Rebellion Releases — 26 August 2026

It's a bumper-size 2000 AD this week! Prog 2497 beams directly in from the Nerve Centre with an expanded 48 pages of comics, including two instalments of The Oubliette, the conclusion of Book Two of Nightmare New York, and even more besides! There's a complete Young Death story from Kek-W and Sedat Oezgen, a shocking full Future Shock story, AND the latest instalments of Brink and Fall of Deadworld!

Everything wraps up in Prog 2499, out in two weeks time in the UK—and then we head towards The New Future of 2000 AD Prog 2500! 

OH BOY DO WE HAVE SURPRISES FOR YOU!

And now, today's full release schedule....

20000AD Prog 2497
Cover: Toby Willsmer.

JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // JUSTICE by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
FUTURE SHOCKS // AND NOW THE FIREWORKS by James Peaty (w) Steve Yeowell (a) Rob Steen (l)
YOUNG DEATH // GRAVE CONSEQUENCES by Kek-W (w) Sedat Oezgen (a) John Charles (c) Rob Steen (l)

Battler Britton: Bloody Good Show by Garth Ennis & Colin Wilson
Rebellion 978-183786760-8, 26 August 2026, 128pp, £24.99. Available via Amazon.

October, 1942: The Nazis are winning on every front. From the Russian steppes to the sands of North Africa, Hitler’s legions are on the advance. Now, two fighter squadrons – one British, one American – are assigned to fly together in the barren Egyptian desert. Their leader is the RAF’s Wing Commander Robert Britton, known to friend and foe alike as “Battler”.
    Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys) and Colin Wilson (Judge Dredd, Blueberry) present one of British Comics’ most fondly remembered characters in a brand new adventure, as deadly dogfights erupt mere feet above the earth, bullets rip through fuel tanks and airframes, and men’s destinies are decided in the blink of an eye: Battler Britton flies again.

Scarlet Traces Volume Four by Ian Edginton & D'Israeli
Rebellion 978-183786786-8, 26 August 2026, 112pp, £17.99. Available via Amazon.

No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own!
    In the immediate aftermath of The War of the Worlds, Britain, having defeated the invading Martians, is a weakened shell of its former self. As it begins the process of rebuilding, a new, more Earthly, foe seizes its opportunity.
    Scarlet Traces continues in this fourth volume of Ian Edginton and D'Israeli's critically acclaimed sequel to H.G. Wells' iconic novel The War of the Worlds.

Comic Cuts — 21 August 2026

Not much to report as I've spent part of this week writing an introduction to the next Don Lawrence book, the fourth, to be reprinted by All Verlag in Germany. This one features 'Wells Fargo' and 'Longbow', and, although I've written about both in the past, I didn't think the introduction I wrote for the 2010 reprint of The Don Lawrence Westerns by Book Palace Books was appropriate. 

That said, I have to admit that I'm particularly proud of it—it traced the history of transport across America from the San Francisco gold rush to the modern National Highway System, but with a special emphasis on the story of overland delivery services Wells, Fargo and Company and the Pony Express. Seven chapters across 11,500 words, it took ages to research but it was a joy to put together.

This one's a little more on topic. 

I was never a big reader of westerns, but it was a hugely popular genre thanks in part to the mythologizing of real life cowboys like Buffalo Bill, who was only in his early twenties when a dime novelist named Edward Judson turned him into a dime novel hero. Kit Carson had to wait until he was 40. Aldine published over 1,280 stories in their Buffalo Bill Library, New Buffalo Bill Library and Buffalo Bill Novels series between 1899 and 1932. 

While doing the research for the new introduction, I couldn't help but think of how few Westerns I've read. My dad and my sister read westerns, mostly Louis L'Amour, but there are plenty of classics like Owen Wister's The Virginian, Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage, Ernest Haycox's Stage Coach to Lordsburg, L'Amour's Hondo, Jack Schaefer's Shane and plenty of others that I ought to read at some point. I always preferred science fiction, crime and thrillers and I have thousands filling my shelves, of which at least a couple of thousand are still unread.

Oh, and I bought a couple more this week, just in case I got sucked into another dimension and while I'm was trapped there I finish reading those thousands of books. I wouldn't want to risk running out. And, as of writing, I only have three more books on the way... oh, and three books in my basket on eBay.

Our water company (Affinity) brought in a hosepipe ban on Monday (17th) with immediate effect and we promptly had brief spells of rain over three nights after almost 50 days of dry weather which put the county into drought conditions. It feels like I'm back in my smoking days: the only way to get a bus to arrive was to light a cigarette.

The rain hasn't had much impact on the colour of the grass or the crust of crud that had formed on our pond. I had been meaning to so something about the pond for some while, and this seemed like an opportunity to get rid of at least some of the leaves, broken branches and general detritus that has joined forces with the algae to turn the pond into a pool of muck. 

I'm not sure how much of an improvement it has made, as there is now just a layer of damp mud and the tree that overhangs the pond thinks it's autumn already and is shedding leaves. We shall see what happens when we get some serious rain. Maybe we'll even get frogs back in the garden like we used to before new neighbours introduced a couple of cats into the equation and the frog population dropped to zero. They and their cats have moved, so maybe the frogs will come back...

THE SHRINKER received a nice 4-star review in SFX. Thanks to Stephen Jewell, who has given Bear Alley Books some nice reviews in the past. It's almost impossible to get our books mentioned in the mainstream press, and even in specialist magazines as they seem to dedicate so little space to reviews these days. Selling direct (as I do) also creates a barrier, as some newspapers and magazines will only reviews books with ISBN numbers (which can be expensive, up to £93 per book), which I did use in the early days, but found that dealing with wholesalers was a nightmare as they always paid late, when they could be bothered to pay at all.

I'll finish with a few random scans of books found in the wild. We have a couple of places around town where people put old books and, once in a while, something nice turns up. The oddest of the latest crop is a book by Willie Rushton, published by Four Square but in association with Sydney (Australia)-based Tudor Press and with a $1 price tag. Was it ever distributed in the UK, I wonder.

• 20 Aug. The personal comic collection of Marvelman artist, the late Garry Leach, has been put up for sale through Book Palace, including many silver age Marvel and DC gems.
• 14 Aug. Roger Langridge discusses his career and early years of cartooning in New Zealand. "I arranged an appointment to bring in my portfolio and show [Peter Hogan] my work, which was a thing you could do then – but, on the day of the appointment, I showed up at the office only to be told that Peter had just been fired. But Steve MacManus, editor of the Judge Dredd Megazine at that point, very kindly agreed to see me instead."
• 12 Aug. Nick Abadzis discusses his and Angela Watson's autobiographical graphic novel My Beloved Other. "I got into comics professionally when I began working in comics retail in London when I was nineteen, and eventually this led to me hearing about a job through a friend as a color separator at Marvel Comics UK (back when Marvel had a British office, which dates me. This was 1987.). Marvel UK was a kind of university of comics where they taught you the House of M way of making comics."
• 12 Aug. Image have announced that they will be publishing Ghost Drive Station by Warren Ellis, five years after promising not to publish a new Ellis comic until he made amends with victims of his sexual misconduct. The supernatural story is drawn by Lordess Foudre. Ellis has admitted that he hurt people deeply and has said that he is "ashamed of these mistakes." However, Katie West of So Many of Us has said "I’m grateful to everyone who was wondered if Warren has ‘made amends to the satisfaction of all involved.’ It shows me solidarity and care are widespread within comics. I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but I also would say I am no longer personally invested in Warren’s transformation.” Ellis has responded with a further statement.
• 31 Jul. Alan Moore crouches in the long grass. "In the Long London Quintet, I decided to investigate the last 50 years of the 20th century as a way of finding out how we got here in the 21st century. So I thought it would be good to set a book in each of the decades. I set the first book in 1949 —that seemed like a good place to start, because London had been obliterated; it was a tabula rasa, a blank slate, nobody knew what was going to happen."
• 30 Jul. Interview: Garth Ennis. "Comic book legend Garth Ennis joins Collectors Confessions to discuss his newest AHOY Comics series, BABS: The Black Road South! We dive into creating Babs, balancing fantasy and satire, working with artist Jacen Burrows, and why this world was worth revisiting. We also explore Garth's incredible career, including Preacher, The Boys, Punisher, Hitman, Hellblazer, war comics, horror, comedy, and what continues to inspire one of the most influential writers in modern comics." (video, 54m)
• 21 Jul. "Without A1 and Deadline, we might be in an entirely different place in comics." Two legendary publications combine. "Bringing together two legendary comics titles from the late 20th century in one package, A1 Deadline is an anthology that both builds on the past and looks to the future." Coincidentally — because, like A1, it was also edited by Dave Elliott — Penthouse Comix is also being relaunched.
• 13 Jul. Liam Sharp is among the winners of this year's Inkwell Awards Sharp won the All-In-One Award (Favorite artist known for inking his/her own pencils) and said on Facebook "Huge thanks to Bob Almond for creating and organizing these awards, and all those who voted for me - I had some incredibly stiff competition from people I truly admire!"
• 5 Jul. Alan Davis looks back on the anniversary of Frank Bellamy's death and offers some fascinating insights into Bellamy's use of photographs and his mastery of storytelling.
• 1 Jul. Scientific study shows that your brain prefers that you read comics on paper rather than on screens. "Regions at the front of the brain associated with language processing, narrative integration, and difficult mental tasks lit up less in the on-paper contingent. This suggests their brains were working less hard to recall events from the first half of the story and mentally connect them with what they read later."
• 1 Jul. The suit againt Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer filed by Scarlett Pavlovich that was dismissed last October, a motion upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Pavlovich's allegations occurred in New Zealand, and the court decided NZ was the more appropriate venue for any dispute.

Rebellion Releases — 19 August 2026

The Oubliette has dominated Mega-City One for the last few months, and this week we have two stories connected to the Mega-Epic inside the Prog, as both Dredd and The Finders are drawn closer and closer to the explosive climax of this whole damn thing! 
    Make sure you read 2000 AD 2496, also featuring Brink, Nightmare New York and Fall of Deadworld, before you read the Meg! You'll see why when you read the Meg, which contains the devastating climax to The Black Tower - as Judge Rico and Judge Giant desperately try to destroy the supernatural influence which has held their city in its grasp. 
    And somebody won't be walking away from this one...

2000AD Prog 2496
Cover: Jake Lynch.

JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // JUSTICE by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)
NIGHTMARE NEW YORK // BOOK TWO by Kek-W (w) David Roach (a) Peter Doherty (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Jake Lynch (a) Emily Roach (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)

Judge Dredd Megazine #495
Cover: Nick Percival.

JUDGE RICO // THE BLACK TOWER by Ken Niemand (w) Nick Percival (c) Simon Bowland (l)
STORM WARNING // SLAUGHTER HOUSE by John Reppion (w) Lee Carter (a) Rob Steen (l)
MEGA-CITY 2099 // REMEMBRANCE DAY by Ken Niemand (w) Conor Boyle (a) Rob Steen (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // AN ITERATION OF ALLIES by Andi Ewington (w) Sinu Senan (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
LAWLESS // STRAY by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Comic Cuts — 14 August 2026

The Moment of Eclipse

I've had a week split between distractions and taking it easy. The work I'm supposed to be doing has crawled along at a snail's pace, but I'm over the half-way mark with my second pass on the artwork for our next planned pair of books. 

I would have had it finished but decided I needed to celebrate in some small way the publication of THE SHINKER. Apart from posting orders on Saturday, I had a lazy weekend, thinking I'd pick up the pace again on Monday. Nope. I went out for a pub lunch with my Mum and chatted to her for hours. I promised myself I'd do better Tuesday. However, the morning was spent prepping the posts for Wednesday and Thursday, gardening (I'm chopping back some trees), and diving into the bath post-garden for a good soak. I did manage to do a reasonable amount of work Tuesday afternoon.

Wednesday... well, I have to confess that me and Mel went out for my second pub lunch of the week. We sat down by the river watching the boats go by, with a pint and a plate of fish and chips. Very enjoyable. 

We wanted to have something substantial at lunchtime because we were planning a mini-picnic for the eclipse. We knew the best place to see the eclipse from would be the local park, so, armed with a blanket, a colander and a sheet of cardboard, water bottles and some rolls, we headed over to King George V Playing Field (so named because land was set aside for the public following the death of King George V) and found ourselves a spot to sit. A few other people were milling around or already sat down and more arrived at the time approached 7 o'clock. You can see how dry the field is in the photo.

We couldn't get any glasses, which I'm sure would have made a huge difference. As it was, the light dimmed, and you could see a tiny chunk bitten out of the side of the circles on the cardboard, but overall I have to admit it was a bit of a disappointment. We hung around for a bit afterwards, so we heard the dawn chorus picking up as the sun brightened again, but soon wandered home and got a better view of the whole eclipse on the news.

The Perseids... I'll catch them on the Breakfast Show.

I've had a couple of nice books land on the doormat this week to which I contributed introductions. One is for a strip I've banged on about for years as being one of the best war strips ever committed to print. It's TRELAWNY OF THE GUARDS, from Lion. Rebellion have now reprinted the first six month's worth of the strip (July to December 1966), which was chiefly drawn by Victor de la Fuente and written, I am convinced, by Eric Hebden — compare come of his contemporary stories for Battle and War Picture Library and you'll see the same concerns and style. He was definitely writing for Lion in that period.

'Trelawny of the Guards' didn't concentrate on the officer classes, but on the troops on the ground, many of them novices seeing combat for the first time and in many instances following the orders of NCOs without battle experience. Trelawny is a veteran of the Grenadier Guards who knows that his decisions can mean life or death to the troops below him, so he rules them with an iron hand and a sympathetic ear to see them through every battle. 

I have begun seeing people's reaction to the collection on Facebook and I'm very pleased to see that Trelawny is finding his audience at long last. 

Someone who doesn't need my help to introduce them is Sean Phillips, although I have now done exactly that. HEARTBREAKER: THE LOST ART OF SEAN PHILLIPS was a Kickstarter project that I was asked to write a piece for last August. I now have a couple of copies of the book in hand and it's gorgeous. It features a number of Sean's earliest comic strips, drawn for DC Thomson's girls' comics Bunty, Judy, Nikki, Mandy, etc., at first as the assistant to Ken Houghton but then on his own.

It's amazing to think that he was drawing for Crisis, filling in for Jim Baikie on 'New Statesmen', and drawing episodes of 'Third World War' while still drawing strips like 'Heartbreaker', 'The School Trip', 'Too Shy' and 'We Both Love Ben!'.

The only regret is that my preferred title for the introduction wasn't used 'The Lost Hearts of Sean Phillips' — the lost art of... the lost hearts of... geddit?

I've also been doing a little bit of work on the fourth volume of a German translation of the works of Don Lawrence — Meister der Illustrations und Comickunst. The new volume will include translations of 'Wells Fargo' and 'Longbow'. I'm trying to think of something to write about in the introduction, although I'm quite proud of the essay I wrote about Wells Fargo and the Pony Express I wrote for the Book Palace edition back in 2010. I think that was also used on a previous German or Spanish edition. I get confused. I know Longbow is coming out in Spain at some point.

Maybe it has been a busy week, after all...

Commando 5983-5986

This week's Commando set features a high-stakes adventure in the skies above Leningrad, when the scheming SS attempt to double-cross Leutnant Kurt Stahlmann and his trusty Junkers Ju 52, Iron Annie. And over in Burma, Private Henry Lovelock must dig deep to find the courage to save his friend. Issues 5983-5986 are on sale today, Thursday 13th August. 

5983: Iron Annie

After Leutnant Kurt Stahlmann sabotages an SS scheme to smuggle plundered Soviet treasure back to Germany, he is assigned the task of flying supplies to Leningrad and clearing Russian ground defences along the way. Unbeknownst to Kurt’s crew, the vengeful SS have taken measures to ensure that his beloved Junkers Ju 52 Iron Annie’s next flight will be her last.

Story: Dominic Teague
Internal Art: Jaume Forns
Cover Art: Neil Roberts

5984: Mustang Patrol

Alan Blake was a Mustang pilot. An expert flyer in a brilliant aircraft. Give him Messerschmitts to tackle — he had no trouble with them. E-boats to shoot up — no problem there either. 
    But then came that terrible day when the stream of bullets from his guns tore into his own squadron leader…

Story: Brunt
Internal Art: John Ridgway
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
First published 1972 as No.700

5985: A Different Kind of Courage

Burma, 1944. Assigned to a Royal Artillery base deep in the jungle, traumatised and scared Private Henry Lovelock is only able to carry on due to the reassuring protection of a squad of Gurkhas, led by the fearless Bibek. But, when the base is raided by the Japanese and Bibek is captured, Henry must find the courage to save his Nepalese friend.

Story: Ian Winterton
Internal Art: Alberto Saichann
Cover Art: Neil Roberts

5986: The Squadron That Wouldn’t Die
 
This is the story of the RAF unit that rose from disgrace to carve a glorious name for
itself in perilous enemy skies. And, even when all its planes had been brought down, that squadron still refused to die!

Story: McOwan
Internal Art: Jose Maria Jorge
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
First published 1972 as No. 632

Rebellion Releases — 12 August 2026

No crime is too small, no punishment too big — as the classic cases of Judge Dredd come in a brand new series with a brand new format! 

Judge Dredd: Compact Crimes collects the bestselling adventures of the ultimate lawman of the future in the popular compact format, bringing the best of British comics to a whole new audience. 

Launching on 26 January 2027, this is the ideal place to start your Judge Dredd library — from the beginning, starting with his very first cases! 

The series’ new-reader-friendly format brings this bestselling evergreen series to a brand new 210×148mm (8¼ × 5⅞ in) trim format of trade paperback novels, priced at £9.99 in the UK and $12.99 in the USA. 

For fifty years, the zero-tolerance cop has been delivering justice on the dangerous streets of the future-shocked metropolis Mega-City One. Released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Judge Dredd and his home, the cult sci-fi weekly comic 2000 AD, volume one kickstarts the new Compact Crimes series in a shelf-friendly format, with a price point that’s perfect for introducing new readers to UK’s most successful comics character. 

As well as stories by Pat Mills (Marshal Law) and John Wagner (Star Wars: Boba Fett), the first volume features artwork from British comics royalty, including Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke), Mick McMahon (The Last American), Ian Gibson (Halo Jones) and more. 

In February 2027, 2000 AD will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a series of special events and publications highlighting the legacy and impact of five decades of groundbreaking comics, which have helped fundamentally change comic book and world culture. Appearing in the second issue of 2000 AD in 1977, Judge Dredd soon became its biggest character, leading to two major feature film adaptations as well as countless comics sold across the globe. 

This first volume contains stories from 2000 AD Prog 2 to 2000 AD Prog 46:

    JUDGE WHITEY
    THE NEW YOU
    THE BROTHERHOOD OF DARKNESS
    KRONG
    FRANKENSTEIN 2
    STATUE OF JUDGEMENT
    ANTIQUE CAR HEIST
    ROBOTS
    ROBOT WARS
    BRAIN BLOOMS
    MUGGER’S MOON
    THE COMIC PUSHER
    THE SOLAR SNIPER
    MR BUZZZ
    SMOKER’S CRIME
    THE WREATH MURDERS
    YOU BET YOUR LIFE
    DREAM PALACE
    THE ACADEMY OF LAW
    THE NEON KNIGHTS
    THE RETURN OF RICO
    DEVIL’S ISLAND
    KOMPUTEL
    WALTER’S SECRET JOB
    MUTIE THE PIG
    THE TROGGIES
    BILLY JONES
    THE APE GANG
    THE MEGA-CITY 5000
    LUNA-1
    SHOWDOWN ON LUNA-1
    RED CHRISTMAS
    22ND CENTURY FUTSIE
    MEET MR MOONIE

Collecting every case in order from almost five decades of 2000 AD, Compact Crimes will bring readers the groundbreaking classics that have made Judge Dredd a global name! 

Judge Dredd: Compact Crimes Vol.1 will be available on 26 January 2027 from all good book and comic book stores, as well as from online retailers and digitally from 2000 AD’s webshop and app. 

And now, this week's release...

2000AD Prog 2495
Cover: Cliff Robinson, with Dylan Teague.

JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Jake Lynch (a) Emily Roach (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
NIGHTMARE NEW YORK // BOOK TWO by Kek-W (w) David Roach (a) Peter Doherty (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
YOUNG DEATH // FREDERICK by Kek-W (w) Lee Carter (a) Rob Steen (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // JUSTICE by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Comic Cuts — 7 August 2026

Exciting news, readers! My copies of THE SHRINKER are on their way and should arrive tomorrow. I'll put the book up on my Ebay shop as soon as I can. It does mean the early bird discount will be coming to an end, so if you want to benefit from a bit of money off, order your copy now. You have until the weekend.

I'm keeping busy with the next couple of books, the first of which will hopefully be out before the British Comics Swap Meet in Colchester on October 10th. Indeed, I'm hoping to have it out in September, with a second volume out in October or November. Introductions are now finished and I'm doing a second pass on the artwork, which is my second least favourite job in compiling these books. (The worst job is the first pass on the artwork!)

With the temperature a balmy 23°, today feels rather more comfortable compared to earlier in the week. We've had 23 days with a daytime temperature of 25° or above and across Essex we had an average of 0.3mm of rain; I sat here and watched it rain for about three minutes one Wednesday in the middle of July. That little splash meant that we weren't going to break the record of May/June 2025, which was 40 days without rain.

Our grass has turned yellow and isn't growing (a silver lining, I suppose); we have two tomato plants and a cucumber plant that I keep watered and we're seeing some results: four cucumbers and seven cherry tomatoes to date. I have a feeling the crop might be disappointing (I can see two more cucumbers starting to grow and maybe another two dozen tomatoes), but at least we didn't get the blossom end rot that we had last year.

There isn't much more in the way of news to report, so I'll end on some random scans. To keep them random, I'm just going to pick books with wrap-around covers.

.

Football Picture Story Monthly: two collections

Celebrating its 40^th anniversary in 2026, Football Picture Story Monthly is back with two incredible graphic novel volumes out now! Volume One: The Best of Stark and Volume Two: The Best of We Are United!

First published in 1986, Football Picture Story Monthly was an instant success for British publishing giant DC Thomson. Running for 17 years and releasing a staggering 418 issues, this celebrated title was launched during the World Cup in Mexico. Now, DC Thomson’s most requested title to be reprinted is match-ready as the Heritage Comics team collate some of the title’s most beloved issues in two graphic novels — with more to come!

Volume One: The Best of Stark collects four of the best stories featuring the legendary football mercenary Jon Stark, including his final chapter, where he must choose between playing for the English or Scottish team in their latest tournament.

Originally premiering in weekly comics Scoop, Victor and Hotspur, Jon Stark, The Footballer Of The Future was the perfect character to debut DC Thomson’s latest title, Football Picture Story Monthly. Scoop’s original series was drawn by Barrie Mitchell, one of Britain’s finest football story illustrators, and scripted by Roger Kettle. The story was set in the near future when players weren’t tied to clubs by long-term contracts. Stark, a prolific striker, hired himself out on a pay-per-game basis. £1,000 per match with another £250 for every goal he scored. No charge for a defeat. It was a football story with a difference, and the readers loved it.

Volume Two: We Are United meticulously reprints three comics from the fan-favourite We Are United series.

We Are United began in DC Thomson comic Champ, launched in February 1984, and immediately set itself apart from its contemporaries, which normally centred on one player, like a top-scoring striker or an almost unbeatable goalkeeper. Instead, We Are United wasn’t about just one character, or just one team — it was about a club — United. This allowed a wealth of stories around beloved characters like goalie Charlie Barr, full-back Tug Wilson, midfielder Hedgehog Jones and striker Kevin Nicklish.

Many believe that We Are United is the most accurate and true-to-life football story ever published in a comic for boys. It told the story of a club once known as the champions of English football, but now languished in the lower division. Then, United stalwart Joe Pearson was appointed player-manager. His brief was simple. Take them back to the top. Week by week, match by match, Joe built a side that would take United back to winning the game’s major prizes.

The series was a big success with readers, who were even invited to write in for the chance to become the team mascot for a week. The lucky ones were incorporated into an episode and drawn leading out the team.

Eventually, as the publication of weekly comics for boys ceased, Football Picture Story Monthly was launched in the summer of 1986. We Are United was a perfect fit. As an editor on Champ, Bill Graham was given manager duties as editor of FPSM and was quick to bring in many of the original artists and writers. And, of course, Joe, Charlie, Tug, Hedgehog and the gang were all there. The stories were as good as ever and continued the fan-favourite saga.

For the next seventeen years, United fans old and new could follow the team again. Football Picture Story Monthly ran to 418 issues. We Are United featured in forty-three of them.

Both collections are an open goal for football and comic fans and an unmissable companion collection from the annals of British football comic history with incredible artwork from British legend Ian Kennedy (Dan Dare, Commando), Barrie Mitchell (Roy of the Rovers, Judge Dredd), and many more!

Get your copies of Football Picture Story Monthly Volume One and Volume Two on Amazon now!

Rebellion Releases — 5 August 2026

Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson’s acclaimed DC/Wildstorm miniseries returns to print in a lush new collection from The Treasury of British Comics!

One of the most fondly remembered characters from the Treasury of British Comics returns in a tensely told and lushly rendered tale of honour, duty, loyalty and sacrifice.

Originally published by Amalgamated Press and Fleetway in the 1950s, Wing Commander Robert Hereward “Battler” Britton was a member of the Royal Air Force, flying as part of the Allied Forces during World War 2. His adventures saw him take to the skies for a series of fondly-remembered stories – which led to the character returning to print decades later, courtesy of Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Colin Wilson (Rogue Trooper)!

A five-issue revival of Battler Britton was published in 2006 through DC and Wildstorm, which brought the character back to the comics page for the first time in years! And now, Rebellion are proud to collect the revival miniseries for this complete collection, bringing all the aerial action to your shelf.

As the Nazis rain terror throughout Europe, Allied forces are on the run in North Africa. It’s October 1942 and Rommel’s Panzers are unrelenting in their pursuit. Wing Commander Robert ‘Battler’ Britton of the RAF and his squadron have been dispatched to a remote American airstrip to spearhead a joint action against Hitler’s war machine. Now these two groups of reluctant allies must somehow put aside their mutual distrust and work together…a task that is much easier said than done!

Battler Britton: Bloody Good Show is out now, available in both standard and webshop-exclusive hardback editions!

And now, this week's release...

2000AD Prog 2494
Cover: Colin MacNeil.

JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
NIGHTMARE NEW YORK // BOOK TWO by Kek-W (w) David Roach (a) Peter Doherty (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FUTURE SHOCKS // A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE ALPHABET by James Lovegrove (w) Russell M Olson (a) Rob Steen (l)
THE FALL OF DEADWORLD // JUSTICE by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Simon Bowland (l)