Comics

2000 AD Covers Uncovered: Nick Percival Visits The Death Metal Planet…

19th October 2022

Every week, 2000 AD brings you the galaxy’s greatest artwork and 2000 AD Covers Uncovered takes you behind-the-scenes with the headline artists responsible for our top cover art – join bloggers Richard Bruton and Pete Wells as they uncover the greatest covers from 2000 AD!

This month, celebrating back-to-back covers on the Judge Dredd Megazine, it’s that most fiendish of art droids – Nick Percival!

Not content with giving us Zombie Dredd last month with Megazine 448, he’sssss back on Megazine 449 to show us the beginning of the latest sssssaga for those Dark Judges as we see what Percival and writer David Hine have in store for us with Death Metal Planet – beginning right here in Megazine 449 – out on 19 October!

So, without further ado… here’sssss Nick…

NICK PERCIVAL: I’m baaaaack. Yep, after last month’s Zombie Dredd cover it’s time to unleash the full wraparound cover artwork for the new Dark Judges ten-part epic, Death Metal Planet.

Since this cover is for part 1, it has to be a teaser-type image but does show some important elements from the new series. The story is set 25 years after Deliverance ended, so we now have an older Rosco as the main female lead (on the cover) and a hint of what is the mysterious Death Metal Planet, that Judge Death has his spiky paws around in the rest of the cover image.

As always, the cover starts with a loose rough sketch for Tharg, so The Mighty One knows how I’m thinking and is really just to get the main design elements sorted before getting in there with more detail and of course, the painting.

NP: I wanted a cool, blue/purple colour palette in keeping with cosmic, deep space setting but with a hint of the danger lurking ahead with the burning energy flowing from Death’s face. Hopefully we get a sense of some of the ominous tone and foreboding of what is to come.

And that’s the cover all done and dusted. But Nick wasn’t finished there, wanting to share with you all a little of what to expect from the new Dark Judges storyline, Death Metal Planet…

NP: I’ve also included a sneak peek at one the new main villains of the series, who has some bizarre sinister plans of his own for Judge Death and since this is set in the future from the current Mega City timeline, we also get to see what some of the street Judges look like 25 years down the line, one of whom plays a large part in the story.

I hope everyone enjoys the new epic – it has strange and crazy scenes for sure as well as the usual high body count we expect from J Death and the gang (and we even have a throwback to the classic, Judgement On Gotham – If I say any more, I will be sealed in a block of Boing ™ for the rest of my days….)

Now that’s just a tease and a half right there! We’re just going to have to see what he means in the course of Death Metal Planet.

There you go – another ssssstunning wrapround cover and details for the new Death Metal Planet there from Nick Percival. Thanks for sssssending that one along Nick.

You can all see both the cover and the beginning of Death Metal Planet on the shelves – and in the 2000 AD web shop – when Judge Dredd Megazine issue 449 comes out on 19 October.

For more from Nick, there’s his stunning Covers Uncovered work – Megazine 425, Megazine 427, Megazine 430, Megazine 433, Megazine 448, and 2000 AD 2247. And back in 2020, we talked to both David Hine and Nick about Dark Judges: Deliverance here.

Now, another bonus for you – first a little preview of Judge Death and another of his victims…

And now, because Nick always sends along HUGE files of his art, some details, in all their fiendissssh glory from the art…