Dark Horse Comics 2019
Written by Jeremy Barlow
Illustrated by Doug Wheatley
Coloured by Rain Beredo
Lettered by Michael Heisler
If the Predators don't get you, the Alien will! Predators board a luxury charter spaceship, unleashing a path of terror and bloodshed. An adolescent girl and her younger ''brother'' are the last to survive, and begin a cat-and-mouse chase with the attackers. They hope for an escape, but they haven't counted on the Alien . .
I have to say that this was utterly phenomenal to read! First page I was like what the hell is this and then turning the pages you realise what it is and your just hooked. It certainly did something to catch the readers interest and pique the curiosity make you want to see and know more. Then Jeremy does something with this that completely and utterly unexpected and amazing. This is one of those books that will hit you in ways you don't expect and in a lot of ways brings you back to the Aliens and the concept that didn't quite get explored there but we wanted it to. So yeah Jeremy took me there with this and I have to say I couldn't get enough and I wish this was a double sized first issue. Though even that wouldn't have been enough for me.
The story & plot development that we see there through the sequence of events and how the reader learns information is beyond phenomenal. The way we are introduced to the story and how that is carried through to the last page makes so happy in this utterly twisted way. The character development surprises me and I love that because it's not what I was expecting and that Jeremy throws these curves at me, keeping me on my toes is perfectly done. The pacing for this is great and with that we see the twists and turns in the story hitting us creates the most fabulous controlled chaotic ebb & flow. The way this book is being structured really is above and beyond what I could have hoped for and this, this is why I keep shouting from the rooftops that Dark Horse and this franchise belong together.
Everything about this issue excited me, from the utilisation of the characters to how they react to the situations they find themselves in and the entire idea of how and why this happening. Though the latter part is pure conjuncture on my point but in my head it makes sense. That I went off-script is fantastic and I love the idea this happens to us throughout the book this how you engage the reader and ensure they want to come back.
Doug is one of a handful of artists who's work I will follow regardless of what he's working on. He's the only one that got me to buy a Star Wars book and I still want an original Bomo. His work here is beyond scrummy and his talent and ability to utilise the linework through it's varying weights to bring us this level and quality of attention to detail is sublime. The way he utilises the backgrounds and how he is able to showcase depth perception, scale and bring us a size and scope to the story. The colour work is brilliantly done here as well. How we see flesh tones utilised to create musculature in the faces is truly amazing to see I am blown away by the way that hues and tones within any colour is utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadows is exquisite.
This is beyond what I could have hoped for. In all honesty the Alien vs. Predator books have been my least favourite but the way we see humans incorporated in this one and how the story is structured makes sense to me. The film under the ice was a great start, bad ending, but this outshines anything else I have seen there or anywhere in a long time. Solid writing, stunning interiors and that fight or flight mentality is on full display.