Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion Releases 11-12 January 2017.

2000AD Prog 2013
Judge Dredd: Deep In The Heart by Michael Carroll (w) Tiernen Trevallion (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Kingmaker by Ian Edginton (w) Leigh Gallagher (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Kingdom: As It Is In Heaven by Dan Abnett (w) Richard Elson (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
The Order:  Wyrm War by Kek-W (w) John Burns (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Hope: ...For The Future by Guy Adams (w) Jimmy Broxton (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Cadet Anderson: Teenage Kyx by Alan Grant, Carlos Ezquerra, Patrick Goddard & Steve Yeowell
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08539-4, 12 January 2017, £14.99. Available from Amazon.
Judge Anderson's adventures as a cadet Judge on the mean streets of Mega-City One, collected for the first time! When the psychically powerful 3-year-old Cassandra Anderson killed her abusive father, she was taken into the custody of Justice Department, who blocked the memories of her traumatic childhood. Inducted into the Psi-Division as a cadet, where the Judges use telepaths, empaths, precogs, and others with psychic abilities to aid the fight against crime, Anderson is thrown in the deep end as she faces up to the worst Mega-City One has to offer.

The Complete Scarlet Traces volume 1 by Ian Edginton & D'Israeli
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08501-1 (UK) / 978-1781-08502-8 (US), 12 January 2017, £15.99 / $19.99. Available from Amazon.
The celebrated comic book sequel to H.G. Well's The War of the Worlds in a brand-new omnibus edition, complete with an adaptation of the original novel. Beginning with a visionary adaptation of the seminal novel, the collection also includes the first of three stories set a decade after the Martian invasion. Great Britain has cannibalized Martian technology and now Hansom cabs scuttle along on multi-limbed crab legs, and the Martian heat-ray has become the weapon with which the British Empire dominates the world. When the bodies of several young women are found washed up on the banks of the Thames, Captain Robert Autumn and his former Sergeant-Manjor Archie Currie are drawn into a mystery that leads them from gin palaces to the corridors of power and the very Hall of the Martian King.

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 13 (USA) by John Wagner, Steve Yeowell, Will Simpson, Carlos Ezquerra & Chris Weston
ISBN 978-1781-08498-4, 12 January 2017, $25. Available from Amazon.
Mega-City One 2111AD, and the streets are awash with crime perpetrated by all manner of rogue citizens, whether it be a murderous child genius or a super-intelligent rottweiler called Rex. There is a solution to this problem and his name is Judge Dredd. Judge, jury and executioner, Dredd is the ultimate future cop!
     This volume of the best-selling Case Files series includes work by John Wagner, Alan Grant, John Higgins, Colin MacNeil and many more – and features key stories in the character's development including A Letter To Judge Dredd and Young Giant.

Rebellion releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases 14 December 2016.

2000AD Prog 2011
Celebrate the festive season with another bumper 100-page end of year spectacular, featuring a stunning line of stories and creators! Justice Department has a novel method of reducing illegalities but Dredd's not happy in "Taking the Crime out of Christmas" by Rob Williams and Chris Weston; there's terror in the snow for a one-off Fall of Deadworld story by Kek-W and Dave Kendall; brand-new series Kingmaker welcomes you to a fantasy land with a twist, courtesy of Ian Edginton and Leigh Gallagher; Bulliet and his Grey Area team are back on Earth and facing a more terrestrial threat, by Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison; the legacy of Black Hawk lives on in Aquila: Mors in Venetia by Gordon Rennie and Paul Davidson; Ace Garp takes on the might of Euphrates, Inc in "The Festive Flipflop!" by Eddie Robson and Nigel Dobbyn; the fabric of time could be rent asunder in the third series of The Order by Kek-W and John Burns; and plunge into the dark underbelly of a very different 1940s Hollywood in new supernatural P.I. thriller Hope by Guy Adams and Jimmy Broxton!

Contents
Judge Dredd: Boxing Day by Rob Williams (w) Chris Weston (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
The Fall of Deadworld: Winter Break by Kek-W (w) Dave Kendall (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Kingmaker by Ian Edginton (w) Leigh Gallagher (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Aquila: Mors Venetiae by Gordon Rennie (w) Paul Davidson (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Ace Trucking Co.: The Festive Flipflop by Eddie Robson (w) Nigel Dobbyn (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Kingdom: As It Is In Heaven by Dan Abnett (w) Richard Elson (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
The Order:  Wyrm War by Kek-W (w) John Burns (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Hope: ...For The Future by Guy Adams (w) Jimmy Broxton (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for 7 December 2016.

2000AD Prog 2010
In this issue:
Judge Dredd: In Denial by Michael Carroll (w), Andrew Currie (a), Chris Blythe (c), Annie Parkhouse (l)
Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Annie Parkhouse (l)
Counterfeit Girl by Peter Milligan (w), Rufus Dayglo (a), Dom Regan (c), Ellie De Ville (l)
Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills (w), Clint Langley (a), Ellie De Ville (l)

Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion Releases for 30 November and 1 December.

2000AD Prog 2009
Judge Dredd: Cube Root of Evil by Arthur Wyatt (w), Jake Lynch (a), John Charles (c), Annie Parkhouse (l)
Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Annie Parkhouse (l)
Hunted by Gordon Rennie (w), PJ Holden (a), Len O'Grady (c), Simon Bowland (l)
Future Shocks: Return of the Revolutionaries by Rory McConville (w), Eoin Coveney (a), Ellie De Ville (l)
Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills (w), Clint Langley (a), Ellie De Ville (l)

Fink Angel: Legacy by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Mick McMahon, Peter Doherty, Carlos Ezquerra, Tiernen Trevallion
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08497-7, 1 December 2016, £14.99. Available from Amazon.
THE ANGEL GANG ARE THE MEANEST, MOST DERANGED VILLAINS EVER to come out of the Cursed Earth. The all-male family of psychopathic criminal hillbillies first encountered Mega-City One’s greatest lawman Judge Dredd when he was on a quest to find the Judge Child. Having despatched Pa, Link, Junior and Mean, Dredd later came face to face with Fink Angel, the eldest sibling of the clan who visited Mega-City One in search of vengeance for his fallen kin folk. The latest member of the Angel Gang is Fink’s son Ratfink – a Cursed Earth-dwelling fiend who preys on passing helltrekkers. Just like his father, Ratfink has a love of poisons, rodents and mayhem…

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 28
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08433-5, 1 December 2016, £19.99. Available from Amazon.
THE BAD AND THE MAD IN MEGA-CITY ONE! Mega-City One is plagued by a group of rebelling Jimmy Dean clones, underground murder clubs, a Sexmek serial killer and a revenge-filled taxidermist, back from the grave and looking for justice!

Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for November 2 and 3.

2000AD Prog 2005
In this issue: Judge Dredd: Act of Grud by Rob Williams (w), Henry Flint (a), Annie Parkhouse (l); Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Annie Parkhouse (l); Hunted by Gordon Rennie (w), PJ Holden (a), Len O'Grady (c), Simon Bowland (l); Counterfeit Girl by Peter Milligan (w), Rufus Dayglo (a), Dom Regan (c), Ellie De Ville (l); Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills (w), Clint Langley (a), Ellie De Ville (l).

Dan Dare: The 2000AD Years Vol.2 by Chris Lowder, Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons. Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08460-1, 3 November 2016, £30. Available from Amazon.

Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future is a British icon. He was created by Frank Hampson in 1950, and first appeared in the Eagle comic where he was an instant hit with the British public. Almost a decade after the original series had ended, Dan Dare was resurrected in the pages of a brand new sci-fi comic for boys – 2000 AD! In this volume: Dan Dare and the crew of the Eagle One continue their journey through deep, uncharted space, where they encounter a host of evil alien tyrants, including dare’s arch-nemesis the Mekon! This volume of Dan Dare concludes the iconic British hero’s adventures within the pages of 2000 AD.

The 2000AD Script Book
Rebellion ISBN 978-1781097468-7, 3 November 2016, £19.99. Available from Amazon.

Original scripts by leading comics writers accompanied by the final art, taken from the pages of the world famous 2000 AD comic. FROM THE MINDS OF THE MEGA-MASTERS For the first time Rebellion presents an astonishing and insightful collection of 2000 AD scripts, written by some of the most successful and critically lauded talent behind the Galaxy s Greatest Comic . Featuring original script drafts and the final published artwork for comparison, this is a must have for fans of 2000 AD and is an essential purchase for anyone interested in writing comics.

Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for 26 October 2016.

2000AD Prog. 2004
In this issue: Judge Dredd: Get Sin by Rob Williams (w), Trevor Hairsine (p), Dylan Teague (i), Annie Parkhouse (l); Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills (w), Patrick Goddard (a), Annie Parkhouse (l); Hunted by Gordon Rennie (w), PJ Holden (a), Len O'Grady (c), Simon Bowland (l); Counterfeit Girl by Peter Milligan (w), Rufus Dayglo (a), Dom Regan (c), Ellie De Ville (l); Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills (w), Clint Langley (a), Ellie De Ville (l).

Rebellion releases (2000AD)

Rebellion releases for October 5th (2000AD) and 6th.

2000AD Prog 2001

In this issue: Judge Dredd: Get Sin by Rob Williams, Trevor Hairsine, Barry Kitson, Dylan Teague, Annie Parkhouse; Savage: The Marze Murderer by Pat Mills, Patrick Goddard, Annie Parkhouse; Hunted by Gordon Rennie, PJ Holden, Len O'Grady, Simon Bowland; Counterfeit Girl by Peter Milligan, Rufus Dayglo, Dom Regan, Ellie De Ville; Flesh: Gorehead by Pat Mills, Clint Langley, Ellie De Ville.

The Daily Dredds Vol. 2, 1986-1989 by John Wagner & Alan Grant, Ian Gibson, Barry Kitson, Steve Dillon and Mike Collins. Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08459-5, 6 October 2016, £30.

This second volume of the Daily Star Dredds features the weekly strips published in the popular national tabloid that ran between July 1986 to the end of 1988, featuring action-packed stories from John Wagner and Alan Grant and sumptuous  art from Ian Gibson, Mike Collins and the legendary Ron Smith.

Mega-City Undercover Vol.3 by Rob Williams, Andy Diggle, D'Israeli and Ben Willsher Rebellion ISBN 978-1781-08458-8, 6 October 2016, £13.99.

Justice Department has many divisions within it – Tek, Psi-Div, PSU – and for undercover operations there is Wally Squad. So called because Judges have to adopt the bizarre fashions of the citizens to blend in, it’s a dangerous job living on the streets – and for Judges like Dirty Frank, operating in the Big Meg’s most rundown area, insanity is a way of life. Lenny Zero was a Wally Squad Judge, an undercover operative working the streets of the future metropolis. But when he ripped off the Mob, he quit Justice Department with no shortage of enemies out for his head!

2000AD celebrates issue 2,000

Congratulations to 2000AD for reaching issue 2,000. To put this into context, only The Beano has published more issues (around 3,850) and only four other weekly titles have achieved the same astonishing achievement—The Dandy (which folded with issue 3,610), Illustrated Chips (3,003 issues), Film Fun (2,225 issues) and The Jester (2,010 issues under various titles).

However, 2K is the only post-war title to reach 2,000 issues, its nearest rivals being The Topper (1,963 issues) and Buster (1,907 issues).

I should also mention Commando, which has had more issues than any other comic (it's approaching 5,000!) and War Picture Library (which publishe 2,103 issues)... but they were monthly pocket books rather than weekly comics.

You can use these statistics to baffle some of the best of 2000AD's contributors on Saturday (1st October) as there is a mass signing across the UK, USA and Australia. Signings start at 1pm.

The following is the most up-to-date listing I could find:

ENGLAND

Forbidden Planet
179 Shaftsbury Avenue, London WC2
Clint Langley, Alec Worley, Ben Willsher, Frazer Irving

Forbidden Planet International Cardiff
5 Duke Street, Cardiff  CF10
Mike Collins, David Roach, Dylan Teague, Patrick Goddard

Scorch! Comics
Unit N The Enterprise Shopping Centre, Station Roundabout, Eastbourne BN21
Mike McMahon, Chris Weston, Rufus Dayglo, Tom Eglington, Boo Cook, Simon Davis, Kevin Hopgood

Infinity & Beyond
Unit 25 Middle Mall, Charles Darwin Shopping Centre, Shrewsbury SY1
John Wagner, Ian Edginton, Phil Winslade

Travelling Man
4 Dale Street, Manchester M1
Steve Yeowell, Andy Diggle, Leah Moore, John Reppion, Leigh Gallagher

SCOTLAND

Waterstones (West End)
128 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2
Alan Grant, Tom Foster, Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby, Colin MacNeil

IRELAND

Big Bang Comics
Dundrum Town Centre, Sandyford Rd, Dundrum, Dublin
Michael Carroll, Eoin Coveney, (and on the 28th September) Jock

USA

Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046, United States
Chris Burnham

AUSTRALIA

Kings Comics
310 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSQ 2000, Australia
Mark Sexton

The other big announcement is that there will be a 40th Anniversary bash celebrating 2000AD next February...

2000AD 2000!

That 2000AD has survived this long is down to the power of the 2000AD brand. While the comic itself has had its ups and downs over its 40-year history, nobody can deny that it has constantly reinvented itself and discovered a steady stream of new talent that has kept the title buoyant over the decades. A look through the 2000AD family photo album will reveal plenty of familiar faces at get-togethers over the years.

There's Pat Mills and John Wagner along with Kevin O'Neill and Carlos Ezquerra, present at the birth. Wagner and Ezquerra are here with an extra-long, 12-page Dredd/Strontium Dog crossover that sees a reward offered for Dredd to face the justice of the Supreme Court in the year 2220 run by an imperious monster not seen in Dredd's world since not long after the paper's second birthday. Mills and O'Neill, meanwhile, continue the saga of Nemesis the Warlock from its end in 1999 but in a style reminiscent of its origins in 1980.

Next up are the sons and daughters of the original line-up, including Rogue Trooper by Gordon Rennie & Richard Elson, a return to his origins on Nu Earth - and the Judge Dredd spin-off  Psi Judge Anderson by Alan Grant and David Roach which also includes an appearance from another old friend... or should that be fiend...

The family album now features younger members and newcomers, Sinister Dexter by Dan Abnett & storyboard artist Mark Sexton and, a brand new serial, Counterfeit Girl by Pete Milligan & Rufus Dayglo.

Headline acts like Uncle Brian, Uncle Mike and Uncle Dave are on hand to toast the issue with an interstitial history lesson, aided and abetted by Robin Smith and Maurice Aitken, again ghosting artwork for Boo Cook.

If you haven't looked through the family album for any length of time, this is a great opportunity to reacquaint yourself with faces old and new. Some have aged really well.

2000AD 1999

2000AD 1999, released 21 September 2016

In this edition:
Judge Dredd: Well Gel by T.C. Eglington (w) Paul Marshall (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Jaegir: Warchild by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Scarlet Traces: Cold War by Ian Edginton (w) D'Israeli (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Outlier: Survivor Guilt by TC Eglington (w) Karl Richardson (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Anderson : Psi Division by Emma Beeby (w) Ben Willsher (a) Richard Elson (c) Ellie De Ville (l)

2000AD 1998

2000AD 1998, released 14 September 2016

In this edition:
Judge Dredd: Ladykiller by John Wagner (w) Carlos Ezquerra (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Scarlet Traces: Cold War by Ian Edginton (w) D'Israeli (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Jaegir: Warchild by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Outlier: Survivor Guilt by TC Eglington (w) Karl Richardson (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Anderson : Psi Division by Emma Beeby (w) Nick Dyer (a) Richard Elson (c) Ellie De Ville (l)

2000AD 1997 + Rebellion releases for September

2000AD Prog 1997, released Wednesday, 7 September 2016

Cover by Cliff Robinson
Judge Dredd: Ladykiller by John Wagner (w) Carlos Ezquerra (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Scarlet Traces: Cold War by Ian Edginton (w) D'Israeli (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Jaegir: Warchild by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Outlier: Survivor Guilt by TC Eglington (w) Karl Richardson (a) Ellie De Ville (l)
Anderson : Psi Division by Emma Beeby (w) Nick Dyer (a) Richard Elson (c) Ellie De Ville (l)

Misty
Welcome to my world of mystery and shadows where the unusual is usual…where the unexpected is expected. MOONCHILD. Like her grandmother before her, Rosemary Black has discovered that she has the power to move things with her mind. A crescent shape on her forehead marks Rosemary as the Moonchild. While her jealous mother forbids her to use her new found abilities, the actions of a school bully push Ms Black closer and closer towards temptation and revenge. THE FOUR FACES OF EVE. Eve Marshall develops amnesia after an accident. Unable to remember anything about her past and haunted by nightmares involving the tragic deaths of three other girls, Eve sets out to discover the chilling truth of who…or what she really is. These eerie encounters are brought to you by Pat Mills,  John Armstrong, Malcolm Shaw,  Brian Delaney and, of course, your friend, Misty!
Rebellion 978-1781-08452-6, 8 September 2016. Buy from Amazon.

The Mighty One: My Life in the Nerve Centre by Steve MacManus
1973, a 20-year-old Steve MacManus joined Fleetway Publications as a sub-editor on one of the UK’s top adventure titles, Valiant. Within six years, he would rise to become editor of the company’s most celebrated weekly, 2000 AD, shepherding it through its ‘Golden Age’ as he commissioned hit series such as The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sláine, Bad Company, Rogue Trooper, Nemesis the Warlock and more. For many he remains the definitive editor of the multi-award-winning SF anthology. Now, in this warm and witty memoir, MacManus lifts the lid on the fiercely creative environment that was British comics in the 1970s and ‘80s. With keen insight, he reveals how against all odds 2000 AD became a global phenomenon.
Rebellion 978-1781-08475-5, 8 September 2016. Buy from Amazon.

The Mighty One: My Life Inside the Nerve Centre

Reviewing Steve MacManus's autobiography has been a slightly bizarre experience as I'm of an age that means I was there. Not in the editorial offices of IPC where he worked on Valiant, Battle Picture Weekly, 2000AD and Crisis, but at the other end of the food chain... the reader and consumer of these wonderful papers that filled my childhood.

In the autumn of 1973, when Steve joined the editorial staff of Valiant, I was eleven and had been reading the paper for four years, and whilst I only dipped into Battle Picture Weekly when it first came out, I was an avid reader of Action, which drew me back into comics when I was thirteen—I'd given them up, briefly, in favour of Speed & Power, which I picked up mostly for the reprinted SF stories of Arthur C. Clarke. I would have recognised Steve as "Action Man" had he come to the Essex village I grew up in. He then morphed into "Tharg the Mighty" via Star Lord—science fiction comics published during my teenage years when I read nothing but SF.

So my comics' reading paralleled Steve's editorial career for the two decades covered in his book and that has doubled the fun I've had reading it, reliving, for instance, the joy of picking up the first issue of Action while Steve describes how the paper was put together.

It's the kind of book that will have you digging through your collection to relive old stories that you may not have read for years. Sam Slade, Ro-Busters, Strontium Dog, The A.B.C. Warriors... fantastic strips that were the core of 2000AD's success during Steve's early tenure on the paper. You'll want to haul out of storage the issues that come under discussion: for instance, Steve's yarn about how Kev O'Neil Ro-Busters artwork had to be changed by managerial dictat relates to the episode in Prog 112; and his description of a hallucinogenic Bolland cover, which could easily have led to more managerial trouble, was for Prog 172.

As well as charting the rise of 2000AD to its peak, Steve also covers some of the low points and behind-the-scenes problems faced by the paper, from internal battles with management and unions to discovering (as happened in 1981) that the comic had been reported to the Press Council by Portsmouth Association of Community Standards due to a sequence in a Strontium Dog story ('The Bad Boys Bust, Progs 194-197). Breaking away from 2000AD and launching Crisis led to its own problems when trying to persuade the publisher that an adult comic was worth investing in... immediately followed by the pulling of Skin, just the kind of challenging strip that the paper should have been championing, and the demise of the whole adult line of Crisis, Revolver and Xpresso.

The book ends, bar a brief postscript chapter, in 1992, around the same time as licensed comics became more dominant in the British market. Hopefully a story for a sequel (which will bring the life and times of MacManus up-to-date... at least as far as last Wednesday's contribution to Bear Alley).

Joyful, fast-paced, chock-full of anecdotes and sidelines into how comics were put together in the days of cow gum and copy-editing double-spaced typescripts, The Mighty One is a mighty good book.

The Mighty One: My Life Inside The Nerve Centre by Steve MacManus. 2000 AD 978-1781-08475-5, 7 September 2016, 298pp, £9.99. Cover photo by Kevin Bezant. Order directly from Rebellion (hardcover (signed ltd. edition) (sold out) / softcover) or via Amazon (softcover).

Update: As of 31 August—a week ahead of publication—Rebellion announced that the signed, limited edition hardcover had sold out.

It was twenty(-one) years ago today(-ish)

Almost exactly 21 years ago, Prog 889 headed into newsagents on the 19th of May, 1994. The cover date was 27 May.

About a month before, as I was editor of Comic World I received a packet of promo material from Fleetway Editions, probably put together by editor Steve McManus or John Tomlinson, who was working at Fleetway as an editorial assistant around that time. Whoever it was, the photocopies were all a bit wonky, guys.

Editors did not receive a huge amount of press material; I used to do a monthly summary of Judge Dredd Megazine based on a phone call to David Bishop, for instance, or if there was to be a relaunch or promoted issue, I'd head up to Fleetway with my trusty dictaphone.

But for some reason, I have a set of press releases from Prog 889 which I thought I'd share with you. Starting with the cover, which is an interesting study. The photocopy reveals a number of differences between the promo version and the final artwork that graced the cover. The printed image appeared squashed to make room for the lettering, but there are other, subtler differences. Dredd is holding his Lawgiver at a different angle, for instance, and the Eagle's "wing" on Dredd's shoulder has only five feathers rather than the published six (thanks to Chris Mitchell, who pointed this out when I posted the image of Facebook a few days ago). 

Because this was a relaunch issue, the number of pages was increased to 44 rather than the usual 36 and there was a cover-mounted free gift of £17 worth of discount coupons for videos and games at HMV, although this had to be weighed against a 5p price increase to 75p.

Some of these details escaped the information sheet that was sent out (above), which concentrated on the stories that were being launched that issue. Here are the promo sheets for each character and scans of artwork that accompanied them... nothing for Dredd, unfortunately, although I may stumble upon it at a later date.

 

 

 

 

(* artwork © Rebellion.)