Predator: Life and Death #4 Review

PREDATOR: LIFE AND DEATH #4 REVIEW

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Brian Albert Theis

Release Date: June 1st, 2016

The conclusion of the first Life and Death story arc!
The battle between the Colonial Marines and the Predators, opens on two fronts, as the humans attempt to split the enemy’s force and take possession of the mysterious horseshoe-shaped alien spaceship! Predator: Life and Death #4 is all about getting their hands on the alien technology will be a huge victory for the humans . . . or will it?

This story takes place approximately forty-three years after the events in the motion picture Aliens
(and just over a year after the events in Fire and Stone).  Investigating reports of claim jumpers on the Weyland-
Yutani planet Tartarus, Captain Paget’s Colonial Marines have come under attack by extraterrestrial “hunters”
equipped with cloaking devices and plasma cannons, who seem to be after the same thing the claim jumpers wanted: a mysterious spacecraft of unknown origin. Following directives from the Weyland-Yutani representative
embedded with her platoon to take possession of the mystery ship, Paget and her marines decided to split the Predator defenses. But so far, nothing has gone according to plan . .
Predator: Life and Death #4 begins with a bang! Literally a big bang of gunfire from the gun toting Colonial Marines *SPAK* right into a hunter Predator’s back. The book is action packed right off from the beginning until the climax at the end with plenty of violence, blood-splatters, and gunfire. The books starts right off from the cliffhanger of the last issue as two different sets of Colonial Marines and Predator’s duke it out to take possession of the horseshoe-shaped alien spaceship. The Marines gain the upper-hand as the Predator doesn’t take too kindly having his role reversed to being the prey.
Predator: Life and Death hasn’t had a whole lot of character development. It could be a good thing so as a reader, you won’t sympathize with the characters as much when the Predators catch up with the humans and begin their slaughter fests. One of the only characters given any sort of depth is Paget, whom has turned out to be the Queen Bee of the Colonial Marines. The way Paget acts out in front of everyone constantly reminds me of Sergeant Calhoun from the Wreck-it Ralph movie. She is a super tough tom boy who leads all of her marines and knows that they have to do what they have to do to get their job and mission done. But she also cares for her members and values human life.

The art of Predator: Life and Death continues to be impressive. The way that the colorist Rain Beredo’s colors blend with Brian Albert Thies’ artwork makes it seem like the backgrounds of the book is a moving water color painting. There are times the art seems rushed and a lot of details are left out. Though when the story reaches the inside scenes of the spaceship, it is as if the art team channeled their inner H.R. Giger and gives you the feel of the Aliens movies.

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