Fan favourite artist Trevor Hairsine is returning to 2000AD next week for the first time in 13 years.
First appearing in the Judge Dredd Megazine in 1994, Hairsine has gone on to become one of the hottest artists in the industry, working on titles such as Cla$$war, Captain America and X-Men.
‘Judge Dredd: Skulls’ in 2000AD Prog 1836, out on Wednesday 12 June, marks his first work for the weekly anthology in more than a decade.
Written by Cla$$war collaborator Rob Williams, the one-part story sees the legendary lawman pinned down by a Judge-killing gang of thieves, only to receive help from an unexpected - and unwelcome - quarter.
“It was seeing the Dredd movie," explains Trevor Hairsine of his return. "I thought ‘that looks like fun.’ It made me want to draw him again. Dredd’s just such a badass. Far more so than the majority of characters I draw these days. There’s so much about his world
that’s gritty and fun. That’s the appeal, really.
“Rob had asked me a few times over the years if I wanted to come back and draw a Dredd again. Finally I gave in. Even though I hadn’t drawn him for probably ten years or more, it just felt like putting on an old glove again. It felt completely natural.”
Judge Dredd by Trevor Hairsine - for Prog 1836
“Trev and I have worked together a few times over the years. Most notably on my first ever comic work, Cla$$war. I nagged him to do a Dredd a few times and eventually he caved and agreed. And I’m delighted he did. I got the first page through from him and it just looked right, if you know what I mean.
“I think, whether he wants to admit it or not, Dredd’s in his DNA. You can see the hint of Mick McMahon’’s influence in the way he draws the Judges. And his Dredd just has the feel of a classic Dredd about it.
“And I asked him to design bikes for the SJS in the strip too. I asked Matt Smith, the editor, if that had been done before and he didn’t think so. So now Trev’s designed a little bit of Justice Department lore. Bikes with bloody great big skulls on the front. They look great.”
Also available through the 2000 AD Apple Newsstand App, from all major magazine retailers and comic stores in the UK and
Europe, and from all good comic stores across the US
The co-creator of Judge Dredd, John Wagner, has praised "Cold Deck", the latest Judge Dredd serial in 2000AD - a storyline by three of British comics’ top writers that has electrified the fan base.
The audacious plot twist in last week’s Prog 1807 by Al Ewing, Simon Spurrier and Rob Williams was “a little bit of comics genius”, said the man behind many of the title’s most popular characters.
And the critics agree - Comic Book Resources’ Robot 6 blog called it “an instant classic” while chaoshour.com described the opening episode in Prog 1806 as “the kind of comic that reminds you of why you fell in love with comics in the first place.
"Writer Al Ewing’s talent at making even the most insignificant
characters come to life is evident here, as is his wonderful take on the
ruthless attitude needed to succeed in a political environment," chaoshour reviewer Gareth Davies enthuses. But
it’s his depiction of Dredd that sticks with you, the way that even he
must now force himself to carry on with his duties.
"It’s a subtle touch,
but one that strikes a nerve. After all if the toughest judge on the
beat is finding it hard to keep a grip on things, what hope does anyone
else have?
The latest installment, Prog 1808, arrived day-and-date digital and in UK stores today.
From the world of Judge Dredd, comes Mega-City Undercover 02 – four tales about the idiosyncratic members of Justice Department undercover unit, known as the ‘Wally Squad’. But they patrol no ordinary patch - this is the Low Life, the nastiest, most crime-infested part of the city.
This band of misfits, nut-jobs and social outcasts – cynical Aimee Nixon, unhinged Dirty Frank, adult baby Eric ‘Mortal’ Coil, and their controller Thora – try and administer something akin to justice in the city’s darkest corners.
From bizarre biblical plagues to dockside revolutions and huge sinister conspiracies, these gritty, noir and darkly humourous tales reject Dredd’s black-and-white instant justice and instead bring to life a nasty, vicious underworld full of terrible deprivation, larger-than-life mob bosses, petty criminals, cowardly informants, and muddied waters.
This stunning second volume of tales from the pen of Rob Williams (Cla$$war, Ghost Rider, The Iron Age) features artwork from D’Israeli (SVK), Rufus Dayglo (Judge Dredd, Tank Girl), and Smudge (Chiaroscuro) that captures both the decaying grandeur and the dark desperation of the Low Life.
This edition comes with a brand new wraparound cover from Rufus Dayglo.
Discover the darker side of Judge Dredd’s world - take a trip through the Low Life...
Last month, comics writer Al Ewing (who's writing a
series of increasingly regular reviews and musings for the Travelling
Man website) gave the thumbs up to 2000AD, urging readers past and present to give it a try.
With Al's permission, we're cross-posting his enthusiastic feature here...
2000AD 1753 - on sale now
So! I’ve put this off long enough. Let’s talk about 2000AD
– the UK comic that exploded onto the scene in 1977, kickstarting the
careers of dozens of top-flight writers and artists, and is still going
strong today. I started reading it when I was nine, and – barring a
couple of hiccups – I’ve read it ever since. Around ten years ago, I
sent them in a five-page horror story. Now I make my entire living from
writing of one sort or another. 2000AD has been very good to me.
So excuse me if I get a little evangelical.
Now, there are lots of good reasons for not reading2000AD.
You may, for example, be unable to read, although if you’re reading
this I’ll assume that’s not the case. You might dislike the medium of
comics in general, although again, if you’re here reading this that’s
probably not true. Or, possibly, you might have sustained a terrible
head injury that’s destroyed certain parts of your brain with the result
that every time you enjoy something you violently defecate all over
yourself, your immediate surroundings, and the cat.
These are all excellent reasons not to read 2000AD. However, if you can read, if you like reading comics and if you like enjoying things, you really should try it.
For a start – it’s a deal, it’s a steal, it’s the sale of the century et cetera.
If you’re in the UK – or on the internet – it’s cheaper than just about
any American comic, and you get more and bigger pages of story. And the savings don’t end there! Because
individual episodes are usually around five pages long, there’s
literally no room for padding. So you get more story per page compared
with your favourite American comic too.
Which all means nothing if the stories aren’t up to scratch – but the
quality has been on a consistent high since at least… well, the year
2000 AD. (At this point, the name of the comic is a trusted brand of
excellence rather than a far-off future date. It’s an idiosyncracy fans
happily turn a blind eye to, like the regular insistences by alien
editor Tharg that I – and everyone else who ever worked at 2000AD, including Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Jock, Duncan Fegredo and Chris Weston, to name a few – am in fact a robot.)
Low Life by Rob Williams and D’Israeli, which started in Prog 1752
Case in point – the current run of 'Low Life', a strip set in the world of Judge Dredd and dealing with Justice Department’s undercover agents. Rob Williams,
on script duties, is busy crafting one of the greatest stories of his
career, bringing new depth to his great comedic creation Dirty Frank as
the undercover Judge explores the underbelly of a future Tokyo in search
of a missing fellow officer.
I hope Rob will forgive me for saying that
– while I love all his work –'Low Life' is, in my
opinion, his best. Every panel – every line of dialogue – is packed with
intelligence, life, heart and soul, and any fans of his, or of good
writing in general, need to be reading it.
Matt Brooker – alias D’Israeli – is on art chores,
and as usual his elegant, emotive, perfectly composed clear-line style
knocks every page out of the park. I don’t know why the Big Two aren’t
fighting each other in some kind of Octagon for his services, but their
loss is 2000AD‘s gain. Words can’t describe how good
his art is, so let’s pay a quick visit to his blog, where you’ll find
many posts dedicated to his painstaking process – this one is a nice introduction to the kind of beautiful vistas on display in the strip.
That’s one story, out of five. In addition, in the latest crop of
stories – the first prog of which, 1750, is available digitally from the
2000AD website,
and 1753 is now on sale at the better newsagents, or (cough) at your local
Travelling Man – you have top cop and future film sensation Judge Dredd, at the seasoned hands of creator John Wagner and Henry Flint; stiff upper-lipped paranormal investigator Ampney Crucis, by Ian Edgington and Simon Davis; the unfolding mystery of Angel Zero, by Kek-W and John Burns; and the mind-exploding, reality-warping strangeness and charm of Indigo Prime – yes, it’s back at long last – by John Smith and Edmund Bagwell.
And, sooner or later, I’ll be back in the prog myself. But I’m not just shouting2000AD to the rooftops because I’m in it – I’m promoting it because I love
it, because it does astonishing things that other comics can’t, because
it fosters incredible talents that other publishers won’t, because week
in, week out, after thirty-five years, it’s still the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
(Above: a piece of fan art for Garen Ewing's Rainbow Orchid by Sarah McIntyre.)
Tube surf time again...
• The Forbidden Planet International blog has really gone to town with their reviews of the DC Comics '52' re-boot (re-launch?) Here's a round-up of all their reviews for the first week of that 'event' (several of the titles are by Brit creators).
• Ed Kayeinterviews Rob Williams and D'Israeli for 2000 AD Online about the new series of Lowlife. Plus he also has a chat with Kek-W about his new series, Angel Zero. Ed seems to be that site's resident interviewer now and, I have to say, he's doing good work.
2000 AD Prog 1750 is a big jumping on point for potential 2000AD readers, on sale today (7th September)
Lowlife by Rob Williams and D'Israeli
The issue comes wrapped in a fab Greg Staples cover (above) and features a new Judge Dredd by John Wagner and Henry Flint (and with a shock ending for Dredd in Issue 1749, the issue is worth picking up just to find out what happens); Indigo Prime by John Smith and Edmund Bagwell; Lowlife by Rob Williams and D’Israeli - a new 12-part adventure - and Ampney Crucis by Ian Edginton and Simon Davies.
These are all new strips, all starting in one new issue. Give it a go!
• Over on Comic Book Resources, Brian Cronin has just completed a month of posting reviews of a different self-published comic book each day. Check out the archive of reviews here
• Talking of self publishing, over on Bear Alley, Steve Holland has announced he's risking his bank balance with his first Bear Alley book, reprinting an as-yet un-named collection of an old British comic. We have no idea what the comic is, but we're rooting for a collection of Come on Steve by Roland Davies, which we know one of Britain's top comic experts has a fondness for, as do we.
Seriously - given the work Steve has done bringing the work of talents such as Don Lawrence to the attention of today's modern comic fans, he deserves support. "The artwork is scanned, the introduction written in rough, a cover is being prepared and I have some quotes in from printers," Steve says.
"At the moment it looks like it will be a 300-copy limited edition hardcover which means the unit cost is huge so the eventual selling price will be £15. Which isn't unreasonable for a hardcover...
"The title... well, I'll be announcing that shortly. I'm still trying to figure out how the hell I'm going to sell 300 copies and what I'm going to be living on while all my savings are tied up in piles of books. Roast book... fried book... raw book..."Check Bear Alley for updates
• Web site 2000AD Review has posted a round table feature with creators Alan Grant, Al Ewing and Rob Williams, talking about writing the comic's most famous strip. "Mega-City One is one of the most prescient SF worlds ever created," argues Ewing along the way. "After all, we're more than halfway there - MPs, making full use of the 'Big Lie' technique and our own increasing hysteria, are now legislating everything they can imagine and a few things nobody else dared to. Did you know that there's an upcoming law that could technically make owning a copy of Watchmen a sexual offence? And if you don't agree that that's necessary, you support paedophilia. Maybe the Judges will be knocking on your door one of these nights..."
• Talking of writing comics, Jim Medway offers some thoughts on that process - in particular, speech and thought - on his blog, part of his ongoing publication of his work as a Comic Workshop tutor. Well worth checking out if you're interested in writing comics.
• And since we seem to be plugging writers in this round up, Alan Moore has just been interviewed over on Newsarama about the just release League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume, Century: 1910. Moore expresses high regard for publishers Top Shelf in the piece and a shift in his way of working for this project as a result. "It’s been something of a revelation. Not because I’m surprised at the production job Top Shelf is doing, or how pleasant they are to work for, because those are things I decided when they published Lost Girls by me and Melinda. But what has been a bit of a revelation is the effect working at Top Shelf has had on me, and I think Kevin [O'Neill] as well. "I think we both decided that because we were not working for anything we recognized as a mainstream comics publisher, we have changed the way we think about the work. It’s a subtle thing, but if you’re working in mainstream comics, as both of us have been doing for getting on 25 years or more, then really, it’s a thing that you kind of take in by osmosis. You absorb the values of the field in which you’re working." Read the full interview here
• Hunt Emerson has a new strip in the Beano, a revamp of the classic Fred’s Bed which many of you reading this may be suddenly remembering very fondly right now. "Reprints of the Tom Paterson Beezer strip Fred's Bed had been running for a couple of years," notes fellow Beano artist Lew Stringer, "but now the strip has been given a makeover with an all new series illustrated by Hunt Emerson. The reprint had always proven popular with Beano readers but the source was finite, so commissioning new strips was always likely... The new version of Fred's Bed has a few changes to the original; Fred himself has been redesigned and he now sets his alarm clock to control where he travels in time instead of the random occurrence in the original strip."
• (via Forbidden Planet International): Paul B Rainey has just published the ninth part of his There’s No Time Like Present series (available from his web site). Paul says he’s been pondering endings and now thinks that the whole TNTLP series will wrap up with part twelve - although he adds that “I have been warned by people more intelligent than me that endings can often take longer than anticipated"...
Judge Dredd by Trevor Hairsine - for Prog 1836
