Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus, Vol. 2

Alien vs. Predators Omnibus #2

by Chris Claremont, Barbara Randall Kesel, David Ross

Mankind's most lethal adversaries battle for supremacy, and whoever wins - we lose. In a skyliner high above the Alien-contaminated earth, Caryn Delacroix can't sleep. Terrifying images of pursuit, disfigurement and bloody death have invaded her peaceful dreams in her safe and privileged world. But they're only nightmares... or are they? The beautiful trophy-consort of corporate magnate Lucien Delacroix soon discovers that nightmares do come true and there are fates worse than death - when a Predator comes to call.

Table of Contents
Deadliest of the Species
Booty
Hell-Bent
Pursuit
Lefty's Revenge
Chained to Life and Death
Xenogenesis

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

458 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2007

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

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadliest of the Species by Chris Claremont, Eduardo Barreto, and Jackson Guice - ★★★
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. Claremont wanted to make a story of genetic engineering in the future more than a AvP story. 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.

Booty by Barbara Kesel & Ron Randall - ★★
Aliens get loose on a transport ship when a Predator also arrives. Humans are stuck in the middle. The standard plot of any AvP story.

Hell-Bent by David Ross - ★★★
Some marines are trapped an some kind of rig in an Alien hive with a Predator on board. Generated some nice excitement for a quick story.

Pursuit by Ian Edginton & Mel Rubi - ★★★★
A sequel to Aliens: Purge. Synthetic / Alien hybrid Eloise returns now being hunted by Predators and the company.

Lefty's Revenge by Brian McDonald & Pop Mhan - ★★★
A woman is being hunted by the Predator, Lefty, on a station infested with Aliens. The woman and Lefty have some kind of prior relationship that I'm guessing happened in one of the Predator comics.

Chained to Life and Death by Mark Schultz & Tom Biondolillo - ★★
Suffers from over-narration. A story of the end of a fight between an Alien and a Predator where both are critically injured.

Xenogenesis by Andi Watson & Mel Rubi - ★★★
Two punk kids / thieves have gotten themselves cornered into working for the Company. They are forced to go on a mission to steal something from a safe. When they get there the place is overrun by Aliens hunted by a Predator. A cat and mouse game follows while they try to get out alive with their employer constantly trying to screw them over.

[Sérgio · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book because I found it really cheap in a bookstore and the prospect of reading 450 pages of comics about two of the coolest modern monsters didn’t seem too bad. Unfortunately I was wrong.

The main story, is the 300-pages long “Deadliest of the Species”, written by Chris Claremont, well known for his work in the X-Men comics. This was a really disappointing read.

In it we have an overdose of clunky dialogue but, despite of his verbose style, Claremont isn't able to make any of the characters engaging in any way. The main character had a real opportunity of being interesting, but this is completely ruined by the excess of redundant inner monologues where we have the same bunch of thoughts repeated time and time again for most of the story. It becomes aggravating when she repeats to herself for the 100th time stuff like:"I'm just a genetically engineered “trophy wife”, I shouldn’t be able to act like someone who has military training", or even "I don't understand what's happening. I'm so miserable!! *sob* ".

Unfortunately, it was also really messy plot-wise, and the final chapter felt like an unengaging final rush to tie all the loose knots that were created through the rest of those 300 pages.

The art was competent enough but never really engaging. One gets the feeling that the artist would be more comfortable with super-heroes than with horror, since the art never really evokes the creepy mood one should expect when Aliens are involved.

The rest of the book was created following an unsavory recipe: uninspired stories with paper-thin characters and bad art.

The only exception is the short “Chained to Life and Death” that has the best art in the book and has a straight-forward story that exposes the psychology of an ageing Predator. It’s a decent little read, which is a modest feat but that much can’t be said of the rest of this omnibus.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It appears that Clarement reeeeeally wanted to write a long-form space opera about genetic engineering, "trophy wives" and their relationship to feminism of the future, Artifical Intelligence, and corporate espionage...but dang, had to work in those pesky Aliens and Predators somehow.

There was a lot of VR and dream sequences meant to mislead the reader, but ultimately it was poorly executed and just watered down any majaor plot development, i.e. did that actually happen, or will the next page turn undo everything?

The art was pretty, though (plenty of mid-90s T&A, but there you go) and a lot of the dialogue was snappy and respects the reader's intelligence.

FYI: the last third is mostly throwaway single issue stories, with one extended arc about an oh-so-cyberpunk couple forced into some dodgy dealings and caught in the crossfire between Xenomorphs and a particularly indestructible Predator. Their repartee is meant to be witty, but in light of the extremely mortal danger they're constantly facing it strikes a very jarring tone. Yawn.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really weak way to end the AVP series sadly. Both in art and writing direction.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadliest of The Species è una mini serie di 12 albi scritta da Cris Claremont e disegnata per lo più da Barreto, ed è il piatto forte di questo omnibus. Il resto sono storie di poco conto, graficamente disomogenee e comunque decisamente scarse, totalmente stereotipate su "bang/thud/slash/roar" dei characters originali.
Torniamo dunque al lavoro di Claremont. La storia parte dal mondo post invasione degli Alien, apparsa in una storia che ora non ricordo bene ma dovrebbe essere stata pubblicata qui Aliens: Outbreak dove i grandi padroni delle multinazionali della Terra vivono in gigantesche strutture sub orbitali dove gli xenomorfi non possono raggiungerli.
Come spesso con Claremont, è una storia molto verbosa, con troppe, ridondanti didascalie ma con diversi colpi di scena, azione in quantità e personaggi di cui propone approfondimenti psicologici, specialmente la principale, una "moglie-trofeo" ossia una donna (non un androide) creata in laboratorio e geneticamente programmata per essere una bella e condiscendente "schiava d'alto rango". Certo, ci prova anche con la regina madre anziana degli Xenomorfi e con la madre dei Predator, ma qui gli riesce un poco meno bene.
La storia è intricata, certi passaggi si spiegano solo verso la fine, dopo molto tempo. Gli incubi della "moglie-Trofeo" sono, oltre che inquietanti, il fil rouge per seguire e intuire qualcosa di quello che non sta funzionando, dell'origine dei problemi che i protagonisti affrontano.
Devo ammettere che mi ha preso bene fino alla fine.

Sarebbero 3 stelle e mezza, ma oltre 100 pagine di storielle pessime abbassano un poco il voto finale.

[Oliver Hassani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one isnt as good as the first omnibus. Both contain a "main" story, the longest and most well known story within the collection, and the first one's main story absolutely shits on this one's. The main story here is about taking high doses of Lysergic Acid after watching Dark City, Aliens: ressurection, and Predator 2... Beware, you may lose your sanity in the midst of reading it...

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The primary story in this is the best aspect of it. The additional stories just don't measure up. A little too much comedy for the subject matter.

[Carolina Casas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this better than the first volume. The stories are longer and the characters are more developed. The first story was the best.

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to this one. More than half the book is one whole series "The Deadliest Species"...and we'll it was...bonkers.
Like it had some really good ideas but overall it a complete mess. For one, reality and mind-scape are complete blurred together. So, when the main character looks like she being killed or tranforming, it's all her mind. This would be cool if it wasn't done sooo many times and it was clearer that, what's happening. Also the storyline get soo muddle with the twist and flashbacks (so many flashbacks), if the artist had use her "real" face for the flashbacks and put them into an order it would have been better. And when we get to Toy's story, it really needs to be state earlier that he was actually creating the monsters. I got so confused cause I that it was virtual reality simulation (which was stated in the beginning) inside the building. It not until the end that they state "we were clay to him".
Other that, I enjoyed almost ever of story.

"Booty" was very cute, I liked the banter and fun it had.
"Hell-bent" was too short, I actually want more. I love it start in the middle, it made me want to know more.
"Pursuit" was awesome!! It did the one thing I wanted to see and hadn't yet. A hybrid alien! It was to short too, I want more. My favorite out of them all.
"Lefty's Revenge" was interesting, I really like the relationship dynamic between the Predator and her. But, it also broke that because she left him to die. No back and forth, wanting to kill but being forced to save each other. It left me with an bland feeling.
"Chained to Life & Death" was cool cause it was the Predators thoughts and view. It deepens his culture more.
"Xenogenesis" was...ok. I like the idea and pacing, but the character's banter was a little annoying. Most was ok, but some felt wrong. It was also very weird and bad that character would ask something or point out something (with huge reveals or ramifications) that were completely ignore or dropped. Like, the betrayal that they were going to be used as hosts, they suddenly start talk about the computers drive. You're getting backstabbed and you don't get angry? And they do it a couple times. It was weird and disjointed. Love the idea of a bank heist style and the art work was really interesting.

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a real nostalgia for the old Dark Horse Aliens/Predator/Terminator comics and there's definitely some good stuff here and there through those (and the more recent Aliens comics they've been putting out have been great, they're doing a great job with the property these days - the whole Resistance/Amanda Ripley series is something I'm a big fan of).

Revisiting this was hellish though. I do hate to be scathing in reviews (humans made this and probably worked very hard on it!) but my goodness, it's total gibberish isn't it? Like a weird stream of consciousness fever dream of absolute nonsense, and pretty much unreadable. Steer clear.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's start with the lead tale, that takes up 60% of the volume: It should never take over 30 pages for a Predator to appear in a AVP story, and even longer for the first Alien to be sighted. Droning, Boring, unnecessary worldbuilding is something no one is looking for. Avoid at all costs. The rest of the volume suffers from the same generic, thick-lined, overly contrasted art that went out of vogue 30 years ago for good reason.

[Edward Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

To give this two stars is being generous at this point. There is one story that takes up 75% of the book and it is one of the most convoluted and dare I say boring. There were only two stories I enjoyed and the rest were garbage. The main story was a total mess and the art seemed to range from okay to terrible. Totally disappointing.

[BIGnick BIGnick · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
Disappointing collection.
First story is 300 pages of needlessly complicated plot and characters I couldn’t care less about. It’s a long read that ultimately leads nowhere. The rest are short stories that don’t add anything to the mythos and utterly forgettable.
Could easily skip this omnibus and not miss anything.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally finished the entirety of the Aliens and Predator comics and go figure this wasn’t good. The main story feels like it was written on the fly and the art isn’t good. I wound up skimming through the remainder of the stories because the art was really bad in them. All in all not a good series even if it delivers on the promise of Aliens fighting Predators.

[Erik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Claremont's story is overly long and still has hardly any good action, which is pretty much all you want out of these stories. All the short stories from the AVP annual are terrible, and Xenogenesis has some bad art and worse characters.

[GodzillaGus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Glad this is behind me. This was my 1st comic by Chris Claremont and I hated it. The last story was OK.

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first volume but this one stunk. The overhyped Chris Claremont story was horrible and took up 3/4th of the book. The last two stories were the only ones I liked and they were only so so.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this is one huge (three hundred page) story, "Deadliest of the Species", written by Chris Claremont with art by Jackson Guice and Eduardo Barreto. It's very ambitious, and Claremont makes a real effort to tell a science fiction story that's new to this universe, rather than rehashing the greatest hits. But while it's enjoyable, with a lot of exciting stuff going on, I have to admit that I found much of it baffling, including the conclusion. That may be the effect of having read it late at night, though, so don't take my word for it.

That's followed by five short stories, mostly taken from the Alien vs Predator annual, which are all pretty entertaining.

The book concludes with "Xenogenesis", a ninety-page story collected from the mini-series of the same name. It's good fun, but doesn't really surprise. I spent most of the story wondering where the big guy with short blonde hair had got to: make sure you pay close attention to the bottom panel on page 393.

[Ronald Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

More involvement with the predators, you get a sense of who they are. Good dynamics between the main character and the predators, even a rapport.

If they films were anything like these books they would be block busters.

Good action, a slowly developing plot that climaxes well. Not quite gripping but good enough.

[Justin Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such are hard slog. The first story was tiring to read, the last few were a lot of fun- short, sweet and full of action (none of this trying to be cerebral carry on that doesn't mesh with the aliens or predators)

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as much as I liked the first one. But it was still good and I enjoyed the story line with the female predator, even if she wasn't drawn to canon specks.

[nooker · Rating 5 out of 5]

What the movies should have been

[Richard Gombert · Rating 1 out of 5]

These stories are bad. Really bad.