In the world of science fiction heroes, Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is legendary. This picture of manhood was the first man to kill a Predator on film, and he accomplished it with brute force and intelligence alone, not by using any high-tech tools or weapons.
After the original Predator movie was a hit, the Predator series expanded to include other movies, video games, and countless comic books. But these works of art could hardly merely be made up of Arnold’s images, right? The guy cost a lot of money to cast and still does. As a result, the comic book writers came up with a solution that benefited everyone.
They invented a figure named John Schaefer, Dutch’s brother, who not only resembled him but also possessed many of the same qualities as him, including great strength, the ability to laugh under the most trying circumstances, and an air of austerity. John Schaefer went on to play the starring role in three comic books and is regarded as one of the few people who have killed multiple Predators.
We will look at the comics Concrete Jungle, Cold War, and Dark River in this video, in which John battles the Predators in New York City, Siberia, and lush rainforests. So, hold on to your seats for this one because it promises to be both exciting and informative. Shall we get started?
Predator: Concrete Jungle (comic series)
The comic opens in an oppressively hot New York City. People begin to lose their composure as the heat wave raises the city’s temperature, which leads to an increase in homicides, blazing tempers, and violent crimes. However, since you are here and viewing this video, you already know what hot days in a Predator comic bring! Nevertheless, the panels guide us to a meeting between Lamb and Carr, two of the most powerful mob figures in New York. The Colombian gangs, who are profiting from the confrontation between Lamb and Carr, are the reason they met.
It was, therefore, suggested that if they banded together, it would drive the Columbians not only away but also vastly boost their earnings. But before the two mob bosses could decide whether to settle their dispute amicably or violently, they are ambushed by an unknown force.
The reader is given access to heat-vision panels, and it is clear that someone from Yautja Prime has visited New York City. Immediately after the meeting starts, a gunfight breaks out in the den. Then, Detective Rasche and his partner John Schaefer are introduced to us. Schaefer was a serious individual with a body that could only be compared to that of a young Arnold. Schaefer apparently had an itch about how the city felt a little bit different. Rasche is informed that it is unimportant when he tells him about it.
Soon after, reports of the shooting are brought to Schaefer and Rasche receives attention. When they arrive at the murder scene after responding to the call, they learn that Captain McComb has ordered everyone to remain outside the structure. However, the officer who was on duty knew better than to try and stop someone like John Schaefer. The two detectives step inside the abandoned tenement and find an unspeakably violent murder scene.
Most of the gangsters and the mob boss Lamb had not only been skinned but hung from the rafters like beef hanging in a slaughterhouse. It was a scene as horrid as any and, at that moment, Rasche knew that Schaefer’s hunch was nothing less than an omen. It seemed that the monsters from childhood nightmares had come to life. Strangely, the mob boss Carr had managed to stay out of this violent fray and was the only survivor. Schaefer tried to nab the dope trader but Carr managed to slip through.
As the two men come out of the building, they are greeted by Captain McComb, who is clearly not happy about his orders being defied. He tells them that the attack was bigger than what city cops could handle, meaning that the case was probably being moved to the Feds. Schaefer lets the case go, assuming that it was in the right hands. However, a few days later, another similar attack presented itself in a subway. The train compartment was covered with the blood of the commuters, who had been flayed.
While reading this particular bit, I could not help but think about House Bolton and their sigil of a flayed man from the Game of Thrones. Nevertheless, Schaefer takes Rasche once again to the crime scene, and naturally, they are shocked to see the damage and gauge the immense power the killer must have possessed. But as would be expected, McComb once again gets super pissed off, so much so that he asks his men to remove Schaefer from the station physically.
However, McComb is reprimanded by General Phillips of the US Army, who tells McComb, ‘If he’s anything like his brother, he’ll probably like it.’ Now, in an earlier scene, we saw Rasche talk about how Schaefer never mentioned anything about his family, and although Schaefer had a brother, he never spoke about him. General Philip takes the detectives away, and Schaefer asks the General about his elder brother’s whereabouts. But the General ignores the question and asks Schaefer not to pursue the case any further.
In fact, he almost asks Schaefer to accept the state of affairs, the murders, and says that the killings would stop in a few weeks after the heat wave has passed. But now that Schaefer knows that the killer is somehow related to his brother, he decides to leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of it. He returns to the first crime scene with Rasche and meets nature’s ultimate hunter, a fully-grown Yautja, who was simply waiting for the detective.
The two of them got into a physical brawl, and Schaefer was clearly the underdog. Although Schaefer manages to take away the creature’s helmet, he gets tagged with a mysterious metal instrument. Interestingly, the device had been attached to his neck, and if removed, it would have led to his carotid artery being severed, which in turn would kill him almost immediately. The interesting thing about this comic was both the crime scenes bore stark resemblances, with Predator 2 starring Danny Glover, Bill Paxton, and others. I am sure you remember the first scene and the subway scene from the movie!
At the end of the previous issue, Schaefer had fallen out of the fifth-floor window after being kicked by the Predator. Not surprisingly, Schaefer survived the fall but asked Rasche to tell others that he slipped on a banana peel. Rasche takes him to the hospital, but he soon escapes from there and comes over to Rasche’s, alarming the latter’s wife and children. Someone who had been through what Schaefer did, would have been sipping scotch broth and dozing through some Netflix show, but this tough hombre wanted to get back to work.
He wanted to backtrack General Philip, as Schaefer knew he was hiding something credible. Upon reaching the station, the captain called Schaefer into his office, but the captain did not say PLEASE. A Predator could not kill Schaefer, and the captain thought he could intimidate the man by threatening him with charges! Schaefer simply lifted the captain, stuck him against a wall, and said, ‘You probably could have me fired. I might even do a little time, lose my pension, six months behind bars, and you know what would happen next? I might get mad.’
It was enough for the captain to reveal that General Philip was little less than a ghost who served the military on a freelance basis, and that tracking Philip was next to impossible. Now that Schaefer knew that his brother and the Predator were somewhat related, he decided to go to the Guatemalan jungles near the Columbian border, the same place where his brother, Dutch, went missing. Before leaving, he asked Rasche to send his wife and kids for a vacation, because New York was not safe anymore, now that Schaefer had been tagged.
Upon reaching Colombia, he met with a local guide who had apparently served the US forces in recon missions in the jungles. The guide took him through the jungles to a spot, where, according to the natives, the sun appeared at midnight. Clearly, it was the very spot where the Predator from the original film had detonated his self-destruct device in a bid to kill Dutch. Schaefer had come prepared for a high-octane battle; I mean, for starters, he had brought with himself a fully auto shotgun with six rounds per second capacity, a sweet device that could break hell and heaven alike.
While he travels through the jungle, we get to learn a lot about John and Dutch Schaefer through the monologues. Things like how the two kids enjoyed hunting in the woods behind their father’s cabin, and how it was not a sport for them, but an activity through which they tested their own limits. Now, if you are even a small Predator fan, you’d know that the Yautja follow a similar code of honour, which forbids them from hunting because it’s fun. Anyway, almost out of nowhere, two huge plasma blasts rock the heavy NYPD detective.
But much like his brother, he gets back up and fights the alien hunter. Schaefer learned that the beast had a highly advanced camouflage system, and to counter it, he opened fire in all directions. Luckily for him, Schaefer did not miss all his shots, and injured the Predator. There were a lot of punches thrown and kicks launched, but in the end, Schaefer managed to kick the Predator, and it landed on a sharp log of wood, that punctured its chest, finally ending its misery that was almost synonymous with John Schaefer.
The detective returned to the guide, who turned out to be a covert agent working for General Philip. When the guide called in Philip, the latter started directing him to bring in Schaefer’s body, but he was taken aback and shocked to his very bones to learn that the man had killed one of the Predators. It was reason enough for General Philip to issue a sort of red alert and get in touch with Potus.
Meanwhile, back in New York, Rasche was meddling with the Predator helmet that Schaefer had handed over to him. For some weird reason, he chose to put on the helmet, and what he saw made him feel the same fear that a gazelle feels after finding itself in the vicinity of a lioness.
He saw hundreds of alien ships simply hovering over the sky of New York, hiding in plain sight. He takes the helmet to Captain McCombs, but the fool is more worried about his bloody carpet than a possible alien siege of New York. Naturally, he decides it is time to talk to the chief, but he gets kidnapped by some federal agents who introduce themselves as IRS. Clearly, something big was happening, and the people of New York were going to be the possible victims. Back in the jungles, Schaefer had been kidnapped by a drug kingpin named Eschevera. It turns out, during a drug bust, Schaefer had pushed Eschevera from the roof of a three-floor building.
Although Eschevera did not press charges, these Medellin types were known to carry a grudge. But Schaefer being Schaefer, managed to escape one of his captors. However, just as he reached out of the establishment, he faced the full force of Eschevera, more than a hundred armed men.
However, Schaefer was saved by a blessing in disguise. He felt the Predators approach and the alien dudes lit up the entire camp. Clearly, they were pissed about what Schaefer had done to their hunter buddy. Schaefer was smart enough to try and escape into the jungle, but he could not go far enough. General Philip came with a goddamn cavalry and found him. Schaefer had no choice but to follow the general, while the Predators were taking down Eschevera’s drug empire piece-by-piece. However, the General seems surprised about something.
He had a hunting party consisting of beings that lived to kill and killed to live; they never gave a flying duck about something ever, until now. For some strange reason, they were concerned with Schaefer. Meanwhile, Rasche learns that Schaefer was being brought back to New York, where he would be handed over to the Predators.
And, although the agents who were holding him were trained professionals, Rasche easily overpowered them and ran to the station, where he picked up some heavy hardware to reach the location where the exchange was to be made. On the way back to New York, General Philip briefed Schaefer about the Predators. But he was a fool also to reveal the real plan; Schaefer did not lose any time hijacking the chopper and came out of the chopper with guns blazing, telling the six military personnel, ‘Put on some music and open the bar, boys. It’s time to party!’
In the last issue of this comic series, John Schaefer meets his partner once again. Rasche knows very well that they are outgunned and outnumbered, and going in alone to fight the Predators would be a rash decision. However, Schaefer knows better than that. He goes with an incredulous Rasche to meet Carr in an attempt to recruit him for his fight. However, this was not going to be easy.
Carr attacks Schaefer because the former believes it was Schaefer who killed the gang members. Despite explaining things to Carr, he pays little to no heed to reason and rationale. However, the two of them soon get surprised by a vengeful Predator, who roughs Carr and Schaefer up like they were rag dolls. But as always, Rasche comes to their rescue and blows up the Predator with an RPG.
Carr’s sense and sensibilities strike him, and he agrees to help Shaefer. They head out to a den of things and goons, whom Carr recruits in this bug-eyed-saucer-men killing mission. Once the battle posse had assembled, they had to figure out a way to draw the attention of the Predators and bring them to the ground for close combat.
They shot one of the bogies with another round of RPG, and the plan was a success. However, it was too much of a success, because now the Predators were hunting the men from left, right, and centre. But we forget that the men were back in New York, and McComb had to present himself, and the hullabaloo carried along.
Unfortunately for him though, he gets brutalised by the Predators beyond any repair. It was sad that he died, but then what’s the thing they say about silver linings? However, one good thing that happened was General Philip came with his air cavalry to aid the detectives and their criminal friends.
But by now, Schaefer was in the death grip of one of the Predators. Fortunately for Schaefer, though, the entire sky got covered with black clouds as a thunderstorm announced itself. As the rain poured over the sultry New York, the Predators burst into human laughter in their alien voices and it was a sign that the heat wave, as well as their annual hunt, had come to an end. Naturally, they boarded their ships and left Earth to come again another day.
Wait, this very much reminds me of that nursery rhyme, you know, rain rain go away, little Johnny wants to play! I mean, yeah, it doesn’t entirely fit here, but you know what I mean! After the dust had settled, Rasche announced that he would probably quit the police force, as he wanted to live with his family instead of dying at the hands of some alien hunter. As for Schaefer, he decided to continue his fight till the time he could.
Predator: Cold War
Predators are known to come to Earth for their ritualistic hunts only during hot weather. However, this time around something strange was happening in the remote Siberian wastelands. In 1990, a local hunter named Taro saw a gigantic ball of fire fall from the sky; without a doubt, it was a Yautja mothership bringing the denizens of Yautja Prime to carry out a hunt. But the locale they chose was utterly curious.
Taro immediately goes towards the ship, but his curiosity kills him, as he gets slain in cold blood. Now, if there’s an alien ship that lands on Earth, it is bound to emit high levels of radiation and lead to seismic activity. Naturally, a pipeline pumping station in the vicinity of the landing site picked up the radiation. Had it been just the seismic activity, there would not have been so much fuss about it, but the radiation levels piqued the curiosity of the Russians and Americans alike.
A small party of Russian soldiers was formed by Lieutenant Ligacheva, who led the mission to ground zero to discover the nature and source of the readings received by the pumping station. But as would have been expected, the garrison gets slain in cold blood and trophies taken by the unseen enemy.
However, Lieutenant Ligacheva remains the only survivor, because Taro’s village people had found him after they came to the site following the smoke. Now, we know how closely Americans and Russians keep a tab on each other’s activities, no matter how small. Once the Americans picked up the heat signature in a cold desert and deduced that the source of the seismic readings was extraterrestrial, they were quick to assume that it was the work of Predators.
Word travels fast within close circles when national and global security is concerned. Without an ounce of delay, General Philip was briefed about the situation by his superiors. Interestingly, General Philip visited the lounge of his military encampment every day, and kept smoking his cigar. It seemed as if he was waiting for something; and of course, he was. He was sure that the Predators would strike again, and strike, they did.
He decided to put together a team of able men to reach Siberia in secrecy and investigate the site for himself. But who better to fight the Predators than John Schaefer himself, a man who had slain Predators singlehandedly only six months ago! He sends Agent Smithers to convince Schaefer to join the hunting party, but Schaefer had had enough of the alien crap and he wanted to save his city from crime than worrying about a bunch of alien hunters and dead Russians.
However, it was imperative that Schaefer joined the team, because his first-hand experience with the Yautja was invaluable. But Schaefer instantly declines the offer and refuses to be a part of anything that involves Philip. He then heads out to carry out a drug bust with a few of his colleagues, but things go south at the bust and Schaefer’s entire team is killed. Even Schaefer would have died, had it not been for General Philip’s men, who stormed in and killed the bad guys.
But Schaefer was still adamant about not going to Siberia or joining Philip, and to solve the issue, Smithers tranquillised the NYPD detective. The big bad Predator killer then wakes up on a chopper with General Philip on board. It seems that Schaefer has lesser civil rights than a petty criminal, but then when it comes to global security, man’s laws seem rather trivial and futile.
But it was not just Schaefer’s life that was in turmoil. America and Russia were on the brink of a major face-off because of the mysterious radiation. Looking at the gravity of the situation, Philip escalated things and introduced Schaefer to the other members of his team, and also the high-tech weapon and pieces of equipment they were going to use against the Predators. And yet, Schaefer remained unimpressed.
And what can one expect from a man who was abducted, only to be sent on a possible suicide mission! Nevertheless, the team gets dropped off near ground zero by a B-2 stealth bomber, and it’s not before long that the Americans find the remains of the pumping station staff, which was clearly the work of Predators. But before the next plan of action could be worked out, Schaefer and his team get surrounded by the Russians led by Lieutenant Ligacheva. While interrogation, Schaefer began talking about his encounters with the Predators and what followed.
Lieutenant Ligacheva turned out to be a smart woman than a vengeful military officer. She listened to whatever Schaefer had to say, but as protocol, he kept the other Americans under detention. Meanwhile, Rasche learns that Schaefer has suddenly disappeared without a trace, and he knew immediately that it has to do something with General Philip or one of his men. He forced Smithers into revealing the details of the clandestine mission that Schaefer was forced to become a part of. Also, the relationship between Russia and America was deteriorating, which meant that there could be an immense loss of life, including that of his dear partner.
He goes to the Russian ambassador in the US and gives his testimony about the Predators. It convinces the ambassador, and he takes Rasche with him to Siberia. One thing leads to another, and soon we find the American and Russian soldiers at each other’s necks, but in the end, Lieutenant Ligacheva decides to go alone to the downed Predator ship and destroy it, so that she could avenge her fallen comrades.
Appreciating the braveheart that Lieutenant Ligacheva was, Schaefer offers to accompany her into the ship, but then he went also because he had shared some major beef with the Predators. But, by now, the Russian officers had had a change of heart; they now wanted to preserve the Predator ship because it was an extremely valuable piece of technology, and they wanted to salvage whatever they could. So, they sent one of their battle-hardened personnel named Yashin and a few other soldiers to stop Lieutenant Ligacheva from destroying the ship.
A firefight ensued between the two opposing sides, but the party gets crashed by a Predator who was not far from the site. However, Lieutenant Ligacheva and Schaefer manage to down the elite hunter before continuing their journey towards the mother ship. However, the other Predators attack the duo. Come on, and they would not just see the events unfold from a distance as one tries to destroy their only vehicle.
Yet, the duo kills two Predators before having to fall back. To make things worse, they are captured by General Philip and his men and are sentenced to death when they refuse cooperation. But Rasche comes as a ray of hope and saves the day for Lieutenant Ligacheva and Schaefer, at least for now. In the end, it seemed that the alien vessel had been repaired by its owners, and it started to take off.
However, Lieutenant Ligacheva was smug enough to slide an explosive into it. And, as it reached close to orbit, it exploded into pieces. It seemed that the Russian lieutenant had proven her mettle, but the Russian commanding officer threatened her with a dishonourable discharge. However, Schaefer and Rasche were quick to comment that they could use someone like Ligacheva in the New York City Police Department.
Predator: Dark River
By October 10th, 1995, John Schaefer had not only fought Predators in different locales such as the concrete jungle of New York and the real jungles in Central America, but had also slaughtered several of the apex hunters, probably second only to Xenomorph Queens. Yet, his time as a Predator killer was far from over. With Rasche no longer serving as his partner, Schaefer had a new partner named Brad.
However, Schaefer was not fond of his new partner, and the two of them often got into ideological and other differences. Nevertheless, serving as a member of the NYPD, John apprehended a man named Mercer, who worked for a cartel operating out of New York. Mercer did not want the same fate as other criminals with his records. Naturally, he sought to strike a bargain with John, and he knew exactly what John desired the most– a key or clue that could lead him to his missing brother, the legendary Dutch Schaefer. Mercer tells him that he could help John find his brother.
It turns out that General Philip apparently contacted Mercer in a shantytown in South America. General Philip needed a pilot for an urgent op and Mercer was just the guy to carry out the mission. Mercer was the same pilot who was tasked with rescuing Dutch and the rest of his party after the latter’s fierce encounter with the Jungle Hunter Predator. Although Dutch was successfully rescued, it seemed that he had contracted a lethal alien disease, and could have spread the infection if brought to the mainland.
Naturally, Dutch was left there to die in the same jungle where he had bravely fought and killed the Jungle Hunter. This was reason enough for John to take matters into his own hands and do what was necessary. He wastes no time in taking Mercer hostage, and uses his skills as a detective to forge fake identifications so that he could board a plane to South America and begin his search for his lost brother.
By now, John Schaefer has seen too much of Predators for a human being and thought about the same for so long that he was getting nightmares about the beastly hunters. After waking up from one such horrid nightmare, he and Mercer step into the hostile South American land. But before he could access any substantial information about his brother, he gets abducted by the President’s men, and is taken to the leader’s penthouse.
At the Penthouse, the president himself meets John and reveals some shocking secrets. He had abducted another woman named Lopez, who served as a recon escort and supervisor to an American squad that was active in the region. However, the entire squad was killed by a Predator. But how did the president know that it was a predator who made the killings? Well, Lopez carried a camcorder with her and recorded almost everything, including several pieces of footage that Lopez had retrieved from previous US emissaries that served in the region.
When all the footage was studied, it became apparent that the first Predator that John had killed by impaling it in wood was, in fact, not dead. He had survived the near-fatal injury. Following this, the Predator lost his mind and became a bloodthirsty beast who killed everything that came its way, with the exception of the indigenous tribes. If we are to understand this behavior in terms of the Yautja society, it was evident that the Predator had become a bad blood predator, losing his code of honour and everything that he once stood for.
All he now wanted was blood and killed for the fun instead of hunting for honour. Now, this sort of menace roaming the jungles was bad for the president in more respects than one, and it was quite natural that he would want the menace to be eradicated from his lands.
So, he gave John two choices, to either kill the Predator or die himself. Not a very difficult choice for him, is it? I believe he had more hatred for the Predators than love for his life. Naturally, John left the presidential penthouse with Lopez and Mercer. Although the three of them were tagged with tracking devices and thrown into the middle of the jungles, they managed to hijack a tugboat, but they did not stop pursuing their target.
As the trio began their voyage and hunt, Lopez and John got to talking. Lopez tells John that apart from a military camp, there were no civilisations in the jungles, let alone a shantytown. John was furious and stormed Mercer’s cabin, battering him for lying and trickery.
However, before John could force Mercer to reveal the truth, the local tribesmen attacked the tugboat. Most interestingly, the Predator, now called the Devil, was working alongside the locals. John had met his old friend, the Devil, and a fierce battle ensued between them. The Predator would have killed John, had it not been for Lopez, who took a flare and fired it into the Predator’s face.
As the Predator howled in pain and agony, the two of them plunged into the water and escaped. However, the natives took poor Mercer into their custody, and his fate was going to be one that was worse than death. After their escape, John and Lopez wandered around the jungle. He had almost lost all hope of finding his brother and if there was still a clue remaining, it had to be with Mercer, so he started to track down Mercer.
But the jungle was no one’s friend, and he was once again attacked by the local tribesmen, who shot a poisoned arrow into him. Lopez knew how to deal with such poisons and she treated him, but it left John very weak. He lay there, unconscious and weak, and woke up many hours later only to find that Lopez had escaped. However, John continued his search and chanced upon the locals and the Predator doing absolutely devilish things.
To his surprise, they were torturing and brutalizing wild animals that they had caught, but John’s attention went to Mercer, who was kept captive and had both his legs severed. When John went to rescue his own betrayer, the latter revealed the truth. In reality, he never served as the rescue pilot for Dutch. In fact, he was asked by General Philip to concoct a story so that Philip could see what happened when John met the Devil once again. But before John could actually free Mercer, the predator noticed John’s presence.
He flung John before slaying Mercer once and for all, ending his misery. However, John also meets Lopez there, all tied up. The two try to fight the Predator, but there’s only so much that two humans can do against such an ancient creature! During the fight, the Predator unintentionally removes John’s tracker, which gets stuck on the Predator himself.
John and Lopez manage to escape, but one of the President’s jets mistakes the Predator for John and drops a missile, killing the Predator. It would have been a bit of an overkill had it hit John! Sometime later, we see John and Lopez holding Philip at gunpoint, and asking him about Dutch’s whereabouts.