Rebellion Releases — 28 August 2024

Button Man is an action-packed thriller, deservedly regarded as one of the greatest strips ever to be published in 2000 AD and a high point in the career of Arthur Ranson, whose photo-realistic artwork astonished readers. Written by John Wagner, the series follows military vet Harry Ex, who returns to England with no idea what to do with his new domestic life. When he gets contacted by an old comrade, however, he finds himself drawn into a vast and strange new world. He is hired to be a “Button Man”: paid by unseen powerful men to engage in underground shootouts to the death with other professional killers.

After surviving his first fight and making his name in the scene, Harry finds himself dragged deeper and deeper into the world – but each shootout could be his last. How long can Harry keep this up, especially when his thirst for violence finds himself at odds with the shadowy figures who hired him in the first place?

Written by Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner and fully-drawn by Arthur Ranson in this run, Button Man is also currently in being adapted into a TV series by The Fall Guy director David Leitch.

Arthur Ranson has long been one of 2000 AD’s most popular artists; having made his initial impact working on Judge Anderson, he teamed up with John Wagner to create the highly acclaimed Button Man series, and later worked with Alan Grant for Mazeworld. He has also co-created the character of pyrokinetic Mega-City One citizen Juliet November, and illustrated both Judge Dredd and several Future Shocks.

This Apex Edition reprints nearly 200 pages from the first three stories, newly scanned from the original art, printed at the size the pages were drawn, and without the inclusion of the dialogue balloons, to give you a real insight into Arthur Ranson’s meticulous work. Each page of this book has been scanned directly from Ranson’s art and presents each page as if you were looking at it in person!

Avaialable to pre-order now, the book will be released on 11 December 2024.

And now, this week's releases...

2000 AD Prog 2397
Cover: Toby Willsmer.

JUDGE DREDD // MACHINE RULE by John Wagner (w) Colin MacNeil (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // RECON by Geoffrey D. Wessel (w) Paul Marshall (a) Pippa Bowland (c) Jim Campbell (l)
BRINK // CONSUMED by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
HERNE & SHUCK // SUFFER THE CHILDREN by David Barnett (w) Lee Milmore (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
SILVER // UNEARTHED by Mike Carroll (w) Joe Currie (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Battle Action 2024 #1
Cover: Keith Burns.

JOHNNY RED // A COUPLE OF HEROES by Garth Ennis (w) Keith Burns (a) Jason Wordie (c) Rob Steen (l)
KIDS RULE OK // THE SEPTIC by Brian K. Vaughan (w) Chris Burnham (a) Len O'Grady (c)  Rob Steen (l)