Written by: Paul Tobin
Art by: Juan Ferreyra
Publisher: Dark Horse
Gonna skip my normal introduction and just say this: Prometheus: Fire and Stone Issue 4 is fantastic. The text that follows is mostly unnecessary given that previous sentence.
Last issue saw the Greyon crew stranded on LV223 with an army of Xenomorphs and a lone Engineer walking about doing God-knows what. Elden became mutated and started what Aliens vs. Predator: Fire and Stone shows to be a very long-running spree of revenge and insanity. Galgo fled with his own ship and weapons, and everyone else is simply stranded on an alien planet filled with the worst aliens the universe can offer.
All that’s left is running, dying, running, and dying.
What P:FaS #4 executes so perfectly is its tone. This issue is absolutely bleak from start to finish, and those who love the sheer power and hunger of the Xenomorphs will have no complaints here. The futility of trying to run from the darkest monsters of the universe is on every page, and Juan Ferreyra brings that sheer terror to life with some of the best facial expressions of the entire Dark Horse shared universe.
Horror and loss are front and center, exactly where they should be.
I just cannot get over how amazing the artwork is here. I like Elden’s rendition in AvP:FaS as a crazed maniac, but here he looks terrifying. He’s grotesque and so very angry, and he knows where everyone is. Likewise, the Xenomorphs look phenomenal, and watching them literally tear people apart is just perfect.
AvP:FaS has the most violence and gore, but P:FaS has the better execution.
My only complaint is that P:FaS #4 reads “4 of 4” on the cover yet does not offer any real conclusions. I knew this going in, as would anyone who is caught up on Predator: Fire and Stone, but it’s still disappointing regardless. There’s a lot more story left, and I feel like calling this arc done is misleading.
There’s a lot more yet to come.
Prometheus: Fire and Stone has been a stellar treat of gorgeous artwork, wonderful choreography, bizarre mystery, and fun characters. Issue 4 sees the arc off with a fitting struggle that’s one part terror, one part futility, and one part hope. It’s very near perfect, and I’m sad to see the pairing of Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra come to an end.
If you haven’t gotten into this whole Dark Horse shared universe thing yet, you really aught to reconsider.
