Predator: Concrete Jungle

Dark Horse started publishing Predator comics back in 1989, only two years after the Arnie movie exploded onto cinema screens. I caught these as part of the UK Aliens reprint comic in 1991. The inaugural 4-issue mini-series is still one of the best of this franchise, and is now available under the title Predator: Concrete Jungle.

This first miniseries came out before the release of the Predator 2 movie, and pre-empts the main hook from that sequel; namely, what if a Predator came to a major US city during a summer heatwave, and faced-off against an ’80s style alpha-male super-cop? Mark Verheiden (who had previously written the new Aliens comics for the same publisher) ties the events into the franchise nicely by making this particular super-cop the big brother of  Major Dutch Schaefer, the Arnie character from the original film. What I didn’t appreciate until reading this recently is quite how broadly Verheiden was lampooning the ’80s action-movie genre; all the tropes from Dirty Harry to 48Hrs and Lethal Weapon are homaged here. The plot is not afraid to go big with the action either, and by the fourth issue the conflict has escalated to blockbuster scales.

The artist, Chris Warner, seems to be in on the gag, and he’s practically cast Arnie as the character model for Detective Schaefer. Warner’s storytelling is brilliant; creating set-ups and money-shots like a Hollywood film-maker. His characters are solidly realised, and sell the physicality of the many action-packed set-pieces. One of my favourite tricks of his is having the action burst out of the panel boundaries (you can see an extreme example below). It makes the impacts feel more dynamic, literally spilling out of the page in front of you. And his characterisation of the Predator was absolutely chilling (see also below)!

With punchy action, a nice dose of ultra-violence, and a surprising amount of self-referential humour, Concrete Jungle has aged remarkably well, and is well worth a read for anyone looking for an action fix. Currently available digitally, and in the Complete Predator Omnibus edition from Dark Horse.