Warm reception for new Judge Dredd's tale "Cold Deck"

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.

Now readers who have missed the story so far can read the prologue of Al Ewing’s story, Judge Dredd: Cold Deck from Prog 1802, absolutely free (PDF link). With art from Henry Flint, this six-page opening episode is, 2000AD tell us, the beginning of the biggest Dredd story since Wagner’s year-long Day of Chaos changed the world of the lawman of the future forever.

• Prog 1804 and the issues that follow are available digitally from the 2000 AD online shop or through the 2000AD iPad/iPhone app.

Panel Borders on Aces Weekly and 2000AD

Panel Borders: Aces Weekly

Continuing our month of shows about anthologies, Alex Fitch talks to the creator and co-editor - David Lloyd - of a new weekly digital comics anthology, Aces Weekly.
Alex also talks to three of the other contributors - David Leach, John McCrea and Kev Hopgood - about their new strips which will feature in the title and how the creators hope this will open up a new market for British comics in a brand new format.
The first issue of Aces Weekly goes online at www.acesweekly.co.uk on 30th September 2012

8pm, Sunday 23rd September 2012, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at panelborders.wordpress.com

Last week's show about The Phoenix comic, featuring a panel discussion with Daniel Hartwell, Neill Cameron, Adam Murphy, Robin Etherington and Patrice Aggs is available now as a 'feature length' podcast.

Clear Spot: 35 years of 2000AD 

In an hour long programme to compliment this month's series of Panel Borders on comic book anthologies, Alex Fitch looks at "The Galaxy's Greatest Comic", 2000AD in its 35th anniversary year, alongside the release of a new Dredd movie, featuring the comic's longest running character.

Alex discusses the recently released 1800th issue of the comic with editor Matt Smith; the process of writing Future Shocks with small press creator David Baillie; the drawing of memorable strips such as Harlem Heroes and Nemesis the Warlock with artists Kev Hopgood and Henry Flint; and the art of putting words in the mouth of indestructible lawman Judge Dredd with letterer Annie Parkhouse.

8pm, Wednesday 26th September 2012, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com / extended podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Megazine DREDD Special prepped for release

The eagerly awaited arrival of DREDD 3D in UK cinemas takes place on 7th September and in North America on 21st September.

To mark this return to the big screen for Britain’s biggest comic book character, Judge Dredd Megazine #328 will be a bumper issue featuring new and exclusive DREDD movie features, interviews, comic strip, and concept art.

Released on 12th September, it includes the specially commissioned DREDD 3D prologue story - "Top of The World, Ma-Ma" - written by 2000AD editor Matt Smith and drawn by fan favourite artist Henry Flint. It charts the rise of the ruthless gang leader who Dredd and Anderson must confront in the Alex Garland-scripted movie.

This 144-page issue also features insightful interviews with screenwriter Alex Garland and Judge Dredd himself, actor Karl Urban, as well as exclusive never-before-seen movie concept art and designs from artist Jock.

Alongside this is Andy Diggle and Jock’s Snapshot, Alan Grant and Boo Cook on Judge Anderson, and Grant and Tiernen Trevallion on Judge Dredd: Ratfink's Revenge - plus the winner of the Judge Dredd short story competition!

• Available from all good newsagents in the UK and worldwide online on 12th September through www.2000adonline.com on 12th September, priced at £5.99.

Scotch Corner Art Blog Celebrates Its 3rd Birthday

The Scotch Corner daily art blog is celebrating its third birthday and, like last year, has called on a number of guest artists to give a short holiday to the Scotch Corner regulars, artdroids Graeme Neil Reid, Gary Erskine, Simon Fraser and Alex Ronald, and artists Jon Hodgson, Andy Hepworth and Thomas Crielly.

The first guest for July is artdroid Henry Flint who provides the illustration of a 2000AD cover for the current Judge Dredd saga 'Days Of Chaos'. In addition to several images, each guest will answer a series of questions and Henry reveals that his first published work wasn't in 2000AD but actually in The Dandy where he, as a reader, sent in a picture of Deperate Dan which won him Star Letter and a jigsaw.

Further guests to come in July include Paolo Rivera, Mike Austin, Paul Bourne, Simon Gurr and INJ Culbard.

The Scotch Corner art blog is here.

Flint and Food - Hinkley's Factoryroad Gallery lands comic exhibition

The Factoryroad Gallery in Hinkley, Leicestershire is hosting an exhibition of artwork from DJ Food's new album The Search Engine, and 2000AD artist Henry Flint's book Broadcast.

The two artists collaborated on the art work for this album and the show will include original inked comic art by Henry Flint.

Original comic art, drawings, limited edition prints, moving image, photography and vinyl will be on show which was originally shown at Pure Evil London, and will be brought to the Midlands by Factoryroad
Gallery from 2nd - 15th June.

Attendance is strictly RSVP only, so if you would like to see this awesome exhibition please email Brook@factoryroadgallery.net with your chosen time and date including your contact number.

• PDF flyer downloadable here: http://inkymole.com/download/Flint&Food_Factoryroad.pdf (PDF)

Dark Judges make their mark on 2000AD web site

Fear. Fire. Mortis. The Dark Judges have returned to 2000AD.

The countdown, which has been running at www.2000adonline.com, came to an end earlier today and the site has closed (although you can still get to the site's online shop - there's no stooping commerce!), replaced with a single image bearing the legend ‘THEY ARE HERE’.

Readers have been tantalised over the past month by a series of teaser images published through the US web site Comic Book Resources, which began as oblique symbols before slowly revealing the impending return of the terrible threesome. They must now wait to see what will be unveiled...




As part of the on-going Day of Chaos mega-epic, Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner has unleashed Judge Fear, Judge Fire, and Judge Mortis onto a Mega-City One already reeling from the Chaos Bug epidemic, mass civil revolt, and terrorist attacks. In a storyline described by SFX as “both gripping and very compelling. It’s like watching news of a reallife crisis unfolding on TV”, the multi-faceted plotline offers current, lapsed, and new readers a rollercoaster of thrills.

Warped parodies of the Judges of Mega-City One, the Dark Judges are undead superfiends from a dimension where all life has been declared a crime. Originally led by Judge Death, who has since been sucked into Purgatory by the souls of his victims, the Dark Judges were created by John Wagner and Brian Bolland.

With a stunning cover by Henry Flint, publishersRebellion tell us this has been the most keenly anticipated 2000AD event in years.

- 2000AD Prog 1781 goes on sale on Wednesday, priced at £2.35 in the UK.

 

Panel Borders: Searching comics with DJ Food

Starting a month of Panel Borders radio shows about non practitioners' love for comics, guest presenter Robin Warren talks to musician and 2000AD fan  Strictly Kev about collaborating with Henry Flint on the artwork for his new LP The Search Engine and the three EPs that make up the release.

Robin and Kev talk about the latter's interest in British anthologies, especially 2000AD, and how a love of comics in his formative years compliments his music production as DJ Food and with The Cinematic Orchestra.

• Panel Borders: Searching comics with DJ Food airs at 8.00pm, Sunday 5th February, Resonance FM (London). More info: www.panelborders.com

• Strictly Kev official web site: www.djfood.org/djfood


• You can buy The Search Engine in various formats here

Markosia's mind-bending comic releases!

It’s not often you get to release a book that causes people to worry about reality and feel unstable after reading it - which is how I felt after reading one of them. It’s almost unthinkable, dangerous even, that you might release two such subversive creations at once. That, however, is just what Markosia Enterprises is planning to do this November. Stay tuned to find out what will be left standing when these monsters collide.

Broadcast: The TV Doodles of Henry Flint

“The mind of Henry Flint is a galaxy of beautiful atrocities – a nightmare factory where the bestial becomes benign, the mundane magical. Henry Flint is at once a full-service doodling savant and a one-man alien zoo, and this never-before-seen collection of his personal work is an attempt to chart a single, crooked leg of the artistic journey he takes daily. Welcome to the best of the bestiary.”

Broadcast offers something very different from Henry Flint’s narrative artwork, familiar to fans worldwide from his books for 2000AD, Vertigo and Dark Horse. With writer Cy Dethan acting as guide to the reader, the book is at once a treasure map and an open invitation to explore Henry’s personal work and zen-like experiments in art.

The Indifference Engine: A Holographic Novel 

“Responding to a strangely specific job advertisement, Alan Blake, a distinctly ordinary twenty-something suburban slacker finds himself in the middle of an inter-dimensional task force staffed entirely by superhuman alternate versions of himself. Struggling to fit in, he uncovers a conspiracy that strikes at the very heart of the organisation – a conspiracy that only he can stop.”

“Being a science fiction fan,” says Wayne Hall of Sci-Fi Pulse, “I sometimes ache for a comic that will challenge my perceptions of the world, of the universe, of my way of thinking... The Indifference Engine scratches that itch spectacularly!"

This is Cy Dethan’s third original graphic novel from Markosia and he is joined this time around by hot-shot new artist Rob Carey, along with colourist Mel Cook and letterer Nic Wilkinson. Following the convention-busting performance of the horror-noir Cancertown and the surreal gangland thriller Slaughterman’s Creed, it already looks as if Dethan’s first creator-owned sci-fi story, which I'm happy to declare a gripping, nihilist alternate reality adventure, so let's hope it will be enjoying the same levels of success.

Dethan first explored the genre for Markosia as writer of their Starship Troopers line.

The digital version of the book has already been incredibly popular. Cy Dethan's script is superb, and this is a tightly-written multi-universe-spanning adventure tale and it's...definitely a book to look out for.

• A free preview of The Indifference Engine can be read at http://www.cydethan.com/index.php?page=free-online-preview. 

• Pre-order Broadcast through the Markosia website: http://www.markosia.com/wordpress/titles/broadcast-the-tv-doodles-of-henry-flint/

• Pre-order The Indifference Engine through the Markosia website: http://www.markosia.com/wordpress/titles/The-Indifference-Engine/

Markosia to publish Henry Fint art book

(via ECBT2000AD and Cy Dethan): Markosia will be publishing Broadcast, The TV Doodles of Henry Flint later this year.

The book will contain about 100 pieces of all new artwork from Henry, best known for his work on 2000AD, Vertigo and Dark Horse, along with text and commentary co-written by Cy Dethan, author of Cancertown and just-launched Slaughterman’s Creed.

"It's Henry's personal work and will take a look at the stories behind the art, Henry's creative process, and, perhaps more scarily, explore the receiving equipment inside his head!" notes Cy.

"The book will be published by Markosia, and it's their first art book, but when Harry Markos heard about that the book was looking for a new publisher he leapt at it, being a big fan of Henry's work himself."

Posting a couple of examples of Henry's work on the Everything Comes Back to 2000AD blog, Rich Mcauliffe says " the scans I’ve posted here are doing the peices and their insane levels of detail no justice whatsover so I’m really looking forward to checking out these previews and of course the finished book."


• Broadcast, The TV Doodles of Henry Flint is due to be published in time for the 2011 Birmingham International Comic Expo but expect to see previews on the Markosia stand at this year's Bristol Con. Web: www.markosia.com

Art © 2011 Henry Flint