Prometheus Fire and Stone #1

 
Writer: Paul Tobin
Artists: Juan Ferreyra
Cover: David Palumbo
Publisher: Dark Horse  
 By the first page it’s already intriguing, but already there’s a slight stigma set to it as well. The opening pages are only truly interesting to one who is perhaps a little more invested into the world already set up by its preceding film of a similar namesake. It’s a detail that can be overlooked by many, but for a world so complex as this one, a detail as little as a date has to mean something. For those who let it slip, the first panel sets its date 3 years prior to the original Prometheus crew landing on LV-223 which can be fascinating, because it’s bound to play out into something later on, or in the bigger picture, because that’s how this series works, and it’s a neat hook, but it’s only neat for someone who already cares about this world.
 
Thankfully moving more into the issue, it relies less on having a connection to the films as it introduces a whole new slew of characters. Some who are just as charming as we’ve seen in the films, others less so, but with more issues to come, they may have their chance to shine yet. Fortunately the main narrator Clara has just as much charm as we have seen from our other leading ladies, even taking on similar physical qualities that we’ve seen before (adorable, petite, short curly auburn hair) which makes her easily accessible as a character to pre-existing fans, but the writers also know that a character of similar fashion is quick to also gain favour with the audience. The rest of the crew on the other hand may resemble certain qualities we’ve seen before, but they’re certainly on their own standing as well, and it’ll be interesting to see how these new characters handle the adventure ahead of them. (Although their own android Elden has nothing on David.)
 
Naturally a lot of the imagery we gets rings familiar from the film Prometheus itself and there are a lot of nods to the film littered throughout and sci-fi tech still seems as cool as ever. They’re lucky to have an artist as talented as Ferreyra who was able to really capture the vast greatness of space, technology, and of course moon LV-223 itself—the alien life forms are pretty much as freaky as they’ve always been, and at this point we couldn’t ask for it any other way.
 
The plot is fairly slow moving though as it takes the time necessary to introduce us to the characters, and drop presages that will inevitably come back in later issues. It’s hard to say how those unfamiliar or not a fan of previous works will warm to the series as of yet, it’s fairly tame in it’s approach to the anxiety of sci-fi and a lot of its appeal stems from already being familiar with a lot of the premise that’s previously been laid down. There’s no urgency in the issue that can hook a reader, but as a fan, it takes a lot less to hook in because the signs are more readily visible to acknowledge just what sort of predicament the team is about to get themselves in.

[ my rating stems a lot from a preexisting fan point of view to which i think this issue handled well within the overall franchise, looking at it as an individual issue or from a non fan point of view i'd say my score would objectively be a point or two lower ]