Predator: Hell Come a Walkin' is a two-issue limited comic book series that was first published by Dark Horse Comics from February-March 1998. It was written by Nancy A. Collins, illustrated and colored by Dean Ormston, lettered by Ellie De Ville, and edited by Scott Allie and David Land, with covers by Ormston. It deals with a group of Union and Confederate soldiers that hunt a rogue Predator against the dramatic backdrop of the American War Between the States.
In Dark Horse's Predator comics line, Predator: Hell Come a Walkin' was preceded by Predator: Nemesis, and was followed by Predator: Captive.
Publisher's Summary[]
#1: It's the Civil War... A nation is divided against itself and the once green countryside runs red with blood. Even as the conflict destroys towns and families it serves as bait... Bait for a Predator. When two opposing bands of soldiers bear witness to the Predator's gruesome atrocities, they realize they have an enemy greater than each other. But can they lay aside their differences long enough to defeat their common foe?
#1: It's 1863 and the Civil War rages through the Ozarks. But it's not just brother killing brother in this neck of the war... This battle has been joined by a Predator. A small band of Confederate and Union soldiers join together in order to destroy their common monstrous foe. You won't want to miss this, the conclusion of Predator: Hell Come a Walkin' as the armies of the North and the South join together in a battle that you won't find in any history book!
Plot[]
In the year 1864, during the American Civil War, a small group of Confederate soldiers are stationed within the Ozark mountains waiting for the arrival of young bushwacker Jesse James. They are suddenly ambushed and killed by a lone Predator.
Jesse and his comrades Nebediah and Native-American Standing Bear, arrive shortly afterwards and are met with the aftermath of the massacre, only to thereafter encounter a small platoon of Union soldiers transporting a stationary cannon. Neb opens fire and kills the squad's Captain, Riggs. Lieutenant Hendricks believes he had gotten Riggs killed by saluting at him. Feeling deep guilt, he jumps from behind cover in an attempt to retrieve the captain's body, only to be shot in the ear, rendering him unconscious. He awakens to find him being treated to an African-American soldier named Spartacus. The two, alongside a German soldier, Corporal Brubaker, nicknamed 'Dutch', share their stories as to how they ended up conscripted.
Meanwhile, the three Confederates set up camp and discuss what could have killed their comrades. Standing Bear tells stories of a Cannibal Spirit that leaves its cave deep within the Ozarks and feasts on human flesh. Though Jesse is sceptical, Neb partly agrees with him and tells a story of how the Devil himself had allowed a mountaineer to invite him into his solitary log-cabin, slaughtering and cannibalizing him, his family and burning the cabin to the ground. Jesse departs from the two to check on the canon, only to notice a distant silhouette of a creature, causing him to return in distress and notify the others.
The Predator sends Jesse and Spartacus into a retreat.
Jesse, Neb and Standing Bear approach the Union troops, with Jesse proposing a truce, after claiming to have seen "the devil hisself". Suddenly, a hole is blown through Bear's chest from the shot a Plasmacaster, killing him. After the assailant retreats from the gunfire, the two sides subsequently join forces to oppose a new threat far greater than one-another.
Jesse impales the Predator.
Jesse, Spartacus and Neb explore the forestry, intent on flushing the creature out whilst the others get the canon ready. After splitting from Jesse, Neb subsequently saves Spartacus from a bear by shooting it, before being suddenly decapitated by the Predator who emerges. Spartacus and Jesse fend the hunter off with gunfire, before retreating. The two lure the Predator into the direction of the cannon. However, the creature does not take the bait. Hendricks ultimately sacrifices himself by goading the Predator into a melee, and having Brubaker fire the cannon at the both of them. Hendricks is obliterated, but the Predator is left standing and moves towards Dutch, As he prepares to stand off against it, it is suddenly impaled from behind with the Union flag by Jesse, who subsequently finishes it off with a pistol shot to the head.
After burying the dead, the three survivors are met with Confederate reinforcements led by Jesse's older brother Frank. However, after hearing that he is to take Dutch and Spartacus prisoner, he holds his brother at gunpoint and allows the two to take a mule and return to their unit. After a mutual thanks, Spartacus and James assure each other that they will remain enemies, before both parting ways.
Characters[]
- Jesse James
- Spartacus
- Hendricks
- Brubaker
- Nebediah
- Standing Bear
- Ozarks Hunter
Reprint History[]
Dark Horse Comics[]
Predator: Hell Come a Walkin' was eventually collected as part of Predator Omnibus: Volume 4 in September 2008.
The complete comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on April 10, 2013, collected with Predator: 1718 and reusing Dean Ormston's cover art from issue #1.
Marvel Comics[]
Following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Predator comic books, the comic was supposed to be collected as part of Marvel's Predator: The Original Years Volume 2 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories but was removed along with Predator: Demon's Gold.
Trivia[]
- The protagonist of the main story is infamous Wild West gunfighter and highwayman Jesse James, who in reality did fight in the American Civil War as a Confederate bushwhacker, before moving to the Midwest to make a name for himself as an outlaw after the war's end.
- The idea of a Predator hunting during the American Civil War would be revisited in the short story Stonewall's Last Stand, included in the anthology Predator: If It Bleeds. Like Hell Come a Walkin', the short story features a real-life individual as its main character — Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.
- Interestingly a fictional comic with Jesse James fighting a Predator was featured in a 1993 Tales from a Crypt episode titled “People Who Live in Brass Hearses.”
Gallery[]
Issue covers[]
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