“Predator: Fire and Stone” #3 hits a bit of a lull as Ahab and Galgo settle in for some quality time. This penultimate chapter is definitely the quiet before the storm, turning things down a significant amount from the last two issues.

WRITTEN BY: Joshua Williamson

ART BY: Chris Mooneyham

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse

PRICE: $3.50

RELEASE: December 17, 2014

Reviewed By Torin Chambers

The structure of this issue is not necessarily a bad thing. You can’t do high intensity action all the time or it becomes the norm and that ruins the narrative – it becomes about punching. It’s all about peaks and valleys, we’ve been straddling that peak for two issues now. A change of pace helps give us and Ahab/Galgo a much deserved breather, so when Predator comes back hard for it’s finale it’ll only be all that much more exhilarating.

This issue opens with a flashback of Galgo inadvertently saving a group of survivors while he was actually searching for monetary gains. He’s a shitty bastard, a real shitty bastard but the jury’s still out on whether or not he’s all-bad. Almost in spite of himself he ends up doing good in more than a few ways and whenever you think you’ve got a read on him he surprises you. This issue seals it; he’s the perfect character to star opposite a Predator.

Speaking of that Predator, Ahab, he’s the second fiddle this issue as Galgo mostly takes the lead. It makes sense knowing what we do about the finale, Williamson gave everyone a real good idea of what’s going to happen during Dark Horses Alien panel at NYCC this year. Even so I was expecting a little more about Ahab’s motivations for hunting the Engineer, a reveal or something that would up the stakes even higher. That could still be coming during the finale, but I feel like the anticipation for their battle could’ve been hyped up a bit more. My expectations are through the roof but it’s not quite at a fever pitch.

Williamson and Mooneyham deliver a slower, more laidback story for Predator’s penultimate issue. One, that while lacking action, does not lack entertainment. The stage has been set, all the players are in their positions and the final dance between Ahab and the Engineer is about to begin.

hits a bit of a lull as Ahab and Galgo settle in for some quality time. This penultimate chapter is definitely the quiet before the storm, turning things down a significant amount from the last two issues.

The structure of this issue is not necessarily a bad thing. You can’t do high intensity action all the time or it becomes the norm and that ruins the narrative – it becomes about punching. It’s all about peaks and valleys, we’ve been straddling that peak for two issues now. A change of pace helps give us and Ahab/Galgo a much deserved breather, so when Predator comes back hard for it’s finale it’ll only be all that much more exhilarating.

This issue opens with a flashback of Galgo inadvertently saving a group of survivors while he was actually searching for monetary gains. He’s a shitty bastard, a real shitty bastard but the jury’s still out on whether or not he’s all-bad. Almost in spite of himself he ends up doing good in more than a few ways and whenever you think you’ve got a read on him he surprises you. This issue seals it; he’s the perfect character to star opposite a Predator.

Speaking of that Predator, Ahab, he’s the second fiddle this issue as Galgo mostly takes the lead. It makes sense knowing what we do about the finale, Williamson gave everyone a real good idea of what’s going to happen during Dark Horses Alien panel at NYCC this year. Even so I was expecting a little more about Ahab’s motivations for hunting the Engineer, a reveal or something that would up the stakes even higher. That could still be coming during the finale, but I feel like the anticipation for their battle could’ve been hyped up a bit more. My expectations are through the roof but it’s not quite at a fever pitch.

Williamson and Mooneyham deliver a slower, more laidback story for Predator’s penultimate issue. One, that while lacking action, does not lack entertainment. The stage has been set, all the players are in their positions and the final dance between Ahab and the Engineer is about to begin.

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Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter @TorinsChambers