Written by: Dan Abnett
Art by: Andrea Mutti and Rain Beredo
Publisher: Dark Horse
I’ve been having a blast with the Life and Death (first Predator and now Prometheus) storyline, first because it’s just a really rad story that’s breaking some established molds, and second because it’s damn unpredictable. I thought I had everything mapped out as of the third issue of Predator: Life and Death. I was wrong. I was very, very wrong.
Instead of waking up a Xenomorph horde, half of our marine crew from the last issue took over the Engineer ship and actually managed to take it off planet. The Predators were vanquished, and everyone was in route to Ganymede Station. All evil aliens are now far away, and it’s time to lick wounds and prepare for what looks to be a very lucrative future.
It’s a shame no one noticed the Engineer stasis pod.
Prometheus: Life and Death #1 reminds me of Alien. There’s a crew on board a ship with a monster, and the monster is both unstoppable and impossible to understand. It’s a wonderful callback to one of my favorite movies, yet like all of the LaD comics before it, it’s got enough of a twist to keep it very interesting. The Xenomorphs were all animals—driven by instinct to kill and feed—but the Engineer is not. Those who have seen Prometheus know their shtick, and everyone on board the ship knows the thing chasing them is sapient and smart. It, after all, created that ship.
“Trapped with an angry god” indeed!
I like this issue, and I like where this story is going. It’s one thing to be hunted by an animal, but the Engineer really turns this into a whole ‘nother ballgame, especially since he can pilot the ship still. He’s also not going to be so easy to outwit or trap as a Xenomorph. And given the low ammo counts of our fellow marines, I really don’t know how they’re going to get out of this. It’s damn tense, made better because like the last few issues, the writing is damn solid.
I care about these characters, at least enough to not want them to get bludgeoned to death by an angry titan.
The only downsides with this issue are twofold: First, the “Engineers are like gods” thing is played up too much for my liking. One throw-away comment is fine, but three is too many. I get it. Second, the artwork on the Engineer leaves a bit to be desired. Andrea Mutti is fantastic everywhere but the creepy titan, meaning he looks a bit awkward. It’s like he’s missing half of his neck or something. It takes away some of what makes him terrifying—because damn did I find the Engineer design in Prometheus to be unsettling.
Everything else though? Solid and fun. This went from a gung-ho marines vs. aliens story to a survival horror affair, and it did so pretty seamlessly. That’s cool.
