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Life and Death #5
Prometheus: Life and Death - Final Conflict
The surviving Colonial Marines on the planet LV-223 face a final battle with an injured and enraged Engineer—and, somewhere out in space, three trapped humans seek to change the course of the Engineer’s ship . . . and possibly the history of humanity!
* The final installment of the Life and Death saga!
* The final installment of the Life and Death saga!
48 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 15, 2017
The Final part on the conflict between man and the engineer!!!......and it didn't disappoint.
Although it left alot of unanswered questions,hope we are going to get a another new series.
Although it left alot of unanswered questions,hope we are going to get a another new series.
April 15, 2018
Brings the series to a (kind of?) close. Has a very open ending though.
June 17, 2020
I guess there will be more considering the ending - I hope so.
September 7, 2021
Last one of the Prometheus saga. Had a good touch and bitter sweet ending.
August 19, 2022
Like the previous franchise-wide crossover event, this one ends with one-shot tying everything together. I don’t have anything really to say about this one? It did what it needed to do to bring the story to a close. I really feel for Jill, and I really appreciated Captain Paget trying to console her as best as she could. I don’t think any of these characters ever appear again, which is a shame because they’re some of my favorites that have ever featured in an Alien vs. Predator comic series, so I’m just gonna headcanon that eventually Jill and the obviously gay Freebody end up hooking up and living happily ever after, while honoring Chris’s memory.
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Check out my compilation review of the Alien and Predator franchises on my blog, 24,000 Miles to the Moon! https://24000milestothemoon.com/2022/...
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Check out my compilation review of the Alien and Predator franchises on my blog, 24,000 Miles to the Moon! https://24000milestothemoon.com/2022/...
November 9, 2017
This is the final volume of the Life and Death graphic novel story-line. The Life and Death story-line picked up where Fire and Stone left off.
This issue, not great, not bad. The art style wasn't really my cup of tea. There was nothing wrong with the style just I like my fantastical sci-fi aliens/violence/humans/landscapes to have a more clean-cut look. Bold definition rather than rugged, sweeping and casual. I enjoyed the colour palette though, immensely. The (beautiful) cover artwork on each of the Life and Death volumes is quite different to the pages inside.
I can't see Ridley Scott adapting this story for the big screen, it doesn't have the hook that Fire and Stone had. Elements of this are already in use in Prometheus and Covenant (A:C), so I was surprised to find that Life and Death doesn't really introduce any new elements or story even though it was written well after Prometheus but probably at the same time as script dev for A:C.
Looking at where Ridley Scott was able to go after Prometheus with A:C, makes me wonder how Dan Abnett, Life and Death author, kind of missed such a grand opportunity to boldly go forth into new territory with this.
Life and Death essentially just just cleans up the messy situation left after the events of Fire and Stone (basically, the Prometheus movie - for those following along at home). We find ourselves discovering/reuniting with some people (no spoilers) living on an unknown(?) planet, we're faced with two Engineers, and have to stop the Alien threat from taking over the galaxy or getting back to earth or killing everyone (again). All those story elements were in place at the end of Fire and Ice and all we do is resolve them, not even fully.
It seems the Life and Death series became an 'ok, we need to do a big battle and make a proper end to the series now', story. Yet, magically, Ridley saw the end of Prometheus as an opportunity to start again.
I think, with the right treatment this could be a marvelous story but it just missed the mark. It certainly never captured me - which is quite the feat because if it contains aliens or predators I'm automatically a hardcore fan (canon, non-canon, I don't care. Ilike love the AVPs, I like love Finchers work. I like love Jeunets work. Deal with it.)
Two standout failures:
1.
If the current queen is infertile or only making deformed baby xenos and the planet she is on has but 5 or 6 inhabitants, how are there seemingly endless hordes of xenos? Where did they come from? If they're on an Engineers seed world, not populated by anyone, used as a storage facility for the goo vials, how/where/into what did all the facehuggers implant their little baby-waby embryos? The xenos are clearly human/xeno species, not mixed with other native fauna, so where are the human/humanoid hosts coming from, or at least where are their bodies?
Theres, what, 1000 xenos, more? The xenos capture but TWO humans to use as hosts, Rucker and Chris, so where'd all the aliens come from. We know there are eggs as they can be seen in the bottom panel on pg 53 of vol 3. Also, we can be sure there are facehuggers still working as Rucker succumbs to a chestburster (pg. 62, vol. 3) after having earlier been implanted by a facehugger (pg. 64, vol 2).
2.
What the heck is going on with the weird collar things on the adult xenos are they on their jaw or their shoulders, (around pg 63 vol.3, 77 of issue 4 AVP) , and where are their dorsal tubes (snorkels)? Sure, some xenos don't have dorsal tubes but human hosted xenostypically do. I can't think of an instance where a human hosted (not Engineer hosted) xeno doesn't have dorsals.
There's a terrible inconsistency in how the alien morphology is stylised. Even the iconic xeno skulls are at times depicted as having tiered horizontal segments at the back of the skull (pg 49, vol. 4 has a full page spread of this- see above image), that would infer a drastic evolutionary change over extremely short period with no evolutionary trigger.
The skull is supposed to be phallic:
Bonus points for having a normal gay couple who aren't just boy porn or sex maniacs or over the top stereotypes.
There's not really much to note about this one. If you're a fan you will want to make sure you read this series (obviously after having first read all of the Fire and Stone series).
My rating: 3 life or death scenarios out of 5
It was nice to see Ahab again. Bye Ahab *waves*
This issue, not great, not bad. The art style wasn't really my cup of tea. There was nothing wrong with the style just I like my fantastical sci-fi aliens/violence/humans/landscapes to have a more clean-cut look. Bold definition rather than rugged, sweeping and casual. I enjoyed the colour palette though, immensely. The (beautiful) cover artwork on each of the Life and Death volumes is quite different to the pages inside.
The story was good but, again, not great. Certainly not as good as the Fire and Stone series.
I can't see Ridley Scott adapting this story for the big screen, it doesn't have the hook that Fire and Stone had. Elements of this are already in use in Prometheus and Covenant (A:C), so I was surprised to find that Life and Death doesn't really introduce any new elements or story even though it was written well after Prometheus but probably at the same time as script dev for A:C.
Looking at where Ridley Scott was able to go after Prometheus with A:C, makes me wonder how Dan Abnett, Life and Death author, kind of missed such a grand opportunity to boldly go forth into new territory with this.
Life and Death essentially just just cleans up the messy situation left after the events of Fire and Stone (basically, the Prometheus movie - for those following along at home). We find ourselves discovering/reuniting with some people (no spoilers) living on an unknown(?) planet, we're faced with two Engineers, and have to stop the Alien threat from taking over the galaxy or getting back to earth or killing everyone (again). All those story elements were in place at the end of Fire and Ice and all we do is resolve them, not even fully.
It seems the Life and Death series became an 'ok, we need to do a big battle and make a proper end to the series now', story. Yet, magically, Ridley saw the end of Prometheus as an opportunity to start again.
Prometheus and Fire and Ice close with endless possibilities and questions. A:C ended with even more possibilities and an array questions. Yet, Life and Death ends in a battle and everyone goes home.
I think, with the right treatment this could be a marvelous story but it just missed the mark. It certainly never captured me - which is quite the feat because if it contains aliens or predators I'm automatically a hardcore fan (canon, non-canon, I don't care. I
Two standout failures:
1.
If the current queen is infertile or only making deformed baby xenos and the planet she is on has but 5 or 6 inhabitants, how are there seemingly endless hordes of xenos? Where did they come from? If they're on an Engineers seed world, not populated by anyone, used as a storage facility for the goo vials, how/where/into what did all the facehuggers implant their little baby-waby embryos? The xenos are clearly human/xeno species, not mixed with other native fauna, so where are the human/humanoid hosts coming from, or at least where are their bodies?
Theres, what, 1000 xenos, more? The xenos capture but TWO humans to use as hosts, Rucker and Chris, so where'd all the aliens come from. We know there are eggs as they can be seen in the bottom panel on pg 53 of vol 3. Also, we can be sure there are facehuggers still working as Rucker succumbs to a chestburster (pg. 62, vol. 3) after having earlier been implanted by a facehugger (pg. 64, vol 2).
2.
What the heck is going on with the weird collar things on the adult xenos are they on their jaw or their shoulders, (around pg 63 vol.3, 77 of issue 4 AVP) , and where are their dorsal tubes (snorkels)? Sure, some xenos don't have dorsal tubes but human hosted xenos
Image above: weird shoulder tube things, odd ribbing along skull midsection, tiered horizontal segmented head, no dorsal tubes, etc
There's a terrible inconsistency in how the alien morphology is stylised. Even the iconic xeno skulls are at times depicted as having tiered horizontal segments at the back of the skull (pg 49, vol. 4 has a full page spread of this- see above image), that would infer a drastic evolutionary change over extremely short period with no evolutionary trigger.
The skull is supposed to be phallic:
not like the strap-on in Se7en:
I know it's all make believe however there should still be some consistency. It is consistency of the components that gives character and credence to a work of fiction.
link to above image
Bonus points for having a normal gay couple who aren't just boy porn or sex maniacs or over the top stereotypes.
There's not really much to note about this one. If you're a fan you will want to make sure you read this series (obviously after having first read all of the Fire and Stone series).
My rating: 3 life or death scenarios out of 5
It was nice to see Ahab again. Bye Ahab *waves*
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews