Yes, Chris, you do just have to laugh at this situation.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Brian Thies
Colors: Rain Beredo
Letterer: Michael Heisler
What They Say:
The Alien horde is coming, but before they face that enemy, the Colonial Marines and Ahab, their Predator ally, have to win the help of a newly arrived Predator clan. Acceptance by the tribe means Ahab must fight their champion—to the death!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As we hit the halfway point in this particular leg of the cycle, things have been built up to such a degree that you really do need to have some notes handy to keep track of everything. You almost want a timeline chart just to show how and when everyone has died so far. Dan Abnett continues to make this a solidly exciting book with the bigger picture coming together well for the different franchise and Brian Thies once again delivers a great looking installment, particularly with those last pages and just the scale of the problem to come. The artwork has to carry things a bit more than usual here as ritual is the order of the day without dialogue and Thies simply nails it.
The arrival of the Predator group at the end of the previous issue was certainly ominous, though you know there’s some potential to redirect things as Galgo and Ahab are in the mix as well. Galgo’s connecting up with the Marines is a fun bit as there’s a lot of tension and definitely gallows humor at play, particularly as Chris knows that her time is almost up and the new queen is going to be born out of her. Watching her slowly crack could be a book in itself. The dynamic between the group that exists here after what they’ve survived is interesting as is the way they react upon seeing the new group of Predators. It’s only Galgo that manages to put a pause on their plans since he’s got a connection with Ahab and can kind of point out the obvious of what’s going on in an attempt to keep the Marines from getting them all killed.
With the threat of the Xenomorph horde coming, the bulk of the issue does focus around the face off between Ahab and the other Predators. It’s an area that’s definitely difficult in some ways to get into because it’s all done in their language with no translation so we just go from Galgo’s commentary and what we see. It is obvious enough to figure it out in the broad strokes but part of me really wishes we’d dig into the whole Predator narrative and structure in order to understand it, which would in turn expand these books. Abnett does it well here in setting the stage for the challenge and fight but it’s Thies that delivers it. The staging is spot on and the power behind the two that fight to establish things is pretty exciting overall as it comes through so cleanly.
In Summary:
With just a few chapters left in this cycle things are going to come together quickly and intensely. It’s not a series I’m expecting answers with but rather just enjoying for the way the survival aspects are playing out. When you have the survivors (so far) talking about how surreal this situation is and something like Paget talking about how nobody is really in “command” of this situation, you know these characters are at their limits and the potential for breaking is just around the corner – and exciting in this environment. This issue provides for some big Predator material while showing that the next will definitely live up to its title. I can’t wait.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 25th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99