Dark Horse Comic review: Fire and Stone

So Dark Horse released a new series of AVP comics to incorporate Prometheus into the lore of the Universe. What we get is a fairly mix to good bag. There 5 books in total.Aliens, Prometheus, AVP, Predator and Prometheus in that order.

Aliens: Fire and Stone takes place on LV426 and some the colonists escape on a ship *cough River of Pain* in a cargo skiff and up on LV233. Along with this cluster fuck mistake the skiff has some xeno stowaways. LV233 has changed vastly since the events of Prometheus now a lush jungle with weird creatures thanks to the tampering with the the black goo. The last Survivor is confronted with certain death at the hands of xenomorphs ponders using the black goo to survive. This first book while has issues with it is a good tale and asks the reader to ponder is it better to become as savage as the xenomorph in order to survive. That seems to be the overall theme of these collection of books.

Why I like the Aliens series!

Since the age of 11 I've loved the Aliens movies. I was lucky enough to have folks who knew it was okay to let me watch gory movies so long as it was only monsters doing to killing. Truth be told I say predator first and loved it but it was my 11th birthday when my obsession with Aliens began. My Brother got me two Kenner Aliens, The Queen and the Flying Alien Queen. That same week I got my hands on the Movie Alien which my sister had got. I watched it and remember being afraid of the Facehugger scene. The Chestburster part didnt scare or shock me...All I remember was thinking...."ahe thats what it was doing!" The movie then done stuff that made me stop and fast forward the tape...when Brett went to get the Cat..Fast Forward, Dallas went into the vent...Fast Forward. Ripley was trying to escape...Fast Forward. Ironically I decided to go back the next week and watch it again but not out of some act of valor to prove to my self I was a tough kid...oh no. But to see what the fuck was killing the crew of the ship. I pause and pause and pause but was still not sure what I was looking at...it had a long head and no eyes. It had a mouth inside a mouth but that was all I could determine.Even when its blown out the air lock of the escape shuttle I could really see what I was seeing. Did it have two arms or four, did it have four legs, what were the things on its back...was its tail in the back or the front. It fascinated me. I looked at my figures and saw some similar things but it was not the star beast from this movie.

Those space beasts would be discovered at my cousins house on a Halloween sleep over. The Alien Queen and her horde vs Ripley and the Marines....this movie was scary but even better it was action packed. Monsters, Spaceships, Battle tanks and a huge robot forklift fight at the end. My 11 year old mind was blown These soldiers didnt use lasers or dress like something I was unfamiliar with. They were soldiers. Cameo, Cursing and helmets. It was a wicked movie and one that I would go back to again and again.

I watched 3 on the first night of my summer holidays .I was about 13 and they showed it on RTE 1 at 9 O'clock. It was more like the first movie....One Alien and more scares. The creature was cool. It came from a dog and ran like panther. I loved the movie but didnt like the fact they killed Hicks.

I rented Alien Resurrection for my 14th Birthday. My cousins called over and we watched it. There was moments I like but all in all it was not was good as the others and even though I tryed to like it fully I couldnt.

Over the years I collected comics and figures, Game and novels. I love those movies. Their my Trek, My Wars. I know the World inside out. The characters, weapons,ships I know them like the back of my hand....but despite that I still dont know the creature....sure the life cycle and subspecies yes....but the Xenomrophs themselves still to this day remain a mystery granted Prometheus has attempted to answer some of those questions but the beast itself....is it an animal or a weapon? Is it Both. It it smart or going buy some primal instinct. We dont know and thats what makes it so.....ALIEN.

The other reason I like the movie is it paints the future as not a nice and very real place. The people are not in awe of space to them its away of life and a tough one. The ships and tech dont look like something that came off a factory floor...they look used and worn buy the harshness of space. Space is an unforgiving place that traps and isolates you. We're trespassers on a frontier that does not want us. We're Captain Scott Freezing to Death, We're Ferdinand Magellan getting his head caved in buy the natives.....we not ment to be here. But we are and thats why its the Aliens job to remind us we shouldnt.

For me the Aliens movies show man at the lower end of the totem pole despite all or tech and bravado.
Granted In space no one can hear you scream...but thats because you shouldnt be there in the first place.

Interview with Predator Super fan Ludvig Van Sandoval.

I was lucky to come buy a very nice and honest to god big time Predator fan Ludvig Van Sandoval  who took time out of his busy day to explain his predator Fandom. 


Martin: What made you a Predator Fan?

Ludvig: Well I'm I fan since I first watched the film, I was like 6 years old. Then at age 8 I saw predator 2.I started playing the videogames, predator nes, predator 2 Sega genesis. Avp snes, and avp arcade from capcom

Martin: Whos your favorite character in the franchise and why?

Ludvig: City Hunter. Because of his look, it was different than jungle hunter, his speed, his aggressiveness, I mean it just jumped into the action and started fight in close quarters combat, that was so badass.

Martin: what would you like to see in the next Predator movie?

Ludvig: More about the predator culture, like following the steps of a young yautja till he becomes blooded, that would be great for me

Martin: What Predator Merchandise do you own?

Ludvig: Oh, like 18 neca figures, 1 1|4 th scale jungle hunter (the led one) 7 hot toys, and comic books

Dark Horse Comic review: Aliens Salvation

What do you get when you get two comic greats Dave Gibbons and Mike Mignola to do an Aliens Comics. One hell of a story thats what. A chilling story that shows while xenomorph are lethal religious devotion is downright terrifying. The crew of the Nova Maru discover their cargo is loose and the captain decides to ditch the ship taking the ships devout but unstable cook Selkirk. Both end up on an savage planet and soon discover the Maru has crashed and loosed the aliens upon the planet. Selkirk must resort to some unsettling things to survive and use's the word of god justifie his actions.

Gibbons does fantastic work making an unnerving story with out having to rely on the Aliens but the human monster. Mignola's art is perfectly set to a tone of Alien demons and the heartless void of space.
While some might find the story too short I think its the right size and does its job well.
If your a first time Aliens comic fan this may a  good start .Its short and sweet and is a standalone story.
I highly recommend this book its a great read and you can pick up the hard back edition fairly cheap.

Game over man Review: Aliens vs Predator Requiem

So I picked up a Sony PsP cause I wanted to buy a bunch of UMDs and also picked up some games and decided to make AVPR one of them. From the outset the game is not much to look at but once you get playing it is fun. Basically it follows the plot of the movie where you have to halt the infestation of Gunisson as a lone predator. You have a huge arsenal of weapons from should canons, spears and plasma pistols. The array of enemies is very weak. Warrior and PredAliens and Human soldiers and thats it. Their not that hard to fight either. The combat itself is very like Predator Concrete jungle but with a decent camera this time. The game would get old very quickly if it was not for the side missions and quests which gives it expanded life span. There's also a multiplayer mode very like the Skermish mode from the AVP pc games but only if someone else has the game and a PsP.

This game will not be for everyone but if your a fan of the movies and want a handy portal AVP game this is ones for you.

Interview with Predator Super fan Jessica Taylor

I taking some time to chat with the awesome Jessica Taylor....a super Predator fan. She knows her stuff.

Martin: Which of the Predator franchise was your favorite and why?

Jessica: Fave in franchise....believe it or not, avp. Because it was the one that came closest to letting us understand yautja culture. And although the movie didn't go into detail enough, u got to see a little of how the yautja do their right of passage. Ah....city hunter of course, he's very visually appealing

Martin: Who's your favorite character from the movies.

Jessica: City hunter.Because he was more present during the movie. More screen time, more personality, he used the human language, like he understood it, not mimicking like the jungle hunter. And his look was different, his coloring as well as his face was different. He is actually beautiful design to me. His bio mask was amazing!!!! His armour was beyond beautiful. He had more weapons, and has more of a challenge during his hunt I believe.

Martin: What do you wanna see in the next predator movie.

Jessica: Yautja culture, where they live. I want to see just a little of how they live. I also would live to see yautja children and babies, as well as a female yautja. The female yautja is said to be larger and their society is matriarchal and I also want to see the yautja live in the next film. It's completely unbelievable that any human could best a yautja

Check out some of Jessica collection.

Game over man review: Aliens vs Predator 2010

So Colonial Marines came out and it was a big let down but truth be told we got the game that should of been in 2010. Aliens vs Predator 2010 does not hold a candle to P.C games but still is a pretty wicked game. Like the P.C games its an FPS with put you in three different perspective of the xenomorph, Yautja hunter and Colonial Marine and like the P.C game its requires you the way you play to suit the character....Aliens have no weapons and armor so running into an enemy fray will get you killed. For the xeno stealth is the order of the day. The Predator can be 50/50. Its weapons are good but to get the best use is when its combined with the stealth Element. My only nag with that is there is a very small selection, wrist blades, Shoulder Canon, Spear, disc and mines...I think the Predator is none for its vast array of gear and this game is set in the future surely the hunters have a bit more weapons or gear. Like with the Alien you can have very cool and very very graphic stealth kills.
Buy far the marine is the most enjoyable and exciting character cause everything wants you dead. The marine is hunted from the get go. That said one thing I wish was you face the predator more then twice as the marine I mean it is Aliens vs Predator. But mainly your going to dusting Xenos and and Weyland Yuntai andriods.
Your weapons include classic U.S.C.M hardware like the Pulse-Rifle, Smartgun and the Flamethrower and some new gear a double barrel pump action shotgun much like Vriess's shotgun in Alien Resurrection. You also get  a sniper rifle that kinda shit granted its handy for taking out those facehuggers that are hard to spot.

The plot is pretty good much in the vain of Dark Horse comics. Set on the colony Freya prospect which has the shit luck of been set up buy Karl Bishop Weyland on a Predator Hunting planet. Wayland opens the Yautja temple causing a mass infestation. The Marines and Predators arrive at the same time and the Predator vessel destroys the marines ship stranding everyone on the planet. So its Up to the Rookie to take Weyland down, The Dark Predator has to Kill the Prealien and avenge is comrades and number 6 xeno is trying to kill all who get in her way which is very cool.

At the end of the day its a fairly solid FPS for none fans but if your a fan of the franchise you'll really enjoy this. Agien it aint no where near as fast paced or fluid as the P.C version but still a solid Alien vs Predator Game.