Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #3

Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #3

Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Ariel Olivetti
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover Artist: E. M. Gist

Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #3 takes the story to some weird crevices of the imagination. We’ve seen aliens and predators and humans fighting each other, now we get to see hybrids being unleashed by the black goo accelerant. A mutated predator prepares to do battle with a warped version of Francis. Elden the construct turned engineer monstrosity is still on the loose and fending off against his one time alien allies. Plus there’s still one unmodified predator lurking about. It’s an all out battle between all contestants with shifting allegiances making the whole thing, well, a bit confusing.

One of the stronger parts of this issue is the artwork. Ariel Olivetti presents some very clean, vibrant panels that strike a balance between stylized and hyper realistic illustration. There’s lot of detail in every panel and the rich use of coloring and shading really makes the art pop off the page. Considering the wide array of creatures the story is rolling out, there’s quite a bit of new, imaginative beasts being introduced. However, I’m not sure all those new creatures are a good thing as it’s feeling less and less like an Alien vs. Predator comic and more and more like some bizarre fan fic story.

One problem with this arc of the series is that it’s relying on Elden, Francis and some predators as the cast. Francis is pretty much an unlikeable character because of his reckless selfishness and extreme naivety. Elden, on the other hand, is just too strange to relate to. He’s neither an android or an alien, but some weird mutation. On top of that, it’s never really clear just what he wants. Sometimes he seems to care about Francis, and other times he just wants revenge and violence. The predators aren’t much better. The infected one is nothing more than a mindless killing machine, and the lone survivor is constantly hitting everyone who could be a potential ally. His motivation is just as murky as Elden’s.

The one clear motivation of this story seems to be creating epic duels for fanboys. What would have if the accelerant infected an android, a human and a predator? Now what would happen if they all fought each other? Aside from creating fantastical hybrids and having them fight each other, there’s no reasonable plot or relatable character motivations. What pieces that are there are extremely shallow. There just isn’t much depth to be had in the story.

As is, Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone #3 is focused completely on action and monster fights. The art is great and there’s plenty of combat. However, if you’re looking for a story and interesting characters, you probably going to be disappointed with this issue. Whether future issues can save this story is questionable. No matter how good the artwork may be, a comic is as only good as the story, and in this case it’s a two out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.