"Aliens" vs "Predator": Catching Up With Dark Horse

- by Señor Editor, 15 May 2016

There are new movies on the horizon for both Alien and the Predator (BRING BACK DUTCH!), and here at Trash Mutant we’re pretty damn excited for those! Thankfully, the people at Dark Horse have got some comics that can make the wait a little more bearable. They have both Predator and Alien comics out right now, and today we’re gonna have a look at both of them.

“PREDATOR: LIFE AND DEATH” #1-3 (of 4)

“Predator: Life and Death” is not a standalone miniseries – it’s the first series in a big, 17-part crossover, just like “Fire and Stone” from a few years back. The Predator book is written by Dan Abnett, with art by Brian Albert Thies.

Issue #1 cover. Click to enlarge.

I originally wanted to review issue one of this when it came out, but the truth is the plot moves slowly, and I wouldn’t have too much to write about just then.
 
I hope you like reading about Weyland-Yutani, because everyone’s favorite corporation is at it again. Once again, they fly a bunch of Colonial Marines and a company rep to a planet they apparently want to colonize. They have some concerns that some other corporation (Procter & Gamble? Johnson & Johnson?) may be trying to beat them to the punch, because they detected a ship on the planet. Turns out the planet is chock-full of Predators. That’s pretty much the whole plot so far, at least for this part of the bigger “Life and Death” story.
 
I am sure that Abnett will have something interesting to show in this run, but for now it’s mostly marines versus Predators.

The art is fine, but not as good as it was in the “Fire & Stone” Predator chapters. What I do like a lot though, is that Abnett and Thies are using some of the Kenner/NECA toys designs for the Predators. That’s pretty awesome, and if you’re into NECA like I am, you will be quite happy to see dudes like the Cracked Tusk Predator showing up in this.

"I know this guy!" From issue #3, Cracked Tusk Predator kills some dudes.

It’s a nice read, but nothing really amazing so far.​

"ALIENS: DEFIANCE" #1 (of 12)
 
“Defiance”, by Brian Wood and with art by Tristan Jones, takes place between the events of Alien and Aliens and is a standalone story. Much like the Predator comics, there isn’t really much of a plot yet, but I’d say this series seems the more interesting one right now.

Issue #1 cover. Click for Alien Size.

​We meet Private First Class Zula Hendricks, and from a brief flashback (featuring Ripley! Not Ellen, though. Ellen should be asleep and drifting in space at this time. Amanda, from the Isolation game) we learn that she’s suffered some spinal trauma in the recent past. The good folks at Weyland-Yutani are sending Zula and a bunch of Marines to retrieve a ship that nobody’s heard from in a while. We know full well how that usually goes – the crew is dead, xenomorphs are around, and W-Y really just wants to get the Aliens, fuck the crew.
 
The difference here is that instead of the classic “A lot of marines, one peaceful Synthetic” set-up from Aliens, Zula is the only human onboard and all the soldiers are combat Synthetics. When they find the xenomorphs, the Synths manage to defeat them (losing a few of their own in the process), save Zula and put her in stasis. 

​When she wakes up, Davis (the Synthetic in charge) tells her he found out about Weyland-Yutani’s plans, thinks they are terrible plans that threaten humanity, and recruits Zula on a mission to check out the other places W-Y suspects are full of Aliens and wipe them out, so the corporation can’t use them to make weapons. That’s issue 1, and about all we know so far.

I like that this issue covers the whole premise, so that we can move on from there and explore some new ground in the remaining 11 issues. Brian Wood is a good writer and this has potential to be a really interesting series (plus, we REALLY do like the Alien universe synthetics around here). Tristan Jones gives the comic a nice, gritty look, making this feel like a real, lived-in world. It’s very fitting for an Aliens book, and it’s a pleasure to look at. 

Zula and Davis.

Out of these two series, so far I like “Aliens” much more. “Life and Death” could possibly become a great and enjoyable crossover later on, but so far it’s a bit of a slow burn. “Defiance” started off much stronger and I like that it’s a standalone thing (I assume that means it’s strictly an Aliens story – no Predators, Engineers and stuff like that). If you gave me all 17 issues of “Life and Death” and all 12 issues of “Defiance” right now, I would read the latter one first and leave the cross-franchise crossover for later. The former might be a much better read when collected in trades, but the Aliens story is something I’ll probably keep checking out on a monthly basis. Still, both are worth picking up.
 

Are you reading “Life and Death” and “Defiance”? Which story do you prefer, so far? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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