Trevor Hairsine returns to Dredd

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.”

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Hairsine delivers "Masked" cover

Top artist Trevor Hairsine has provided the cover to a new superhero short story anthology edited by my friend and ace SF book editor Lou Anders, who used to work for me on Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine.

To be published by Gallery Books, Masked also includes a short story by Paul Cornell.

The stories in this 384 page collection are 'Cleansed and Set in Gold' by Matthew Sturges, 'Where their Worm Dieth Not' by James Maxey, 'Secret Identity' by Paul Cornell, 'The Non-Event' by Mike Carey, 'Avatar' by Mike Baron, 'Message from the Bubblegum Factory' by Daryl Gregory, 'Thug' by Gail Simone, 'Vacuum Lad' by Stephen Baxter, 'A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows' by Chris Roberson, 'Head Cases' by Peter David & Kathleen David, 'Downfall' by Joseph Mallozzi, 'By My Works You Shall Know Me' by Mark Chadbourn, 'Call Her Savage' by Marjorie M. Liu, 'Tonight we fly' by Ian McDonald and'A to Z in the Ultimate Big Company Superhero Universe (Villains Too)' by Bill Willingham.

Trevor Hairsine sprang to deserved fame as an artist on 2000AD, but has since drawn Captain America, Wisdom, Ultimate Galactus, Black Panther and many other comics.

A 2008/2007 Hugo Award nominee, 2007 Chesley Award nominee and 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee, Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr, as well as the editor of anthologies Fast Forward 2, Sideways in Crime and more. In 2000, he served as the Executive Editor of Bookface.com, and before that he worked as the Los Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group, writing a huge number of brilliant articles for me on STM and other Titan Magazines, as well as authoring The Making of Star Trek: First Contact.

Due for release in July, Masked looks to be another great collection from an editor who's a dab hand at assembling great anthologies (but never let him try and make you drink grass).

• Buy Masked from amazon.co.uk


• Buy Masked from amazon.com

Cla$$war Returns

This month sees the welcome return of British indie publisher Com.X, whose success was torpedoed by a series of unfortunate events shortly after it launched in the early Noughties.

Com.X kicks off its new projects with a hardcover collected edition of Cla$$war, comprising the first six issues of the superhero tale initially drawn by Trevor Hairsine back in 2002.

In a candid interview for ComicBookResources, publisher Eddie Deighton and Cla$$war writer Rob Williams reveal the story behind Com.X's woes that put paid to its initial publishing plans, which included the loss of two of its top artists to industry heavyweight Marvel Comics and a devastating burglary that saw all their equipment stolen and effectively brought an end to the company.

After launching its flagship sampler Issue#Zero in April 2000, Com.x released its first titles into the comic marketplace in February 2001. The first wave of titles were Bazooka Jules, John Higgins' Razorjack and Puncture, followed by Cla$$war, Sky Between Branches, Codename: Babetool, N-jin, and the collected edition of The Last American – titles whose art and production values were as high or higher than those of industry leaders like Marvel and DC Comics.

The company foundered, but is now back in business, with a collected edition of John Higgins' Razorjack set to debut by the end of March and a brand new original superhero graphic novel, 45, planned for this summer.

"45 is well on it's way to complete," publisher Eddie Deigton told CBR. "The script is finished, and we've gotten maybe about 35 artists on board for the whole project." You can view work in progress here

"The concept is that a normal Joe Public journalist finds out his wife is about to give birth to a baby that may have the S-gene -- or 'the super gene' -- and he has to face reality and accept the kid may change the whole course of his life," Eddie explains. "So he decides to go and interview 45 different superheroes."

• For more on Cla$$war and other upcoming Com.X projects, check out the publisher's blog at comxcomics.blogspot.com

• Read the CBR interview with the Com.X team