Review by Ian Keogh

So many stories about Aliens, and to a lesser extent Predators feature an element of hubris when humans are involved, someone believing themselves capable of bettering two of the galaxy’s primal threats. The joy is in watching their downfall. Ian Edginton uses that arrogant pride as the basis for Eternal, as one Gideon Suhn Lee uses his vast fortune to probe the secrets of extending his already phenomenal life span further. Beyond Aliens and Predators, the complication is journalist Rebecca McBride who survives a massacre only to find she’s an outcast for living when her associate died.

Edginton keeps both sets of aliens silent, wrapping his story around the humans, and setting it on Earth in near enough the present day, allowing for the technological advances Lee’s company has made by reverse engineering Predator technology.

In 1998 artist Alex Maleev was in the process of refining his approach from the good, but undistinctive artist who’d drawn some superhero stories to the stylist who’d go on to produce such a memorable run on Daredevil. There are elements of both present in Eternal. The detail and storytelling look back while the page compositions and rougher inking look forward. That’s nothing any reader should care about, though, as what matters is the terrifying Predators and the even more soul-juddering Aliens. He keeps them in the shadows and keeps them moving, convincing readers that they’re only ever seen at speed, sort of half glimpsed by those about to die.

There’s some clever manipulation on Edginton’s part concerning what McBride experiences, but otherwise this is a relatively straightforward story of accounts always being payable in the end. The arrival of that end will surprise with its speed, indicating a job well done by the creators.

Eternal is also available as part of the first Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus along with extra short stories by Edginton and Maleev.