Aliens/Predator: Deadliest of the Species
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Added by MartyGThe series was written by Chris Claremont, with art by the team of pencillers Jackson Guice and Eduardo Barreto and inker John Beatty. Guice and Beatty worked as the creative team on the first three issues, and Barreto then provided all interior artwork for issue 4-12. The series was colored by Gregory Wright and lettered by Tom Orzechowski & Susie Lee. Cover art was provided by painter John Bolton. The series was edited by Diana Schutz and Barbara Kesel.
Deadliest of the Species was first collected and published as a trade paperback in Nov. 1996, and again in a limited hard-cover edition in June 1997, both editions edited by Lynn Adair featuring the same new, painted cover by Bolton. The story was finally republished as Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of the Species in Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus: Volume 2 in Oct. 2007.
Added by SpaceWussIn the AVP comics line, Deadliest of the Species was followed by/published concurrently with Aliens vs. Predator: Blood Time (Sept. 1994), Aliens vs. Predator: Duel (March–April 1995) and Aliens vs. Predator: War (May-Aug. 1995).
Contents |
Plot (Warning: Spoilers)
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Official description of individual issues:
Added by SpaceWussIn 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 and 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 that there are fates worse than death, as a Predator comes to call.
Far from her sheltered, affluent existence in the sky as the trophy-wife of a corporate magnate, Caryn Delacroix now finds herself playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse as she is stalked by the fearsome Predator. But is this real—or just a lethal virtual reality scenario constructed by the mysterious super-computer, TOY? Unfortunately, Caryn doesn't have time to figure out the answer, as she's too busy scrambling for her life! And as if the Predator weren't enough of a threat, in her bid for escape Caryn comes face-to-face with... an Alien horde!
Safely back in her deluxe home in the skies, Caryn Delacroix is plagued by nightmares in which Predators and Aliens abound, all of them intent on destroying her. The problem is, the nightmares are proving to be "Virtually Real"! Caryn Delacroix discovers that she's been lied to, and the Predator she assumed was a figment of her own tortured imagination is quite real—and being held captive on board her husband's skyliner. In a desperate
Added by SpaceWussWhile Caryn Delacroix is forced to undergo another genetic transformation at the hands of kidnappers who intend to sell her on the black market, the Predator makes life rough for the other inhabitants of f Space Station Samara. However, everyone is in for some pretty "Rude Awakenings" when they discover that one of the space station's inhabitants is an Alien queen!
Sometimes the choice between the lesser of two evils is no choice at all. Caryn Delacroix, having escaped the black-market profiteers, takes off in a Thelma-and-Louise-style T-bird through the corridors of Space Station Samara in search of her sometime ally, the Predator. Will he be her savior, or her assassin? All this, and the pseudo-Alien TecSeks, too!
Added by SpaceWussTrapped in an Alien nest on Samara Station, trophy wife Caryn Delacroix fights for her life and identity against the raging memories trapped inside her genetically perfect body and the former allies who want her dead. TecSeks, Alien-killer robots, are loose inside the poorly defended station, already overwhelmed by its search for a Predator, which means no back-up for the others trapped in the hive. To save them, Caryn prepares herself for the ultimate sacrifice...
Trapped in an Alien hive deep in the heart of Space Station Samara, Caryn Delacroix and the team of soldiers sent to hunt her have one way out—the Predator ship in which Caryn came to the station. In a station without gravity, rapidly losing all atmosphere, all that lies between them and freedom is a vicious horde of Alien-killer robots, and one cranky mother Alien. Will Caryn's strange transformation be their salvation or their death?
Added by SpaceWussOn their way to find the source of the deadly Tecsek raid that decimated Samara Station with an Alien queen on board, the transformed Caryn Delacroix and the Predator "Big Mama" put the other humans through the deadliest training they will ever face—a series of brutal tests designed to turn them into the fiercest hunters in the universe. What happens when humans become Predators?
Caryn Delacroix is lost in a virtual world with her arch rival, Bobby DeMatier. Jumping from the old west to distant planets to the crime-ridden streets of 1920s America, they are locked in a battle for possession of Toy, the living computer that controls the SkyLiner spacecraft and the architect of their dreams. Elsewhere on the ship, Shirow and DeMedici search for the cause of the Alien takeover. As the clues unravel, their suspicions lead them to a betrayal that is closer than they'd like it to be. All this, plus the debut of a brand-new Alien hybrid!
Added by SpaceWussSomething evil is lurking the corridors of SkyLiner Liberté, leaving death and carnage in its wake. Caryn and her band of Predators believe it's an Alien hive, but they're gonna find out they're wrong. Dead wrong.
Behind the ScenesEdit
Following a one-year hiatus after his best-selling run on The Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont made his triumphant return to comics in this 320-page epic of Aliens and Predators.
Jackson Guice and John Beatty (The Terminator: Endgame) delivered some of their finest art in the first three chapters, and Eduardo Barreto deftly carried the mantle from chapter four through the end.
With a twelve-cover gallery inside, the limited edition hard cover release boasted a tip-in signature plate painted by John Bolton and signed by Bolton and Chris Claremont.
Crossovers, Cameos and HomagesEdit
Added by SpaceWussApart from the obvious Aliens/Predator universe crossover, Claremont also made a number of other pop-culture references over the course of the series.
- The apparent skulls of several notable comic book characters make cameos as Predator trophies in "Big Mama's" spaceship. These include the skulls of what appear to be Magneto, Wolverine, Batman and Cyclops.
- There is an homage to the popular Shiro Masamune manga/anime Appleseed in the form of the spaceship of the series two Strikeforce Troopers, Shirow and DeMedici, and their starship "Appleseed", which runs on a computer called the "Briareos Mode 9 C3 Nexus" (Briareos was the name of the manga/anime's android co-protagonist). There is also a picture of the two posing with what appears to be the main human character from the manga/anime.
- There is a refence to cartooning legend Wally Wood in the same scene, where a panel on the Appleseed reads that it was constructed by the "W. Wood Spacecraft Co."
- There is a Flash Gordon homage included in the virtual reality fight sequences at the story's climactic battle, including a redrawing of a famous panel of Flash Gordon artwork by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel, with the note "After Al + Roy" in the corner.
- There is a reference to the film Thelma & Louise in the form of a car that Caryn finds and drives that is identical to the one from the climax of the film with a license plate that reads "Thelma 01"
- There is also more than just a reference to Claremont's previous short comic Aliens: Renegade from Dark Horse Comics #1, but a continuation of elements from that story, which served as a build-up to Deadliest of the Species.
- Two characters named "Bart" and "Homer" appear during a battle sequence, an obvious reference to television series The Simpsons.
