io9 have just posted the first official preview of the interior of Dark Horse’s upcoming Prometheus comic series:
Juan Ferreyra’s Prometheus interior art
The article also revealed that the series will be titled “Fire and Stone”. An interview with Comic Alliance also reveals that the writer for the recently announced mystery 5th series is Kelly Sue DeConnick and her’s will be an oversized wrap-up issue: “DeConnick will be writing a double-sized “wrap-up” issue to close out the initial run of books, and she oversaw a lot of the goings-on in the writers’ room as the series were being put together.“
Thanks to Ultramorph for the news.
This is very good news. I'd love to get my hands on an Ahab figure. I hope the writers of this series really put some thought into developing his character
AvP-R is a highly flawed movie but it did give us a memorable predator. Wolf had a great design (with mask). I hope Ahab will at least be as memorable as Wolf
Dark Horse seems to be really putting its weight behind this new series. I hope it doesn't turn out to be another Three World War
No links, but the Dark Horse writing team did say that NECA was going to be doing figures of the characters for the new series. They stated it at the ECC Q&A Panel.
Whoah...I didn't know that
Links?
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Nothing new, but Bleeding Cool has some pics of the "Fire and Stone" covers, complete with titles, from the Diamond Retailer Summit in Vegas: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/05/18/the-covers-for-aliens-alien-vs-predator-and-prometheus-fire-and-stone/
I have my fingers crossed that Dark Horse does a line of posters based on these covers.
Now that's the type of alien mug I like to see
Properly terrifying and reminds me why these creatures creeped me the f*ck out when I was a wee lad
You can read his statement at: http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/1709/mike-richardson-hr-giger
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It was related to Goo being T-Virus and Prometheus film. I`m not talking about the creatures.
I asked NECA on Twitter if we would be getting a figure of the mutant. Their response was "can't say until we know more & right now I know very little about the upcoming books".
There's a vague resemblance...
I wouldn't call it a striking resemblance
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...or it might mean he likes the Super Predator design, but he's dropping the concept (as I've explained). A design is merely a design. AvP 2010 has Wolf's mask in it...but we all know that that predator isn't Wolf.
The new series might have predators who look like Super Predators, but these predators don't necessarily represent the same concept.
So far, we have asked him twice.. We being myself, and Ultramorph and he has said no. However considering the artwork by Olivetti, that doesn't seem to corroborate with his statement. Normally, I would follow Word of God but I am starting to realize that sometimes doesn't really hold up. I mean sometimes storytelling betrays Author Intent/Word of God. This happens a lot in tons, if not all of fiction.
If that is the case, I might be down for that.. MIGHT be.
I honestly hope that this is a reboot and not so much as a shoe-horned in retcon. I honestly hope that is the case as it's one of the questions which I have asked that wasn't answered by the pages shown so far. I wouldn't be pleased if this was a shoe-horned in retcon that's somehow supposed to fit with the past published stuff from all 26 years ago.
Yes! That's a possibility. Remember when Sebela claimed there'd be no Supers. It's possible he was being honest and [EDIT: not] deliberately trying to trick us.
Imagine this...in the upcoming comic book universe, the Super Predators don't exist. Instead, there's a tribe of predators who borrow the Super Predator design aesthetic (because Sebela likes that aesthetic) but who act more like Killers...or maybe they don't act like Killers. Maybe Sebela is inventing a new culture for them.
If this is indeed a re-boot, Sebela and co. have been given a lot of freedom to develop their own AvP universe. They could discard whatever previous stuff they don't like and keep whatever previous stuff they do like...while inventing their own stuff.
It was confusing at first glance when I looked at it, and is still somewhat confusing now.
Then that just goes back to the Killer Clan concept again.. And that concept was pulled off a lot better than PREDATORS' ideas of inherently evil clans. Say what you want about the storyline of the last relaunch comics, and I'm talking into account of Prey to the Heavens and Three World War. The Killers took the implied concept of Bad Blood clans and solidified them.
Sure, different clans and different rules.. but that has always been implied in the EU and wasn't really seen until Prey to the Heavens, Three World War and of course... PREDATORS.
But I get what you're saying and all, I do but if you ask me.. the art tells me these are Super Predators. I'm looking at this like someone who isn't as deep in the franchises as we are, and if I were the layman, I'd be thinking: "Hey, it's those new Predators that Robbie made, cool."
Oh how I would love it if the Super Predators were retconned. You have no idea how that would make me so happy. But comics really so much as can't retcon the films, they have to follow them. Licensees really aren't allowed to the change the stories of the source material or deviate too far-- though the latter has been known to happen in the past.
Now the idea of different sub-species has sort of been around since Predator 2, and if you count the Batman and Superman crossover-- those as well but to me, the Super Predators were just.. taken to an unnecessary extreme of that idea. As for them being Quasi-Super, or Semi-Super.. I don't know. No one knows. I'm just going by what the art shows me.
So now you're saying that as far as the reboot AvP Universe is concerned, the Super Predators may not exist? I wish that was something which could be the case but I doubt it. And you speak as if there is more than one Alien-Predator universe, and if you are then might I introduce you to the Multiverse thread in the Alien-Predator General Discussion thread? Assuming if that's what you are implying from the sidelines anyway regarding that little tidbit.
And if you want to get technical, the Super Predators sort of have found their way in the/a AvP Universe... Namely AvP Evolution but do you actually count that particular game? I sure as heck don't.
I'd be down for a tribe who looks like the Supers but who act like the Killers.
I don't like the concept of the Supers but I think their design aesthetic is pretty decent. I like the Killer concept but I think they look kinda silly...too blatantly Samurai-ish IMO
A combination of the good elements of both would be pretty sweet
No...that's not what I'm getting at. It's possible to borrow design aesthetics without borrowing the underlying concept. I don't know how to put this in simpler terms. Like you said, it would be a bit confusing but it could be done.
It's possible that Sebela likes the design aesthetics of the Super Predators. He also likes the idea of a non-Classic tribe of predators. However, he might be dropping the Super Predator concept: supposedly bigger, badder predators who have game reserve planets, use hounds and falcons, treat Classics as prey to be tormented
The result is a non-Classic tribe of predators who look like the Supers but who don't act like them. We could call them quasi-Supers...or Sebela's "re-imagining" of the Supers. You might even call it a retcon.
If that were the case, then true Supers (the ones in the movie) might not even exist in the universe of the new AvP series. My point is that Sebela has a lot of room to play with ideas. He's not strictly bound to previous lore. It's possible that the Super-looking predators are neither "regular" Predators nor true Super Predators.
Assuming this is true, and this is a pretty big assumption I would suggest you actually look at the panel where the look-alike Berserker Predator in question jabs the guy in the arm with the spear, I suggest you take a look at his feet. Count the toes. Three large toes. Normal Predators have four smaller toes on their feet (six if you count the ankle claws), Super Predators have three large toes on their feet (four counting the ankle claws). You noted the lack of mesh, you noted the singular wristblades, and I would've figured you noticed the toes.
I'll give you the plausibility that it's possible for Normal Predators to adopt the armor and weapons of the Super Predators. But while Sebela does say that these are not Super Predators, the art and the anatomy on the panels would suggest otherwise. So if this clan is emulating the appearance of the Super Predators, I would say it'd be kind of dumb for them to hack off one of their toes to completely emulate the appearance of the Super Predators, and even if they did-- their toe claws are much smaller than the Super Predator toe claws. Of course this could be footwear which protects the entire foot, but looking at the line art and foot anatomy, that might not seem to be the case.
Seriously...big deal
Also, if they're not Supers, that doesn't necessarily mean they're Classics. Think about it. They exhibit the Super design aesthetic, but they could very well represent a new predator tribe of Sebela's invention, one "inspired" by the Supers
I had that thought too.
As much as I really, really want to forget the four armed Predator.. I'm pretty sure he wasn't a product by the black liquid. If he was, I'm sure he wouldn't even be a Predator anymore or even remotely alive. I'd figure he was a result of genetic manipulation, assuming the genetic manipulation idea still holds some water.
The mutant Elden does look neat, but I hope that's merely the beginning point of the mutation and he turns into something creeper, maybe not so muscle bound, tbh. He looks like a character you would see in DC or Marvel comics, though I would expect him in a Predator comic, but not so much Alien.
Maybe the four armed predator was because he got mutated by the black goo? I can see that happening. The artwork is looking amazing.
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The white color, some tentacles, the armor-like protrusions, heavily-muscled, etc. Pretty cool!
Hehe good to have mocking the super predators idea by killing "beraserker double" with single shoot
When they become published ?
Many predator/alien/alien vs predator comics from the past could have been made way better, but fans have no say in that matter
ehhh-i hope they learned from the mistakes of the past-and those new comics will be badass awesome.
I think they give the work to write the story/characters to people who have no idea about the theme-example:https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120726172204%2Fpowerlisting%2Fimages%2F3%2F39%2F4-Armed_Predator.png&hash=e60a23619ac1e8668e1643e2d269aa8d60f86c30
There was no good predator comic book since 90's.
You can't genetically mutate plastic and metal. If that's what's happening here, the attempts at realism will be laughable.
It's very nice art, but if that's the turn the story will take, any hopes at something based on 'Prometheus' avoiding style-over-substance, will have been thrown right out the window.
And I was hoping I would never see these guys again. But I guess they're here to stay, damn it.
The thing is with the panels, Sebela did say that those weren't supposed to be Super Predators.. But they are drawn to look like Super Predators right down to the unusual foot anatomy. If they are not supposed to be Super Predators, why are they drawn to look like them? Borrowing designs sure but.. it throws everyone off.
Olivetti has improved a lot but again, as I said if it's not one thing it's another. What I mean is that while he can now draw his Predators looking like Predators instead of Orcs, what are supposed to be normal Predators are drawn to look like Super Predators. It just threw me off to learn that the Predators in that panel are supposed to be the normal ones. To new fans and non-fans who aren't in the know, these would be Super Predators to them because of the designs.
As for the Orc Predators well... I didn't like them because of the fact that they were very Orc like. I understand that they were supposed to be some sort of off-shoot that developed from Earth, even Batman has stated that but I think that could have been handled differently. In fact, that entire comic could have been handled better.
So far...I think it's pretty certain that some incarnation of the Supers will be present
The single wrist blade, the different coloured armour, the funky mask design, lack of mesh, the fact Ahab decloaks after presumably stalking the several Supers
We know Ahab is the main pred, pretty sure he'll be killing a few Supers, which I'm totally looking forward to
EDIT: Oh yeah, I think Olivetti's predators have improved a lot. It's also possible that the he purposefully drew the Superman/Batman/AvP predators to be "un-predator-like". They were supposed to be some long lost off-shoot of the predators stranded on Earth since prehistory. Pretty sure they had developed into a separate subspecies with a unique culture (wasn't a fan of this comic...just stating it as it is).
In short, Olivetti's predators looked weird probably because they were supposed to look weird (oh yeah, his aliens looked fine):
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There is no appropriate emoticon for a double take.. So that will have to do.
That's the thing about Olivetti and Predators.. it's hit or miss with them. He can draw humans fine, Aliens fine but Predators? If it's not one thing, it's another.
That's definitely also a valid question. On that, all I can say is that we'll have to wait and see. Nothing wrong with waiting until these come out in trade to see if they're worth a purchase.
Rakai
I took the liberty of asking Sebela on Twitter "Are those Super Predators in the newest AvP preview?" He responded:
So he basically said that there are no Super Preds in the preview, while not ruling out that they may appear at some point. Looks like Olivetti was just taking inspiration from Predators.
I could but do I want to? I mean so far the pages kind of answered the questions which I asked at the fan Q&A. I would say maybe 80% of the questions I asked.. those pages answered.
It's not so much the bug-man angle which I have a problem with. It's the idea of the black liquid somehow mutating an inorganic synthetic. Now, I could be wrong about synthetics being in-organic but I had read that they were made of a gelatinous material and some sort of fibres which are kept active by impulses. If the goo can somehow also affect inorganic material... then the question is how? That's what I am trying to wrap my head around and swallow, and so far I'm apprehensive about that.
I really need to play Evolution, it seems pretty neat. Maybe you could ask Sebela again about Super Preds?
As far as Elden goes, I understand your ambivalence toward the idea. My perspective is that I'm interested to see if Dark Horse can pull off story elements they tried 20 some odd years ago more successfully, IE bug-men type characters.
Nice catch! It does seem that maybe Ahab is fighting the Super Preds.
As far as the whole Elden thing goes, looking back at the preview of Prometheus #1, I think an arc starts to become visible.
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Francis is dying from some kind of disease, and when he finds the black goo, he thinks he's found a way to save himself. What follows is a reverse David/Holloway story, in which Francis (in the manner of a Dr. Frankenstein) experiments on the synthetic Elden with the goo. The result is the mutant we see in the AvP preview.
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I think that Elden will have a bug-man/Willard relationship with the xenomorphs, wherein his mutation makes him able to control the Aliens like the bug-man king from Colonial Marines. This is given some credence from the dialog in the above image: "Those things Elden brought with him" would seem to be the xenomorphs, since they're contrasted with the Predators, who arrive on their own ship.
The bug-man/Willard angle is also supported by the AvP cover we got a while back. The nasal ridges pretty much confirm that the character on the cover with his face melting is the mutant Elden. It appears he's being embraced by the xenos/Deacons. This is very reminiscent of the bug-man cover from Colonial Marines.
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I'm quite interested to see if Dark Horse can pull off this sort of story better than they did in the past.
Also, the ECCC mural would seem to show a character, assumingly Elden, being embraced by Xenos.
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Also, for those unconvinced that it's Elden in the AvP preview, note that the Predators are fighting robots, which it is reasonable to assume a megalomaniacal mutant synthetic would have around.
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EDIT: Oh yeah, the skull on the mesh-wearing predator's chest indicates that he is the main "Ahab" predator. Pretty cool if he has a vendetta against the leader of the Supers or something like that
Like if the Black Goo can or should somehow infect and mutate synthetics.. Considering they are not organic as far as I know.
From what I remember, it's very murky. The original graphic novel compilation, with the foreword and such, mentions that they were being very careful about not boxing their Predators in, due to knowing 'Predator 2' production was literally underway (which made the decision to show the shoulder cannons, but have the Predators actively using old-fashioned hand-held explosive guns, all the stranger). At a guess, I'd figure this was the scripting/location scouting/casting phase.
The inclusion of the skull has always been a messy subject. Stan Winston is on record as saying he had no idea who thought of it, but would "like to think" that it was him (on account of thinking it was a very cool idea) and that they were just making up a bunch of strange and extraterrestrial skulls for it. Definitely no mentions of being aware of the comic at the time. Some people have speculated it was a joke, but there's nothing, whatsoever, about the way it was shot, which is even the slightest bit humorous.
So, it's possible that one of the men/women who was working in Winston's team decided to make it up as a nod to the comic sales, but would special effects guys necessarily be aware of sales figures? I'd say that it's just as possible that, considering how close the dates between publishing and shooting were, that the skull was simply a coincidence. As the guys behind the comic have said, once the concept was mentioned in a production, it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world.
And I know that, back in the eighties, I, for one, immediately imagined what a match-up like that would be like, after seeing the first 'Predator' film.
Unless the person who made the actual sculpt comes forward, I don't think we'll ever have more than speculation and guesses to go on.
Sounds reasonable. I've always assumed that the mystery prey in this series would be an Engineer, but it looks like it will be either Elden or a Super Predator.