Judge, scurry and executioner.
When it comes to the Alien and Predator properties, crossovers are nothing new. The titular titans have faced off against everyone from Superman to Archie, leaving an assortment of separated spines and open chest cavities in their wake. With that in mind, John Layman and Chris Mooneyham turn the malleable monsters towards Mega-City One and its barrel-chested lawman, Judge Dredd. The resulting free-for-all proves to be an effortless, if by the numbers, debut, and one sure to appease fans of all the included properties.
With an ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach to storytelling, Layman’s script wastes no time in getting this collision course up and running. In quick succession he introduces all three of the soon-to-be combatants (though the Xenomorph is as of yet a newly resurrected husk), utilizing the machinations of the diabolical Doc Reinstot and his mutated manimals as a means of tying things together. There’s no deep exploration of shared history – though the Predator carries a Xenomorph skull, there’s no mention of Dredd’s previous shared history with the brood. Rather, the debut operates in as clear cut a manner as possible, efficiently presenting the players, the motivations and the conflict.
While undoubtedly a setup issue, Layman does a solid job of ensuring that the tone of each individual property works in concert with the others. His setup is simple, arguably too much so, but its nonetheless quite effective in both setting the stage and crafting a tone consistent with what we’ve come to expect. With such a focused approach, it’s the moments outside of setup that really shine, namely those with Dredd and his fellow Judges. Layman delivers some great action banter and a pitch perfect new foil in Archbishop Emoji. With the Predator largely silent and the Xenomorph largely deceased, it’s on Dredd and artist Mooneyham to provide the initial pull.
From the opening page Mooneyham proves an excellent fit for the subject matter, his gritty backdrops and beefed up baddies well at home within Mega-City One. There’s a heavyset edge to his lines, each panel loaded with hatched texture and depth. His Dredd cuts a particularly imposing figure, his grizzled mug and bodacious badge only heightened by the dystopian reds and yellows of Michael Atiyeh. The two also combine for some great action beats, framed with plenty of blood and an appearance by Dredd’s famed Lawgiver. While the attention to setup allows for very little Predator action and nary a wiggle from the face-hugger, Mooneyham’s final pages tease the kind of royal-rumble that hopefully comes with such a concept.
In the end Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens is about as adventurous as its three-tiered title suggests, relying on past tropes and a basic setup to get things going. That said, its setup that, while simple, works quite well within the confines Layman and Mooneyham have created, with plenty of promise for better to come. All good stories need a beginning, and with the convergence of some of comics’ most fearsome fighters now in motion, here’s hoping the end product measures up to the title billing.
The Verdict
Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens #1 is a solid debut, its commitment to the various properties as unwavering as Dredd’s granite jaw. John Layman’s script hits all the requisite beats, highlighting the many players while deftly building a narrative to house them all. While there’s not much that stands out to this first chapter beyond Chris Mooneyham’s atmospheric visuals, the story presented here has the potential to be pretty darn fun.
Editors' Choice
→
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire