Marvel Comics is taking bigger and bigger swings with their Predator and Alien properties of late, like with Predator: Bloodshed, out this week. The new miniseries sees Predator go after the greatest human prey it can find, and it happens to be in a tournament. Think MMA meets Predator, and you’ve got an idea of what you’re in store for with this new series.
Headlining this book is Jordan Morris, who has ample comics-writing experience, as seen in the graphic novel Youth Group. Smartly, Morris takes a slow and steady approach to this first issue, introducing multiple fighters while firmly establishing its likable lead, Kai Daniels.
The year is 2035, but health insurance is expensive or hard to come by, and Kai’s son needs medicine, or he’ll die. A long-time fighter, now retired, Kai is facing seasoned opponents and even opponents with high-tech augmentations. The stakes are also high, as people die in the tournament, but he has few options to save his kid.
The head without a bottom jaw is pretty gnarly.
Credit: Marvel
While we learn about Kai and meet fighters on a tour of the grounds, the Predator looms. Throughout the issue, we see the Predator’s perspective as he surveys fighters and threats. It’s unclear if the Predator knows the best fighters are all in one place, or if it’s just lucky, but it’s certainly in the right place.
While there’s a slower pace and character building going on for much of the issue, the last third does go into fight comic mode. Roland Boschi does a good job with various fights, a few of which are one page long. Speed lines ramp up the intensity of punches, and sound effects add to it. These fights also do a good job ramping up to Kai’s fight with a cyborg. Relatively evenly matched humans fighting is one thing, but Kai is clearly in an unfair situation. It makes the Predator join the fight, almost as if the alien is a hero, though it’s abundantly clear it only wants to kill everyone and call it a day.
Predator: Bloodshed #1 is a sharp, controlled opener that understands the appeal of its mashup premise. Morris resists the urge to turn the first issue into nonstop carnage, instead grounding the story in Kai Daniels and his desperate circumstances. That choice gives the violence weight and makes the looming Predator feel like a ticking bomb rather than a gimmick. If the series continues balancing character stakes with escalating brutality, this could be one of Marvel’s more inventive Predator outings.
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