It’s Dredd versus a dinosaur. Not just any dinosaur, but the offspring of the dinosaur from the early issues of 2000 AD. Mills spends more time writing from the dinosaur’s perspective than he does from Dredd’s, which makes for a vaguely annoying, while still engaging enough outing.
The pacing is off in this one though, with the episodic origin of the story too obvious. Dredd’s story stops and starts with the dinosaur stuff. Mills likes it way too much considering it’s so goofy. Except his flashback to the origins of modern dinosaurs reads a lot like Jurassic Park, just twelve years early.
Then Wagner takes over for Dredd in Las Vegas, which ends up being the issue’s cliffhanger. Everyone in Vegas bets on everything; it doesn’t seem particularly insightful, but McMahon’s art has enough energy to get it through. Ditto the first part; without McMahon’s eccentricities, the issue’d stall out.
B-
CREDITS
Writers, Pat Mills and John Wagner; artist, Mike McMahon; colorist, John Burns; letterers, Tom Frame and John Aldrich; editor, Nick Landau; publisher, Eagle Comics.
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