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Judge Dredd vs. Aliens "Incubus" TPB

Started by Zarjazzer, 29 August, 2009, 03:37:03 PM

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Zarjazzer

Got this  on a whim as I was in Waterstones. John Wagner and Andy Diggle scripted whilst Henry Flint supplied the art.There's also an introduction by Simon Pegg he of Star Trek and Shaun of the Dead fame.

This is a great fun read throughout. Not just Dredd but some interesting  characters like the Verminators as well as the horrible aliens with their acidic blood and deadly French kisses.

The book has some little extras, like original covers,(including a cover variant by Jock that I just love),some  Flint roughs and a section of script that was eventually dropped.

It works well because Dredd is focused and uncompromising and er so are the Aliens, the humanity bit is really brought by the luckless Verminators and Judge Sanchez. Mutants, mayhem and even an appearance by Mechanismo droids add to the mix nicely.

Expensive but I don't care.
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

PsychoGoatee

I really like that one, great stuff. I've enjoyed most of the Dredd crossovers, especially the first Batman one with the Simon Bisley art.

Apparently John Wagner is not too fond of writing about the Aliens though.

From this interview, when asked if there were any stories/characters he hated writing:

"Stories like Aliens and Predator, for instance. Both are 'one-joke' stories. They have one controlling idea and when that's been written you can only repeat yourself."


Zarjazzer

I thought he might. I always enjoyed the LOBO and Bats crossovers even the much maligned "The Ultimate Riddle" which whist well done had a bit of a lame-o explanantion.

At one point Wagner asked Andy Diggle to remove part of the Aliens vs Dredd script (when Dredd punches an Alien) as being too unbelievable.So he must have put a bit of effort in. 8)
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

locustsofdeath!

Strange that he implies that he was uninspired to write the story when it has to be the best Aliens crossover. He brought back the menace the Aliens had been lacking in all those limp DC crossovers, and played them brilliantly against the gritty Dredd world. That just shows how good the man is to turn out something so outstanding when "painting by numbers".

Mike Gloady

The strongest of the Aliens comics is also one of the weakest Dredd efforts of recent years. That's not to say it's bad - it isn't.  It's just not nearly so memorable as most of the other Dredd stories of recent years.

Wagner's input might not be huge on that project, but he did MAKE an input and tried his best.  Which just shows how lucky we are to have him - even when he's not that into an idea, he puts his all behind it and tries.  Cracking effort and hugely enjoyable.
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Zarjazzer

I'd forgotten how old the Aliens franchise is. 30 years since John Hurt foolishly looked at that egg. That's 12 years younger than me though (ow -next the grave! :'() and only two years younger than twoofy.

That said for me this all seemed new as I'd never read the original progs. I did buy the recent DH versions of both Aliens and Predator.Okay but not exactly spectacular.

Decent art but the stories weren't quite as hook filled as I thought.
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.

Colin YNWA

Just read this story for the first time. Not in trade up figure it'll pretty much be the same so this'll be as good a place as any I guess. I agree with much of whats been said already. I thing it suffers from being written to fill 4 (?) US length comics and so therefore is probably at least twice as long as Wagner would have needed to get through this if it'd been written for 2000ad alone.

Having said that it is exciting and looks great from start to finish and I'm rather glad it exists.

Teivion

Incubus is a personal favourite...
Excellent artwork, perfectly commissioned to match the piece. Great colouring, nice atmospherics and details throughout, and a fast, pacy script with a workable plot.
I didn't notice any real lag in the pace to fill an issue?

Any franchise crossover tends to limit the sum of the originality- I guess you have to appeal to the common denominator, Aliens do just hide in shadows, acid for blood, and kill things.That in itself would be hard to write out of the character!

Its a great read.

James Stacey

I really enjoyed the way it was handled. Treating the Alien as is and working out how it would affect and be reacted to in the big meg rather than heavy handed exposition to try and force lots of Alien back plot in there.

TordelBack

I hate franchise crossovers, but I loved this.  Done well start to finish, and totally in keeping with Dredd's world, which already features numerous Alien-type species (Varks, Raptaurs, Starborn Things, Gila Munja etc.).

Tiplodocus

"I guess flying isn't one of them."

Genius.
Be excellent to each other. And party on!

Jared Katooie

I really like this story as it's a great Dredd story and also a great Aliens story.

I think a big part of why it's so good is the fact that it makes the aliens seem like a real, dire threat (as they should be), rather than just canon fodder.

Roger Godpleton

I actually prefer WildC.A.Ts vs Aliens.
He's only trying to be what following how his dreams make you wanna be, man!

Zarjazzer

I'd completely forgotten about that Wildcats vs Aliens. i seem to recall the Bat and Superpants had a few run ins as well. One was particularly good with the ending that the aliens weren't dangerous because of what they were but because of what we are.

Still a classic battle with Dreddy and the Mechanismo featuring great lines like "Return to your hives and await nuclear sterilisation!"
The Justice department has a good re-education programme-it's called five to ten in the cubes.