Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Chris Mooneyham
Publisher: Dark Horse
Of the whole Aliens vs. Predator mashup, I’ve always found the predators to be the least interesting. There’s not enough to them, and they have very little character. Even when comics do them well, they aren’t as interesting or engaging as their terrifying counterparts. They also rely too much on the tag-along human character.
Predator: Fire and Stone Issue 2 features these same problems, though they are dampened by a strong human tag-along and a predator with more personality than the norm.
The issue opens up with nine pages of backstory, following our unnamed predator on an earlier hunt where he encounters some interesting aliens that sort of resemble the Tharks in Edgar Rice Burrough’s famous Barsoom novels. After a lengthy battle that features some nice kills, our predator stumbles upon a cave drawing depicting what looks like a trio of Engineers.
I both like and don’t like this sequence. I like that it gives our predators actual motive instead of them accidentally stumbling upon a host of Xenomorphs. The entire Fire and Stone shared universe really seems to be going against the cliché grain of what we normally expect in an Alien vs. Predator setup. However, the scene itself has moments that are hard to follow, and with no English dialogue, it feels too long when there are more interesting places to visit and see.
Once Issue 2 returns to the present, however, things progress quite quickly. Galgo remains as entertaining as ever, and I’m still really enjoying him as a character. He’s defiant and stubborn, yet there’s a strong vulnerability beneath his joke-throwing exterior. We finally get to see his limits.
The predator forces Galgo to LV223 and chains Galgo to himself, leading to some amusing slapstick. However, the two wind up being strong foils to each other, with Galgo preferring self preservation and the predator seeking dangerous mayhem. The forced proximity—and the fact that the predator brings Galgo along at all—create some real personality in our ugly alien, and hey, I’m growing fond of him.
It’s a shame he has no name.
Like the previous P:FaS issue, the art is solid though sometimes hard to follow. I really like the jaggedness to everything. It feels dirty, yet in the best way possible.
And like the previous P:FaS issue, this one ends gloriously. I’m excited to see where things go from here.
