Predator (comics)

AUTHOR: Anderson, Kevin J.; Arcudi, John; Barr, Mike W.; Barrett, Neil, Jr.; Barry, Dan; Collins, Nancy; Dixon, Chuck; Dorkin, Evan; Edginton, Ian; Gilroy, Henry; LaBan, Terry; Lamb, Jason R.; McDonald, Brian; Marz, Ron; Moore, Charles; Prosser, Jerry; Rennie, Gordon; Richardson, Mike; Schultz, Mark; Seagle, Steve; Stradley, Randy; Tolson, Scott; Vachss, Andrew; Vance, James; Verheiden, Mark; Worley, Kate

ARTIST: Enrique Alcatena (illustrator); Dan Barry (illustrator); Claudio Castellini (illustrator); Howard Cobb (illustrator); Gene Colan (illustrator); Evan Dorkin (illustrator); Leo Durañona (illustrator); Igor Kordey (illustrator); Colin MacNeil (illustrator); Dean Ormston (illustrator); Chris Warner (illustrator); Mitch Byrd (penciller); Scott Fisher (penciller); Alexandra Gregory (penciller); Scott Kolins (penciller); Rick Leonardi (penciller); Brian O’Connell (penciller); Lauchland Pelle (penciller); Roger Peterson (penciller); Ron Randall (penciller); Jordan Raskin (penciller); Duncan Rouleau (penciller); Mel Rubi (penciller); Jim Somerville (penciller); Toby Cypress (penciller and inker); Rob Walton (penciller and letterer); Derek Thompson (penciller and cover artist); Rick Bryant (inker); Sam De la Rosa (inker); Randy Emberlin (inker); Brian Garvey (inker); Armando Gil (inker); Mark Lipka (inker); John Lowe (inker); Rick Magyar (inker); Steve Mitchell (inker); Dan Panosian (inker); Ande Parks (inker); Bruce Patterson (inker); Andrew Pepoy (inker); Jasen Rodriguez (inker); Jim Royal (inker); Dan Schaefer (inker); Robbie Busch (colorist); Chris Chalenor (colorist); Lea Hernandez (colorist); Matt Hollingsworth (colorist); Jimmy Johns (colorist); Julia Lacquement (colorist); Rachel Menashe (colorist); Ray Murtaugh (colorist); David Nestelle (colorist); Cary Potter (colorist); James Sinclair (colorist); Dave Stewart (colorist); Sean Tierney (colorist); Gregory Wright (colorist); Pat Brosseau (letterer); Ellie DeVille (letterer); Steve Dutro (letterer); Gary Fields (letterer); Kurt Hathaway (letterer); Gary Kato (letterer); Sean Konot (letterer); Bill Pearson (letterer); Clem Robins (letterer); Fiona Stephenson (letterer); Michael Taylor (letterer); Vickie Williams (letterer); Den Beauvais (cover artist); Dave Gibbons (cover artist); Igor Kordey (cover artist); Derek Thompson (cover artist)

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 1989-1999

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1996-1999

Publication History

On the heels of Twentieth Century Fox’s film Predator, released in 1987, the first Predator comic was released in 1989 by Dark Horse Comics, then only a three-year-old company. The first story line, “Concrete Jungle,” is considered a comics sequel to the Predator film, serving as inspiration for Predator 2, released in 1990 by Fox.

Reportedly, Dark Horse Comics, the sole publisher of Predator from 1989 to 1999, acquired licenses to adapt the Predator character, as well as Aliens and Star Wars characters, as a way of staying afloat in a time when the sales of its independent comics were unpredictable. Over the course of those ten years, the company released Predator stories through one-shots and two- and four-part stories in single-issue format and through Dark Horse Comics anthologies. All Predator comics have been collected and released as trade paperbacks and omnibuses.

The Predator series featured a variety of writers and artists, beginning with writer Mark Verheiden and artist Chris Warner in 1989. Other notable contributors include writer Chuck Dixon and illustrators Gene Colan and Evan Dorkin. No creative team has produced more than three consecutive story lines, thus underscoring that the Predator mythos was ripe for interpretation.

Plot

Inspired by the Predator film, the Predator comics series centers on the exploits of a powerful alien race that hunts humans for sport. It is a series suited for adults, mixing science fiction elements with constant action and graphic violence.

The first story, “Concrete Jungle,” takes place during a sweltering summer in New York City. Detective Schaefer of the New York City Police Department is working a drug bust when he first encounters a Predator. Their brief tussle eventually leads to Schaefer’s relentless investigation into his brother’s disappearance after a mission in Guatemala (as recounted in the first Predator film); when reexamining his brother’s mission, he encounters another Predator. He kills this one, which sets off a one-day war among Predators, law enforcement, and thugs. In a surprise move, the Predator army leaves when a storm washes the summer heat away.

“Concrete Jungle” is the gateway to subsequent Predator stories, which mostly concern how one individual or team thwarts Predators disrupting a select city or region. Detective Schaefer appears in the second story, “Cold War,” which chronicles Predators destroying a Soviet army base in Siberia. Schaefer teams up with Soviet officer Ligacheva to stop the carnage, and both heroes disobey orders from their commanders, causing (and later easing) tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Schaefer appears again in the third Predator story, “Dark River.”

Beyond the Schaefer stories, another compelling pair is “Big Game” and “Blood on Two-Witch Mesa,” featuring US Army corporal Enoch Nakai, of Navajo descent, who has an interesting history with Predators. In “Big Game,” he has a random encounter with a Predator that destroys an Army base and terrorizes a small town in New Mexico. In the wake of that battle, Enoch is working at a convenience store after an honorable discharge from the Army, questioning his encounter with the Predator. His grandfather reveals that Nakai’s great-grandfather witnessed a Predator attack seventy-five years prior. His story underscores tensions between the Navajo tribe and White men who drill oil at Two-Witch Mesa, and how both parties thwart the alien beings. In the end, Enoch is inspired, but his next move is not fully detailed.

With the exception of the aforementioned story lines and a few others, the Predator comics series lacks a chronological plot, although some stories relate to one another. Most Predator stories are episodic in that they focus on a particular instance when a Predator or a group of Predators invades.

Volumes

•Predator Omnibus,Volume 1 (2007). Collects “Concrete Jungle,” issues 1-4; “Cold War,” issues 1-4; “Dark River,” issues 1-4; “Rite of Passage,” issue 1; “The Pride at Nghasa,” issues 1-2; “The Bloody Sands of Time,” issues 1-2; and “Blood Feud,” from Dark Horse Comics, issues 4-7. Includes three stories featuring Detective Schaefer and his fight against Predators and the search for his brother, “Dutch” Schaefer (the character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original film).

•Predator Omnibus,Volume 2 (2008). Collects “Big Game,” issues 1-4; “God’s Truth,” from Dark Horse Presents,issue46; “Race War,” issues 0-4; “The Hunted City” from Dark Horse Comics, issues 16-19; “Blood on Two-Witch Mesa,” from Dark Horse Comics, issues 20-21; the “Invaders from the Fourth Dimension” one-shot; and “1718,” from A Decade of Dark Horse, issue 1. Includes stories featuring Predator encounters with Navajos, pirates, prisoners, moviegoers, and more; reveals how Predators obtained a flintlock pistol from 1715, the same pistol used in the film Predator 2.

•Predator Omnibus,Volume 3 (2008). Collects “Bad Blood,” from Dark Horse Comics, issues 12-14; “Kindred,” issues 1-4; “Hell and Hot Water,” issues 1-3; the “Strange Roux” one-shot; “No Beast So Fierce,” from Dark Horse Presents, issue 119; and “Bump in the Night,” from Dark Horse Presents, issue 124. Chronicles Predators in the sea, suburbia, a bayou, and more.

•Predator Omnibus,Volume 4 (2008). Collects “Primal,” issues 1-2; “Nemesis,” issues 1-2; “Homeworld,” issues 1-4; “Xenogenesis,” issues 1-4; “Hell Come a Walkin’,” issues 1-2; the “Captive” one-shot; and “Demon’s Gold,” from Dark Horse Presents, issue 137. Includes two stories that seek answers to the mysteries of the alien race.

Characters

Predator refers to the hulking alien species equipped with hi-tech weaponry, including a three-point laser, spear, and cloaking device. The species is known for hunting humans for sport, especially in high temperatures. Many humans die from their attacks.

Detective Schaefer, a reoccurring protagonist, is a stubborn, muscular, 6-foot-plus “bad boy” who runs into trouble head on, disobeying laws and battling Predators in Central America, Siberia, and New York City. His tenacity and combat skills are twice employed by the US Army to dispatch the alien species.

General Homer Philips, another reoccurring protagonist and antagonist, is a war veteran with experience in special operations, such as the one involving “Dutch” Schaefer’s mission in Guatemala. With earlier experience with a Predator, Philips works for and against Detective Schaefer’s actions against the alien species, withholding information about Dutch.

Enoch Nakai, another reoccurring protagonist, is a US Army corporal who faces racism from his peers, personal battles with alcoholism, and nightmares about Predators. He survives a Predator attack in New Mexico and later questions the government’s cover-up of the event, learning about his family’s history with the alien. Unlike Schaefer, he is far from a “tough-as-nails” hero.

Artistic Style

Though the Predator series contains a wide variety of creators, the art has common elements. The Predator characters are the most vivid and detailed, with much attention paid to the suit, weapons, and face, likened to a spider and other creatures with mandibles. Coupled with the series’ design, many splash pages depict a Predator surrounded by mauled bodies and blood, emphasizing the violence that is also found in the Predator films. Clearly, however, artists were not limited to a certain style, though most took a realistic approach (the exceptions being such cartoony stories as “Strange Roux” and “Invaders from the Fourth Dimension”).

Among the standout artistry, Dan Barry’s art for “Bloody Sands of Time” can be viewed as an evolution of his work on Flash Gordon comic strips from 1951 to 1952, linking the series to the Golden Age of comics. Colan’s Predator: Hell and Hot Water illustrations can be likened to his early 1980’s Batman and 1970’s Daredevil work.

Themes

Predator’s most prominent theme is survival, as evidenced by the numerous stories chronicling humans combating an alien race with advanced technology. Nearly every story depicts chase scenes and fights, concluding with someone falling prey or escaping.

Mystery is the second most prominent theme. Predators are never deemed “Predators” but assume a variety of other monikers as the protagonists encounter them and seek answers for why they have descended on Earth. Some notable monikers include “Demon of the Forest” (from “Pride of Nghasa”) and “The Angry Ghosts of the Old Ones” (from “Blood on Two-Witch Mesa”). The one-shot story “Captive” addresses the mysteries of the Predator species, featuring Dr. Tyler Stern’s studies on a Predator in a biosphere, which, of course, takes a turn for the worse.

The theme of war also has a strong presence in Predator. Predators disrupt and engage the US Army, Central Intelligence Agency, Soviet army, Confederates, and Central American guerrillas. Some of the best examples are found in such stories as “Cold War” and “Concrete Jungle.”

Impact

Predator began in the early years of the Modern Age of comics, when gritty and graphic comics were emerging in the mainstream, departing from the Comics Code Authority, a censor of violence and other adult themes. Before Predator’s release, DC Comics released the seminal graphic novel Watchmen (1986-1987), about embattled superheroes in an age in which few trust them, and such Batman stories as The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and The Killing Joke (1988), both of which cast darker iterations of Batman and the Joker than before.

Like DC and others, Dark Horse Comics championed adult-oriented comics, releasing in 1988 a comic series based on the film Aliens (1986). Its success, coupled with the company’s desire to acquire licenses of popular films, led to the comics adaptation of Predator. Later, Dark Horse acquired rights to such films as Star Wars (1977) and The Terminator (1984), becoming a notable publisher of comics based on popular films. Thanks to the success of the Aliens and Predator series, Dark Horse also created a crossover series titled Aliens vs. Predator (1991) as well as a number of novels featuring both alien species.

Films

Predator 2. Directed by Stephen Hopkins. Twentieth Century Fox, 1990. This film adaptation stars Danny Glover as Lieutenant Michael Harrigan and Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator. The film is loosely based on the Predator comics story “Concrete Jungle,” opening with a drug bust that leads the protagonist to the title antagonist. Among the differences, Harrigan replaces Detective Schaefer as the protagonist and dodges the backstory of “Dutch” Schaefer’s encounter with a Predator. Also, this Predator exhibits some humanity, sparing a child and a pregnant woman.

Predators. Directed by Nimród Antal. Twentieth Century Fox, 2010. Although not a direct adaptation of the comics, this installment, which stars Adrien Brody, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne as mercenaries transported to a planet that serves as a Predator hunting ground, was accompanied by a series of tie-in comic books that provided backstory to the film. Predators serves to expand the Predator universe, as several scenes depict the Predator race of aliens as a hierarchical system of tribes vying among each other for dominance.

The Predator. Directed by Shane Black. Twentieth Century Fox, 2018. This installment stars Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key, and Olivia Munn as military personnel who must defend against two Predators who crash-land on Earth. The Predator expands the Predator universe by explaining the motivations of the alien race, who in this film are hunting humans for genetic samples to improve their own DNA in their quest to become apex predators.

Prey. Directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Twentieth Century Fox, 2022. Prey, which stars Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, and Michelle Thrush, centers on Naru, a young Comanche woman, as she defends against a Predator in eighteenth century America. Naru, who wishes to demonstrate to her family that she is capable of joining the male-dominated hunters, sees the arrival of the Predator as an opportunity to prove her worth. The film was praised for both its depiction of Comanche life as well as its action sequences, and it received particular praise for the performances of the largely Native American cast. Several plot elements of the film were inspired by Predator: 1718, a comic book that tells the story of the Predators' early contact with humanity.

Further Reading

Mark, et al. Aliens (1988-1999).

Stradley, Randy, Chris Warner, and Phill Norwood. Aliens vs. Predators (1991).

Gibbons, Dave, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert. Batman vs. Predator (1991-1992).

Bibliography

Gustines, George. “A Quirky Superhero of the Comics Trade.” TheNew York Times, November, 2006, 1-2.

Polowy, Kevin. "'Prey': How 'Predator' Prequel Makes History As Hollywood's 1st Franchise Movie to Star All-Native American Cast." Yahoo! Entertainment, 4 Aug. 2022, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/prey-predator-prequel-native-american-indigenous-cast-amber-midthunder-interview-150054578.html. Accessed 12 Sept. 2022.

Warner, Chris. Aliens/Predator: Panel to Panel. Milwaukie, Ore.: Dark Horse Comics, 2006.

Voger, Mark, et al. The Dark Age: Grim, Great, and Gimmicky Post-Modern Comics. Raleigh, N.C.: TwoMorrows, 2006.