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Aliens Vs. Predator: Fire And Stone #3
Published by: Dark Horse Comics
Published on: December 3rd, 2014.
Written by: Christopher Sebela
Art by: Ariel Olivetti
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The third issue of Aliens Vs. Predator: Fire And Stone carries on with what the first two issues set up. The aliens and Predators are at war while Elden's continues to change thanks to his exposure to the black goop everyone seems to be referring to as an accelerant. Elden infects a Predator and this result in the creation of a new Predator, one that shows no mercy to anything that gets in its way. As all of this is going on, Francis, the scientist whose days are numbered thanks to his illness, tries to figure out how the accelerant can cure him.
When Francis sees that Elden is the key, a Predator takes care of that and now Elden finds himself on the run the aliens running amok. Francis and the Predator throw down in an unusual way while Elden takes care of the aliens, no longer a threat to him since he's evolved. Francis makes it to the infirmary and attempts not only to heal himself but also to talk to Elden, while the mutated Predator prepares for war. Elden's battle with the aliens is interrupted to his advantage by the arrival of that Predator and after their collective victory, Elden heads to the infirmary to take care of Francis. The human Francis, with some aid from the worker droids in site, incapacitates Elden and takes a sample of his blood figuring that whatever mutated him will cure him from his terminal condition. Elden knows what will happen and tries to talk him out of it but he's not having any of it, even if Elden, in this case, is absolutely right…
This is a really solid third chapter in this entry in the Fire And Stone series running throughout the combined Aliens/Predator/Prometheus universe. It builds well on the first two issues and makes the Predator, almost an afterthought in issue #1, into a much more substantial threat. We also get to see just how 'innocent' Francis is through all of this, his humanity possibly playing on the reader's sympathies where that wouldn't be possible were he a Predator, alien or even a synthetic like Elden used to be. It's a clever tactic on the part of Sebela, who has taken what started off as a simple sci-fi/action/horror mash-up and turned it into a well thought out chapter in the ongoing saga of these connected continuities.
Ariel Olivetti's artwork continues to impress, with great use of color and some interesting panel layout. E. M. Gist provides another appropriately weird cover - this is all coming together quite nicely as we lead into the fourth and final issue of the run.
