Marvel's Predator #1

[shakalooloo]

MARVEL: We've got the licence to publish 'Predator' comics!
FANS: Yaaay!
MARVEL: So. we're going to start the series off with the tale of a lone hunter going after dangerous game.
FANS: Yaaay!
MARVEL: So, you're all prepared for our story of a human hunting down and killing predator after predator?
FANS: Uuuum...
MARVEL: Too bad!

Comments

[cainofdreaming]

So, this person is seriously genetically enhanced right? Because physically going against a Predator, strength to strength, ends up with the human flying through the air at the first contact.

[shakalooloo]

Nah, after her famly is killed when she's a child, she's alone with only an AI to raise her in isolation.

Opening scene of the issue is a swordfight where she decapitates a predator.

'Prey' this ain't.

[super_fly]

A suit of armor that augments your strength and abilities might narrow that disparity, assuming that's what she's wearing.

[shakalooloo]

The opening scene is a fake-out of two Predators fighting, until it is revealed that one is Theta. Presumably it's no more advanced than a regular suit of Predator armour, but maybe future issues will go into more details.

I expect at least some of the fifteen years of hunting to be explored in flashback, certainly explaining how the lone child and AI survived on an unexplored planet. The origin of her armour will probably come up.

[john_drake1964]

Usually when going up against Predators, shouldn't the emphasis be not going toe to toe with them on a semi-even footing, but basically using the surroundings and ones own personal cunning against them, and possibly an overconfidence on the part of the Predator? It's sort of supposed to be a big deal defeating just one of them, yet having several get killed off, especially offscreen seems...the opposite, tonally?

[numeronone]

There's a name for it...

[numeronone]

"Marvel Comics: How Do You Know You Don't Like It If You Haven't Tried It?"

[cainofdreaming]

"Or -- Eat your razor blades and crushed glass, Timmy!"

[deh_tommy]

What happened to the Predator Killer? Wouldn’t that make her job a bit easier?

[shakalooloo]

It's definitely in continuity for this comic, as the recap page does detail the events of Predator, Predator 2, Predators and The Predator.

[deh_tommy]

Is the armour she’s wearing supposed to be a Predator Killer, or is she just using regular Predator equipment?

[shakalooloo]

The full armour has a regular Predator mask/helmet, so the implication is that she's using their own tools against them, and not Tony Stark's Predbuster Armour.

[huntleyhaverstock]

I think it's a clever idea to turn the concept on its head. Same basic concept as PREY (which I really, really liked), but different execution. I'm not hating this.

I noticed something watching PREY and PREDATORS. At least some of the time, Predators aren't particularly cunning. They're not skilled. They're big dumb brutes with no finesse, given an unfair advantage through vastly superior technology. I could be a pretty deadly hunter if I had invisibility, auto-aiming projectile weapons, and superior speed and strength. For all of their supposed love of the hunt, they play the game on easy mode. (That's what made PREY so satisfying to watch -- seeing one of the things get out-thought, out-planned, and hoist by its own petard.)

[cygnia]

On another site I'm on, someone compares Predators to the dentists who pay for canned safari hunts.

[super_fly]

Another factor in this series and other stories about humans overcoming a superior alien foe is their ability to adapt and develop measures of defeating them, including technology. By Predator 2 they had figured out's behaviour and weaknesses enough catch it off guard and almost contain it

Granted it went a bit sideways in the execution but hey, baby steps.

[deh_tommy]

To be fair, the one in Predator 2 was essentially a teenage Predator on his first real hunt, right? That’s partly why he relied so much on those fancy gadgets.

[mazway_75]

The writers of "Predator 2" said that the reason that Predator seemed weaker is it was basically a teen on his first big solo hunt, thus why he fell easier than others.

[deh_tommy]

To be fair, the same could be said of many hunters and poachers and what have you in the real world.

[mastermahan]

Of for sure. In PREY, the Predator tends to fight with the equivalent of what his opponent is using. Fighting a bear, he uses his claws. If his opponent has a spear, he'll use a spear. If they're using ranged weapons, so will he.

Except A) it's still grossly uneven because he's using superior alien tech, and B) he drops the self-imposed challenge whenever he starts losing.

All very deliberate, I'm sure. There are two groups of humans in PREY, and the one the Predator resembles isn't the Comanche.

[justsotired]

Maybe we'll see an Aliens comic where a corporation says "If we try to monetize these xenomorphs, what're the odds that they'll get loose and kill everyone horribly?"

"*Checks notes* That has literally happened every time someone's tried it, sir."

"Better not chance it then. Nuke the site from orbit. Call it a day. There's less chest-bursty opportunities out there to make a fortune."

[john_drake1964]

Maybe at some point someone in Weyland-Yutani will point out that "catch xenomorphs, lose entire research facility," has got to be draining the corporate line.

"Look, we can either continue to try and weaponize creatures which all pasts have failed miserably, or we can just work on making androids cheaper and having them be infiltrator units. The cost is likely to be less on option two..."

"No, keep going for the highly dangerous creatures which have so far been resistant to training."

"Damn, I need to find a company with a better grip on reality to work for..."

[justsotired]

I imagine the accountant who tried to explain how the sunk-cost fallacy applied to Xenomorphs got fired.

[cainofdreaming]

Of course the synths rebelled on them too...

[super_fly]

Looking at that armor, my first thought was Doomslayer.

Then I thought, "No John, you are the demons."

[lbd_nytetrayn]

It's got my interest more than I thought it would from the above-the-fold blurb.

Am I the only one who now wants to see Predators folded into the Marvel Universe, like Godzilla in the old days and Conan and others, now that they have the same owners?

[shakalooloo]

There are enough similarly-motivated/kitted out hunter characters in Marvel that I don't think it would have enough novelty.

What I'd like to see is an AVP where it stands for (James Cameron's) Avatar Vs Predator.

[blues32]

I see what you're saying in regards to it lacking novelty, which is why I think the hunts should take place outside of canon. Who's going to die? We don't know because it won't effect any other series.

That would equal a lot dead giant blue cat-people.

[blues32]

Doesn't Marvel also have access to xenomorphs?

[lordultimus]

I mean, it's a good idea in THEORY, I just need to see more of the execution to make a judgment.

[mastermahan]

I'm glad to see Topaz from Thor: Ragnarok survived and found a new career.

[blues32]

Christ on a bike, would it really be so difficult to just have Predators hunt super types in an outside continuity series? I say outside continuity because we need some stakes involved, yeah? There are so many great options for prey. Daredevil, Spider-Man, Wolverine (either one), Kraven, Sabretooth, Punisher, maybe even Captain America...all would be able to put up a good fight at the very least. And there can be a short side story of a Predator hunting Deadpool but giving up since he just keeps healing and jabbering.

A silly revenge story against the Predators is just unnecessary. They're hunters, seeking to pit themselves against worthwhile prey. It's nothing personal. At least it wasn't until the latest movies where they stopped being honor bound hunters and instead turned into mad eugenics driven beasts, seeking to cultivate humanity's genetic variety to enhance themselves. God, that was a terrible plot idea.

[nyadnar17]

The only thing more astonishing than how good the Batman vs Predator was is that no one ever did something like it again.

Seriously you just drop predator into the story and let her rip, how hard is that?!

[blues32]

I think what made Batman vs Predator so good was that even the World's Greatest Detective was caught completely off guard and beaten so badly that he needed a special armor to try and match up. The prey needs to have extraordinary abilities but still be at a distinct disadvantage.

It's why Daredevil is my top pick. Yes, he can "see" them despite their cloaking technology, but he's still in serious danger. So how does he win? CAN he win? There's no rule saying the Predator can't come out on top if none of the stories connect.

They did use the formula a couple of times

[kuratowa]

Predator Vs. Magnus Robot Fighter and Predator Vs. Archie come to mind.