What do you think?
Rate this book
Predator Shaefer Trilogy #1-3
Predator: The Original Comics Series - Concrete Jungle and Other Stories
Celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of one of the great action movies of all time with this collection of original comics sequels to the film.
Before Predator 2 was ever conceived as a film, writer Mark Verheiden and artist Chris Warner created an acclaimed comic-book sequel to Predator that took the alien trophy hunters from the jungles of Central America to the concrete jungle of New York City--where they face Dutch Schaefer's big brother, who's an NYPD detective!
Also included in this volume are Verheiden's two subsequent Predator stories--Cold War, which finds the Predators crash-landed in Siberia, and Dark River, in which the hero of Concrete Jungle traces the path of his younger brother to find out what really happened to him after the events in the movie Predator.
Three now-classic tales in one over-sized, deluxe hard cover volume designed to sit on your bookshelf beside the Aliens 30th Anniversary edition!
Collects:
Collects Predator: Concrete Jungle (#1-#4), Predator: Cold War (#1-#4), and Predator: Dark River
Before Predator 2 was ever conceived as a film, writer Mark Verheiden and artist Chris Warner created an acclaimed comic-book sequel to Predator that took the alien trophy hunters from the jungles of Central America to the concrete jungle of New York City--where they face Dutch Schaefer's big brother, who's an NYPD detective!
Also included in this volume are Verheiden's two subsequent Predator stories--Cold War, which finds the Predators crash-landed in Siberia, and Dark River, in which the hero of Concrete Jungle traces the path of his younger brother to find out what really happened to him after the events in the movie Predator.
Three now-classic tales in one over-sized, deluxe hard cover volume designed to sit on your bookshelf beside the Aliens 30th Anniversary edition!
Collects:
Collects Predator: Concrete Jungle (#1-#4), Predator: Cold War (#1-#4), and Predator: Dark River
320 pages, Hardcover
First published June 27, 2017
6 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Mark Verheiden
273 books34 followersMark Verheiden is an American television, movie, and comic book writer. He was a co-executive producer for the television series Falling Skies for DreamWorks Television and the TNT Network.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 14, 2019
Collects the first three Dark Horse Predator stories focusing on Det. Shaeffer, Dutch's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) brother. Shaeffer fights the Predators in New York, Siberia, and then back in Central America in the three different books.
The Good: Some of the scenes from Concrete Jungle were used in Predator 2. Ron Randall's art and the coloring in the third book are great.
The Bad: The coloring in the first two books is terrible.
The Ugly: The amount of machismo in these books is overwhelming. I think Verheiden watched too many Dirty Harry movies when he was writing these. Shaeffer is such an overwhelming caricature of a 70's cop that it makes the books unbearable. You can only hear someone refer to every girl he meets as "Sweetheart" so many times before you start rooting for the Predators.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The Good: Some of the scenes from Concrete Jungle were used in Predator 2. Ron Randall's art and the coloring in the third book are great.
The Bad: The coloring in the first two books is terrible.
The Ugly: The amount of machismo in these books is overwhelming. I think Verheiden watched too many Dirty Harry movies when he was writing these. Shaeffer is such an overwhelming caricature of a 70's cop that it makes the books unbearable. You can only hear someone refer to every girl he meets as "Sweetheart" so many times before you start rooting for the Predators.
Received an advance copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
September 27, 2018
Predator: Concrete Jungle: ☆☆☆☆
Predator: Cold War: ☆☆☆☆
Predator: Dark River: ☆☆☆☆
Click on links above for reviews of individual stories collected in this volume.
February 25, 2019
Bright and broad tales from when licensed comic properties were more fun than cynical.
March 18, 2018
This deserves to have better reviews here. Is the storyline a bit 80s? Yes, it was written in the 80s... Is the colouring flat? Yes, it was coloured in the 80s... Is it fun, action-packed and tongue-in-cheek, like the franchise it's based on? Hell yes.
Also, as with the classic Aliens comics, Dark Horse have produced a wonderful hardcover volume here and it makes the reading experience a special one.
Also, as with the classic Aliens comics, Dark Horse have produced a wonderful hardcover volume here and it makes the reading experience a special one.
February 24, 2024
Closer to 3.5. The art is quite good, and the story is at least varied, if often hampered by '90's macho insanity. All in all it's better than I expected.
August 3, 2020
This was a nice compilation of these three stories about one man's experiences with the species of alien Predator made famous in the 1987 movie starting Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think what I liked best about this compilation was the intro and the afterward; they both include some nice "Easter Eggs" and anecdotes about the series. The artwork in the third volume is the "best" of this trilogy and the art in the first volume is "the worst." However, I felt the story of the first volume was "the best" and some elements of that story ended up in the 2nd Predator movie; the third story is by far the worst and the weakest of the three. I think the second story (Cold War) was a great concept but fell flat in the telling; despite its falling flat, it was still better than the third story (which probably explains why the first two were novelized and the third one was not). I am glad that I purchased this compilation, as it is hardbound and its size helps the "good artwork" "pop off the page." The downside is the "bad artwork" is rather pronounced and possibly "made worse" than if the pages were "normal comic-sized pages." Regardless, the three volumes were the "first of their kind" and the first two volumes were great follow-up stories for the first movie.
Here are the links to the individual reviews for each story:
links to each volume's individual review:
Concrete Jungle
Cold War
Dark River
Here are the links to the individual reviews for each story:
links to each volume's individual review:
Concrete Jungle
Cold War
Dark River
November 22, 2020
The first story, Concrete Jungle, is very stupid. That is not an insult. It is an utter blast. It stars Dutch’s brother, who is essentially Rainer Wolfcastle’s McBain character from the Simpsons played straight, and it is hilarious. His partner is essentially Dennis Franz, and is equally amusing. This book is a testosterone soaked amusement park ride, and it’s well worth reading. My only complaint is that I feel it has too many predators, which kind of makes them seem less threatening than they should be. Chris Warner’s art and Chris Chalenor’s colors are a lovely mix that make the story sing, and feel like a warm, hot time in the city.
The second story, Cold War, takes the fun to Glasnost era Soviet Russia, and introduces some new characters, Like Lt Ligachev, who teams up with our hero, McBain. (Yes, he will be referred to as such from now on for convenience and humor.)
It was interesting that they managed to work McBain’s partner back into things and he didn’t have as much time to shine, but he had a few moments. The new Lt Ligachev was kinda the heart of the story, because even it admits McBain is almost too caustic to believe, but that made it all the funnier.
Overall it was not quite as good as the first (Chris Warner’s art was better, and the colors were bolder, though I guess the muted colors work for Siberia) but I found it just as amusing. It is also well worth the read.
The third story, Dark River, was even lesser still. It had the same fun dialogue, but the only returning characters was McBain and the general, and it just felt perfunctory. Overall, a bit of a disappointing finish.
Still, this volume was a hoot and I kinda wish it wasn’t going to be out of print due to Disney getting the Fox stuff.
The second story, Cold War, takes the fun to Glasnost era Soviet Russia, and introduces some new characters, Like Lt Ligachev, who teams up with our hero, McBain. (Yes, he will be referred to as such from now on for convenience and humor.)
It was interesting that they managed to work McBain’s partner back into things and he didn’t have as much time to shine, but he had a few moments. The new Lt Ligachev was kinda the heart of the story, because even it admits McBain is almost too caustic to believe, but that made it all the funnier.
Overall it was not quite as good as the first (Chris Warner’s art was better, and the colors were bolder, though I guess the muted colors work for Siberia) but I found it just as amusing. It is also well worth the read.
The third story, Dark River, was even lesser still. It had the same fun dialogue, but the only returning characters was McBain and the general, and it just felt perfunctory. Overall, a bit of a disappointing finish.
Still, this volume was a hoot and I kinda wish it wasn’t going to be out of print due to Disney getting the Fox stuff.
November 28, 2025
Whenever you journey into the realm of Dark Horse comics, you can't help but wonder, "Am I going to get a thrilling story that expands the universe of the property in question, or is this merely published fanfiction?" Turns out, Mark Verheiden is a fan, and this is his fiction.
Pulpy, rough-and-tumble, dame-ogling fiction.
I've read Concrete Jungle before and I think it's WILD that Verheiden didn't get a story credit for the Predator 2 film. He changed the setting from the rainforest to the urban wilderness, involved drug lords, and a hard-boiled cop. Hollywood is packed to the gills with thieves, and it shows.
Concrete Jungle has one of the most visceral and memorable first pages of any comic, but its misread of the first film causes it to be a macho, invasion tale rather than a clever game most dangerous. It leans into the machismo elements while ignoring the fact that in the first film, John McTiernan renders that masculinity inert. Whenever Dutch and his team lay waste and attempt to mow down the Predator, and barely graze it, their weapons —all phallic symbols— were rendered impotent. They had to turn to the jungle itself in order to fend off their foe. They couldn't just use brute strength: they had to improvise, adapt, deceive, or die. If they failed to remember that lesson, and each team member did, save for Dutch, it would inevitably cost them their lives.
You don't quite get that level of analysis with these Schaefer stories. They're entertaining, but I could practically smell the cigarette smoke and feel the pages yellow as I turned them.
Concrete Jungle ***
Cold War **
Dark River **
Pulpy, rough-and-tumble, dame-ogling fiction.
I've read Concrete Jungle before and I think it's WILD that Verheiden didn't get a story credit for the Predator 2 film. He changed the setting from the rainforest to the urban wilderness, involved drug lords, and a hard-boiled cop. Hollywood is packed to the gills with thieves, and it shows.
Concrete Jungle has one of the most visceral and memorable first pages of any comic, but its misread of the first film causes it to be a macho, invasion tale rather than a clever game most dangerous. It leans into the machismo elements while ignoring the fact that in the first film, John McTiernan renders that masculinity inert. Whenever Dutch and his team lay waste and attempt to mow down the Predator, and barely graze it, their weapons —all phallic symbols— were rendered impotent. They had to turn to the jungle itself in order to fend off their foe. They couldn't just use brute strength: they had to improvise, adapt, deceive, or die. If they failed to remember that lesson, and each team member did, save for Dutch, it would inevitably cost them their lives.
You don't quite get that level of analysis with these Schaefer stories. They're entertaining, but I could practically smell the cigarette smoke and feel the pages yellow as I turned them.
Concrete Jungle ***
Cold War **
Dark River **
December 23, 2025
I have always been interested in the Predator mythos but never got around to reading the comics. After watching PREDATOR: BADLANDS, I decided to see what my library had to check out and came across this. I was surprised how much Predator 2 borrowed from the first story and even more surprised that they managed to work in a connection to Dutch from the first movie.
I generally don't read a lot of older comics because I am not a fan of the art style of those times unless I read them when they came out (can't beat nostalgia), but even though the style was a little dated, I was pretty impressed with the artwork in the first and third stories. The second was not bad but not on par with the others.
For a pretty standard formula, they managed to vary up the stories a good bit and form a pretty good trilogy. I will definitely be looking to see what other Predator titles my library has.
I generally don't read a lot of older comics because I am not a fan of the art style of those times unless I read them when they came out (can't beat nostalgia), but even though the style was a little dated, I was pretty impressed with the artwork in the first and third stories. The second was not bad but not on par with the others.
For a pretty standard formula, they managed to vary up the stories a good bit and form a pretty good trilogy. I will definitely be looking to see what other Predator titles my library has.
November 29, 2020
its predator......one the best stories that follows the original story/movie
before predator 2 movie which was a approximate facsimile of this comic adaption of the book...
this would have been a better movie than predator 2 which was good....
before predator 2 movie which was a approximate facsimile of this comic adaption of the book...
this would have been a better movie than predator 2 which was good....
November 13, 2022
This collection proved to be a gory and exciting follow-up to the hit 1987 film “Predator”. While it lacks character development, its sarcastic one-liners and over the top action sequences are a wonderful homage to the action movies of the 1980s and 1990s.
July 14, 2017
This is a trashy 80's movie come to life.
September 24, 2018
★★★
Ricco di azione, brutaità e cafonaggine spicciola tipica dei film d'azione anni '80. Sicuramente non ci si annoia.
Ricco di azione, brutaità e cafonaggine spicciola tipica dei film d'azione anni '80. Sicuramente non ci si annoia.
January 17, 2021
Predator is truly terrifying but in an awesome way. I love the '80s vibe and will be reading again.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Read
January 17, 2023Good
Really surprised me how good this was for how old it was. I enjoyed all 3 stories. I didn't want to put this down.
Really surprised me how good this was for how old it was. I enjoyed all 3 stories. I didn't want to put this down.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews