Though better and more interesting than adaptations, movie prequel comics often feel somewhat pointless. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they need to whet the appetite for the source material while also not revealing too much, and they can’t contain anything essential, seeing as such a tiny percentage of fans will see them compared to the movie they’re leading into.

Predator: Badlands #1 (which I picked up from Vanguard Comics – hi Mark!) falls into this trap. Though it tells a straightforward and action packed story which does feel like it fits with the characters and settings of the movie, it does end up feeling a bit pointless.

Young Yautja Dek is sent on a mission by his father, which he absolutely cannot fail without dire consequences. He infiltrates an ancient, non-Yautja spacecraft to retrieve a power source, and comes up against a very dangerous enemy in the process.

I mean, it’s fine. The art feels a bit too colourful and bright in comparison to the dark and somewhat desaturated worlds depicted in the movie, and the creature design (Yautja aside of course) is a little weak too. The surprise antagonist felt a bit silly too, and the conclusion was unsatisfying, but it does lead us pretty much directly into the first scene of the film.

On the whole, it’s entertaining enough, I suppose, but it can’t help but feel inessential, and the angular style of the artwork, along with the far too vivid colouring, definitely don’t help matters.

The cover is gorgeous though, and I do, however, suddenly want to watch the movie for a third time…so perhaps the comic completed its mission after all.

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