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Prometheus: Fire And Stone - Omega

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    Ian Jane
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  • Prometheus: Fire And Stone - Omega



    Prometheus: Fire And Stone - Omega
    Released by: Dark Horse Comics
    Released on: February 11th, 2015.
    Written By: Kelly Sue DeConnick
    Illustrated By: Augustin Alessio
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    The four different Fire And Stone storylines that have been running through the combined Aliens/Predator/Prometheus comic book universe over the last few months comes to a close with this final double sized finale. Angela has been reunited with Galgo while Elden, mutated by the accelerant discovered on LV-223, seems to have a connection with the aliens. All of this leads Angela to seek the truth behind Sir Peter Weyland's original mission to LV-223, decades prior. If that didn't make it clear that if you haven't been following the story to this point that you'll be completely lost, well, let us reiterate: if you haven't been following the story to this point you'll be completely lost. If you have, however, step right up.

    The issue begins on April 9th, 2219. Angela's 'captain's log' style recordings stress the fact that the rag tag group that's left are in dire need of food. Galgo has that alien gun he swiped but she's more intent on hunting something to eat with a bow and arrow. At least they understand how a bow and arrow works. The hunting doesn't go so well though and they wind up in a fight with whatever these creatures are that they're trying to hunt. Just when it looks like they're toast, that Predator that Galgo had travelled to the planet with in the Predator: Fire And Stone mini-series shows up and saves them. It's karma.

    The Predator leaves them an alien pig to eat and some weapons and takes off. Back at the cave the humans have been hiding out in, they eat but are shocked to see the Helios coming towards them out of the sky. They figure it's Elden, coming back to finish everyone off but the ship comes in too fast and collides with the entrance to the cave. As it turns out, yeah, it is Elden, but he's not in good shape at all and barely seems a threat to anyone at this point. Angela, feeling responsible for what's happened to him even if he is a construct when it all comes down to it, feels obligated to see him through and holds his hand while he dies. She falls asleep and when she wakes up, well, he's not dead at all and in fact, he wants to engage in a philosophical discussion about whether or not people have a soul. They decide to work together to create a signal amplifier to call for help, but they'll need to find the Prometheus to get what they need to make it work.

    Angela and Galgo decide to head out to ally themselves with the Predator, while survivors Jill and Chris stay in the cave with the alien gun. Why? Because the driller they need is 'crawling with bugs' and they know they'll need his help to get to it and use it. Galgo acts as bait to draw him out but it's actually Elden who saves him before the Predator can arrive. From here, things take some interesting twists and turns and we don't want to head into spoiler territory so we're going to leave it at that, in terms of the whole 'what happens in this issue' part of this review.

    DeConnick's writing here takes an appropriately highbrow approach to tying together the different story threads that precede this issue. We're dealing with very blue collar characters but doing so in a manner that is appropriately literate and surprisingly thought provoking. Like the best science fiction writing does, this issue makes you think, not just about what we're seeing unfold in the panels of the forty-odd pages that make up the tale but about the issues at hand. Evolution and the origin of the species being a huge part of all of this allows DeConnick to explore some startlingly bizarre ideas and concepts and to exploit them not just for shock value but also to provide a conclusion to this epic story that just plain works. It won't be what you expect, and you may find yourself having to sit and think on it for a bit to figure out just why it ended this way, but it works and it works well. It's a pleasant surprise to read a licensed comic like this, one that doesn't just cash in on the pre-fabricated audience that exists for the properties but which actually goes to the effort of expanding on the concepts that inspired it. To summarize, the writing here is top notch.

    Just as impressive, however, is the artwork from Augustin Alessio. He's done a lot of work on some of the Dark Horse Star Wars titles and some stuff for Marvel but those have flown under this writer's radar, making this comic my introduction to his work. How is it? In one word, impressive. At times reminiscent of Milo Manara's style, Alessio crafts some great looking human characters, an appropriately mean looking Predator and does to Elden and the 'alien' side of things some wholly horrifying things. There are some (very welcome) nods to H.R. Giger in a few panels and one or two spots where, and maybe I'm reaching here, it seems like Clive Barker's Hellraiser work might have crept in. Moving back a bit, his use of color is fantastic, especially in the open sky on those last few pages, and his attention to detail consistently impressive.

    And so with this issue the Fire And Stone storyline comes to a close. It's been a great ride, with all involved delivering great work. Inevitably this material will get collected. It might be interesting to see it split up and reprinted in chronological order but as it stands, this was a genuinely engaging and surprisingly creative run. It all ends here, and this last issue keeps the bar high. Don't miss it.






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