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.

Simon Spurrier uncoils at Forbidden Planet London

Forbidden Planet has announced a signing by Simon Spurrier for his novel A Serpent Uncoiled at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, London in August.

Dan Sharper’s sins are a sickness. Sharper is a former underworld enforcer who now scrapes a living as a private detective, So far, so conventional. He needs to straighten up and rebuild his life, however an emotional breakdown has left him with a tenuous grip on reality and his life is about to get a whole lot stranger…

He’s tasked to prevent the murder of George Glass, an eccentric old man who knows he’s going to be killed but can’t remember why. Normally Sharper would recoil from Glass’s senile brand of New Age salvation, but the case is as tantalizing as it is lucrative. Adrift amidst liars and thugs, Sharper must push his capsizing mind beyond its limits: stalked not only by a unique and terrifying murderer, but by the ghosts of his own brutal past.

Simon Spurrer is a graduate from S.I.A.D’s Film and Television degree course; he’s received screenwriting bursaries at both the National Academy of Writing and the Met Film School, and has worked for the BBC as an art director. He’s since become an award-winning novelist – writing for Marvel, DC and 2000AD.

• Simon Spurrier is at Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR on Wednesday 3rd August 6 – 7pm.


• Order A Serpent Uncoiled from Forbidden Planet
• For more news about FP's signings visit: http://forbiddenplanet.com/events/?affid=downthetubesfp

Creator-owned strip Numbercruncher launches in Megazine in New Year

A quick Friday plug for Numbercruncher which starts in the New Year in the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Created by Si Spurrier and PJ Holden, it's a creator owned series and we reckon that it deserves support since it is, for publishers Rebellion, a bit of an experiment.

PJ Holden tells us Numbercruncher will be 8 page chunks and will run for 10 episodes, along with the usual "bunch of cool stuff" in the Meg.

Here’s the cover fr the opening episode (logo designed in house by Simon Parr).

You can buy the Megazine in all good newsagents and, if you’re in the US or elsewhere, you should be able to buy the Meg online at Clickwheel (www.clickwheel.net/features/229) and the 2000AD online shop.

Panel Borders Live: Gleaming the Silver Surfer

As part of a fund raising night to support London radio station Resonance FM, themed around the subject of silver, Alex Fitch will be talking to comic book writer and novelist Simon Spurrier about the Marvel comics character the Silver Surfer, who he penned in a recent mini-series called 'In Thy Name'.

Alex and Simon will be discussing the character's origins at London's Vortex Club, on and off the page and aspects of space opera and eschatology in his appearances.

Simon is a regular contributor to 2000AD and has written several licensed works for the Black Library and Abaddon Press. More recently he's written scripts for both Marvel and DC Comics and has launched Gutsville through Image. His first non-licensed prose work, Contract, was published by Hodder's Headline Review in 2007.

Other guests on the night will include representatives of the V&A's silver collection on the socio-economic and historical role silver played in British Imperialism; the BBC's central Asia correspondent on the geo-politics of silver; London's Pétanque society; a panel of art critics discussing Belgian surrealist René Magritte's portrayal of silver and Mark Pilkinson on silver in relation to contemporary mythology and sci-fi.

• Panel Borders Live: Gleaming the Silver Surfer - 8.30pm Tuesday 7th September, The Vortex Jazz Club, 11 Gillett Square, London N16 8AZ (London Overground Dalston stations). Web Link: www.vortexjazz.co.uk