Customer Reviews

Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus, Vol. 1

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Aliens vs Predator Omnibus Volume 1 is fantastically priced and features the original AvP comic that started it all and the following titles: Blood Time, Duel, War, Eternal, Old Secrets and The Web. Whether you're a hardcore fan like me or developed your interest after watching the AvP movie, you'll definitely love this must-have collection containing two of the galaxy's most feared species in a battle to the death!

With Marvel and DC Comics having enjoyed so much success with their Essentials/Showcase Presents Omnibus reprints, Dark Horse Comics has jumped on the bandwagon with their own massive tomes of reprint material. One of the things that really made Dark Horse a success when they started out over twenty years ago was the licensing of popular characters from film into comics format such as Aliens, Predator, and Star Wars. They continue to enjoy enormous success with these licensed properties today.

Aliens Vs. Predator Vol. 1 is one of the first of these omnibus editions presenting 456 pages of story and art. Now the Dark Horse Omnibus books are a bit smaller than their Marvel and DC counterparts, and they are also a bit more expensive. But, the Dark Horse books are the only one of the three being presented in color. The biggest complaints the people seem to have about the Essentials/Showcase Presents books is that they are in black and white. The material in this book was originally presented in the previous graphic novels: Aliens Vs. Predator; Aliens Vs. Predator: War; Aliens Vs. Predator: Eternal, as well as stories from Dark Horse Presents.

What we will learn is that the Predator race, known going forward as the Hunters, have been hunting the Xenophobes for a long, long time. In fact, the presence of the bugs on so many worlds, and in so many different climates, is basically the fault of the Hunters who have basically colonized worlds throughout the galaxy with the Alien's eggs for the sole purpose of hunting them when they've matured. Now that's quite a sport!

The best story in the book is Aliens Vs. Predator: War and the events take place directly following the Aliens Vs. Predator lead story. Machiko Noguchi is a human female who helped a hunter kill an alien and was accepted into Hunter society. Well, accepted is the wrong term...more like she's tolerated, but she is trained in Hunter lore and combat skills by the clan chief, Topknot, and even accompanies them on their hunts for the bugs, including the capturing of an Alien Queen. The Hunter's regular plans entail capturing queens and keeping her prisoner as they harvest her eggs and place them on various worlds. When the Hunters bring the eggs to a human outpost, Noguchi has to decide if her loyalty is to her new society or to her species.

Aliens Vs. Predator: Eternal is another excellent storyline, taking place on modern day Earth. A wealthy man has exploited the finding of a Hunter spacecraft, even unlocking the secrets of their cloaking ability. After many years his scientists have finally managed to open the ships cargo bay...that is filled with egg-like objects...

It's interested to note the difference in art styles in the book, or perhaps more accurately, the difference in printing. The earliest story dates to 1989 - 1990 and was still done in traditional panel style comic art. Moving up to the more recent stories where the art is printed right to the edge of the page and is without borders. It's really quite a difference when you have the two to compare side-by-side.

For 460 pages of full color material, these omnibus editions are a great value and present some of Dark Horse's finest work.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

as a long time Aliens and Predator fan (not so much the first AVP movie), this collection is a great place to start. this is my first non-Star Wars DH title and i'm very pleased.

the ryushi storyline takes up a good portion of the TPB and well worth it. it has a couple different parts to the story and is broken up by some great short takes on AVP.

there's a great look into Predator culture with the concluding chapters of Ryushi.

the art and coloring are great, given the time period (mid 90s). it still looks very fresh.

this is a definate must for AVP and Predator fans...im not sure how the Aliens story arcs stack up to other Alien titles though...we see the inspiration for the last AVP movie and get a good look at the Hybrid in the upcoming movie.

This is the first of the Omnibus collections released by Dark Horse a couple years back. I believe it even preceeded the Star Wars, Terminator, and other titles Dark Horse is releasing Omnibuses for as well.

Anyway, this first collection of AvP comics is fantastic. Not only do almost all of the stories somehow connect with each other, but they're consistently good. This first volume collects the original story arc that started AvP and some other misc. stories.

Aliens vs. Predator
This is what "Alien vs. Predator" should have been. The 150+ page length is a non-stop thrill ride and nearly impossible to put down due to the catchy unforgettable characters and story. Predators launch Alien eggs to various planets, but by mistake a Queen egg has landed on Ryushi. By the time a giant cargo ship lands to pick up a herd of animals to take back to Earth, the Predators are discovered by the humans. Soon after the Alien population rages out of control and the humans are caught in the middle. A great story that caries on throughout the rest of this collection.
5/5

Blood Time
This is a brief story following Top-Knot's clan. He briefly appeared in the original story and is now in charge due to the demise of the previous leader. It follows Predators hunting Aliens on a colorfully illustrated world. A short but entertaining read.
4/5

Duel
Marines receive a distress signal from the planet Ryushi and land to find that it is deserted...by humans. They encounter an Alien infestation and a few Predators and are forced to hold up in the wreckage of Prosperity Wells, the colony from the original story. My only gripe with this is the lack of gore for how much carnage the story implies. Also, it's a little short for the scope of its story. It goes by pretty fast and we don't really get to know the characters.
4/5

War
A direct sequel to the original story, but reading Blood Time and Duel first will make Top-Knot a more developed character. Also, there's a brief cameo by the blue space suit Predator from Duel to add some closure to that story. I suggest you don't read this until you read the three previous AvP stories and also Aliens Frenzy (aka Berserker). The survivors from Frenzy (Jess, Lara, and Ellis) find themselves held captive by corporate thugs who want information from them concerning their last mission. Meanwhile Machiko Noguchi has been living with Predators for a year, and when she finds out that Top-Knot and his hunting party have put humans in danger, she escapes to intervene. This isn't really as catchy or fun as the original story, but after reading the previous tales, it makes sense and is pretty entertaining.
4/5

Eternal
This is THE best AvP comic ever created. The story is perfect, there's no team up crap, and the artwork is fantastic. It's sort of a noir thing that follows a woman reporter after she first encounters Predators during a battle with some guerillas in Africa. A guy keeping himself alive for hundreds of years with Predator hearts is also a very interesting and cool story element. This would have also made a great adaptation on the silver screen. The ONLY thing that annoys me is that like always, there is more attention dedicated to the Predators and their backstory than the Aliens. The Aliens always seem to kind of just...show up and start fighting, whether their appearance is explained or not. It usually is, but there's little time actually dedicated to their theories or backstory. Eternal is a fantastic read and a reason alone to buy this book.
5/5

Old Secrets
This is an interesting one-shot that tries to tie Predators into religious mythology. It succeeds in being kind of eerie, and the ending is definitely rewarding.
4/5

The Web
A B&W short about a crew of 5 who stumble onto a nearly deserted planet to find Alien. They escape into a large complex where they find Bobby Sheldon (the young boy from AvP), who waits to lure Predators to the planet and take revenge for the death of his parents. An overall good and disturbing end to the Ryushi arc.
4/5

I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in AvP. These stories are all great and even for just casual readers of comics is well worth buying.

This book brings back some serious nostalgia, as I had an issue of the first comic in this book. After reading the entire collection front to back I have to say that the first one and the last are pretty good, with Eternal being my second favorite. But if you are a fan of the two franchises this is worth a pickup.

Great artwork and stories, a collection of works on par with Dark Horse's excellent quality. The main story is a fantastic read, and the short stories offer a lot of variety ("the Web" is downright creepy).

Plus, this bad boy is over 400 pages (all of these omnibuses are). No advertisements, just pure story. Well worth every penny.

This book has everything that i wanted to find without having to buy twenty different comics. I recommend this to anyone that wants the story from the beginning with out having to search to hard.

Ok, so I just finished reading the Aliens vs Predator Omnibus. So what did I think?

Overall I felt the collection was pretty balanced.

"Aliens vs Predator" - I'd give this story a 8.5/10. The story focuses on a human colony that gets caught in the middle of a Predator Xenomorph (Alien) hunt. Probably the story with the best human characters. There are a ton of Aliens and plenty of action.

"Blood Time" - 10/10 - This is the best story in the book, and it's only 8 pages long. Sometimes less is more. There are no humans in the story at all. A seasoned Predator takes a clan hunting Aliens as a right of passage. Has an outstanding conclussion.

"Duel" - 8/10 - A group of colonial marines investigates the planet featured in the story "Aliens vs Predator".

"War" - 6/10 - Part one of this story was really promising as a continuation of above entries, but I felt it began to fall apart in Part 2. Too bad, because I really liked the way this story started. The ending sucks.

"Eternal" - 7.5/10 - Probably the best drawn story in the book. The plot is ok, but it's really the artwork that shines in this one. The Aliens look fantastic and so do the Predators. I wish they were all drawn so well.

"Old Secrets" - 3/10 - Another one shot. Completely pointless as it has no action at all. Just some old priest walking around talking about Saint George and the Dragon. Boring.

"The Web" - 2/10 - Complete crap. I don't know what else to say. The plot? Think AVP-R and Alien Resurrection...yeah; it's bad. Furthermore the story is in complete black and white. (I'm glad it was only 20 pages) Read it on the toilet so you don't waste valuable time that you could have spent doing something else more important.

Pros: 465 pages of story: no ads and most of the book is full color (only the last 20 pages are B&W).

Cons: Missing cover artwork. Often the most beautiful art of a comic book is the cover. Wish they would have included all the covers and not just a few.

Great read, the art is typical of the era. This collection of AVP is quite a great collection. If you don't own the original comics, or even if you do, pick this omnibus up!

I purchased the AvP 1 for my son for Xmas. He didn't even read it thru before the glue on the spine just fell away and the book just collapsed into a heap of scattered pages. Great book, lousy binding. I'm going back to Amazon for a new book or a refund.