Predator: Blood on Two-Witch Mesa is a two-part comic book short story that was first published by Dark Horse Comics in the company's self-titled anthology series Dark Horse Comics #20-21, from April-May 1994. It was written by Terry LaBan, illustrated by Howard Cobb, colored by Lea Hernandez, lettered by Vickie Williams, and edited by John Weeks. Issue #20 of Dark Horse Comics also featured a Predator cover by Brom. The story features the return of Native-American US Army Corporal Enoch Nakai, the hero from Predator: Big Game, and tells the story of when his great-grandfather faced off against a Predator in the Old West.
The comic is one of the few Aliens, Predator and Aliens vs. Predator comic books to serve as a direct sequel to an earlier story. Specifically, it features the return of Enoch Nakai from the comic Predator: Big Game.
In Dark Horse's Predator comics line, Predator: Blood on Two-Witch Mesa was preceded by Predator: The Hunted City, published concurrently with Predator: Bad Blood (series), and was followed by Predator: Invaders from the Fourth Dimension.
Publisher's Summary[]
#20: On the lava flow the Spaniards called El Malpais, Enoch Nakai fought his own demon, in Predator: Big Game. But though the Beast is dead, Enoch's demons aren't, and he is destined to meet with them again in "Predator: Blood on Two-Witch Mesa," featuring a premiere script by Terry LaBan and beautifully detailed art by Howard Cobb.
#21: Also, in the blood and dust-streaked conclusion to "Predator: Blood on Two-Witch Mountain," Enoch's grandfather faces his own devil under the hot desert sun. And don't expect the Predator to lose this time!
Plot[]
Nakai drinking alone during nightfall.
Following the events of Big Game, it is revealed that Nakai was honourably discharged from military service, and forced to keep his encounter confidential. Since then, he has been suffering from ghastly nightmares of the creature and has been growing increasingly despondent with those around him, specifically straining his relationship with his girlfriend, Alda.
With Enoch one night solemnly drinking alone outside, his grandfather approaches him and shows him a dart from a Yautja Speargun, intending to tell a story of how Nakai's great-grandfather had encountered the same Predator 75 years ago.
The Big Game Predator reveals himself.
Upon discovering several members of a US oil company setting up a drill site within Two-Witch Mesa, sacred Navajo grounds, Nakai's great-grandfather rallied a group to protest against the drilling, hoping to reason with the Americans. However, they were forced to leave by the workers, but set up camp nearby. Overnight, the six workers were attacked and killed by an unknown entity, their corpses strung up onto a tree. Enraged, the workers blamed the Navajo for the killings, firing at them and taking two of them prisoner, one of them was Nakai's grand-father. The Navajos returned the next day and began skirmishing with the workers, several of them being killed by blasts from a Plasmacaster during. Eventually, a creature was wounded in the crossfire and let out a roar of pain, the fighting stopping in an instant. The sheriff subsequently arrived and had his men send the creature into a retreat.
With Nakai's great grandfather being treated for his wounds back home, he was approached by the widow of a man who had been killed by the dart of the creature's speargun, giving the dart to him. He was later visited by an "agency man" who questioned him on events, never to hear from the incident thereafter. Nakai is thankful to his grandfather for revealing to him that his own ancestor had once encountered the same creature as he had.
The following day, Nakai is approached by government agent "John Smith", who reveals that he was eavesdropping on him and offers him a job.
Characters[]
- Enoch Nakai
- Nakai's Grandfather
- Nakai's Great-grandfather
- Alda
- Big Game Predator
Reprint History[]
Predator: Blood on Two-Witch Mesa was eventually collected as part of Predator Omnibus: Volume 2 in February 2008.
The complete comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on March 27, 2013, reusing Brom's cover art from Dark Horse Comics #20.
Marvel Comics[]
Following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Predator comic books, the comic was collected as part of Marvel's Predator: The Original Years Omnibus Volume 1 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. The collection was released on December 27, 2022.
Behind the Scenes[]
This story makes Enoch Nakai one of the few Predator comics characters to appear as a lead in more than one Predator story, the other being Detective John Schaefer from Predator: Concrete Jungle. It also makes Nakai the first Predator comics character to have his exploits continued by a writer other than the individual who created him (Schaefer was only ever handled by Mark Verheiden). Indeed these comics serve as a rare exception for the Aliens, Predator and Aliens vs. Predator comics lines in general, where only a few characters have made repeat appearances or had their stories continued.
Some other noteworthy recurring characters are Machiko Noguchi, Ellis and Top-Knot from the AVP line, and Hicks/Wilks, Newt/Billie, Ripley/synthetic Ripley, the captain of Gateway station, Professor Kleist and Dr. Crespi from the Aliens line.
Gallery[]
