Strontium Dog and Sweeney Todd nominated for Stan Lee-backed award

The shortlist for the 2013 Stan Lee Excelsior Awards has been announced and includes two British titles - Strontium Dog : The Life and Death of Johnny Alpha and Classical Comics' Sweeney Todd - alongside several overeseas projects.

Created by Paul Register from Eccelsfield School, the Awards started out as a Sheffield-based project, attracting the interest of 17 Schools in its first year. As word spread, last year the project, which aims to encourage reading in younger people, attracted 77 schools - and not just from Sheffield.


This year, so far, over 100 schools have signed up, including schools from outside the UK.

The award is named after (and with permission of) Stan Lee, creator and co-creator of many of Marvel Comics' most iconic and world recognisable comic characters and groups. The Stan Lee Foundation (set up to improve literacy amongst children in the US) gave its blessing to the awards in its first year.

This award is the only nationwide book award for graphic novels and manga where kids aged 11-16 choose the winner from a selection of books by reading and then rating each graphic novel they read.

"Eight graphic novels are selected for the shortlist and it now attracts dozens and dozens of schools and public libraries from all over the UK - from Scotland to Jersey, from Belfast to Gateshead," explains Paul. "The overall goal of this scheme is to encourage reading amongst teenagers.

"However, its secondary target is to raise the profile of graphic novels and manga amongst school librarians and teachers.

"This storytelling medium has been a largely underused resource within education for many years," he feels. "The Stan Lee Excelsior Award attempts to highlight some of the amazing books that are out there - books that fully deserve to be in our school libraries alongside regular fiction.

"We work closely with both the School Library Association and the Stan Lee Foundation. We are thrilled that 'Stan The Man' has given us his blessing and his permission to name this award after him."

This year's nominations are:

PETER PANZERFAUST: THE GREAT ESCAPE by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Tyler Jenkins

SOUL EATER NOT!: VOLUME 1 by Atsushi Ohkubo

SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (Original Text) by Sean Michael Wilson and Declan Shalvey

STRONTIUM DOG: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHNNY ALPHA by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra

SUPERGIRL: LAST DAUGHTER OF KRYPTON by Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Mahmud Asrar

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: CHANGE IS CONSTANT by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan

WONDER WOMAN: BLOOD by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins

X-O MANOWAR: BY THE SWORD by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord

The Awards remain rooted in Sheffield in terms of organisation, with specialist comic book retailers Sheffield Space Centre, who have been involved since the first year of the awards, helping with book selections, library supply and attending the awards ceremony.

Sheffield creative company Digital Story Engine have also been involved, providing video coverage and interviews with many of the writers and artists involved.

An awards ceremony will be held at Ecclesfield School in July, when the top three graphic novels are announced, with school children at the awards ceremony given the chance to meet and talk to writers, artist and publishers involved in the comic book industry.

• If you are a pupil and want to get your school invlved in these awards, talk to your school librarian and point them to the website - www.excelsioraward.co.uk - or, if you are involved with school’s Libraries, or libraries, check out the website for more information, too.

For more information don’t hesitate to contact: Sheffield Space Centre, 33 The Wicker, Sheffield S3 8HS. Telephone: 01142758905. E-mail dave@space-centre.co.uk. Or Stan Lee Excelsior Award, c/o Paul Register, Ecclesfield School, Chapeltown Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S35 9WD. Telephone: 0114 2461156

 

Elephantmen versus Strontium Dog story in the works

Elephantmen creator Richard Starkings and artist Boo Cook will be signing at Travelling Man in Leeds this Saturday with advance copies of the fifth Elephantmen hardcover, Devilish Functions.

The collection includes 'Man and Elephantman' (including the sold out one shot and the highly sought after issue by Bulletproof Coffin's Shaky Kane) and 'The Killing Season' plus several extras, including art by J. Scott Campbell and the shocking 'strip' from last year's Liberty Annual by Starkings and Shaky Kane.

Fans of Richard's Elephantmen will have the chance to ask the British creator - a longtime resident in the US these days - about the Elephantmen and Strontium Dog story set to feature in Thought Bubble anthology which will be published in November. 

Bleeding Cool reports the crossover story has been created with the approval of Strontium Dog creator John Wagner and 2000AD.

Richard will also be signing with artist Doug Braithwaite at Travelling Man in Newcastle the on Saturday 28th July.

• More about Elephantmen on the Hip Flask website: www.hipflask.com/elephantmen/

• More about Devilish Functions here

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From art droid Jonathan Edwards

Name: Jonathan Edwards

Blog or web site: www.jonathan-e.com and http://jonathan-e.blogspot.com/

Currently working on:

My vinyl figure Inspector Cumulus is being released in its second colour way over the summer and I'm currently working on ideas for a graphic novel featuring him. I've got a few ideas for a alternative 1950s London where a cloud-headed detective would fit in.

I've also redrawn my strip from the 1996 anthology "It's Dark in London" (being reprinted by Self Made Hero this March).

Apart from comics I'll be working with my partner, Louise (AKA Felt Mistress) on more character design work. Hopefully, we've got some exciting projects and exhibitions coming up this year which we'll be able to reveal soon.

First memory of 2000AD?

I was given a copy of issue 2 of 2000AD just before I went to see my future primary school when I was five. I remember wearing the "Biotronic Man" stickers on my arm. Perhaps I thought I'd get away without going to school if they assumed I was a robot!

I never saw another copy until I was about eight or nine. It was a rainy day and we had to stay in during break time. There was a pile of comics donated to the school. Amongst them was a copy of 2000AD with a Mick McMahon episode of the Judge Child saga. It was an issue featuring the Angel Gang. I was immediately obsessed with McMahon's work and have been ever since. A constant artistic influence throughout my life. I think I saw Brian Bolland's work for the first time that same day! Thank God for rain.

Favourite Character or Story?

It's definitely the strips I read as child just because they had such a huge impact on me. Dredd stories such as "Judge Death Lives", "The Cursed Earth", "The Judge Child", "Block Mania". Such clever funny, exciting strips. I also really loved Strontium Dog, Nemesis the Warlock, Halo Jones, Future Shocks, Sooner or Later, Rogue Trooper, D.R & Quinch. Aaargh! Too many to mention.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

The sheer inventiveness of those first 10 years. So many great writers and artists.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

I'd like to see it become more eclectic and embrace more unusual styles. Well, what I'm really saying is I'd like to draw a Dredd strip! I'd even settle for a poster. Y'know, just for the 10-year-old me!

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at http://www.2000adonline.com/

2000AD © Rebellion

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From writer, editor and fan Richmond Clements

Name: Richmond Clements

Blog: http://thequaequamblog.blogspot.com 

Hi-ExConvention:  www.hi-ex.co.uk

Currently working on:

Turning Tiger has just been released by Renegade Arts Entertainment.
I'm also working on a couple of books for Markosia and one for Com.X. I have a series called Operation Inferno, drawn by Nick Dyer, starting soon in Strip Magazine and a Brian Ború bio-strip for the new Irish comic imprint Lightning Strike.






First memory of 2000AD?

The TV ad with Tharg floating down over London (yes, I really am that old! Amazing, isn't it?). I do remember suffering what I now know to be a Thrill Power Overload at the sight of dinosaurs and cowboys and Volgan invaders and the like too.

Favourite Character or Story?

Torquemada is, I think, not only the greatest villain ever created in comics, he's arguably the greatest villian in fiction. Hyperbole? I don't think is.

The strip Strontium Dog and lead character Johnny Alpha are my favourite strip and character in comics, not just in 2000AD. I feel really fortunate that we're allowed to play around with these characters in our SD fanzine Dogbreath.

What do you like most about the 2000AD? 

Anything and everything goes. It isn't afraid to experiment. Yes, sometimes it fails, but mostly, when this happens, the fails are still more spectacular than a thousand lycraed muscle men hitting each other.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

It just needs to keep doing what it's doing. I'd like to see it sell more, but then I'd like to see every comic sell more!

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to shareabout your experience of Tharg and his minions?

I haven't worked for 2K, but I could tell you some tales, and will do in exchange for a drink at the nearest comic convention.

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From art droid Boo Cook

Name: Boo Cook

Blog:  www.boocook.blogspot.com

Tumblr: http://boocook.tumblr.com

Tumblr: http://cro-magnonbulletin.tumblr.com

Currently working on: 

I'm currently working on a new five-part Judge Anderson, Psi strip called 'Stone Voices' with Alan Grant. That should be surfacing in the Judge Dredd Megazine in the summer... aside from that, i have regular cover duties ongoing for Richard Starkings' Elephantmen comic over at Image.

I've got various other bits and bobs in the pipeline, but it's too early to mention them yet... fingers crossed!

First memory of 2000AD?

My first memory of 2000AD was sifting through a stack of back progs at my pals Tom and Ian's house in Devon when I was 9. i can remember being totally blown away by the sheer craziness of the "Judge Child Quest" and ABC Warriors and frankly had to get me some...

I got the 1982 2000AD annual for Christmas that year and had the comic sent to me by my Grandpa each week from then on... I need a spare room just for my progs!

Favourite Character or Story?

I love Dredd. who doesn't? My favourite story for him has to be the whole Block Mania/Apocalypse War saga I think, but actually if I really had to name my favourite all time character it would have to be Johnny Alpha/Strontium Dog, with Wulf Sternhammer coming a close second. I always read Dredd last in the weekly comic, unless Johnny is in the prog , then he gets the fabled slot.

Strontium Dog has had so many amazing story arcs i'd struggle to name all my faves, but "Rage", "Portrait of a Mutant", "The Killing", that crazy "Moses Quest" story... I could go on all night!

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

The thing that really works for me about 2000AD is its unflinching approach to experimental and groundbreaking strips. I think the secret of its success is that it just keeps on pushing and inventing newer and crazier strips and characters.

The old staple heroes are treated with respect, and new ideas are always given a chance to flourish - since its birth right up to the present day Tharg and his editorial minions have had a brilliant policy of giving creators free reign with their ideas and really nurturing new talent - many of whom have gone on to be some of the biggest names in comics.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

More of the same! Johhny Alpha is currently back in the prog, but if they could work out a credible way to bring Wulf back too I'd be a happy cyber bunny.

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

I have loads of anecdotes about the 2000AD crew to tell, from Colin MacNeil's wife punching Dom Reardon over a hedge to Al Ewing's amazing dance moves.

But many of them are terribly damning and incriminating(!) so i'll just pay my birthday respects to the comic itself by saying; since I was 10 it has been like a brother to me, a massive part of my life. My Grandpa probably had little idea that he was filling my brain sci-fi rocket fuel that would instil a crazed yet balanced moral code in me that will last a lifetime.

Since those early days it has become my job and my passion for it and sci-fi in general hasn't dwindled in the slightest.

It is part of my core, and without it I wouldn't have met the most amazing person on the planet: my lovely wife. We met exactly 10 years ago at the 2000AD 25th birthday celebration at the Ministry of Sound in London.

So Tharg.... I SALUTE YOU!!!

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From feature and script droid Matthew Badham

Matt Badham

Blog or web site: I'm a contributor to the Forbidden Planet International blog, down thetubes and I'm on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/mattbadham

Currently working on:

Articles for the Judge Dredd Megazine, Comic Heroes and Strip Magazine.

First memory of 2000AD?

Johnny Alpha and a whole bunch of bad-ass mutants staring out from the cover of Prog 349.

Favourite Character or Story?

Strontium Dog: Outlaw - An absolute stone-cold classic that thrilled readers from early April to late September, 1984. I was bereft when this 'action movie on paper' ended. It had thrills, spills and -- typically for a Wagner/Grant story -- a nice line in humour. Wild West-esque SF action at its best with cracking art by Carlos Ezquerra. Zarjaz!!!

A close second is Low Life: The Deal. A sublime Dreddworld offering from 2011 by Rob Williams and D'israeli. I loved it.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

Its sense of humour.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

More of the same, as the comic is in great shape at the moment.

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

I had a Future Shock I wrote published in 2009, which I still find mind-boggling. I write interviews for the Judge Dredd Megazine. My experience of Tharg and his minions -- minimal. I try to deliver my copy on time and keep my nose clean. And, apart from that,  I keep out of their way. They're busy droids, who don't need me hassling them.

Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From comics editor and fan Paul Scott

Name:  Paul Scott

Blog or web site: www.omnivistascope.com

Currently working on: 

Keegan Jask book 1, a collection of implausible tales from the stellar storyteller. Written by myself with help from artist Leigh Shepeherd It will be 100 pages+ and feature an all new, somewhat improbable tale and hopefully be on sale at the Bristol comics show in May!

I wouldn't be involved with comics in any way without 2000AD .

First memory of 2000AD?  

 Sitting in a tent one summer with the then obligatory huge pile of comics. Amongst them was a strange thing called 2000AD, which had a strange effect on me. It just felt so completely different to anything I'd seen before, and I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I remember it was the issue with the Princess Porkina (from Ace Garp) poster, and it all seemed so weird and ludicrous. Fantastic.  

I would have similar encounters over the years with 2000AD , till I eventually got more permanently hooked with issue 454.

Favourite Character or Story?

There are so many from the first ten years of the comic, it hardly seems plausible. Where do I start? Rogue Trooper? Halo Jones? Judge Dredd? Nemesis the Warlock? Strontium Dog? All superb. 

I have a huge soft spot however for Harry Twenty on the High Rock, a strip created by the wonderful Gerry Finley Day, with a somewhat complicated history. It features wonderful art by Alan Davis, where you have that magicall moment where you get to see an artist really mastering the art form.  

Harry Twenty is a classic manly anti-hero, a good natured rogue who knows the real meaning of good and evil. The story is essentially Escape from Alcatraz, in space with lots of zany ideas and characters that you'd expect from Gerry!  

It may not feature on everyone's A-list list of 2000AD stories, but it's great fun. And you know, he's still out there, and hopefully no-one will ever catch up with him.  The story has been reprinted in the best of 2000AD monthly, the U.S. reprints and is currently available in a book from Rebellion.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?  

What I always loved about it was the concentrated imagination, the fact for so many years it was ahead of everything else going on in this country or anywhere else. A genuine institution that has had a vast, but largely unsung, cultural effect on this country.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?  
 
Something old by the old guard, or something impossible new and amazing. Either is always possible from the comic. But if I had to be pinned down, more Strontium Dog from Wagner and Ezquerra. Alpha Lives!

Spludig Vur Thrigg!

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

Happy Birthday 2000AD! From lettering droid Richard Starkings

Name: Richard Starkings

Blog or web site: www.hipflask.com

Currently working on:
Elephantmen #38, 40 & 41, Elephantmen volume 5: Devilish Functions

First memory of 2000AD?

I remember seeing the cover of #61 in a stack of 2000ADs my brother -- who was a comic dealer in the 70's and 80's -- had at his home in Nottingham amidst all the Marvel imports. I flicked through it and didn't quite get it, I thought Spikes Harvey Rotten was a lead character.

Only when Starlord #1 came out and I saw the mindblowing art of Carlos Ezquerra did I start looking for everything remotely related to the creators of Strontium Dog. Lucky for me, my brother got ahold of a complete run of 2000AD up to issue 80/81... just before Starlord merged with 2000AD. I've bought it ever since.

Favourite Character or Story?

That would have to be Johnny Alpha, with Dredd a close second. Alpha is a much more sympathetic character whereas Dredd is heroic but not quite as accessible emotionally. I think that's why he's never caught on with American readers.

But I think the essential 2000AD story is Judge Dredd: Judge Dredd Lives by Wagner and Bolland; a high watermark in the field of comics internationally, let alone in British comics.

Strontium Dog in either Journey into Hell or The Shicklegrüber Grab would be close seconds.

What do you like most about the 2000AD?

The innovation! New ideas and new characters all the time. I remember Brian Bolland telling me that when he was drawing Judge Death, he was thinking of the Joker from Batman. I think comics are at their best when creators channel the affection they developed for the comics of their youth into new characters and ideas.

Hopefully my love of 2000AD is evident in Elephantmen.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

To keep pushing the envelope -- with new creators and new characters and new ideas. And Bolland back on Dredd -- is that too much to ask? And Halo Jones Books IV-VII. And more D.R & Quinch.

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

My favourite memories would have to be the Marvel UK/2000AD softball matches in Hyde Park. I led a team of Marvel editors and artists while John Wagner and Alan Grant were joined by various creators and 2000AD droids, including Brian Bolland at one point. We'd retire to the pub at Hyde Park Corner afterwards where Wagner and Grant would warn us about the dangers of work for hire. I learned a lot from both of them.

But I also had a very good experience working for the editorial team of Steve McManus and Simon Geller. Simon and then Art Editor Robin Smith gave me a lot of great feedback which undoubtedly made me a better lettering artist. They gave me plenty of time to complete the work and were always responsive and positive. I got to work on Future Shocks, Ace Trucking, Strontium Dog and Judge Dredd a few times when Tom Frame was on holiday or overloaded.

I remember watching Tom letter the back cover of The Fink Brothers 12" single, which was on a wall drawn in the art by Bolland... set at an angle. I thought to myself "F**k! I wouldn't want to do that!" At around that same time, you'd often see Steve Dillon in the office, working on Dredd at an art table, standing up... Robin told me they sometimes had to lock him in a room to make sure he finished.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Ian Gibson for requesting me to work on Halo Jones after he saw my work on a Robo Hunter story. He told me he'd never seen someone letter his work so sensitively before -- those were the days of pen and ink when lettering was done on crackback and then cut out with a scalpel and stuck to the artwork. I would go to great pains to literally cut balloons behind figures heads or bodies, so for a short while I was Ian's letterer of choice. He wrote me a couple of thank you notes on the artwork of the last couple of pages of Halo Jones, which I cut out and kept somewhere.

Undoubtedly working on Dredd and Halo Jones stood me in good stead when Bolland asked DC if I could letter Batman: The Killing Joke for him. I sent samples of my 2000AD work to Denny O'Neill and he readily agreed. Brian was keen to work with me so he could keep the pencil pages close at hand in London. That work opened the door to comics for me in the US, so without 2000AD, I might not be the creator of my own Image comic today.

I stopped by the offices of Rebellion in Oxford last November. It felt to me as if time had stood still... although the current editorial team were working on computers, everyone was clearly working as hard as the editorial team I used to work for, and enjoying it every bit as much. They also jealously guarded their comps just as much as everyone did back in the day.

Splundig Vur Thrigg!

• The Strontium Dog page in this interview is from 2000AD Prog 86 by Carlos Ezquerra. Copyright Rebellion. See it online at: http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=837067&GSub=85905

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com

2000AD © Rebellion

2000AD Book Schedule announced

As it celebrates three and a half decades of some of the greatest comics of all time, 2000AD is unleashing a flurry of top-notch thrills in graphic novel form this year.The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic has lined up a sizzling schedule of new releases, collecting classics and new strips alike – with new formats and a celebration of amazing Judge Dredd artwork from the past 35 years!

February sees the first in the new line of stylish ‘Manga-style’ books reprinting classic tales from Judge Dredd in a fresh pocket-sized format. The perfect format for new readers, this new series breaks classic Judge Dredd stories out from the best-selling Case Files to open up the world of Dredd to new readers and fans at a low price point.

JUDGE DREDD: THE CURSED EARTH SAGA (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-08-5) collects the first Dredd ‘mega-epic,’ as the Lawman of the Future crosses the radioactive hell of the Cursed Earth, complete with mutants, monsters and crazed war robots, with a vaccine to save Mega-City Two from a deadly plague.

The second release in the series, JUDGE DREDD: THE DAY THE LAW DIED (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-09-2) arrives in May and features art by legends Mike McMahon and Brian Bolland as Dredd is forced to take on the tyrannical Judge Cal. And the third title, due in September, reprints the first appearance of Judge Dredd’s ultimate nemesis, Judge Death, in JUDGE DREDD: THE DARK JUDGES (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-45-0) by John Wagner, Brian Bolland and Brett Ewins.

In March, Dan Abnett and Richard Elson’s breakout post-apocalyptic series, Kingdom, returns with 144 full-colour pages of KINGDOM: CALL OF THE WILD (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-98-8). Genetically engineered dogsoldier, Gene the Hackman, and one of the last human beings realise they’ve wandered into the territory of a new pack … and into danger.

 The first critically-acclaimed Mega-City Undercover collection in 2008 was a runaway hit, and April will see MEGA-CITY UNDERCOVER 02: LIVING THE LOW LIFE (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-41-2). Writer Rob Williams (Iron Age, Daken) and artist D’Israeli (SVK, Scarlet Traces) return for more of the undercover judges who work in the crime-infested Low Life – the nastiest part of Judge Dredd’s Mega-City One – in action-packed, humour-filled stories.

Rebellion continue putting the law in order in May, with JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES 19 (£21.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-96-4) collecting the Dredd stories of three of the world’s biggest comic book writers: Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis and Mark Millar, including Morrison’s first Judge Dredd story, Inferno.

One of the biggest hits from 2000AD of the last year, the sarcastic, grumpy supernatural detective Absalom gets his first collection in June. ABSALOM: GHOSTS OF LONDON (£10.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-42-9) by Gordon Rennie and Tiernen Trevallion sees the veteran Cockney copper may be dying of cancer, but that doesn’t stop him taking on demonic entities in modern London. A stylish mix of police procedural and occult forces, this collection will be fresh from the weekly comic!

 Pat Mills’ popular Celtic barbarian returns in SLÁINE: TREASURES OF BRITAIN (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-97-1) in June with art by Dermot Power and Steve Tappin. The follow-up to the best-selling Sláine: Lord of Misrule, this celebrated story has been unavailable for years and includes a new introduction by Mills.

Another of Mills’ enduring creations is collected in July. SAVAGE: THE GUV’NOR (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-42-9) by Pat Mills and Patrick Goddard continues lorry driver Bill Savage’s fight against the forces now occupying Britain in this taut nourish epic about guerrilla warfare in a contemporary bombed-out London.

It was one of the most famous deaths in comics history, but what you think you know about mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha’s passing is wrong. July’s STRONTIUM DOG: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHNNY ALPHA (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-43-6) by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra sees the veteran writer revive one of the most beloved characters from 2000AD as the most famous Search/Destroy agent of them all spectacularly returns from the grave…

 In August, JUDGE DREDD RESTRICTED FILES 04 (£19.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-46-7) features writing by John Wagner and Mark Millar, with art from Bryan Talbot, Henry Flint and many more. Featuring rare thrills from 2000AD annuals and specials this best-selling series features never before collected material.

He’s the most startling new character to emerge from 2000AD in a decade – a murderous monosyllabic entity bent on revenge for his murdered race. SHAKARA: THE DESTROYER (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-38-2) collects the second half of Robbie Morrison and Henry Flint’s stunning series. Reality teeters on the edge of oblivion in this tale of monumental carnage and devastation, packed with incredible artwork from this breakaway talent.

 And in the same month the new Dredd film starring Karl Urban hits screens, September sees the first ever 2000AD collectable art book – 2000AD COVER ART FEATURING JUDGE DREDD (£34.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-44-3). Edited by 2000AD graphic novels editor Keith Richardson, this highly-collectable tome will celebrate 2000AD and Judge Dredd’s joint 35th anniversary with a compilation of the most stunning and innovative Judge Dredd-related covers, illustrated by some of the greatest talents in the industry – a must for 2000AD and Dredd fans!

The January to September 2000 AD graphic novel schedule in full: 

January:
AMPNEY CRUCIS INVESTIGATES – VILE BODIES (£11.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-94-0)

February:
JUDGE DREDD: THE CURSED EARTH SAGA (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-08-5)
JUDGE ANDERSON: THE PSI FILES 02 (£19.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-95-7

March:
KINGDOM: CALL OF THE WILD (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-98-8)

April:
MEGA-CITY UNDERCOVER 02: LIVING THE LOW LIFE (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-41-2)

May:
JUDGE DREDD: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES 19 (£21.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-96-4)
JUDGE DREDD: THE DAY THE LAW DIED (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-09-2)

June:
 ABSALOM: GHOSTS OF LONDON (£10.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-42-9)
SLÁINE: TREASURES OF BRITAIN (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-907992-97-1)

July:
SAVAGE: THE GUV’NOR (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-42-9)
STRONTIUM DOG: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHNNY ALPHA (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-43-6)

August:
JUDGE DREDD RESTRICTED FILES 04 (£19.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-46-7)
SHAKARA: THE DESTROYER (£14.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-38-2)

September:
2000 AD COVER ART FEATURING JUDGE DREDD (£34.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-44-3)
JUDGE DREDD: THE DARK JUDGES (£6.99 ISBN 978-1-781080-45-0)