Review by Ian Keogh
Machiko Noguchi was introduced by Randy Stradley as the new administrator of a farming planet suddenly afflicted by an invasion of Aliens and Predators. Her personal journey was detailed in the original Aliens vs. Predator graphic novel, where she earned a Predator’s respect and was given a mark identifying her as a friend to other Predators. Also revealed was the reason the Aliens spread through the galaxy, which is deliberate as they provide a worthy test for the hunting Predators.
Stradley picks up with Machiko now among the Predators. It solves the problem of neither the Aliens nor the Predators prioritising much in the way of verbal communication, as her narrative captions explain what’s happening. Stradley uses it to consider the instincts and motivations of both species. Aliens are in thrall to their queen in the manner of Earth insects, while the hierarchy of the Predators is based on combat, but in both cases individual lives are secondary to primary concerns. Machiko may have been accepted, but she’s very much the contractual obligation, scorned by the trainees and her life constantly endangered. Stradley never convincingly establishes why she’d want to be among them in the first place, though, half-heartedly characterising her as a thrill seeker.
Artistically this collection’s all over the place. Chris Warner starts things off (sample art left), imaginative in dealing with the concepts and the threat they pose. Up next, Mike Manley doesn’t have Warner’s imagination or technique. Jim Hall (sample right) remains for two of the five chapters, and is a step up from Manley without sparkling. Neither does Mark G. Heike match Warner’s original quality on the concluding chapter.
The opening chapter reads well alone, and is included without the remainder in the 30th anniversary hardcover of Aliens vs. Predator, but in order to broaden the horizons Stradley introduces humans who’ve survived an Alien attack on their base. They connect to an unconvincing corporate slimebag, but that’s just the prompt for Machiko’s crisis of conscience, revealing a more thoughtful action plot on Stradley’s part. The whole might have seemed better with improved art, but as it is War is okay without being memorable. It’s also found in the first Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus, and in Aliens vs. Predator: The Essential Comics Volume 1. Also in the latter is Three World War, featuring redemption for both Machiko and Stradley.
