Written by: Joshua Williamson
Art by: Chris Mooneyham
Publisher: Dark Horse
The problem with Issue 3 of Predator: Fire and Stone is that it follows the fourth issue of Prometheus: Fire and Stone, which was near perfect. Angela and her team of stranded Weyland employees have had an amazing story arc with plenty of mystery left unsolved, and returning to Galgo and his forced comrade just feels like a step down.
It doesn’t help that Issue 2 of P:FaS ended with Galgo running into Angela at the very end (after he betrayed her, I might add), so I was really, really hoping she would become a key player here. She doesn’t.
None of these things are the fault of Joshua Williamson or Chris Mooneyham, and honestly, it’s unprofessional of me to put such hopes into a comic that clearly has its own main character. And yet there’s so much more to do on LV223 than hunt an Engineer! Of the whole Fire and Stone shared universe, the Predator portion is simply starting to feel like a less-important side story.
That all being said, Galgo is probably the strongest character of the entire Fire and Stone shared universe. I like Elden alright, but Elden got on my nerves after awhile. Galgo hasn’t done that yet, and I don’t think he will. He’s just got a perfect charm to him that works with both his prowess and vulnerabilities.
It also helps that this issue gives him some backstory that really adds to the depth of his character.
Our lone Predator—who I’m told is named Ahab—also gets some nice fleshing out here. He and Galgo share the entire comic, and I love watching them interact, especially after Galgo gets spurned by Angela. The two make a great team despite the language barrier, and the comic does a great job of showing their similarities first and their differences second.
Of all the human/Predator teamups I’ve ran into, this one is the best.
The art remains as solid as ever, being gritty and grainy while also showing a lot of emotion. There’s one fight sequence that’s a tad confusing, but much better than some of the previous sequences which really lost me.
And as the norm with perhaps all comics, this one ends on a nice cliffhanger that has me eagerly looking forward to Issue 4. I feel like there’s still a good twist or two for this arc yet, and I can’t wait to read it.
