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Predator: Nemesis is a two-issue limited comic book series that was first published by Dark Horse Comics from December 1997-January 1998. It was written by Gordon Rennie, illustrated and colored by Colin MacNeil, lettered by Gary Fields, and edited by Philip Amara and David Land, with cover art by Tom Taggart. The story deals with a Predator hunting in Colonial India and Victorian England.

In Dark Horse's Predator comics line, Predator: Nemesis was preceded by Predator: Primal and Predator: Bump in the Night, and was followed by Predator: Hell Come a Walkin'.

Publisher's Summary[]

#1: It is a time of secrets and evil: the time of Jack the Ripper, and his reign of terror on Victorian England. But not every trail of blood led to that diabolical figure. Captain Soames is quickly learning that 19th century London is home to more than one brutal murderer. It will take all of the captain's cunning and skill to find and defeat his quarry. But Soames can't shake the feeling that he's met the killer before: a mythological man-eating demon that looks surprisingly like a Predator.

#2: There are few things on this Earth as cunning and vicious as a Predator, and this one's just found worthy prey. In the fog-filled streets of Victorian England, Captain Soames, pride of the British military, is being hunted by the otherwordly creature. But this may not be the first time the two warriors have clashed. In the jungles of India, Soames once faced a demon the locals called Raksasha. Now it looks like it's returned to finish the job.

Plot[]

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Edward is assigned his task by the committee.

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Edward investigates a gruesome yet familiar crime-scene.

Within the city of London during the late Victorian period, Captain Edward Soames, a military veteran of the British Raj, is summoned to the elusive Diogenes Club headed by Mycroft Holmes, brother to Sherlock Holmes. He is tasked there by the committee under the highest authority to track down a killer known as Spring-Heeled Jack. He is sent to Whitechapel where he discovers the scene of a grisly murder; a headless corpse strung up in a bar. The crime-scene distresses Edward, as it reminded him of a certain encounter in India. Inspector Lestrade, who accompanies Soames also notes that a young Indian boy had survived the attack, though he became delirious and was left only able to repeat the words "Rakshasa".

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The Rakshasa slaughters Soame's comrades as he flees in terror.

The word causes Soames to reminisce on his time in the Raj in Bengal. In 1881, Soames' garrison is approached by local villagers to inform them of a 'tiger' terrorizing the locals, already killing two and requests for them to eliminate it. The local Brahmin goes on to warn the soldiers that a tiger was not responsible for the killings, but a Rakshasa, a man-eating demon. As he and his men enter the jungles to hunt down the local's killer, they are suddenly ambushed by the 'Rakshasa' himself - a Predator. The Rakshasa slaughters his comrades, including his close friend. Soames was too stricken with fear to do anything and retreated. Stricken with guilt and regret, Edward spent the next fifteen years repentant of his actions, now believing he has been given a second chance.

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Soames finishes off his adversary for good.

Soames is later called into the underground, after a Mother Ship is located there. Inspector Lestrade argues that the killings are a foreign plot to demoralize the people of the Empire and send them into a moral panic. Though he and the police force desire to assist Soames in capturing the killer, the latter declines. He later travels to a gunsmith and purchases numerous firearms, namely a large elephant gun. He returns to the ship, and waits for the Predator's return. Upon it's return to the ship, Soames opens fire with his elephant gun, blasting a large hole into its shoulder and sending it into a retreat into the outside of the underground and into the River Thames. Edward follows it into the open and eventually, after barely missing a swipe from its Wristblades, fires his pistols into the creature, though it is still left standing. Soames is sent into a retreat. Deriding from his knowledge of how the locals in Bengal used to hunt tigers, he lures the Predator, far heavier than him, into a mud-pool which he crosses with ease. After goading the creature, the Predator follows suit, but Soames, now possessing the high ground on a set of stairs, swiftly sends the hunter into the mud-pool. The Predator desperately holds onto a wooden railing, but Soames cuts it's arm off with a kukri-knife. The hunter slowly drowns in the mud-pool before the river tide comes in, likely finishing the creature off for good.

Soames leaves his journal for the members of the committee to read, before disappearing for India. Though the members discuss what is to be done of him. Mycroft ultimately opts to leave him to his devices for his duties.

Characters[]

Reprint History[]

Dark Horse Comics[]

Predator: Nemesis was eventually collected as part of Predator Omnibus: Volume 4 in September 2008.

The complete comic was released digitally through Dark Horse Digital on May 29, 2013, reusing Tom Taggart's cover art from issue #1.

Marvel Comics[]

Following Marvel Comics' acquisition of the rights to Predator comic books, the comic will be collected as part of Marvel's Predator: The Original Years Volume 2 collection, alongside many other early Dark Horse stories. The collection is set to be released in March, 2024.

Behind the Scenes[]

The character of Sherlock Holmes' brother Microft Holmes, a high-ranking official in Victorian British intelligence who plays a role in Nemesis, is an actual character mentioned in the original Sherlock Holmes novels. The character, who has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity, also plays a role in the popular comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by writer Alan Moore.

The periodicals in the comic attribute the nickname of "Springheeled Jack" to the unknown murderer; Spring-heeled Jack is an actual entity from English folklore, described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire".

Trivia[]

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