Trade Review: Predator The Original Comic Series
Writer: Mark Verheiden
Artist: Chris Warner & Ron Randall
Publisher: Dark Horse
Recently, Dark Horse has been celebrating the 30th anniversary of a few properties that helped to put them on the map in their early years as a publisher. First Alien got the treatment, now it’s time for Predator.
First off, let’s talk about the build as that is the main draw for an anniversary collection like this. The book is beautiful. The book is over-sized; the same size as other Dark Horse library editions. The pages are nice and thick. You don’t have to worry about the art bleeding through to the other side. The sewn binding is nice and tight while also allowing you to open the book all the way with no gutter loss. The pages even have special red foil along the edges allowing it to really pop on your shelf. Overall, the book is gorgeous and the quality justifies its $50 price tag.
Now, let’s talk about the actual content of the book. The book has the first three Dark Horse Predator stories written by Mark Verheiden: Concrete Jungle, Cold War and Dark River. It follows a NYPD detective named Schaefer, who tries to uncover the fate of his big brother (Dutch from the original movie) as well as deal with the threat of Predators in his city. Mark does manage some nice writing but at the end of the day he remained very loyal to the spirit of the original movie, that is, it’s filled with over-the-top action, gore, one-liners, and machismo. The main character is an action hero caricature spouting one-liners and accomplishing impossible feats. His partner, Detective Rasche, is more interesting, acting as more of the straight man. He provides a nice voice to balance the other over-the-top characters. The first story takes place in New York and even the Central American jungle from the first film. This story takes place before Predator 2 was even talked about and you can clearly see the influence the book had on the movie. It features art by Chris Warner and Ron Randall that really shines in the over-sized format. The splashed pages of the Predators are breath-taking and some of the best parts of the book.
The second one takes place in the Siberian Artic, an interesting setting, completely different than the previous ones. The story revolves around the US and Soviet Union’s rush to secure Predator technology after their ship crashes in the artic. The Soviet Union angle really dates the book but it’s a lot of fun. Art is handled by Ron Randall and again, looks beautiful in this format.
The final story, Dark River, is about Detective Schaefer going back to the Central American Jungle to find out what happened to Dutch. This story was the most frustrating due to the mystery of what happened to Dutch still being the main plot, a thread running through every story. Unfortunately, we’re left with a disappointing ending with no real closure. The art duties are still handled by Ron Randall, who is a master of drawing the Predator at this point. His Predator has never been more terrifying and detailed.
As far as extras go, there’s hardly any besides an introduction and afterword with the writer, Mark Verheiden. Mark does provide some interesting insight but the inclusion of a gallery or sketches would have been much appreciated.
The book is amazing to hold and look at and while the writing might be a little dated and over-the-top, there is a ton of fun to be had here. This is a must own for fans of the property.
Artist: Chris Warner & Ron Randall
Publisher: Dark Horse
Recently, Dark Horse has been celebrating the 30th anniversary of a few properties that helped to put them on the map in their early years as a publisher. First Alien got the treatment, now it’s time for Predator.
First off, let’s talk about the build as that is the main draw for an anniversary collection like this. The book is beautiful. The book is over-sized; the same size as other Dark Horse library editions. The pages are nice and thick. You don’t have to worry about the art bleeding through to the other side. The sewn binding is nice and tight while also allowing you to open the book all the way with no gutter loss. The pages even have special red foil along the edges allowing it to really pop on your shelf. Overall, the book is gorgeous and the quality justifies its $50 price tag.
Now, let’s talk about the actual content of the book. The book has the first three Dark Horse Predator stories written by Mark Verheiden: Concrete Jungle, Cold War and Dark River. It follows a NYPD detective named Schaefer, who tries to uncover the fate of his big brother (Dutch from the original movie) as well as deal with the threat of Predators in his city. Mark does manage some nice writing but at the end of the day he remained very loyal to the spirit of the original movie, that is, it’s filled with over-the-top action, gore, one-liners, and machismo. The main character is an action hero caricature spouting one-liners and accomplishing impossible feats. His partner, Detective Rasche, is more interesting, acting as more of the straight man. He provides a nice voice to balance the other over-the-top characters. The first story takes place in New York and even the Central American jungle from the first film. This story takes place before Predator 2 was even talked about and you can clearly see the influence the book had on the movie. It features art by Chris Warner and Ron Randall that really shines in the over-sized format. The splashed pages of the Predators are breath-taking and some of the best parts of the book.
The second one takes place in the Siberian Artic, an interesting setting, completely different than the previous ones. The story revolves around the US and Soviet Union’s rush to secure Predator technology after their ship crashes in the artic. The Soviet Union angle really dates the book but it’s a lot of fun. Art is handled by Ron Randall and again, looks beautiful in this format.
The final story, Dark River, is about Detective Schaefer going back to the Central American Jungle to find out what happened to Dutch. This story was the most frustrating due to the mystery of what happened to Dutch still being the main plot, a thread running through every story. Unfortunately, we’re left with a disappointing ending with no real closure. The art duties are still handled by Ron Randall, who is a master of drawing the Predator at this point. His Predator has never been more terrifying and detailed.
As far as extras go, there’s hardly any besides an introduction and afterword with the writer, Mark Verheiden. Mark does provide some interesting insight but the inclusion of a gallery or sketches would have been much appreciated.
The book is amazing to hold and look at and while the writing might be a little dated and over-the-top, there is a ton of fun to be had here. This is a must own for fans of the property.
A Look Inside
