In 1993, Dark Horse Comics released Predator: Bad Blood, a four-issue mini-series about a crazy Predator who has landed in New Jersey solely to massacre people ruthlessly. The Yautja society dispatched an Enforcer Predator to put an end to the threat.
The comic was launched a few years after Predator 2 and followed a plot that was slightly similar. The 2018 picture The Predator, on the other hand, seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from Predator: Bad Blood. Overall, the comic appeared refreshing due to the Bad Blood Predators theme and a tale that pitted two of the apex hunters against each other. Let’s take a closer look at Bad Blood and Enforcer Predators before we get into the meat of the story.
Who Are Bad Blood Predators? And Why They Called Bad Blood?
The Yautja, also known as the Predator, is a society founded on honour. Despite the fact that they live to hunt and hunt to live, they never hunt creatures that they deem worthy and dangerous. Any Predator that kills unarmed victims, children, or the elderly is known as a rogue Predator or a Bad Blood Predator.
Tichinde from the Alien vs. Predator comics, for example, slaughtered humanity, even unarmed women and children. The Bad Blood status can also be achieved by giving away the Yautja technology or secrets to other races. An excellent example of this kind of Predator would be the Fugitive Predator from the 2018 film The Predator. On the other hand, there have been several clans of Bad Blood Predators, such as The Killer Clan from the comics Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War and the Super Predator Clan from the 2010 film Predators.
These clans are not really interested in honor, and they hunt only for the thrill of hunting; this essentially makes them Bad Bloods. On the other hand, The Killer Clan was a fierce clan of Bad Blood Predators, famous in the Yautja society as heretics. They would only involve themselves in killing rather than hunting, hence displaying no honor.
When the Yautja civilization spots a Bad Blood Predator, they dispatch Enforcer Predators to put a stop to the threat, since the renegade Bad Blood tarnishes the whole Predator race. The Enforcer Predators are usually Elite Predators who take honor in slaying their rogue counterparts. Now that we have a fair idea about who the Bad Blood Predators are let’s get down to business and explore the comic.
Issue #1
Long ago, John Pulnick worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, frequently getting his hands filthy executing the government’s dirty work without hesitation. However, he and his associates quickly understood that they were being used to perform some really terrible things for the personal advantage of certain high-ranking people, such as CIA agent Claude Loudermilk.
After quitting the CIA, Pulnick opened a Paintball range in the suburbs of New Jersey to earn a living. All was going well until the day he reached his paintball range to find cops surrounding the area.
The property and the nearby woods were the crime scene of a gruesome mass murder. It wasn’t before long that a CIA task force approached the scene and announced that they had taken over the case, claiming that it was a Federal crime scene. Interestingly enough, the task force was being led by Claude Loudermilk, but he introduced himself as FBI instead of CIA.
Pulnick immediately sensed something was wrong and went in to enquire, but Loudermilk tried to apprehend him. Pulnick managed to escape his capture and went into the nearby woods. But Loudermilk didn’t ask his men to follow Pulnick. Clearly, there was something perilous that was hiding in the woods.
Pulnick witnessed the most terrible massacre of his life as he entered the woods. He’d gone to tough locations like Afghanistan, Beirut, and Croatia as a field agent, but he’d never seen anything like this. Several victims were disfigured and beheaded. And guerrilla forces had no place in New Jersey.
It wasn’t before long that Pulnick came across the slaughterer—a deadly and monstrous Predator. This Predator was a psychotic Bad Blood, an abomination who had lost his honor and code. The Predator manhandled Pulnick like a rag doll and easily overpowered him. Pulnick would very well be the Predator’s next victim, but he got the window of opportunity to escape when two local cops arrived at the scene.
As the Predator engaged in killing the cops, Pulnick fled from the scene, only to confront Loudermilk. It turned out that Loudermilk knew all along about the alien hunter’s presence but wanted to keep it a secret. Now that Pulnick was a witness, Loudermilk tried to have him taken into custody, but Pulnick managed to escape the agents by holding them at gunpoint. Meanwhile, an Enforcer Predator arrived at the scene to take care of the Bad Blood Predator.
Pulnick went immediately to Deputy Sherrif Richard Keslo after his escape to alert him of the new situation. Kelso, on the other hand, had previously been contacted by the CIA, who informed him that Pulnick was the suspect in the killings and that he may seek refuge in Keslo.
As a responsible officer, Keslo handed Pulnick up to the CIA, which was posing as the FBI. Loudermilk reveals that the government wanted to capture Ed Gein from space so that they could salvage the alien weapons and space technology. But it wasn’t before long that Keslo figured that Loudermilk’s claims about Pulnick were empty and didn’t fit.
Once he was certain of this, he contacted Pulnick’s old mates and ex-CIA agents. Keslo managed to assemble Philip Smith, Mandy Graves, and her husband, Robert Graves. Interestingly, Mandy and Robert had been on the run from the CIA after having a similar realization as Pulnick had. And, they were clearly skilled agents because going AWOL from the CIA is no easy job. These ex-agents broke into the facility holding Pulnick prisoner and broke him out of there.
Issue #2
Meanwhile, Loudermilk’s crew track down the Bad Blood Predator’s ship and investigate, only to discover that it has been abandoned. They did, however, find the bodies of the other Predators who had been slaughtered by the Bad Blood. These sights were too much for the task team to take in, but they continued to investigate the ship. Eventually, they got to the ship’s computer and control system, but while going through it, they unknowingly triggered a booby trap that the Bad Blood had previously put in place.
The ship witnessed a huge explosion that killed all members of the task force and also injured the Enforcer Predator, who was in the vicinity exploring the area himself for clues on the Bad Blood Predator’s current whereabouts. By now, Pulnick, Philip, Mandy, Robert, and Keslo were deep into the woods, determined to take down the Bad Blood Predator themselves.
The sound from the explosion alerted them, and they proceeded in the direction from where the sound came. However, they ran into a CIA combat team that had been charged with finding Pulnick and his friends. But before anything could happen between the two opposing sides, the Bad Blood Predator arrived at the scene and started slaying the combat team.
Before the Bad Blood could turn to Pulnick and his team, the Enforcer Predator attacked the Bad Blood Predator. While the two alien hunters fought each other, Pulnick and others watched in shock and awe. The Enforcer almost took down the Bad Blood, but then a CIA team approached the place and started shooting the Enforcer.
This gave the Bad Blood time to buckle up. But Pulnick realized that the Enforcer Predator was only after the Bad Blood Predator and not the humans. Naturally, Pulnick convinced the armed personnel to shoot at the Bad Blood. The dishonorable Predator then fled into the jungle while the Enforcer got enough time to tend to his wounds.
Issue #3 and #4
When Loudermilk learns of a second Predator in the woods, he dispatches a helicopter to investigate. Loudermilk’s ideal goal was coming to fruition. He had no idea what kind of incentives he’d get if he managed to capture two Predators alive. Meanwhile, Pulnick and his friends were also after the Bad Blood Predator. Unfortunately, Deputy SherrifKeslo got separated from the group and became a victim of the Bad Blood’s wrath.
Pulnick and his team encountered Loudermilk and his agents, and a gunfight ensued between them. On the other hand, the two Predators were fighting each other in a deathmatch. The Enforcer once again almost killed the Bad Blood, but the evil Predator used his spiked helmet to strike the Enforcer with a mortal blow. With his own ship destroyed in the blast, the Bad Blood now stole the Enforcer Predator’s wrist gauntlet to locate his drop ship to escape.
He was done with Earth for now and sought to reach the Enforcer’s mother ship. However, the gunfight between Pulnick and Loudermilk’s men was too much to resist, and the Bad Blood reached the scene. Meanwhile, Mandy Graves came across the Enforcer Predator and ended his plight by euthanizing him.
The renegade Predator made it to the Enforcer’s drop ship, but Loudermilk’s men attacked him. But the huge alien was no match for them, and he murdered everyone, even Loudermilk, and kept his head as a souvenir.
It wasn’t before long that Pulnick and his friends arrived at the location, but they fared little better than Loudermilk and his men. The Bad Blood Predator killed Robert and Philip. Pulnick managed to fire several shots at the Predator, only to get brutally killed. However, Mandy shot the Predator several times on his head, and after much struggle, the Bad Blood Predator was finally put to rest.
Mandy turned out to be the only survivor of the ordeal. Later, the Enforcer Predator’s clan arrived at the scene and rewarded Mandy with a ceremonial necklace for the effective job she did in killing the rogue Predator. The comic ended with the government blaming Pulnick, Loudermilk, and their respective teams, while Mandy went into hiding, staring at the stars and wondering if she’d see the Predators again.