all that, but this is constantly needing to feed us exposition just so we can have a loose grasp of what's going on. It's well-written, but I can't help but feel like this will be a way more satisfying read when FIRE AND STONE is put together in one glorious collection.

Minor gripe: There's a dead alien with damage to its head, yet I have no idea how it received that wound. Was it from the acid blood splashing onto it? If so, aren't they're supposed to be immune to that? Or maybe there was another blast fired and we didn't see it happen...?

Doesn't impact the score: I'm not the only one who thought of Lord Zedd when they saw Elden, right?

The Verdict

I know it's such a cliche thing to say, but ALIEN VS. PREDATOR: FIRE AND STONE #1 really has just about everything you'd want from an AvP experience. Technically, we don't see the two iconic aliens square off just yet, but there's a bunch of graphic action, the visuals ooze the perfect atmosphere, and the story has me anxious to learn more. Bloody, great looking, and full of intrigue... what more do you really want from an AvP comic? To top it off, the ending leaves us with quite a teaser. Let's just say the next chapter has the potential for a lot of fan service. ALIEN VS PREDATOR: FIRE AND STONE brings all of the sci-fi madness you'd expect from it and I can't wait for the next chapter.