This time, it’s Predator Vs. Aliens with Judge Dredd in between for a three way battle in the first epic issue of Dark Horse Comics’ Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens by John Layman in a mix of Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and (I’m quite sure, though I haven’t seen it) Predator Vs. Alien! I don’t know about you, but if a title has the word “alien” in it, it is twice as catchy as it would be otherwise. And, like they’re all saying at ComicAlliance, the comic is “exactly as awesome as it sounds.” This issue is set to be released on July 27th, so write down that date!
Predator: A known, respected, and feared species of hunters throughout the galaxy, experts at combat, camoflauge, surviving and tracking, and are *embarrassed cough* constant collectors of trophies from their kills. One of these very monsters is alone, trespassing without knowledge through marshy wastelands on the Earth, and is the hunted this time, by aliens: creations through genetics modifications using DNA by the fearless, power hungry Doctor Reinstöt, with human bodies and beast heads. Doc would be delighted with a different creature’s DNA to finish one of his current creations …
Judge Dredd: “The Law” in a megapolis, the last and best defense against a corrupted world of chaos. Serving justice brings him to Earth’s wastelands, searching for terrorist fugitives from Mega-City One. A gang of criminals is stationed in his way, to distract him from the fleeing leader … Dredd and his gang beat them all at the traditional game of punch and blow in order to find out where “Archbishop Emoji” has run off to.
Back at the lab, Doc Reinstöt is interrupted at work on his half-dead Predator, only to be alerted that there are even more trespassers on his territory: a gang of what looks like other Predators, doing what they do best.
Thus is the storyline for Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens. I love that this is the first issue in an ongoing series, and that so far it is only Aliens vs. Predator, and Judge Dredd hasn’t quite run into the conflict yet … things are building up, and the ending was quite the cliffhanger. The beginning was very genius too, as it began introducing the Predator … only to be the prey on the third page. The story builds momentum from there, switching from character POVs and settings and back.
The artwork was well done and the dialog smart and snappy. The pacing was excellent, the beginning I could just picture like a feature film, and the end a cliffhanger. There was not a whole lot of violence and thus not a lot of blood and gore, if you are sensitive to that sort of thing. I also loved how they put in the mad scientist – this made it more sci-fi than fantasy – and that through the whole comic, even though there are three sides coming against each other, there wasn’t really a villain at all … the closest to it was Doc Reinstöt, and he was a clearly awesome character. I felt sorry for the poor Predator, until his gang comes (possibly to avenge his near death) in the very last panel.
Overall, I think I would give this comic a 4 1/2 rating out of 5. Excellente! I look forward to reading and reviewing later issues of Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens. Do you plan on reading this comic? Let us know in the comments below.
This copy was supplied by Dark Horse Comics. All thoughts are my own.
I can not wait to jump in!!