Judge Dredd Megazine to Immortalize Super-Fan

An army veteran and comic book super-fan is to have the character he created immortalised in print, four months after his tragic death. As a life-long fan of legendary weekly comic book 2000 AD, Stewart Perkins, 48, of Wymondham, was looking forward to fulfilling his dream of seeing Harry Heston, an ape-Judge character he created in the 1990s with friend Jake Lynch, finally appear in an official Judge Dredd story.

But tragically Stewart died suddenly and unexpectedly in May while working in Norway with the United States Air Force.

Next week, 2000 AD’s publisher Rebellion will publish the story that Stewart never got to see in its sister title Judge Dredd Megazine.

Based at RAF Lakenheath, Stewart – known to fellow 2000 AD fans as “W.R. Logan” – was a popular Army Cadets instructor as well as a veteran of the Queen's Own Hussars. Born and raised in Stratford-Upon-Avon, his funeral took place in Norwich on 16th June.

Named after Dirty Harry and Charlton Heston, Stewart and Jake created Harry Heston for their Judge Dredd fan comic Class of ’79, which won Best Self Published/Independent Comic at the National Comics Awards in 1999.

Drawn by Jake, the new story has been written by Judge Dredd writer Arthur Wyatt and is set in Dredd’s world 122 years in the future where genetic experimentation has given primates human speech. Heston is a smart-talking gorilla who lives in a shanty town outside the violent Mega-City One on the east coast of America. Modelling himself on Judge Dredd, Heston takes on a gang of muggers but, when they seek revenge, Heston and Dredd are forced to work together to take them down.

His partner, Deborah Ward, said: “About a year ago, Stewart burst through the front door, with a big grin on his face. Jake had just emailed over the first draft of the new Heston story and Stewart loved it. Many emails had gone back and forth since that day, and I remember Stewart proudly telling my friends about the forthcoming publication. I confess it was rather lost on them but no-one could resist getting swept along with his enthusiasm! Enjoy the strip and raise a glass to W.R. Logan, doing us proud yet again.”

His friend and artist on the story, Jake Lynch, said: “When Harry was born, we knew he was something special and it wasn't just the beer talking. To see our 'chimp-face' accepted into the pages of the Megazine was the fulfilling of an ambition both Stewart and I shared. The spin Arthur Wyatt has put on it is perfect and SO in keeping for where Harry came from. I also shared all the artwork I produced for the strip with Stewart and he gave it all the thumbs up. It saddens me to know that he won't ever see it in print but am happy to know the mighty “WR Logan” approved.”

Matt Smith, the editor of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, said: “Harry’s a great character to add to the world of Judge Dredd and it’s a fitting tribute to one of Judge Dredd’s biggest fans. It’s a shame Stewart never got to see Harry in print, but I’m sure he’d approve.”

One of the best known fans in the British comics scene, Stewart’s encyclopaedic knowledge of Judge Dredd history led to him advising the character’s co-creator, John Wagner; this led to stories such as 2006’s Judge Dredd: Origins, which laid out the character’s origin story for the first time. In return, Wagner used Stewart’s online pseudonym of “W.R. Logan” when he created the unlucky “Judge Logan”, who has starred in several major storylines, including 2016’s Dark Justice.

During the late 1980s and early ‘90s he had served with the Queen's Own Hussars, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and later he spent many years volunteering with the Army Cadet Force as an adult instructor. He had also previously worked for Rebellion, organising the 2000 AD archives.

Judge Dredd Megazine #376 will go on sale on 21 September from all good newsagents, priced at £5.99, as well as digitally from 2000 AD’s online shop and Apple, Android, and Windows 10 app.

You Can Now Get Judge Dredd Martial Arts Kits

It can be tough on the streets of Mega-City One and now martial arts fans can protect themselves with The Law – thanks to a new range of clothing from Scramble and 2000 AD. 2000 AD and Scramble are pleased to announce a new range of licensed martial arts clothing and compression wear which draws on the rich history of the Judge Dredd universe – featuring classic images of the ultimate lawman himself to other characters such as Judge Anderson, The Simping Detective, and many more!

The range will include licensed jiu jitsu gi (kimono), rashguards, hoodies, T-shirts, and woven gi patches.

The new products will be released through dedicated stores in the UK and USA, with wholesalers carrying the full range.

Matt Benyon, creative director and owner of Scramble, said: "Judge Dredd has long been one of my favourite characters, and the fact that Dredd is a born-and-bred British comic resonates with us a British brand. As a kid I would practice drawing Dredd until I got the lines just right; now it's my great pleasure to have the official license and to create some amazing products using the iconic image."

Scramble is a technical apparel brand with its roots in the martial arts, particularly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and grappling. Starting in 2009, Scramble has been very successful in making clothing and equipment that transcends the sport. They are particularly renowned for their collaboration T-shirts with famous figures and licenses, as well as compression wear and BJJ kimonos.  www.scramblestuff.com

2000 AD is the legendary weekly British anthology comic and home of Judge Dredd, as well as a galaxy of original sci-fi, fantasy, and horror action stars. As well as producing innovative and provactive comics for almost 40 years, it has brought the industry some of its biggest talents, from Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Mark Millar, to Jock, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, and many more. Published in print and digital every Wednesday, 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic and remains at the industry’s cutting edge. www.2000ADonline.com

Rebellion Acquires Classic British Comics Archive

In a major acquisition Rebellion, the independent publisher behind the bestselling comics and graphic novel imprint 2000 AD, has purchased the archive of Fleetway and IPC Youth group comics from Egmont UK Ltd. The archive is famous for the weekly comics Battle, Action, Tammy and Roy of the Rovers among many others, and the acquisition represents a significant expansion in Rebellion’s publishing portfolio, broadening its reach into the growing UK comics and graphic novel market. Rebellion’s owners and founders, Jason and Chris Kingsley, previously acquired 2000 AD, and its sister publication The Judge Dredd Megazine, from Egmont in 2000. Rebellion has gone on to return 2000 AD to the top of the sales chart as the UK’s #1 bestselling teenage newsstand comic, and its Judge Dredd collections regularly lead the UK graphic novel charts.

Jason Kingsley, Rebellion CEO, said “I particularly remember reading Action when I was a boy, and amongst other stories, Kids Rule OK and Hook Jaw have left an indelible impression on me, which is probably the reason Action caused such controversy at the time.  My brother and I, and the whole team at Rebellion, are very happy to be reuniting this archive with that of 2000 AD. I’m also delighted to see some of the ‘girls’ comics joining our company as they hold forgotten works by some of the industry’s creative giants and deserve to be read by all.”

The deal was negotiated by Ben Smith, Head of Book and Comics Publishing for Rebellion, with John Packard, Brands and Licensing Publishing Director and Alan Hurcombe, CFO for Egmont.

Ben Smith said “This archive represents a huge repository of some of the finest British comics ever published and I am delighted we have the opportunity to return these to print and develop new stories based on iconic characters. 2000 AD has gained an international reputation over the last 15 years for the quality of both its new comics and the success with which it has re-issued classics from the title’s 40-year history. Re-uniting  2000 ADwith its comic book stable mates from the 1970s and 1980s is hugely satisfying and we look forward to delivering the kind of success to this material that we have already done for ongoing series such as Judge Dredd, Sláine,Strontium Dog and many others. We cannot wait to publish unseen material from this treasury of British comics.”

Alan Hurcombe, CFO, Egmont Publishing said ‘We are delighted that Rebellion have taken over custodianship of the Fleetway archive.  They have the expertise to really make the most of this extensive range of comics includingBattle, Tammy and Roy of the Rovers.  Rebellion’s management of Judge Dredd proves that these much-loved characters will be in very safe hands.’

Review: 2000 AD - Prog 1993

Once upon a time, 2000 AD could have saved the comic book industry—or at least the ideas behind the series could have. A British anthology comic book series that, in retrospect, almost looked like the UK version of a Weekly Shonen Jump where every week would be a collection of four-to-five different serialized comic stories done by various writers and artists. This was a series that gave way to characters like Judge Dredd and, owing to its punk zine scene roots, told some of the best hard-hitting science fiction and satire of the 1980's.

But now that it's 2016 and 2000 AD is still publishing comics, the format and style doesn’t hold up as sharply as it once did.

Most of this issue’s problems come from the classic 2000 AD format. The series publishes in a slightly-larger-than-single-issue length of 32 pages—meaning each of the five stories in every issue has to tell its chunk of a serialized story in about five-to-six pages.

The restriction of this format has paved the way for some incredibly inventive methods of storytelling but here; most of the stories feel chopped up and squeezed in without a second thought towards if they make for an interesting read on their own.

Judge Dredd is investigating a crime with a suspect who might now look like a woman and, despite this being part three of the current story, I can’t tell if there’s a lick of satire or irony in the story they’re telling. The other stories here that don’t hit the mark have some interesting ideas going for them: an intergalactic version of the Cold War that still takes place in the 1960's or a story about a member of a salvage space ship forced to murder his own crew after being experimented on by aliens.

They’re cool and visually interesting science fiction stories but reading them here felt like picking up a random newspaper to read the Mark Trail strip. There’s a story happening here but it feels too cut up to get anything more than a sense of it.

The two stand-out stories in 2000 AD Prog 1993 are “The Candidate” and “Mindmine.” “The Candidate” follows one of the psychic cops of the Judge Dredd world as she attempts to prevent the assassination of a politician. Politicians in the Judge Dredd universe don’t have particularly long life spans and it is up to Anderson to pick the assassin out of a crowd who all want this politician dead. The story’s tense and sends a strong sense of just what kind of wall this psi-cop is up against. There are moments of shock and the artists here even manage to end the story on a shocking twist all within the five page restriction.

“Mindmine” stands out with its almost Looney Toons style art about the story of an alien civilization as a soldier has to defuse a psychic mine implanted in the consciousness of a random citizen. It's a story that reminds the reader just how weird and jarring 2000 AD is willing to go as the shocked civilian relives the memory of his son’s birthday party as an explosives unit tries to disarm the bomb.

While these stories stand out, they stand out as reminders of the weird political legacy 2000 AD has always had and especially how they managed to convey satisfying and varied experiences within five pages of content. This current book can’t shake the feeling of having been made by a group of people who were once edgy in the 80's but now are just old and the types of stories being told are showing their rust.

The comic anthology willing to push the boundaries of what types of stories are being told still feels like a necessary and exciting prospect. Unfortunately, however, that anthology will more likely come from the legacy left behind by 2000 AD comics rather than 2000 AD itself.

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2000 AD - Prog 1993

Writers: Various

Artists: Various

Publisher: Rebellion

Price: £2.55

Format: Ongoing/Weekly; Print/Digital

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Paid Gig For 2000 AD at Stake in Thought Bubble 2016 Competitions

Calling all budding writers and artists – this November could be your big chance to break into comics, courtesy of 2000 AD and the Thought Bubble festival. During November’s Thought Bubble convention, 2000 AD will once again stage the only talent search of its kind in the UK – and two lucky creators could be walking away with PAID work with the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic!

It’s Dragons’ Den meets the Nerve Centre as hopeful writers and artists will compete for the chance to win paid work for 2000 AD at the weekend-long convention in Leeds, UK, with top creators sitting in judgement at special panels.

Writers will be given two minutes to pitch their idea for one of 2000 AD’s legendary Future Shocks before a live audience, while artists will be judged by a live panel of established creators on how well they have drawn a set script.

All entry details and the script are now posted at http://thoughtbubblefestival.com/ The script for this year is The Timeless Assassin by last year’s script competition winner, Rory McConville.

The winners will be joining creators such as Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Jock, Brian Bolland, Frazer Irving, Charlie Adlard, and many more who got their big breaks in the pages of 2000 AD. Former competition winners include artist Tom Foster, who has gone on to draw Storm Warning for the Judge Dredd Megazine, as well as Future Shocks and an already-iconic Judge Dredd cover, plus Rory McConville, now a Future Shock and Tharg’s 3riller writer.

Matt Smith, editor of 2000 AD, said: “This is a unique opportunity for budding comics artists and writers – I’m not aware of any other competition like this in comics where you don’t win a “maybe”, you win actual paid work. It can sound daunting, but the panels are great fun and there’s real talent on show here. 2000 AD has an almost 40 year history of discovering the hottest new talent and over the past few years we’ve found some truly fantastic creators. I’m looking forward to seeing what Thought Bubble 2016 has to offer.”

The Thought Bubble Festival is the UK’s largest event of its kind – an annual celebration of sequential art in all its forms, including everything from superhero comics to independent and small-press artists and writers. A non-profit-making organisation dedicated to promoting comics, graphic novels, and animation as an important national and international cultural art-form, Thought Bubble is now in its 10th year, culminating in a special two day convention at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, UK.

2000 AD's Uncensored 'The Cursed Earth' Sells Out In Under a Day

The uncensored edition of the legendary Judge Dredd epic, The Cursed Earth, has sold out in the UK – less than a day after going on sale. Unprecedented demand for The Cursed Earth Uncensored has resulted in distributors being cleared out of stock, with copies already on book and comic book store shelves now the only ones left of the sumptuous hardcover. North American stocks are also nearly gone.

Rebellion Publishing is now planning a paperback edition, featuring the notorious ‘banned’ stories ‘Burger Wars’ and ‘Soul Food’, to satisfy demand for the most-requested reprint in 2000 AD history.

Ben Smith, head of books and comic books at Rebellion Publishing, said: “Demand for The Cursed Earth Uncensored has been unprecedented. The response to news of its publication has seen bookshops across the UK, including stores not known for selling graphic novels, ordering in substantial quantities and pre-orders reaching record levels.  It’s a tribute to the outstanding quality of the writers and artists on this story that 38 years after first publication it can elicit such extraordinary demand.”

Published in 2000 AD in 1978, The Cursed Earth was the first great Judge Dredd epic, but the story ran into trouble when two episodes – ‘Burger Wars’ and ‘Soul Food’ – featured parodies of Burger King, Ronald McDonald, the Jolly Green Giant, the Michelin Man, and a number of other prominent corporate characters in a raucous and shameless satire of American consumer culture. After concerns of legal action at the time the then publisher IPC decided collections of this classic strip would omit the satirical stories. But now, following recent changes in UK law governing parody, Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth Uncensored reprints the story in its entirety for the first time.

Published on both sides of the Atlantic this week and priced at £25 in the UK and $35 in North America, this sparkling action-packed parody features work by Pat Mills (Charley’s War) and John Wagner (A History of Violence), complete with sumptuous art from Brian Bolland (The Killing Joke) and Mick McMahon (The Last American).

Using original artwork on loan from fans, the reproduction in the hardcover edition is second to none and includes the original colour centre spreads, also never before reprinted.

'Banned' Judge Dredd Stories Reprinted for First Time This Week

This week, ‘banned’ episodes of Judge Dredd from the late 1970s are being reprinted for the very first time.

Published in 2000 AD in 1978, The Cursed Earth was the first great Judge Dredd epic, but the story ran into trouble when two episodes – ‘Burger Wars’ and ‘Soul Food’ – featured parodies of Burger King, Ronald McDonald, the Jolly Green Giant, the Michelin Man, and a number of other prominent corporate characters in a raucous and shameless satire of American consumer culture.

After concerns of legal action at the time the then publisher IPC decided collections of this classic strip would omit the satirical stories. But now, following recent changes in UK law governing parody, Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth Uncensored reprints the story in its entirety for the first time.

Published on both sides of the Atlantic this week and priced at £25 in the UK and $35 in North America, this sparkling action-packed parody from Pat Mills (Charley’s War) and John Wagner (A History of Violence), complete with sumptuous colour spreads from Brian Bolland (The Killing Joke) and Mick McMahon (The Last American), is being produced in a deluxe hardcover edition featuring all the previously banned content.

Using original artwork on loan from fans, the reproduction in this sumptuous hardcover edition is second to none and includes the colour centre spreads, also never before reprinted.