It all began last March with Predator, a story  arc that lasted over a year and finally ends with a Prometheus double issue. A simple survey mission turned into complete and utter madness. Curiosity not only killed the cat, but anyone curious about alien lifeforms and spaceships. Did the year long odyssey have a worthy payoff? Let’s take a look.

*Spoilers ahead*

We’re not left with much at this stage.  We have one group of survivors stuck on LV-223 (Seriously, don’t book a vacation there) with an irked Engineer. The other group is stuck in deep space in a ship piloted by the other Engineer. These Engineers have become a nice addition to the mythos, their mystery adds a nice dimension to the storytelling. I’m sure with the release of Alien Covenant even more story ideas will open up.

Paget, Roth, Galgo, Melville, and Jill are the only ones left on the ground. With the alien horde and Predator clan no longer in the picture it’s just them, and an Engineer. I found this as the lesser part of the issue as it was just a basic run and survive story. It reminded of the end of the first Predator movie, though Melville’s strategy against the Engineer was a bit different. The conclusion to the battle was satisfying, how they defeated might cause a bit of debate. But with this part of the mythos still being explored, I liked the idea.

Up in the ship is where it’s a bit more interesting. Humble, Foster, Singer are left to their own devices as they travel to who knows where. They come across an interesting painting in the ship. I think the ideas of these Engineers’ paintings and sculptures add greatly to the world building. Lots of hypothesis to be drawn from this one as well. Once again, Earth seems to be the target of their anger and they vouch to stop it. *Spoiler warning!* They decide to disrupt the coordinates of the ship to save our lovely planet. Of course, our planet is saved and they arrive safely. But here is the kicker, Singer tells them they not only can be anywhere but anyWHEN. Is this a little hint that the Engineers have some form of time travel? And the planet they land on looks a bit familiar to the one in the Alien Covenant promos. This all could be a set up for the post-Covenant comics, but quite interesting indeed.

Summary:

Did the Life and Death live up to it’s epic promise? Yes and no. It did have a grand scale to it, and it was awesome the way everything connected. It was much more organized and easier to follow than Fire and Stone as well. I still think it’s a bit much, having all four: Prometheus, Aliens, Predator, Aliens vs Predator involved ends up with too many moving parts with the story and characters. In the end, this was an entertaining story that was much improved over Fire and Stone. It didn’t quite take some of the crazy risks, but was a more coherent product.

Issue Score: 8.5

Life and Death Score: 8.0