A month ago, Dark Horse Comics commenced their highly anticipated ‘Fire and Stone’ crossover series. First we got to mentally (and let’s face it, physically) fondle the premiere title in this family of comic books: ‘Prometheus,’ which served as an introduction to the world of AVP. Then a few weeks ago we were introduced to the ‘Alien’ title, which took us back a step to show us the gruesome events that led up to ‘Prometheus.’ While we have two more weeks until we get to read the ‘Predator’ sister story, today we get to gnaw on the world of ‘Alien Vs. Predator’ and it’s really, really yummy.

WRITTEN BY: Christopher Sebela

ART BY: Ariel Olivetti

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse

PRICE: $3.50

RELEASE: October 8, 2014

Reviewed By Bree Odgen

‘AVP: Fire and Stone’ picks up shortly after the events of ‘Prometheus,’ during which the crew that landed on LV-223 was met with some serious danger. Now, back aboard the Geryon Armada, the remaining unharmed crewmembers discuss their next plan of action. That is until…

Some serious shit has hit the fan in the time between these issues. Elden is no longer the Elden we were introduced to in ‘Prometheus.’ He’s humanoid, but alien-like. Exposed muscle, grotesque growths…an all around terrifying mess. He’s angry about some yet unknown event that occurred because of Francis and he’s going to exact his revenge. On top of it all, he’s hanging out with The Aliens like they’re his cats and he’s a 97-year old woman. Something went down and the fact is, we’ll just have to wait and see. Smart move, Dark Horse.

While Elden waits for Galgo to deliver Francis to his Alien-infested ship, the Predators lurk nearby. Olivetti allows us tiny glimpses of them before we even know what’s happening. And just as Elden prepares to take Francis captive, there’s a breach and Predators come pouring in. What happens next is a virtual terror shit show. Elden fucks with the basic functions of the Geryon while Predators do what they do best: hunt and kill. At this point, not only are Elden’s watch-Aliens tearing their way through the crew, the Predators are slicing anything within reach and Elden is taunting all of them over an intercom.

I cannot stress how horrifically palpable these scenes are; how brilliantly Sebela and Olivetti bring these dreadful moments to life. There’s threat upon threat upon threat and none of it feels cheap. It all holds a weight of its own.

The timeline should, by all means, be confusing as hell. But it’s obvious that these writers have spent painstaking hours figuring this out like Monckton’s Eternity Puzzle. In fact, just to heighten the awareness of this fact, there’s this beautifully haunting moment in which Elden repeats an exact line from ‘Prometheus’ saying: “Hello, Francis. I’m Elden. Can you hear me?” But the context is so drastically different, so horribly vile, that it makes you want to scream at the sheer foresight and brilliance of the Fire and Stone writers.

It’s hard to express how insanely immaculate this issue is. You would think that a comic taking place in a matter of minutes, a fall from grace so swift and complete, and a slaughter during which absolutely no one is safe would feel too easy. But it’s meticulous and smart. So very, very smart. Neither of the previous ‘Fire and Stone’ comics had me this excited to see where this crossover event’s going.

Standing fucking ovation.

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Bree Ogden is a literary agent at D4EO Literary Agency, a judge for the Ghastly Awards, and the managing editor of the macabre children’s magazine Underneath the Juniper Tree, which she co-founded in 2011 with artist Rebekah Joy Plett. When she’s not watching horror films, reading comics, hiding out at the Pacific Science Center, or killing off her bee colonies, she teaches graphic novel scripting at LitReactor.com. Twitter: @breeogden