Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens #4 Review

Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens #4

Writer: John Layman
Artist: Chris Mooneyham
Colourist: Michael Attiyeh
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

There are four mind blowing movies from the eighties and nineties that shaped my childhood and Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens crosses over the iconic characters from three of them. Three out of four boxes ticked? Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, the end of this story arc fails to live up to the hype of any of those films and just isn’t any greater than the sum of its parts.

Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens takes place in the post apocalyptic scorched-earth future world that 2000 AD made famous. This finale brings the events of #1 to #3 of this series to a dramatic finale, where a brood of xenomorphs have been unleashed onto the underworld of Dredd’s megacity by crazed genetic scientist, Dr Reinstöt. This “family friendly” doctor then injects a serum of xenomorph blood and transforms into a variation of an Alien Queen, creating a conundrum for the Judge police force.

The two Predators aid in the extermination of the threat but are ultimately quite useless. Judge Dredd and his partner are the main focus of this story with the Aliens seeming like a threat at first but the two judges easily dispose of them (even the queen) before Dredd orders the remaining Predators off of his planet.

This should have been a clash of titanic proportions where three characters cemented in early nineties pop culture battle for the future of Dredd’s post-apocalyptic world. I don’t know if the biggest problem for me was that I can’t help but read the entire story in Sly Stallone’s monotone drawl or that stylistically, the artistic tone of the story plays out more like a 2000 AD. But then, I’m not sure if that’s just my own internal struggle that has forever ruined Judge Dredd as a comic book character or if it’s made it better. For me, this epic conclusion of joint venture from IDW and Dark Horse felt more forced than organically realised through the progression of its characters.

The Verdict.

Skip It. Only pick this up if you’re a hardcore fan of Judge Dredd or the 2000 AD series that he heralds from. Even if Aliens vs Predator battles are more your vibe, owning Predator vs. Judge Dredd vs. Aliens still won’t add any more value to your collection. Sad, but true.