I had this series in my to read pile for way too long. But there’s a reason for that. Issue 1 was in a different pile than 2-5. And I kept finding one group of them and saying I need to put this together with the other and read it!
I love Predator stories. So I’m always inclined to want to get them and read them. When Marvel got the license, we all knew this day would come. Not exactly how, but Alien and Predator had to take on heroes sooner or later. And with Predator Kills the Marvel Universe, we are being given the ultimate storyline. It’s right there in the name. The title promises a story that can’t be canon.
It starts out with the Guardians of the Galaxy getting ambushed by a group of Predators. But with a surprise member as Kraven is part of the pack. Kraven has taken on the role of Benedict Arnold advisor to the Predator King. Because the Predators are wanting to turn Earth into a new home for themselves. As a plot point, this rubs me a little the wrong way. Earth is all too often the focus of other civilizations. It’s one thing to have a Predator that came here to hunt, but really? They need a new planet to call home and they figure Earth is the best bet?
The first step (after the Guardians) is to go after the Fantastic Four on the moon. Because Kraven says that Sue Storm is the most powerful on the planet. And Reed is the smartest. And they need to be taken out before they could warn the world… They then attack the FF and only take out Human Torch and Thing. Reed is wounded so severely he dies after the battle. But Sue is left alive, and with a massive grudge now. So the initial plan to take out two big threats, the Predator team simply couldn’t be bothered to finish the job properly. Seems rather unlike the Predators.
They then break into 1000 teams and head to Earth to simultaneously take out the rest of the heroes. Which is a good plan to remove heroes in a pre-emptive strike before the heroes even know there is a threat (A plot Cullen Bunn and I used in our comic series Micronauts: Wrath of Karza.) This did lead to some frustrating moments, because there were multiple “We have to take out (insert powerful hero) first.”
But the most frustrating aspect of this book is that it is a 5 issue mini-series that DOES NOT STAND ALONE! Before this Marvel had done a Spiderman vs Predator series, which I haven’t read yet. After the Spiderman series there was a Black Panther vs Predator series, which I haven’t read. Apparently the Spiderman one sets the stage for Kraven working with the Predators. And the Black Panther one introduced Vibranium armor for at least one of the Predators. There is also a thing in this series where the government has captured a Predator and given him the Weapon X treatment, presumably this was set up in one of those other books as well.
This series manages to embrace one of the fundamental things that is often touted as a negative about comics. That there are pre-existing stories that are required reading in order to understand the book you are about to read. I did a little research to find out how many issues the Spiderman and Black Panther books contained, and just found out there was also a Wolverine vs Predator book that started the whole thing!
In order, Wolverine 4 issues, Black Panther 4 issues, Spiderman 4 issues, then this series of 5 issues. At the very least the series should have been given a disclaimer stating you should read the other stuff first. Or better still, it should have been a long series with all those mini series published under one banner. I get why they didn’t go that route, a #1 comic always sells better. But the end result for me is that I feel this comic was a complete waste of time and money. There are more things I want to dig into with this, but I don’t feel it is worthwhile to do so. Because my take on this is that you should save your money and not buy any of the Predator “vs Marvel” comics they put out. Maybe Wolverine or Spiderman or Black Panther were good, but I really don’t care. Maybe my perspective is completely tainted by not having known there was required reading before this one. So I’m going to waver a little and be generous with my rating. 1 star. (Yes, that is me being generous, it wasn’t a black star!)