Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #1
Released by: Dark Horse Comics/IDW Publishing
Released on: July 27th, 2016.
Written By: John Layman
Illustrated by: Chris Mooneyham
Purchase From Amazon
A Predator arrives in a forest. Where normally he'd be the hunter, this time he is the prey. He's chased, hunted down and speared by creatures that look to be half animal, half human. They accuse the Predator of trespassing and put him down, but not permanently. Nearby, one of the hunters finds the Predator's ship and they decide to bring the barely living Predator to Doc Reinstot, their creator, for examination. One of the manimal types, Buck, heads inside the ship with some of the others - the arsenal inside is impressive. As is the trophy room, complete with a familiar looking alien skull.
Out in the Cursed Earth, Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson and a few other officers of the law arrive at Smeg's Saloon, a mutie watering hole. A gang of terrorists escaped Mega-City One and Dredd and company aim to bring them to justice. The Judges find who they're looking for. A fight breaks out and these thugs, devotees to a cult leader named Archbishop Emoji, go down - but before Dredd can pummel the last one for the information he wants, Emoji himself makes his escape. This was a distraction, the Judges were set up. They track him west, to an overgrown forest called the Alabama Morass. One of the mutants from the bar warns Dredd that the creatures there have their own rules and that they tend to execute trespassers. But Dredd? He's not the type to let a perp get away.
In Doc Reinstot's lab, the Predator is being held captive, along with a face hugger. Being the geneticist mad scientist that he is, Reinstot decides to get creative. But before he can do what he intends to do, he's interrupted - there are trespassers approaching, Judges. He orders his man/animal mutant hybrids to bring them to him. He's got some experiments he wants to work on. But those Judges, they're not the only trespassers on the scene…
Action, mad science and black comedy combine in the first issue of this new mini-series. It's a fun read, setting up some potentially big things to come while staying true to the three franchises that are crossing over here. Dredd is written like Dredd should be written - he's tough, he's not screwing around and he's going to do whatever he needs to do in order to see that Justice is served. Throwing Anderson into the mix makes sense, given that her PSI powers will probably come in handy, and that she's always been a popular supporting character in the Dredd universe. There isn't much alien action here yet, but the story alludes to more in the coming issues. The Predators are also handled well, at least so far - so yeah, Layman's story is off to a good start.
Mooneyham's artwork is nicely detailed. His Dredd is big, tough looking and appropriately weathered. The Predators look good too, adorned with all the armor and weaponry you'd expect. There's good background detail here and a nice sense of movement to the action scenes. Michael Atiyeh's coloring work is solid too, making the forest scenes appropriately lush and the Cursed Earth scenes as dry and desolate looking as they should be. Bring on issue #2!