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Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #2

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    Ian Jane
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  • Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #2



    Predator Vs. Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens #2
    Released by: Dark Horse Comics/IDW Publishing
    Released on: August 31st, 2016.
    Written By: John Layman
    Illustrated by: Chris Mooneyham
    Purchase From Amazon

    In the first issue, Judge Dredd chased a perp named Emoji into an overgrown forest that just so happens to be the terrain of one Doc Reinstot, the same Doc Reinstot whose mutant creations have kidnapped a visiting predator and the same Doc Reinstot who has applied a facehugger to said predator!

    This second issue begins with a prologue set in Mega-City One five years before the start of the events in the first issue. Here Dredd was called into the Melissa Gilbert Block to visit a city orphanage. Why? A man called Reinstot had 'inoculated' the kids with a DNA fuser and taken an orphan hostage.

    In the present, a few of the kidnapped predator's friends arrive, wondering what happened to him. Expert trackers that they are, they're concerned by the presence of some very strange animal tracks and tracks left behind by some sort of vehicle, clearly in hot pursuit of… something. Cut to Dredd and his team of fellow Judges as Emoji leads them on a motorcycle chase through the jungle. The predators follow the evidence of the chase, finding no shortage of blood and oil to keep them on the right track. The Judges catch Emoji but before Dredd can 'terminate operations' PSI Division's Judge Anderson detects an unusual wave of psychic energy. This precedes the attack from a legion of Doc Reinstot's mutant creations, a sneak attack that does not go in the Judges' favor.

    The predators follow the trail to the village of these hybrid mutant/human creations, the same village where the Judges are now held captive. Here Doc Reinstot expresses his displeasure that the Judges were captured but that the 'space men' were not. As Dredd regains consciousness and recognizes Reinstot, we flash back to that altercation in Mega-City One… where Dredd killed him. But if Dredd killed him, shot him point blank in the face, how is he standing here in front of him? It seems Reinstot has been experimenting all this time, and that now, having perfect his DNA cocktail using the alien skull that dropped out of the sky, he intends to use the Judges as the next round of guinea pigs. And then those 'space men' show up.

    This second issue is just as much crazy fun as the first one was. Layman's going for an 'everything but the kitchen sink' approach here, mixing up all manner of man and monster and playing with all the toys offered to him by the characters' respective universes. It's pretty entertaining stuff, offering plenty of action and a few fun twists along with some amusing black humor and the type of tough talking Dredd-centric dialogue you want from the world's greatest lawman. There's a bit of social satire here as well, what with the gene splicing/DNA angle being worked into the story in such a big way, and it's exploited quite well.

    Chris Mooneyham, no stranger to the AVP universe having illustrated the Predator: Fire And Stone run back in 2014, does a great job with the pencils. At times his work seems to have been influenced a bit by some of Bill Sienkiewicz's less surreal work, with maybe a touch of Klaus Janson thrown into the mix for good measure. Lots of very fine line work pulls plenty of detail in to each panel and both the aliens, the predators and the Judges, Dredd in particular, are given plenty of tough look stances that are just plain cool looking. Michael Atiyeh handles the colors really well, especially those scenes that take place in the jungle where the lush green hues make it feel like the jungle is almost coming in on the characters. Toss in a great cover from Glenn Fabry and yeah, this is pretty great stuff. Plenty entertaining, that's for sure.






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