As a long standing fan of the Predator Movies, I decided to pick up the first Volume of the Predator Omnibus. I was never into the Predator comics as a stand-alone. I have read a few stories over the years in the Dark Horse Comics anthology series, but when it comes down to it, I was new to this world.
The Omnibus itself is presented as any Dark Horse Trade: Glossy paper, hard stock cover and excellent color reproduction.
The first three stories take place after the first movie and follow it up. The central character is Dutch's brother. Who is looking for Dutch after the events of the first film. (For those who don't remember, 'Dutch' is Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from the first film). The first story itself entitled 'Concrete Jungle' is the base and idea for the second feature film, Predator 2. Mark Verheiden writes all three of the stories. Ron Randall provides the art.
These three stories are average yarns at best. The pacing seems off and the character Schaefer, Dutch's brother, seems like your typical action hero knock-off. The way these stories unfold and the portrayal of the Predators throughout is really disappointing.
I always thought of the the creature as a being using stealth and cunning to kill its prey. But these stories make them out to be more explosive killers. What upset me the most was the constant mimicking of human words throughout every story, which seemed out of character. Overall, each story played out like a bad science fiction/action flick, which does the film Predator no justice.
The true gem of his omnibus is the story 'Rite of Passage', written by Ian Edginton and penciled by Rick Leonardi. A completely silent story, it captures the essence of the movies. The main character is an African Warrior who is on a hunt to claim his honor as a man. While hunting, he is found by a Predator , and he quickly becomes the hunted. A battle ensues and the man fights for his survival.
The last few stories follow the Predator though time and around the world, adding to the mythos of the films. As good as they are, they still lack that certain 'something' that makes them worth reading. These stories also fall prey to the same bad afflictions of the three central Mark Verheiden stories.
Overall, This collection is worth getting if your a Predator fan. I wouldn't go out of my way to get this collection otherwise.
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