A Flood Of New Pain From Predator

by Vince Brusio

Ideas fester, poke, and rupture a dam when the time is ripe for a flood. A particular dam break is most likely going to evacuate a small town because one of Chris Warner’s brainstorms finally became realized by other creative minds, and the end result is going to be Predator: Hunters #1 (MAR170015) from Dark Horse Comics, which you can find in the March edition of the PREVIEWS catalog. Want to know more about the cunning killer with dreadlocks that’s back to deliver an evisceration plague? Read our PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview to get the dirt on what Chris Warner is cooking up for comic fans in a new five-issue mini-series.

Predator: Hunters #1 (MAR170015) is in comic shops May 3.

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Vince Brusio: You’re tagged as a “veteran” series writer for Predator books by Dark Horse. Congratulations. That’s a nice hat to wear. Is it a heavy hat? Does it, at times, cut off oxygen to the brain? Maybe that helps if you’re a writer, eh? Did the heavy hat alter your head chemistry to help you conceive of the “Hunters” series?

Chris Warner: In actuality, I had the idea for this story long before I was a “veteran,” and Randy Stradley actually remembered that I’d pitched him the concept back in the day and thought it would make for a fun series. Then he brought artist Francisco Ruiz Velasco aboard, who has drawn some kickass comics over the years (Battle Gods, Lone Wolf 2100) before becoming a kickass concept artist on Hellboy II, The Hobbit, and Pacific Rim, among others. Now it’s fun.

Vince Brusio: On page 47 of the March PREVIEWS catalog, we’ve given a sneak peek of the series. It shows a Predator apparently stomping through an overgrown forest. Could you give us some perspective on how this particular scene fits into the overall story?

Chris Warner: Much of the story does, in fact, take place in a forest.

Like all the other scenes in the issue, the page exhibits courage and vision and displays the highest degree of craft and a certain unmistakable élan.

Vince Brusio: If we were to focus on another particular scene that could act as a snapshot of what’s to come in Predator: Hunters #1, what would we see? Would we be introduced to a particular protagonist? An adversarial anarchist? A pile of bodies taller than a tour bus? What do we see?

Chris Warner: Hunters #1 re-introduces Enoch Nakai, an Army veteran and member of the Navaho nation who encountered a particularly nasty alien while in the service (in the series “Big Game”). A group interested in Enoch’s experience tracks him down and makes him an offer that will change his life forever, if it doesn't end it in the process — although I guess that would still qualify as a life change.

As far as body count — I can’t promise actual piles, but this is a Predator story, after all. Bodies happen.

Vince Brusio: Is there any particular continuity that plays into the “facts on the ground” for Predator: Hunters #1? Should we be armed with any particular past knowledge of events, or does this story just take readers on a new joy ride without a road map?

Chris Warner: You don’t need to have ever read any Predator comics to fully understand the story (assuming you’ve seen any of the Predator films). There are characters from two particular Predator series — “Big Game,” written by John Arcudi, and “Bad Blood,” written by Evan Dorkin — but the story fills in as much backstory as the readers will need. That said, the story experience will be enhanced by reading the precursor stories. And they’re good stories, so I recommend checking them out regardless (they’re both available in Predator Omnibus volumes 2 and 3).

Vince Brusio: What’s been the most challenging aspect of production for this book? And what’s been the most rewarding?

Chris Warner: I think every story is a challenge, or at least every story should be. Stories that are easy to write are generally terrible, which is why there are so many terrible stories out there. Which isn't to say that stories that are hard to write can’t turn out terrible, but at least there’s honest labor there. For me, the rewards of writing come in the future, years down the line, once I’m able to reread one of my stories after I’ve forgotten much of it. It’s only then that I can reread the story and determine whether it’s any good or not. If I can then say to myself, “Hey, this doesn’t suck,” that’s rewarding. So check back with me in ten years! And bring a hat.

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.