In the last few installments of Free Comic Inside we looked at the last of the Aliens minicomics packed with the Aliens toyline. Practically an alternate continuity to have more cast members to turn into toys joined with the belief that boys don’t want those cootie-ridden “girls yuck” as leader, the minicomics were maybe eight pages long and had story arcs going through a few issues. That means to get the complete story you had to buy more figures. Sneaky tactic, really.
However, at some point the line changed. Ripley and her friends were gone because in the pop and geek culture worlds the Xenomorphs had gained a different enemy besides the Space Marines and Earthlings. They got Predators.
First showing up in Dark Horse Presents #38, Aliens Vs. Predator was a huge crossover series for Dark Horse. Both franchises were owned by 20th Century Fox and licensed by Dark Horse Comics, so why wouldn’t you take that opportunity? Alien was a slasher movie in space with aliens while Predator was a slasher movie on Earth with aliens attacking beefy soldiers instead of teenage girls. Both races are hunters. Both are killers…you know, for kids. The comics were a hit…but the movie adaptation apparently isn’t good. Remember, I’m not really big into either franchise, though I did enjoy the first two Predator movies when I saw them and really never saw any of the Alien movies.
Meanwhile Kenner has the license for both action figures, so why wouldn’t they follow suit? The toys may actually be a benefit to the Predator franchise. To fill out the ranks and show mom and dad that they aren’t the same figure each time (the same reason Playmates gave the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles different colored bandana masks), each Predator had their own armor, their own look, their own action figure, just as they had done for the Xenomorphs to fill out the enemies. Dark Horse and Kenner may be the reason these lines continued past their second movie by showing the variety that was possible. The toyline would include one double-paged one-shot minicomic showing for the younger audience just how the backstory came about and why these two forces from movies the kids weren’t allowed to watch yet came together to kill destroy each other. For some reason this is considered the eleventh issue of the Aliens (Space Marines) comic despite having none of the humans from that line. So to end this series of reviews let’s read the last issue in this series.
I’m pretty sure they’ve both fought Archie at one point.
Aliens (Vs Predator/Space Marines) #13
FINAL ISSUE
Kenner/Dark Horse (1992)
“The Ultimate Battle”
Also the name of the two-pack this came with.
WRITER: Dan Thorsland
PENCILER: Brandon McKinney
INKER: Karl Kesel
COVER ART: Joe Philips
LETTERER: Dan Nakrosis
EDITOR: Barbara Kesel
There is no colorist listed at the Aliens Vs. Predator fandom wiki page I’m using for the research side. For the comic side, a toy review sit called OAFE posted the whole minicomic minus the credits page. Here’s where you can read along. It’s double the pages but the same size as the other twelve, so it won’t take long.
On an unnamed swamp planet the Predators have given the Xenomorphs a place to breed so they can use it as a hunting ground. Which is why starting by destroying the nest feels counterproductive to me. Unless there’s more than one nest you just lost your chance for future prey. I should note that the comic refers to the Xenomorphs as “aliens” even though neither race is native to this world, but the Predators are just called Predators. Gotta stay on brand, you know. Also, there is no dialog. The Predators aren’t translated into English, so they aren’t “humanized”. All they do is the noises you usually get from these guys. Everything is told through narration and visuals.
The young Renegade prepares to shoot the Xenos as they come running out, but the senior leader, Cracked Tusk, stops him, wanting the prey to get some more distance for the hunt. When the hunt begins we focus on Renegade tracking down one of the “hunter” xenomorphs, aka the usual design you see in the movies and kids saw in the trailers that shouldn’t have been aired during family hour and sporting events but Fox wasn’t about to lose those optics. The Xenomorph seems to have the advantage until it breaks the young warrior’s weapon. Eager to prove himself and now really ticked (the narrator warns never to make a Predator mad), Renegade holds his own until a second hunter appears. Luckily one of the other Predators in the flying vehicle your parents should have bought for you takes care of the second one, making it a fair fight again. The short story ends with Alien and Predator preparing for round two. Who wins? You have the toys. You decide.
l) the original comic, scan by OAFE | r) photo comic recreation by NECA
I kind of like that ending. I don’t know if Thorsland was hoping for more issues like the previous 12 (using the renumbering system popular in the Golden Age to keep the post office happy…long story) or if he honestly believed this was a great way to end the story. This came with a two pack featuring both characters, and in 2015 NECA honored this through their own Aliens Vs Predator toyline by recreating the comic using the action figures and homemade sets, and the figures from a Toys R Us exclusive two-pack. I miss Toys R Us. However, the ending does give the kids a chance to tell the rest of the story on their own, to boost their play experience. Or they can ignore it and create their own story about how the Alien and Predator team up to fight He-Man or something. It’s up to them, but this allows them to be the storyteller and I can get behind that.
Thus we come to the end of another series of toys. Next time we journey into the world of pack-in minicomics it’s back to Atari, not with Atari Force (which I’ve finished) or our questing twins (I do have one left), but the first in a pair of Atari game adaptations. I hope you don’t mind centipedes.
BW Media Spotlight 