Thinning the herd a bit more!
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Brian Thies
Colors: Rain Beredo
What They Say:
The Colonial Marines discover the corporate claim jumpers they’re protecting have been hiding what they know about the massive, horseshoe-shaped alien spaceship. Meanwhile, the Predators go on the offensive!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Predator: Life and Death miniseries has been a whole lot of fun and it’s really surprising how quickly it’s going because even though I can imagine it wrapping up in the next issue it also feels like it needs a few more installments. The mix of elements here to drive the story is pretty solid and moving beyond the usual one or two Predator’s helps a lot in giving it a different feeling. I’ve always liked the way that the mythos for this property blended well with what the Alien universe was all about because it helped to drive both properties up when properly combined. The use of the Colonial Marines and the corporate side of the Aliens world definitely adds some welcome wrinkles to what we get here.
With this installment it’s all about the chaos again, the fallout, and the plan to move forward in an ill-advised way. Such is the case with many stories within this shared universe so it’s no surprise that stupid people exist here. The attack by multiple Predator’s the last time around made for a really dynamic sequence of events that Brian Thies captured really well to drive it home in an engaging way. Seeing the way it went down and the accidental aspects of it as well made for some crazy moments, but it’s really neat to see as many Marines survive as they do here and have some bodies from the Predators as well. This adds some new context for them, combined with the scavengers filling them in a bit more on what they experienced, resulting in a bigger and scarier picture. Of course, Lorimer just wants them to all do their jobs of protecting the company rights.
How have they not killed him so far?
The push to secure the alien ship is what’s driving him at this point as well as his confidence in the Marines considering what they just did – regardless of the losses they suffered as well. There’s a good tense sequence with him and Paget over it that reinforces the complicated relationship that exists between military and corporation, reminding again who has the real power in this universe, and seeing how Paget does her best to hold onto some semblance of control is pretty good. Lorimer, for his part, fulfills the asshole quota that these kinds of properties always seem to have as a requirement and he handles it well, making him entirely unlikeable. The push to secure the ship is what drives the narrative in the back half and seeing the first round of action sets things up well, though with the reminder that it all seemingly has to conclude in the next issue. It’s gonna be a bloodbath.
In Summary:
Predator: Life and Death has worked really well for me in its first three issues and I wish this was just the halfway point so that it could dig into it all more as I fear that the ending is going to feel rushed. Abnett handles the cast well since most of them are just victims in waiting but we get the right kind of color and personalization for some of them to give it all a little more meaning. Brian Thies has been nailing it with this run in giving it a rough and raw look but one with a strong dynamic design that feels very grounded, perfectly suited for this kind of property. The things that need to look familiar do while the original pieces blend in just right. It’s a great looking book that carries the tension and impact of events very well.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 4th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
