SUNDAY CLASSICS: Magnus Robot Fighter VS Predator: Living Weapons

One of the first crossovers in the heyday of classic Valiant Comics and Dark Horse, Magnus vs Predator has stood the test of time. The gritty, moody art of Lee Weeks is as impactful reading it 20+ years later as it was reading it as a kid. The stylistic choice to keep it dark but fluid and striking was not just one that perfectly represented the Dark Horse vibe of the time but also the severe somber nature of Magnus’s solo adventures at the time. The action is crystal clear and exciting yet never betraying the noir ambiance.

The characters in the story emote just as clearly, as the Gun Club hunts living robots or cackles at killing their own or plotting to kill Magnus the reader can feel just how eerie and skincrawling their very beings are. As Magnus struggles with the conflict of being forced to protect these criminals, anger at his woman being endangered and confusion about his feelings towards Predator are all presented phenomenally human and skillful.

The team of John Ostrander and Jim Shooter absolutely nail the narrative here as well as balancing lore of both franchises. The story is pretty straightforward, these Gun Club jerks have a trophy that doesn’t belong to them, the helmet of X-O Manowar! Magnus is the only one strong and skilled enough to stop Predator but to do so without allowing him to set off his “in case defeat” nuke. Simple enough premise but it is fantastic on so many levels. The idea that the Predator race was involved in the final battle of Aric or another wielder of Shanhara in the far future is just too cool to not get fanboyish over. Seeing the fierce dedication of the Predator in his attempts to retrieve the X-O helmet in itself is great, if you know anything about the Predator race they only keep and defend “trophies” like these from the most honorable enemies, which clearly they see Manowar as.

What makes this series so lasting isn’t just how cool the fights between Magnus and Predator are nor the grim comeuppance of the series true villains. No instead it’s the honor giving to keeping both franchises in tact while increasing the lore of both. For instance if you recall at this time Magnus had turned his back on modern society in order to live with the “undesirables” aka the Gophs living in the lower levels. Being forced to fight a brutal yet principled warrior nearly to the death to defend some rich jerks was a perfect twist of the knife already stuck in his side. There’s nothing about these issues that you couldn’t just assume are canon other than the general nature of crossovers which is a rarity for intercompany works in the 90s. The long and short of it even if you don’t like Magnus but you love Predator or you love Magnus but aren’t too keen on the Predator films or comics, there’s nothing about these issues that will turn you off to either or harsh your buzz for whichever side intrigued you. This is basically the blueprint for how great crossovers should occur.