predator

You can always count on a number of surprises from NECA at Toy Fair, but this year, I don't think very many collectors could have expected the announcements the company unveiled. While new Predator and Alien toys are as expected, you never know what the mad geniuses at NECA might have in store for the likes of Evil Dead, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the other dozens of gaming and movie licenses it holds. All you can be sure about is that you will come away from the NECA booth ready to find a new source of income to pay for all the things you're going to need. Like the new Batman vs Aliens and Predator sets.

After carefully reviewing all of the covers for Dark Horse books published with cover dates between January and December of 2016, we've selected a collection that runs the eye-catching, attention-grabbing gamut.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. Halloween is unquestionably the most wonderful time of the year, but how can we take our love for Halloween and our love for comics and combine them to enjoy at the same time? I'll tell you how. By making a list of the best monster team-ups in comics, that's how. Monsters have always been a great fit for comics and there's nothing like the old comic character crossover/team-up, so this is a real peanut butter and chocolate situation.

I've been pretty up front about this before, but whenever 2000 AD's Judge Dredd manages to find himself thrown into a crossover with Aliens or Predator, the result is pretty amazing. In fact, I'd venture to say that they're arguably some of the best licensed crossover comics of all time, and will likely remain so until that magical moment where Judge Dredd vs. Archie finally becomes real. So as you might imagine, I'm pretty excited about the new crossover that throws all three of those franchises into a blender to see what happens when they all hit at the same time. It's coming from Dark Horse and 2000 AD next month, but today, we have a preview of the action, which can no longer be contained by a single Mega City. No, this time, they're heading out to the Atomic Wasteland that is the Cursed Earth.

Ruthlessly efficient biological killing machines. Fascinatingly grotesque and bizarre extraterrestrial monsters. More than a match for an entire cast of human characters. And, most importantly, stars of 1980s 20th Century Fox-distributed films and licensed to Dark Horse Comics. These are the similarities that forged a decades-long bond between the Aliens and Predator franchises, linking them into a symbiotic relationship that has infested medium after medium, and lasted over 25 years now.

Crossovers are all the rage at Dark Horse this year, as the publisher announced two huge new miniseries at Emerald City Comicon this past weekend, mixing up its licensed properties with those of publishers such as Boom Studios and 2000 AD, with Judge Dredd crossing over with some familiar alien threats, and Tarzan paying a visit to a very familiar planet. Dark Horse also unveiled a brand new ongoing series from Rat Queens writer Kurtis Wiebe and newcomer Mindy Lee, which has been described as Rat Queens in space!

Today, a dynamite interview with The Nice Guys director Shane Black ran over at Thrillist. It’s a good read — not only does Matt Patches get at some nifty insights about violence on film and working with Ryan Gosling, but he extracts two tantalizing tidbits from Black that will only enflame fan anticipation for his upcoming projects.

It's been some years since Kenner held the rights to either Alien or Predator, but current rights-holder NECA has been steadily paying homage to the Kenner Predator era with a few different releases. Soon, it will be venturing into Kenner's Alien line as well, but to kick things off, NECA is releasing a two-pack through Toys 'R Us commemorating the original Kenner set.

In 1987, 20th Century Fox introduced the world to the Predator in one of the most memorable action films of Arnold Schwarzenegger's career. I wouldn't see the movie until a few years after it's release on cable at a sleepover, but the impression it made was instant. In 1989, Dark Horse brought the alien hunters to the masses through the first of many mini-series, Concrete Jungle. The four-issue series actually focused on the brother of Schwarzenegger's Dutch Schaffer, a New York police detective working the narcotics division. Even all these years later, the cover to the first issue is still a bold and memorable one, which was a hallmark of DHP's Predator books way back when. Since those earliest Predator stories, the franchise has stuck with fans, and the tribal aliens have appeared in a variety of forms over the years. These comics, which arrived on the scene before Danny Glover and Predator 2, were the first time we learned there could be more than one of these ugly mother f---ers out there. Dark Horse's books continued expanding on the universe of the Yautja over the years, building a deep history for the alien race, and even helping inspire a bit of cross-pollination with the Alien franchise (also at 20th Century Fox and Dark Horse). Still, Concrete Jungle, which acted as a direct sequel of sorts to the original film remains one of the most important. Now, in celebration of the 25th anniversary Dark Horse's first Predator comics, NECA's released a special version of the iconic hunter commemorating that stunning cover.

Hey, hey! It looks like it's time for another Funko Pop giveaway. ScreenCrush and ComicsAlliance are teaming up to offer up another selection of the collectible figurines fans just can't help but gobble up. From movies and comics to television and video games, Funko's reach knows no bounds, and neither does the adoration of collectors around the world from all walks of life. Fortunately, we're going to make it a tiny bit easier for fans of characters like Deadpool, Wolverine, Boba Fett and Ant-Man to get their hands on these coveted cuties. For the next few weeks, we'll be tossing up these little heroes on Twitter, so if you aren't already following either @ComicsAlliance or @ScreenCrushNews, it might behoove you to tune in to our feeds if you hope to get your hands on one.