Comic Book Resources has just posted the preview for the 4th and final issue of the Aliens vs Predator – Fire and Stone series. Written by Christopher Sebela and with artwork from Ariel Olivetti, Aliens vs Predator has told the story of Elden’s hunt for Francis. As always, beware spoilers:
“As a desperate scientist’s violent evolution reaches its deadly apex, an alien-and-predator battle royale erupts in the bowels of the doomed Geryon armada! Now, on a ship of killers—there can be only one survivor . . .“
Aliens vs. Predator has very much become a series focused on the conflict between the accelerant infected creatures and it will be interesting to see how the conclusion is ended. Thanks to Ultramorph for the news.
Ha ha ha ha ha! I am flattered that you think I should be hired for this Russ, but I really am just one disgruntled fan who really wants to continue on being a part of this fandom and enjoying the franchises but I'm hardly at all qualified to decide what should go where and how they should handle it. I would love to handle the reigns of things, I'm sure any fan would but.. I'm simply not qualified.
And I am sure some folks would say that they shouldn't hire me because I have a certain image of what the Predators should be partly because I embrace the Perry's versions of the characters with the Yautja concept. A lot of people don't like the Yautja concept believe it or not, but that concept is widely accepted.. even by casual fans.
This is just all my opinion and partly me expressing some disgruntled feelings and concerns with how Fox generally handles the franchises. Sure, fans want expansion but at the same time I don't think we need to discard concepts which were established either, it just a matter of writing out where what fits, and how it fits. I was always having the concepts that different Predator clans had different rules, different customs and cultures like Native American tribes but in the case of the Super Predators, I kept in mind the whole Romulan/Vulcan evolution concept and in my own head, tried to explain that these could be a cousin species with their own culture and perhaps, denounced their Yautja name and came up with a new name. As for the Killer clan, these would be genuinely evil Yautja who more or less care for nothing but the kill.
Just my opinion of how they should handle things. I would be genuinely surprised if someone adopted this idea. Stranger things have happened but, I wouldn't hold my breath.
And I agree with that.. to a certain extent.
For me anyway, and this is taking account of the old EU as well as what the NECA backstories indicate-- I still regard the Predator species as the Yautja, at least for the mainstream Predators anyway. That's the ENTIRE mainstream species. However if you want to introduce ethnicity or more appropriately, nations, similarly to Native American or other aboriginal tribes then that's also fine but each clan would have to be designated by their clan name. Kind of like how some Native American tribes go by their respective names such as the Iroquois, Creek, Mohawk, Apache, Comanche, etc. You could argue that we have that already but I think it needs to be solidified. Though... I would think the old EU may have done that already but no one seems satisfied with that but me.
In regards to the Super Predators.. I do not consider them Yautja for a variety of reasons such as physiology and cultural differences. They maybe a cousin species and should be treated as such-- even given their own species name in their tongue. Personally, I think these guys need to be retconned as the Hish or written as something else entirely with a backstory that corroborates with Rodriguez's statement that these are dishonored Predators, that they were once a tribe of mainstream Predators who were exiled long ago, found a new planet, denounced their species name and either...
1) Adapted accordingly to the planet's biosphere conditions, which explains their radically different appearance.
2) Take cues from the July 2009 PREDATORS draft script, and explain that these Predators had experimented on themselves.
But again, I am not holding my breath. This is just how I would handle things and is solely my opinion.
You forgot to include the books sold since September, October, November....
Take a look at the charts:
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2014/2014-09.html
September 2014:
129 Aliens Fire And Stone 1* $3.50 Dark Horse 19,878
131 Prometheus Fire And Stone 1* $3.50 Dark Horse 19,468
140 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 7 $3.50 Dark Horse 17,701
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2014/2014-10.html
October 2014:
144 Alien Vs Predator Fire and Stone 1* $3.50 Dark Horse 20,319
158 Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 8 $3.50 Dark Horse 17,729
163 Predator Fire and Stone 1* $3.50 Dark Horse 17,166
185 Prometheus Fire and Stone 2 $3.50 Dark Horse 14,407
188 Aliens Fire and Stone 2 $3.50 Dark Horse 14,240
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2014/2014-11.html
November 2014:
154 Alien Vs Predator Fire and Stone 2 $3.50 Dark Horse 13,942
155 Prometheus Fire and Stone 3 $3.50 Dark Horse 13,624
159 Aliens Fire and Stone 3 $3.50 Dark Horse 13,357
167 Predator Fire and Stone 2 $3.50 Dark Horse 12,695
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Those are the top Dark Horse books since September right after Star Wars had their 2 final books in August.
It kind of looks like the 4 "Fire & Stone" titles are their top sellers...
That is how I always took it. Every Predator films Predator has had a different appearance or differences and as such is probably a completely different ethnicity/race within the Predator species. And with that comes completely different ideologies, beliefs, etc.
...and...thanks for spoiling Elden for me.
Actually, I would like to see that handled differently but the concept would remain more or less the same.
For one, I would like to see them keep the Yautja concept. The Predators which we know from the first two movies, as well as the AvP movies would of course be the Yautja. But there would of course be the clans with the different cultures. Different clans, different rules, different customs. Much like how Native American tribes are.
The Killers would be one clan who could more or less be seen as disgraced Hunters who willingly more or less had outright decided to abandon the traditional aspects of the hunt. These guys would be considered a larger threat to many clans but still seen as Yautja, as far as species are concerned. However most traditional clans would outright have major conflicts with them.
Bad Bloods more or less would be their own thing but this could still overall fit with the concept of the Killers and potentially the Super Predators. Bad Bloods would still be dishonored or criminal Predators.
The Super Predators should be retconned to being the Hish. As much as you and I both don't like these... abominations, the Hish concept seems to really fit these guys considering that their practices more or less are similar. The Hish had operated a jungle planet, so did the Super Predators, and the Hish had hunted humans and other species on this planet.. Much like the Super Predators. An expansion on why these things are different from the Predators we know, similar to the Romulans and Vulcans would be a viable explanation. If we have to have these things, then they should be a cousin race/species.
...That's how I'd like to see Predators in the New EU handled at least.. But I am not holding my breath.
Right, I'd like to see that expanded upon
Possible tribes...
Sport Hunters
Yautja
Super Predators
Killers
Bad Bloods
AvP/Mayans
Hish
Spoiler
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FzUr9PZA.jpg&hash=f4e90a5cce457126621d05d7a401ff53758a05d9https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FRDdwmLM.jpg&hash=1102ea4dc2fb9871bfb8b3e6cc050cd21b565261
You mean like how there are different Native American cultures with distinct cultures? I would've thought that some of the old films and the old EU touched up on that a bit. I mean if we look at the Antarctic clan and the Lost clan, I would think that they are different clans with different cultures and aesthetics.
Other Engineer creations and other alien species would be great additions to the franchise. Fire and Stone actually has some of both. That's a step in the right direction. More would be better.
The Predators must have a several/enemy rival species. There should be hundreds if not thousands of prey species. More should be revealed about the Predators themselves. Numerous tribes with distinct cultures would be an interesting direction.
The Engineers themselves may have had ancient rivals. The time is now to reveal more about the AvP universe.
Cool, thanks so much.
No, it's not an AvP story, it feels as though the predators have been parachuted in - the characters in the first ones were really rich... I'm not sure that the main plot point (the artificial human and what happens to him) really resonated with me, but the whole atmosphere and "feel" of the pieces utterly nailed it.
I'm thinking as I type that Yatuja (sp) are really problematical --- without knowing more about them, they don't offer much. But I do know that there's a vocal fancore on here that really doesn't want anything really revealed about them, their culture and their motivations as it dilutes them.
But without any of that, they really are just violence candy. Movies are different, they work in movies, but printed medium might be limiting. That said - I've really background in the earlier EU stuff past the first couple of graphic novels.
Biggest problem is it's not an AvP story.
There's some minor connections in the 3rd novel to the Aliens series but nothing major. More just acknowledging some of the characters and the Onager.
AvP (ironically) not so much. The predators just aren't doing it for me in these issues... maybe because I can't really ascertain any characterisation, they're just predators going around killing stuff as usual.
However, I've not finished yet, so maybe things will turn around (I've to to the bit where Galgo is giving his captor some grief whilst suspended).
But the first two books were great, I absolutely loved them - and am looking forward to a re-read.
Once done with the comics, I'm going on to the new Aliens novel trilogy (are these connected with the comics - this is a lengthy thread and I've not yet read it, I've been avoiding novel and Fire and Stone threads till I've read them is all).
I always thought the key was introducing something specific to the EU and then exploring from there. For example, the Engineer's created us. Let's introduce another species they created and start to explore them, their relation to the Aliens and etc. It's a little non-specific but you get the drift. It would hopefully avoid conflict with potential future films but allow for expansion of the mythos in an EU exclusive way.
It's why I really hope Titan actually take these new dog-Aliens and do something with them.
If you keep the predators and the aliens mysterious, your storytelling is limited to pretty much what DH has done before. I feel like AvP must evolve into something like StarCraft or Mass Effect to sustain a long-running series or even multiple miniseries over a number of years.
Writers have to start digging deep into the franchise, flesh out the universe. Without further expansion, there's only room for the ol' mad scientist (Aliens) or random hunt (Predator) or random hunt with aliens (AvP) stories.
Perhaps Prometheus will be the key to unlocking the potential of the franchise.
Just quoting you but replying to multiple points. I don't think Aliens/vs/Predator/Prometheus has the story power for an on-going. I'd be interested to see someone try and make a fool of me. But I think a return to the golden age is possible where we've got multiple 4/6 issue stories going.
But I'd really like to see them try and explore new angles. I'd also like to see stories void of Prometheus influence but I'd still like to see that series explored.
Hellboy is their bestseller, followed by Buffy and AvP
#114
HELLBOY AND THE BPRD #1
$3.50
DAR
22,368
#151
BTVS SEASON 10 #10
$3.50
DAR
16,448
#171
ALIEN VS PREDATOR FIRE AND STONE #3
$3.50
DAR
13,261
#173
PROMETHEUS FIRE AND STONE #4
$3.50
DAR
13,237
#177
ALIENS FIRE AND STONE #4
$3.50
DAR
12,735
#182
PREDATOR FIRE AND STONE #3
$3.50
DAR
12,128
I really hope Sebela hasn't poisoned the well.
I hope DH has a prosperous future ahead of it, and that Alien and Predator are a part of it.
http://icv2.com/articles/news/view/30647/top-300-comics-actual-december-2014
I remember when Aliens/Predator had several minis all the a time during the '90s. Those were the days. I'd like to see them return back to that kind of output especially since there have been several year gaps without any new books at all.
I don't see Omega in any of those TPBs. I wonder if that's hinting at a single-volume Fire and Stone collection or omnibus at some later date.
No word on anything beyond Archie vs Predator. Maybe we'll get something in late 2015, but I wouldn't count on it. Dark Horse is probably going to wait and see how the FaS TPBs sell before they make any decisions about future series.
That being said, I would love if they did another Prometheus book.
I'd like to have year round Aliens comics coming.
To be fair on the fella, there was some early on.
But like we've said, it just shouldn't have been called Alien vs Predator.
I'd buy that for a dollar.
He either lied or failed miserably...take your pick
I haven't had a chance to finish reading all of AvP yet so I can't really comment on its over all quality but I have enjoyed #1-3 so far.
Well...it kinda is the problem when the series is titled "AvP". You're expecting Aliens vs. Predator to take centre stage
I'm not saying a writer couldn't write a good story about mutants with some Aliens vs. Predator action going on in the background. I'm saying that
1. Such a story shouldn't be titled "AvP"
2. Sebela's mutant story is bad
I don't think that's really the problem. The problem is the story they're trying to tell and at its core, it's just not about the two creatures knocking heads. It's about Elden, it's about Francis and it's about the accelerant. It just doesn't work when one of the series is titled Aliens vs. Predator. Should have been titled differently.
I agree. In all honesty, AVP is the one book that should not have been added in this event. It doesn't further the overall story in any way, and it turned Elden from an interesting character in the Prometheus story to a babbling idiot spouting out all kinds of rhetoric. I liked him in the first two issues, but his character just became too preachy with poor dialog in issues three and four.
Mooneyham is solid as well. He draws Ahab really well. The scene with Ahab vs. the four-armed aliens is done exceptionally well
I think the Aliens artist is OK
Olivetti...his art isn't bad. His predators and aliens are just odd-looking. Everything else looks fine.
Sebela doesn't get AvP, which is about showing how deadly the two species are...that hunter vs. prey dynamic (both are hunters and both are prey). Aliens vs. Predator should be the main event, mutants should be the sideshow. Sebela provides the opposite.
Spoiler
Spoiler
It definitely ended abruptly, but I like how Russel's theories planted the seeds for what Francis would do to Elden.
From the reviews that I have read for each series, the writing has been quite solid except for the AVP title of course. I wouldn't mind for Roberson, Tobin, and especially Williamson to return to write their respective books. Just replace Sebela with someone who actually gets AVP.
The problem is it follows on from Nightmare Asylum which is easily one of the most gorgeous Aliens comic. So the severse drop in quality is quite noticeable and doesn't benefit the story in anyway - as opposed to what I feel 3WW does.
Yeah
That's exactly how I feel about TWW's art. I found Female War's art to be rather cartoonish but it didn't strike me as appallingly bad.
I think we agree that the art below is some of the highest quality art to grace the franchise
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.comicvine.com%2Fuploads%2Fignore_jpg_scale_super%2F0%2F40%2F4324839-6%2Bpmtfso%2Bpg%2B06.jpg&hash=900a706ea06c4c49a6aeff1396128f521d310f72
Sam Keith's work in Female War just disgusts me. I'll give him Inhuman Condition on a re-read because it makes sense then. But Female War is the worse drawn comic I've seen from Aliens.
Every single Aliens/Predator/AvP/Prometheus comic would benefit from art like this. A lot of props to the colourist as well. The colouring is really impressive. Great art still looks like shit with bad colouring
Juan and Mooneyham are awesome too. I'm not as crazy about Olivetti and the Aliens guy.
You are entitled to your opinion. Mine is that TWW's art is even worse than Female War's
But yeah, Agustin Alessio's artwork is just extraordinary. Him and Juan Ferreyra have done fantastically for this line.
https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.comicvine.com%2Fuploads%2Fignore_jpg_scale_super%2F0%2F40%2F4324839-6%2Bpmtfso%2Bpg%2B06.jpg&hash=900a706ea06c4c49a6aeff1396128f521d310f72
Ahab seems to have lost his furry loincloth and his harpoon-axe
http://www.comicvine.com/articles/josh-williamson-interviews-kelly-sue-on-prometheus/1100-150946/
Lol