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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Predator: Race War, July 30, 2000
Andrew Vachss doing a Predator comic--it's either an absolute natural, or the weirdest combination possible, depending how ya look at it! The whole thing started when Dark Horse's Randy Stradley planned a storyline involving a Predator hunting a serial killer. Since the Predator's victims are _de facto_ reps of the human race itself, this came down to the *human* killer, in his battle with the *alien* killer, becoming The Good Guy. As Stradley tells us--and as one would expect--Vachss didn't think much of that idea. But that was Ok, because he had an idea of his own. Thus was "Predator: Race War" conceived and, eventually, born, as a five-issue series, collected together here. The cover is, natch, the first thing one sees, and this one, by Ray Lago, is a winner. The Predator, a heavily-armored intergalactic Rastamon, crouches on a prison walkway, menacing and indestructible. It's a thing of beauty, and I'm *not* being facetious. Stradley's adaptation is clean and tight, as it the artwork throughout--pencils by Raskin & Pelle, inks b Rick Bryant, and colors by Matt Hollingsworth & Pamela Rambo. "They say that when you kill a killer, all his kills belong to you," the back cover informs us. "Well, Predator's looking to rack up the big numbers." What better place to do so than the most maxed-out of maximum security prisons in the country? Who could possibly stop this dude? Who else but Cross & Crew, familiar to fans of Vachss' short fiction and Dark Horse's _Cross_ series? Be aware that Cross & crew's depiction is a bit different than fans might expect. Tiger has no stripes, fer-instance, and she's drawn a bit...err, *heftier*...than we'd expect. Cross, Fal & Rhino are more in line with the rest of the series, and the Predator is nicely done, especially in "camoflauge" mode. The "Race War" is a double theme: first, the tension and violence along racial lines familiar to those of us who live in The Real World(tm), second, the war of the *human* race in its various shades against the Predator's alien race. The "Gallery" section at the end features the series' covers, paintings by Dave Dorman, which are quite simply *damned* cool. IMNSHO, the covers alone are well worth the price. Do yourself a favor and order this one. It's a keeper.
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by Ian Edginton
by Mike Kennedy
by Andrew Vachss
by Andrew Vachss
