Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Incubus #4 - Dark Horse Comics

JUDGE DREDD VS. ALIENS: INCUBUS No. 4, June 2003

Firmly focusing upon the exploits of a seemingly ‘destined to die’ Joe Dredd, John Wagner and Andy Diggle’s script for Issue Four of “Judge Dredd Verses Aliens: Incubus” certainly provided its audience with ample evidence as to just why the senior street judge is Mega-City One’s toughest lawman. In fact, considering that Fargo’s clone has already been ‘fatally’ impregnated by a Facehugger before this particular publication even starts, it is difficult to imagine a more grimly determined incarnation of the Apocalypse War veteran than that presented to this comic book’s audience in 2003.

Fortunately however, unlike the much more emotional Judge Sanchez, whose hysteria at having an embryo embedded inside her body almost unhinges her mind, Dredd seems to take a sort of stoic comfort in the fact that he can still serve his city one last time by ridding the metropolis of the extra-terrestrial threat, as well as the presence of the nefarious Mister Bones too. This fatalistic philosophy makes Pat Mill’s co-creation arguably deadlier than ever, as he engineers a truly horrific, albeit fitting, death for the leader of the anti-Judge activists and mutants who have killed so many of his fellow law officers; “M-My pheromone tag! He’s crushed it --! B-Back! G-Get back! Please -- You m-must recognise me! It’s me -- D-Daddy-!”

Unsurprisingly, this twenty-four page periodical’s creative team also can’t resist setting up a somewhat ‘Ripley-like’ confrontation between Dredd and the alien hive’s queen. Packed full of pulse-pounding tension as the dying Judge declares his intention to gun the egg-laying monstrosity down where she stands, many of this comic’s readers were probably as slacked jawed as Sanchez is portrayed as being at the thought of just a couple of lawgivers taking down an entire Xenomorph XX121 nest. But the lawman’s desperate attempt to crush the aliens’ ruler beneath an unstable cement ceiling, whilst simultaneously trying to escape via an old subway station’s exit “sealed off with resin”, makes for a sense-shattering action sequence.

Similarly as successful is the writing duo’s ‘spotlight’ upon the guilt-laden Packer and her inner demons at having underestimated the deadliness of her pest control team’s current prey. Resolute to neutralise the “alien frenzy” once and for all under an unrelenting torrent of boiling lava, Dredd and Sanchez seemed determined to ‘die like a judge’ until the Verminator’s leader makes a highly memorable self-sacrifice using her jet-pack's fuel supply as a ready-made explosive, and engulfs the entire old Grand Central Station, and then some, with flesh-sizzling magma.

Writers: John Wagner & Andy Diggle, Art: Henry Flint, and Colors: Chris Blythe

Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Incubus #3 - Dark Horse Comics

JUDGE DREDD VS. ALIENS: INCUBUS No. 3, May 2003

Arguably consisting of just one long calamitous confrontation between the Grand Hall of Justice’s finest and more Xenomorphs than even James Cameron could crowbar into his 1986 science fiction sequel film “Aliens”, this “Dark Horse Comics” publication surely had its readers in 2003 absolutely spellbound. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine John Wagner and Andy Diggle penning a more pulse-pounding twenty-four page periodical than Issue Three of “Judge Dredd Verses Aliens: Incubus”, especially when it initially appears that Judges Ball and Simpson will need to bravely try to hold off an absolute torrent of the “highly aggressive endoparasitoid extra-terrestrial species” almost single-handedly.

Admittedly, this comic does experience something of a ‘calm before the storm’ moment, as Mega-City One recovers from having a huge crater “eaten away by the creature’s own body fluids” appear at City Bottom, and Packer’s proud Verminators mourn their recent losses courtesy of an unconvincing Resyk funerary ceremony. But Mister Bones and his mutated anti-Judge activists don’t allow such dialogue-heavy discussions to last for too long before blowing a hole straight into the heart of the Justice Department’s headquarters; "The charge is shaped to detonate without damaging the hive around us… And then -- the incubus will rise!”

The resultant battle between Chief Judge Hershey’s heavily outnumbered forces and the Xenomorph XX121 drones really is an incredibly thrilling experience, courtesy of this comic’s collaborative writing partnership intermixing sheer, blood-soaked carnage with moments of humanity every half dozen or so panels. Such a combination of action and emotion, like Charlie Shook refusing to join his Pest Control colleagues when the rest of the team decide to take up arms alongside Joe Dredd, is incredibly enthralling, and genuinely adds an element of fear for the audience when someone they know something about suddenly faces their gory end against the unremitting aggression of the savage extra-terrestrials.

Henry Flint and colorist Chris Blythe should also take a bow for imbuing this book with some truly staggering visuals. Stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the senior lawman’s last stand, each heroic human’s final moments are wonderfully pencilled onto their determined faces. Marinello being dragged down to his death, Butterman’s belly being eaten away by acidic juices, and even Judge Sanchez’s sheer terror at the slaughter around her, are all indelibly burnt into the bibliophile’s brain. Whilst few can surely have stifled a cheer when Giant is pencilled arriving in the nick of time with four gun-toting Mechanismo Droids...

Writers: John Wagner & Andy Diggle, Art: Henry Flint, and Colors: Chris Blythe

Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Incubus #2 - Dark Horse Comics

JUDGE DREDD VS. ALIENS: INCUBUS No. 2, April 2003

Bringing the titular character’s mano-a-mano confrontation with one of H.R. Giger’s Xenomorphs to a truly cataclysmic conclusion, John Wagner and Andy Diggle’s narrative for Issue Two of “Judge Dredd Verses Aliens: Incubus” must most assuredly have landed well with the mini-series’ audience. In fact, Old Stoney Face’s shoot-out with the “primal creature” at the Eisenhower General Hospital is arguably faultless, as the Apocalypse War veteran uses every weapon at his disposal, and then some, to finally kill the monster which previously had led to the deaths of “three people in thirty seconds” whilst hiding inside the building’s central ventilation shaft.

Delightfully however, simply because Mega-City One’s toughest lawman succeeds in his mission does not mean that this tremendous crossover title is over all-too soon, with the comic’s collaborative creators quickly shifting their focus away from the Justice Department’s meticulous investigation into just how Jimmy Godber “was breeding the aliens for pit fights”, and instead finally introducing this storyline’s lead antagonist, the facially disfigured Mister Bones. Shrouded in dark shadows and villainy, the former freebooter captain exudes menace in every panel he appears in, and quickly makes it crystal clear that he won’t be happy with any other result than the total destruction of the metropolis which sits above his Undercity-based secret headquarters; “Y-You’re sick, Bones! Rotten to the core! I don’t know why we ever got mixed up with you! You’re worse than the judges! Grud help them! Grud help Mega-City One!”

Also inserting plenty of dynamic tension and atmosphere into this twenty-four page periodical’s scintillating story-telling are Henry Flint and colorist Chris Blythe, whose combined artistry repeatedly imbues this book’s action sequences with plenty of punch and pizazz. Indeed, it’s hard not to feel the sheer terror Fisk must have been feeling when she realises the lethal alien she has been searching for is right behind her, or Maier’s sheer incomprehension at his horrific fate as Millar’s fiery corpse unerringly plummets straight towards him. In addition, the British penciller’s ability to crowbar in the odd moment of humour amongst all the bodily mutilation taking place is equally worth mentioning, with a cooing baby endearingly tapping a fearsome xenomorph’s chin as the alien’s slavering jaws hover above its crib debatably resulting in this book’s biggest chuckle.

Writers: John Wagner & Andy Diggle, Art: Henry Flint, and Colors: Chris Blythe

Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens: Incubus #1 - Dark Horse Comics

JUDGE DREDD VS. ALIENS: INCUBUS No. 1, March 2003

Published weekly in the British comic “2000 A.D.”, as well as monthly by “Dark Horse Comics”, this cross-company mini-series must have had both "Dredd-heads" and fans of the “Aliens” franchise drooling at the prospect of Mega-City One’s toughest lawman battling one of “nature’s most adaptive and deadly killing machines.” For whilst Old Stoney Face already enjoyed a history rich with such notable extra-terrestrial foes like the Kleggs, Trapper Hag, the Nosferatu and Raptaurs, all of them arguably paled into insignificance when compared to the cultural impact of H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph XX121; “Gotta warn them! They don’t know what they’re dealing with!”

Delightfully, John Wagner and Andy Diggle’s script for Issue One of “Judge Dredd Verses Aliens: Incubus” doesn’t disappoint either, providing plenty of pulse-pounding action straight from the book’s get-go as low-life Jimmy Godber desperately attempts to avoid a bullet in the head from the criminals he double-crossed, whist simultaneously trying to reach Eisenhower General Hospital for medical assistance. Readers familiar with the “highly aggressive endoparasitoid extra-terrestrial species” will know exactly what is coming next, but such foreknowledge doesn’t stop the Judges’ first encounter with a Chestburster from still being a wonderfully shocking experience for all concerned.

Just as impressive as the Alien’s introduction is the collaborative writing team’s establishment of Packer and her Verminators. Despite the pest controllers being quite numerous, and resultantly struggling to attain much ‘screen time’ within this twenty-four page periodical, each individual still manages to demonstrate their own distinctive characteristics, personal beefs and ambitions, before “humanity’s ultimate nightmare” begins to whittle down their roster.

Undoubtedly this comic’s biggest highlight however, has to be Joe Dredd’s exploration of a rental warehouse at City Bottom and the lawman’s sense-shattering slugfest with an adult xenomorph. Dynamically pencilled by artist Henry Flint, and riddled with enough Ovomorphs to make even the biggest fan of Pat Mills’ co-creation somewhat nervous as to his future, this action-sequence is packed full of some truly jaw-dropping moments of horror. Whether it be Brubaker taking a Facehugger smack in his face, Pitt losing her fingers to a splash of the extra-terrestrial’s deadly blood, or Gomer and Earl literally been dissolved where they stand by a torrent of concentrated molecular acid, Wagner and Diggle are utterly merciless in their dissolution of the Senior Street Judge’s ill-prepared squad.

Writers: John Wagner & Andy Diggle, Art: Henry Flint, and Colors: Chris Blythe