Aliens And Predator Come to Marvel

[thwhtGuardian]

We all knew it was going to happen once Disney bought out Fox...and now it's here...and it's bad.

Now, I'll be the first to tell you that not every book put out by Dark Horse was a winner but over all the batting average was pretty darn good and with an opening arc featuring a great writer like Phillip Kennedy Johnson I was expecting good things so seeing it whiff so bad feels just weird. There's no attempt at building tension, no real sense of mystery or discovery and as such there's no real horror either which is a huge failure for an Alien book.

Compounding the issue this book had with its empty feeling narrative is the artwork by Larroca, which is so straight forward that there's never a sense that something could jump out at you at any moment which is probably the most important element of any Aliens story. It's perhaps a predictable issue with Larroca, he has a style that often relies heavily on photo-referencing and although it can often deliver some iconic images it can also come off as very flat and lifeless and that's what we got here. This is a perfect one-two punch of awfulness; a horror story with a tension-less plot and art without energy or emotion.

With this one in the bag my hopes are not high that Predator will be much better.

[SuperiorIronman]

Alien is average. The writing isn't terrible but this is a #1 over on a new publisher and Larroca not only fucks up the art with bad art, tracing, photo edits, and lore errors but the book itself is clearly written for the trade and is average at best. While AVP Galaxy does tend to drain me of my enthusiasm for the franchises given the community and its reaction to things, I will say that it does have a pretty good breakdown of everything awful about the hive splash page. It genuinely pisses me off that for as trained and skilled as I am, Larroca and even Greg Land have made careers on art theft and laziness.

I will give it a look over once it's done don't get me wrong, it might read really well as a complete story similarly to AVP:Thicker than blood. But given this is a monthly format and five dollars to boot I don't think my first impression can recommend it outside those who are already looking for Alien content. It might read well as a trade but the problem is that trade hasn't come out yet.

[Chris0013]

[thwhtGuardian]

Alien is average. The writing isn't terrible but this is a #1 over on a new publisher and Larroca not only fucks up the art with bad art, tracing, photo edits, and lore errors but the book itself is clearly written for the trade and is average at best. While AVP Galaxy does tend to drain me of my enthusiasm for the franchises given the community and its reaction to things, I will say that it does have a pretty good breakdown of everything awful about the hive splash page. It genuinely pisses me off that for as trained and skilled as I am, Larroca and even Greg Land have made careers on art theft and laziness.

I will give it a look over once it's done don't get me wrong, it might read really well as a complete story similarly to AVP:Thicker than blood. But given this is a monthly format and five dollars to boot I don't think my first impression can recommend it outside those who are already looking for Alien content. It might read well as a trade but the problem is that trade hasn't come out yet.

I doubt it will read any better in the trade, there's just no suspense to it plot wise or through the art and that's a death sentence for anything Aliens related.

[evolutionaryFan]

I haven't read it yet, but will when it's on MU. Was it that bad? Don't they need some time to build the characters before getting to the horror?

[Hypestyle]

will there be new writing/art teams for each arc? or are these being set up for gap times between each mini series or season?

who are the sci-fi adjacent authors and artists who are interested? Maybe people who have not done work for Marvel yet, maybe mostly involved with the indie world, etc.?

[Jekyll]

We all knew it was going to happen once Disney bought out Fox...and now it's here...and it's bad.

Now, I'll be the first to tell you that not every book put out by Dark Horse was a winner but over all the batting average was pretty darn good and with an opening arc featuring a great writer like Phillip Kennedy Johnson I was expecting good things so seeing it whiff so bad feels just weird. There's no attempt at building tension, no real sense of mystery or discovery and as such there's no real horror either which is a huge failure for an Alien book.

Compounding the issue this book had with its empty feeling narrative is the artwork by Larroca, which is so straight forward that there's never a sense that something could jump out at you at any moment which is probably the most important element of any Aliens story. It's perhaps a predictable issue with Larroca, he has a style that often relies heavily on photo-referencing and although it can often deliver some iconic images it can also come off as very flat and lifeless and that's what we got here. This is a perfect one-two punch of awfulness; a horror story with a tension-less plot and art without energy or emotion.

With this one in the bag my hopes are not high that Predator will be much better.

Well that is disappointing as I love Alien and was looking forward to this. However, thank you for saving me $6.00 which is a ridiculous price for a comic.

[thwhtGuardian]

I haven't read it yet, but will when it's on MU. Was it that bad? Don't they need some time to build the characters before getting to the horror?

They didn't even do that. The ex-Weyland/Yutani security head father had no compelling characterization and his terrorist son was completely unlikable so there's no reason to care about what happens to either of them.

[Ying Ko]

Yeah, that picture is everything Alien comics are not supposed to be...

I have the 1st issue but haven't read it yet. I hope it doesn't suck like people are saying

[thwhtGuardian]

Yeah, that picture is everything Alien comics are not supposed to be...

I have the 1st issue but haven't read it yet. I hope it doesn't suck like people are saying

I would have rathered it be by Scottie Young, sure it's not what one would have expected but atleast it would have been funny which is way more than what was actually delivered.

[SuperiorIronman]

I'm going to be very interested in how this sells. Alien and Predator under Darkhorse never sold that well by comparison to the big two but now that it's here it makes me wonder. It'll be interesting if for all the bad press it got and how average the book was when it came out if that affected sales. Thing is I can't even figure out if anybody even noticed it was happening let alone came out.

[gonnagiveittoya]

A very positive review here:
https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp...mpression=true

[thwhtGuardian]

A very positive review here:
https://www.polygon.com/platform/amp...mpression=true

That really reads like a corporate shill piece to me.

[gonnagiveittoya]

If you have no idea who Scott Wampler is...

[thwhtGuardian]

If you have no idea who Scott Wampler is...

Doesn't mean it isn't a shill piece.

I mean, that image he posted and got so excited about?


What's so unique or interesting about it that leaves you desperately wanting more?

And capturing today's anti-corporate zeitgeist?

The only two characters that actually had anything approaching some real characterization and shown in a sympathetic light were the two "corporate drones" that the son's group mercilessly killed. If this was really about anti-corporate greed wouldn't the son be sympathetic? Or at least interesting?

He's neither though, so I can't see how it's this unique, modern hook for Aliens that he's enamored about.

Which is why it reads like a shill piece.