Aliens Vol.1 #4

May 1991. Cover price £1.50.
52 pages. Colour & B&W.
Trident Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Martin Skidmore.

Cover by Dave Dorman.
r:

Contents:

 2 Letters Page readers' mail.

 3 Contents / Title Credits / Indicia

 4 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

 5 Aliens Untitled, part four, w: Mark Verheiden; a: Denis Beauvaus, lettering by Bob Pinaha.

r: Aliens (Dark Horse) #02 (Dec 1989).

13 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

14 Predator The Heat, part four, w: Mark Verheiden; a: Chris Warner, lettering by Jim Massara, colouring by Chris Chalenor.

r: Predator #02 (Jun 1989).

34 Credits / Story So Far text introduction (uncredited).

35 Aliens Vs Predator Untitled, part four, w: Randy Stradley; p: Phil Norwood, i: Karl Story, lettering by Pat Brosseau.

r: Aliens Vs Predator (Dark Horse) #01 (Jun 1990).

50 Next Month (half page) / Subscriptions (half page)

51 Letters Page readers' mail, cont.

52 Makabre - Coming Soon in Toxic! advertisement.

The arrival of readers letters allows Aliens to feel more connected to the readership, and Martin Skidmore's responses are appropriately optimistic regarding the continued success of Trident, suggesting that original covers might be forthcoming, hinting at new titles, and being a great cheerleader for British comics in general. While there are still problems with the title - that expanse of wasted black space on the contents page remains - it is a positive step towards a more balanced presentation of material.

Butler drags himself to a computer terminal in order to watch events on the monitors. Seeing Spears order Newt to be taken to the breeding centre - and certain death - he moves through corridors filled with aliens, and past the screaming humans remaining, to reach a functional control panel. As the aliens approach Newt, he activates an emergency pressure seal to block their access to her.

Not much happens in this issue, though the art - as always - is great. Butler has some real character development here, with an extended insight into how he sees the world around him, and the problems his programming creates.

That night I rested - and remembered, when Dutch and I were kids, we would hunt in the woods behind our father's cabin.

It wasn't the sport we liked as much as the challenge of the hunt - being on our own, testing ourselves against nature.

Opening day of deer season, we came across a bunch of local boys shooting up the woods. They'd been drinking since daybreak and they had that weird look in their eyes.

Guess they were trying to impress each other.

They'd cornered a buck and took turns pumping slugs into it, watching it bleed into the cool October air.

These boys weren't that different from me and Dutch, except they needed to see the blood.

That's when I learned that there's a world of difference between killing because you have to - and killing because it's fun.

Filling in the blanks regarding Dutch's past, the explanation for his tenacity and resilience in his battle with the Predator becoming less fantastic thanks to his upbringing. Sharing Dutch's sense of certainty when facing such an unusual enemy, Schaefer is hunting now. The tracker in his neck provides him advance warning of the alien presence, and he readies his automatic shotgun.

The Predator duly appears, and Schaefer unloads his weapon before charging headfirst into the depths of the jungle eager to end the battle quickly, though the Predator is prepared for his advance. Seeing the wound he has inflicted on it, Schaefer draws his knife and stabs the Predator, but merely enrages it. Running from the Predator, he comes to a cliff edge, and (through luck as much as skill) manages to send it tumbling to its death below. Returning to his camp, Schaefer discovers that his guide knows more than he has let on.

Rasche tries on the Predator helmet, seeing dozens of ships hanging in the air above New York. Taking the news to McComb, he is told that he faces a full departmental review for withholding evidence, so storms out of the department - only to be stopped by federal agents. Due to manpower shortages, the IRS have been called in to assist...

Dual story threads raise the threat posed to the city by several levels, with a dead Predator in South America and ships hanging in the air over New York, there's enough of material for several stories here. The death of a Predator ought to be more dramatic than falling off a cliff, and it seems rather too easy for Schaefer to defeat a member of the species so off-handedly.

Which is a good a place as any to suggest... Abbott and Costello meet the Predator. I'm serious. I would pay for a fully-painted, photo-realistic series crossing the franchises without a moments hesitation.

The dialogue following this scene is, however, worth the conceit, and indicates that there is a long and troubled history between Predators and humanity. This is more interesting than merely having the species pop up every so often for a murderous rampage, and hints at a conspiracy tacitly approved by those in a position of power. Conspiracy stories, especially when wrapped in the blanket of SF, can make for the very best narratives - had this been developed in the second film, the franchise would probably not have stuttered to an abrupt halt for so long.

Aliens Vs Predator has dragged along at a snail's pace since the first issue, so it is something of a surprise to have a proper story unfolding now.

The planet Ryushi,
at the edge of the Chigusa Corporation's holdings in the Beta Cygni system.

Only human populace: 'Prosperity Wells.'
Population: 115 primary freelance ranchers and their families, plus a token staff of corporate overseers.

Despite the opening sequence seemingly promising dinosaur-type alien hybrids, this appears to be present for the sole purpose of showcasing formidable Predator techniques. As intriguing as dinosaurs and Predators mixing it up would be, there's a genre shit to the "space western" in both appearance and text, which is a slightly larger leap than was probably intended.

The 'terror' came from the stars.

It wasn't indigenous. Even if the survey teams had missed it four years ago, we would have encountered it before the trouble began.

No, it came from somewhere else - some Hell-world beyond Ryushi.

Where? I don't know - and I hope we never find out.

But I know when it came...

The 'Terror' arrived at high noon.

In the searing heat of Ryushi's nineteen-hour daylight period, nothing stirs of its own volition - not even the armored fire crawlers.

With every living creature burrowed in, restivating, or otherwise sheltered against the heat, it's not surprising there were no witnesses to its arrival.

The personal lives of the characters add to the story's believability, though it is all too... cosy. It isn't a world which is seething on the brink of cultural or societal transformation, even without the addition of external pressures, and - without a mirror to the larger threat - the sense of things about to quickly head south isn't as pronounced. Taking motifs of the western (the frontier town, an enemy riding in at high noon) without addressing the core of western literature - that the problem was present all along, and merely needed the arrival of an outside force to finally shatter fragile cohabitation - it loses a degree of tension.

There's some fine artwork, and a great introduction to the means by which the Predators infest a location with Alien seeds for their hunt. It may have been a slow build-up to the point where the two species can be put together, but it is a strip which is improving massively.

#03

Aliens Vol.1

#05