Mega City One. Mega crime. Mega problems, and not all of them from Earth. The home of Judge Dredd is a massive city spanning roughly from Boston down to Washington DC. To the east, the Black Atlantic. To the west, the Cursed Earth. And above? Death! The title of Mars Attacks Judge Dredd by Al Ewing, John McCrea and Jay Fotos says it all: evil Martians have infiltrated Mega City One and have begun their war against humanity with only Judge Dredd standing in their way!
A secret meeting of mobsters turns ugly when a mysterious figure appears and disintegrates the criminal masterminds, leaving nothing but skeletons. In another part of the city, Dredd undertakes a solo mission to gain intel on unusual disturbances in local crime operations. What he finds instead of the usual assortment of thugs and wise guys is a bizarre humanoid with green skin, bulging eyes, and a massive brain. Dredd dispatches what he assumes to be some sort of mutant and continues his investigation. What he discovers next is even more horrifying: a massive insect devouring a live human. Dredd nearly becomes a meal himself but puts the monster down. He realizes that this isn't the normal crime operation he anticipated.
Dredd gains the help of Judge Anderson of the Psi-Division and works his way to the heart of the matter. A meeting of minds, both Earthling and Martian, is interrupted by Dredd and Anderson. Anderson dives into the brain of one of the recently killed criminals and salvages enough information before his consciousness fades away. The green men aren't mutants, but Martians! The Martians have infiltrated every major crime syndicate in every major city on Earth as the first step to conquering the planet. Before the two judges have a chance to fully process the gravity of the situation, bombs hidden the world over detonate.
The invasion has begun! Saucers descend from the sky and lay waste to everything in their path! All human technology is deactivated and rendered useless due to the Martian bombs. Dredd and Anderson fight their way back to HQ for a final plan to defeat the Martians. Anderson dives into a bomb they acquired from the dead mobsters and learns that each bomb around the world is actually a harvested Martian brain. If their brains are the power source, Anderson believes she has the means to damage them. She brings Dredd into the psychic realm of the Martian brains and the two of them are instantly attacked by the collective of Martian minds. Enduring pure agony, Anderson is able to scramble the brains into attacking and killing each other, thus putting an end to the technology blackout and giving humanity the means to fight off the Martian invasion.
Mars Attacks Judge Dredd is a fun, albeit mature, read as it handles the tone of both Dredd's comics and the original 1960's Topps Mars Attacks trading cards well. Blending graphic violence with a hefty dose of humor isn't an easy line to walk, but it's one the comic walks well. Monkey mobsters named Uggie Apelino, crooks that are perpetually picking their nose, aliens that are yelling about said monkey mobsters' weird little foot-hands -- Mars Attacks Judge Dredd has all of those things alongside bad guys getting blown apart and Martians having their brains punched out. It's a wild and violent ride, but Mars Attacks Judge Dredd is a funny and irreverent cross-over event that delivers both laughs and thrills.