Aliens/Predator: The Deadliest of the Species #1

Aliens vs Predator #6

by Chris Claremont, Jackson Guice (Illustrator), John Bolton (Illustrator)

Caryn Delacroix es una acompañante de clase, diseñada genéticamente para ser perfecta, excepto por las frecuentes pesadillas en las que es cazada por una misteriosa criatura. La pesadilla se convierte en realidad cuando un Depredador irrumpe en la lujosa vida de Caryn... y no para cazarla. Mientras, la Corporación a la que Caryn pertenece está inmiscuida en ciertos experimentos con las criaturas más aterradoras del universo... Los Aliens.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Comic Book, Horror

32 pages, Comic

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love to unpack old comics from my mountain house loft and read them again when I go there on summer holidays.



Really hoped this 12 issues miniseries, written by X-Chris Claremont just after his amazing 17 years long (1975–1991) run on Marvel's Uncanny X-Men, was not as bad as I used to remember: sadly it was worst.





Such a shame because main storyline started good, with a nice mistery about a trophy-consort having bloody nightmares in a rich people skyliner high above the still Alien-contaminated earth, then quickly going full cyberpunk with bionically enhanced marines, companies providing their clients with full body change, and virtual realities in an unexpected, so far from usual Alien franchise themes, mash-up between Total Recall (1990) and Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell: if you missed the character with the same surname easter-egg, author and artist throw you later a far lesser one in issue #5 with Appleseed, Briareos, and a pic showing overmentioned "Shirow" character together with Deunan and Motoko, well known heroines starring in series from the award-winning mangaka and the anime based on them.





To say nothing of Colonel Maria DeMedici, not the former Queen of France with the similar name, but a sensual mix between Monica Bellucci and Major Motoko Kusanagi, and first of a long list of badass sexualized female characters filling this meandering too much long trainwreck of a comic book with a longer list of off-scale butt-shots and combat suits more revealing than infamous Red Sonja's chainmail bikini.



Such a shame indeed because artists involved are very good ones (sadly Gulacy left after a few issues because busy on Action Comics at the time, but I enjoyed Barreto's drawings too) and I'm a lifelong fan of Claremont, but I just lost interest halfway and was nearly skimming the outdated and overwritten dialogues.



Really wanted to like this more, sadly it bored me a lot and the ending was so frustrating that I nearly missed that Alex Raymond easter-egg in final two messy issues.



John Bolton's covers rised final vote to two stars and one half, but that's all.



'Nuff said.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more Total Recall than Aliens Vs. Predator. It's about a trophy wife who may have been something more once a Predator shows up. The story is confusing at times and there are times when it feels like there are missing scenes. Still there are some cool moments and the art is good.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very complex plot and some beautiful art by Jackson Guice. Recommended

[Andreas Acevedo Dunlop Strom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A long and boring chore to read. Waaaay too complex and ambitious for my liking, and far too much mumbo-jumbo and outright ridiculousness. The action is interspersed with stupid flashbacks and/or dreams, and the whole thing just falls apart long before I got to the end. I had just lost interest by then, and didn't give a damn about any single character. Shame...

[Jefferson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book manages to be grossly overwritten (or at least overcomplicated) while at the same time it seems like huge chunks of the story are missing, or at least not articulated very well. Add to that some very dated artwork where most of the human characters look like late '80s catalog models, and you have a read that veers between laughable and frustrating.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere in here was a good story. There were indeed some great AvP moments. Unfortunately, this overlong story was mired by a meandering plot that seemed to go nowhere for a good length of the story, a big reveal that was obvious from the very beginning and dream sequences (or visions or something) that made the narrative either confusing or pretty nonsensical. I though I had read this before, but must have given up after the first few pages, something I nearly did again. Not worth the effort.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure I've read any comic quite as ambitious as this. But Deadliest of the Species lives and dies by this ambition. It's simply too long with too much going on, and tries to be too clever for its own good. The nucleus of the idea is excellent - once it's finally revealed - but getting there is a chore. The variable artwork is also in its own kind of chore, as action scenes are almost incomprehensible at times. In fact, at one point, I was left scratching my head at the apparent deaths of some major characters. Since it was barely even implied, let alone shown.

Really, the less said about Deadliest of the Species, the better, as the most enjoyment I got from this was awaiting the next ludicrously ambitious twist and seeing whether it would hold up.

(Hint: For me, many did not).

2 Non-Lethal Vacuums for Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Caryn Delacroix, a genetically engineered trophy-wife, finds herself caught in the three-way struggle between humanity, the Xenomorphs and the Yautja, all the while experiencing memories that are not her own. The three races are forced into an uneasy alliance, however, against an enemy who has perverted all three species.

Apparently, Claremont was given huge creative freedom when writing this miniseries... and perhaps he shouldn't have been.
This book sort of throws everything at the wall and very little of it sticks. There are huge sections that don't make a lot of sense and end up having very little to do with the actual plot.
The worst of these are the scenes where the human soldiers LARP as Predators, get stabbed by a real Predator, have to go into healing tanks and then do it all over again... for... reasons? A close second is where the Alien Queen dribbles all over Caryn and now suddenly Caryn has a skin-tight coating of glowing yellow armour. No, that really does happen.

None of this feels like Claremont either respected or understood the parent franchises and, honestly, I don't think this book adds anything of interest to either.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Carolina Casas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best AVP stories

This should be what was adapted on screen. Among with the Machiko Noguchi storylines, this one involving the elusive Ash Parnell/Caryn is the best in the Alien versus Predator universe. Toy is a much more engaging and believable AI villain and the side characters are equally interesting.

[Ill D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the whole series despite the disappointing few options on Goodreads here. :/

Full review incoming.

[Tim]

I read this as individual issues.

[Ana Franco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The complex plot line is hard to follow but never boring, filled with good plot twist and the dynamic between Ash Parnell and Big Mama is everything you could wish for!

[Alex Budris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting 'is this reality or a simulation?' situation going on.

[Seren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story points and I loved Big Mama, but I felt this should have been longer as a lot of the story didn't make sense.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has some amazing moments, and I continue to actually like the Predators way more in the comics than in any of the Predator movies, but it’s just a chore to read. I don’t think it needed to be 12 issues long, and frustratingly this leads to a lot of it being pretty blatant padding. It’s somehow meandering and confusing at the same time. How is it possible that when you’re consistently taking so damn long to get to the damn point, you also can’t bother to have anything be coherent?

I seriously considered hitting this one with a DNF when I was about halfway through, but decided to at least skim the rest of it. Again, it has its moments, but I really don’t think they’re worth it.

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Check out my compilation review of the Alien and Predator franchises on my blog, 24,000 Miles to the Moon! https://24000milestothemoon.com/2022/...

[Lady Entropy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm actually surprised I liked this book so much. Seriously. While I always liked Predator, Alien did nothing for me.

And yet, this complex, twist-filled book drew me in and kept me focused, even if the art changed so much that at times I didn't recognize the protagonist.

Plus, it had shout outs to mangas I recognized!

[Janika Puolitaival · Rating 3 out of 5]

Claremont makes Predators interesting.