Do you consider yourself to be a Predator franchise fan? Since when isn’t? What began as a sci-fi horror action picture in 1987 gradually evolved into a series of movies, which in turn gave rise to a number of completely captivating comic books, novels, and engaging video games.
There are a tonne of comics, some of which are like these wacky crossovers that you probably could not have imagined, so let us talk about them. It is true that most comics are not exactly what one would classify as faithful adaptations of the films, but here’s the thing: they are on a whole other level, with each maintaining its unique soul.
Predator: Primal by Kevin J. Anderson and Scott Kolins is the most thrilling Predator comic book to date. With the debut of the new and fifth Predator picture, which is currently streaming on Hulu, we thought of going back in time and investigating it. Prey is obviously unrelated to the 1997 Dark Horse Comics comic book series, just as it is unrelated to any of the previous films in the franchise. However, it would be intriguing to investigate the Predator Killer Bear’s ancestry.
Let us get started, shall we?
Predator: Primal Part One
Issue number one opens with the readers getting a sweeping view of the vast Alaskan wilderness. We are at the Denali National Park, one that’s known for its virgin parkland, majestic wildlife and of course, the towering centrepiece – Denali. Obviously, the national park is home to some of the most native wildlife; having said that a caribou is spotted in the midst of the wilderness relishing on the grass, when it gets alerted of another presence.
In the caribou’s dreaded eyes, we can see the reflection of what looks like a pair of blades and our own fears are confirmed when a Predator is seen pouncing on the helpless animal. The apex hunter drags the dead body of the animal by its antlers for some distance until he is seen climbing up the staircase of what is revealed to be his spaceship. A peek inside, you will find what looks like some kind of a shrine with an array of skulls on display. The readers can see his trophy wall and now there’s a new addition to it – the skull of the caribou.
So, here’s a thing about this extra-terrestrial species: they are known for seeking out preys and for sport, may we add! Mind you, the deadlier the kill, the greater the glory, and after they are done, the heads are collected as trophies, then reduced to skulls and put on display.
Anyway, coming back to the storyline, the Predator is seen gearing himself up for his next hunt and going back to the forest. Post discovering what looks like the footprints of a bear, he decides to follow the tracks in the hopes of finding a bigger and a deadlier prey.
We are next introduced to the forest ranger Anna, who is posted at the Fire Observatory Station, U.S. Forestry Service. From her conversation with her co-worker, Glen, we are able to make out that it is the hottest summer on record in Alaska. Glen tells Anna that it is her turn on the watch and puts on his video player to watch his favourite sport – the world star wrestling. He calls it primal combat, one that has this crude display of human power and the ferocity of mankind unleashed.
Anna differs and simply addresses human beings as wimps; she firmly believes that if it is a human being versus an apex predator, the former wouldn’t stand a chance. She further states that the national park is filled with some very serious predators and gives Glen the example of how a full-grown grizzly bear can effortlessly take down even the toughest human wrestler in the world.
Glen reminds Anna how the grizzlies are on the verge of extinction when the human population have already crossed five billion. This brings us readers to learn more about Anna’s job; she is seen to study the grizzly bear population in the area, track their movements, see what they do, where they go and to understand the life of the young bear cubs. Also as part of the process, she has tied tracking devices on the two cubs.
In a different part of the national park, the very two cubs are seen to play with each other when one of them gets aimed at with a three pointed laser beam on its chest. Seconds later, it is hit with a blast and it falls dead on the ground. No points for guessing who is responsible for its death and we quickly get a look at the perpetrator, who is seen deactivating his invisibility cloak.
While he lets out a victorious roar, the other cub is seen to escape from there. Back at the Fire Observatory Station, Anna is extremely disheartened to find one of the trackers going offline. While Glen states it as an accident, or more like a natural order of things, Anna decides to check the cub for herself to learn about the cause of its death, its nutritional status and as many post-mortem chemical studies that can be conducted.
She is seen flying a helicopter and maintaining radio contact with Glen. In the meantime, another Grizzly bear at a distance is able to hear the roar of the Predator and goes towards that direction. Upon seeing the Predator, it lets out a roar and it’s fair to say that the duo charge at each other for a fight.
The Predator aims his shoulder cannon and is just about to fire a plasma bolt at the bear, when the latter lands a huge blow on his face. The animal’s aggression evades the plasma shot and it sinks its teeth on the shoulder cannon, thereby breaking the weapon. Speaking of the missed plasma bolt, it lands on a tree instead, which, goes without saying, catches fire.
Anna, on the other hand, has approached the site and is looking for the best clearing to land the helicopter, when she gets startled to get a view of a huge hollow space on the ground. But after catching the attention of the fire flames, she decides to investigate the crater later and deal with the forest fire first. Post informing Glen about it and calling for backup, she lands the helicopter and goes in search of the dead bear cub. By now, the fire has already started spreading to an extent where it’s fair actually to address it as wildfire.
Coming back to the battle between the Predator and the bear, the wrestling continues and it comes to a point where the alien is seen trying to attack the animal with his double wrist blades, only to miss it by a few inches and get pushed by it off the cliff, and in all probability, into the stream below. The readers along with the bear get to see the glowing green blood of the Predator scattered all over, which obviously points out that the hunter got injured during the battle. We see the bear getting a whiff of the fire and as he looks back, the forest is literally in flames.
Anna finally manages to reach the site of the dead bear cub and is shocked to find an unusual looking weapon more like a spear next to it. It becomes clear that the cause of death is anything but natural and Anna assumes that the weapon belongs to a poacher. She is also seen getting quite disturbed while examining the wounds on the dead cub and decides to take matters in her own hand.
With her scanning the area, she discovers strange traces of the glowing green blood. Not being able to comprehend what it is, she decides to see where the blood trail leads her. She is even seen addressing the whole thing as ‘Hansel and Gretel playing with Freddy Krueger’. No points for guessing that it ultimately leads her to the Predator’s spaceship, or in other words, the crater that she saw from above her helicopter. But before she can join the dots, the injured Predator approaches her and simply knocks her down. Speaking of the forest fire, it has taken a turn for the worse.
Predator: Primal Part Two
Issue number two picks up right where we were left off. The Predator is seen picking up an unconscious Anna by her hand and scanning her using his thermal imaging ability. Clearly not intrigued by an easy prey like the defenceless and unconscious Anna, he drops her on the very ground.
Next, he is seen to remove his armour and place it on the ground, after which he is seen resorting to his Medicomp to treat his wounds. We see the Predator taking out some kind of a serum syringe and jabbing himself with it. It gets pretty clear that he has decided to pursue the grizzly bear again and he is only prepping himself up for battle round two. But upon hearing Glen’s voice in the walkie talkie that is lying next to Anna, he goes towards it.
We learn from the audio that the fire has been spreading pretty fast and it’s very close to her last position. Glen is seen in a helicopter himself trying to track Anna down after he lost communication with her. As for the Predator, he simply steps on the walkie talkie and destroys the machine. After losing contact with Anna, Glen blames her for never responding back and decides to reach out to her through her helicopter radio. It is also during the same time that we get a glimpse of a couple of more helicopters that are trying to put out the wildfire.
The Predator is seen locating Anna’s parked helicopter following the audio of Glen, which he brutally pounces on, vandalizing the chopper beyond recognition. Anna, on the other hand, finally gains back her consciousness. She thinks that an invisible grizzly bear has attacked her. Not wanting to take further chances, she decides to head back to her chopper. Upon seeing the terrible condition of her helicopter, it dawns upon her that there is someone out there that doesn’t like her at all. Coming back to the Forestry Service crew, they are seen doing their very best to have the fire under control, but they are without much luck.
Anna, seeing the other helicopters from a distance, starts thinking of her next course of action. Well, speaking of action, the Predator goes back to the cliff where he was pushed and lets out a loud roar. This obviously grabs the attention of the grizzly bear, which is now seen to be there with its cub. It leaves the cub behind and goes back to the Predator to continue the unfinished battle.
As it’s seen rushing itself at the Predator, the latter throws his combistick towards it, only to have the weapon graze its face. That does it for the bear and it is seen ferociously charging itself at the Predator. With it landing a heavy blow on the Predator’s face, the latter decides to strike back with his wrist blades but misses the bear once again. The duo reaches a level where they are literally seen wrestling each other on the forest floor, each trying to crush the other.
Anna, in the meantime, is seen going back to her destroyed chopper in the hopes of fixing the radio and trying to make some kind of a contact with Glen. Coming back to the fierce battle of the Predator and the bear, the former is seen picking up a burning log and striking the bear’s face with it. But this only enrages the bear to an extent where it lands another huge blow on the face of the Predator, thereby knocking his bio-mask off.
Next, the bear is seen to pick up the Predator and bite on to his very shoulder before hurling him towards a rock. This causes severe damage to the Predator; so much so that he can barely get up. With the bear seen to be leaving with its cub, it becomes pretty clear that the Predator has lost his very battle against the bear. Well, with the Predator realizing he’s defeated, he somehow gets himself up and makes it back to his spaceship. There, he does what he’s meant to do – he activates his self destruct device.
As for Anna, she finally realizes that she will not be able to fix the radio and post discovering a flared gun intact amongst the remains of the helicopter, she fires it to signal Glen. She is picked up in the chopper and escapes to safety seconds before the spaceship of the Predator is seen to explode further, resulting in a mini nuclear explosion.
A week later, Anna is seen coming back to the site to investigate, but she finds nothing; not even the bio mask of the Predator lying on the ground in the middle of the damage. As she is heard stating that no-one will ever know what actually happened there, the grizzly bear is seen walking away with its cub. We also get a mug shot of the Predator with the bears in the background, which indicates that he has also somehow survived the explosion and judging the Predator by his expression, he knows he has picked the wrong fight.
What Do We At Marvelous Videos Think Of?
So, what we have here is the secluded Alaskan wilderness, an angry grizzly bear protective of its cub, an isolated forest ranger and add to that our very own Predator. Blend them well and garnish with a forest fire. There, you have one very exciting comic series right in front of you! Agreed, it does not have too many dialogues but it does make up with the exceedingly well descriptive action panels. Give it a read if you haven’t! You are bound to have a good time.
With this, we have come to the end of our video here. Do hit us with your thoughts in the comments section and let us know after you have read the comic book. Also, did you get the time to watch Prey yet? Stay tuned with us for more interesting content on Predator!