Ewing, Al
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(1 book)
Mars Attacks Judge Dredd
(Art by John McCrea)
Investigating a shift in power in Mega-City One's organised crime, Judge Dredd discovers that one of the mob bosses has powerful new allies, the Martians, who then make a bid to take over the Earth.
The other Mars Attacks books (by John Layman) I read before this one had been okay but lacked the morbid sense of humour that made me love Tim Burton's movie version of the story. Here, however, that humour is very much present and mixes perfectly with the dark comedy often present in 2000AD stories. The ruthless Martians, with their love of overkill, are perfect antagonists for Dredd and the two franchises mash together pretty successfully.
The general story involving the organised crime bosses isn't hugely inspiring but, as I say, this book's humour makes up for it. There's the comedy mobsters (including Don Travolta), but for me the best part of this book was reading the translated captions of what the Martians say. Be it telling Dredd to "Lick my space gun, human turd!" or the sarcastic way they forge an alliance with a crimeboss, the Martians here are very funny.
One final note is simply that I always enjoy stories where Dredd teams up with Judge Anderson. They're such unlikely but compelling friends.
4 out of 5
Collaborations & Anthologies:
Original Sin (here)