2000 AD Covers Uncovered: Cliff Robinson Pulls the Trigger on Dredd as he returns for Prog 2398
4th September 2024
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!
The final episode of John Wagner and Colin MacNeil‘s latest ghafflebette Judge Dredd tale, Machine Rule, comes to a thrilling finale this Prog – so who better to deliver a cover worthy of the shocks inside than the titanic team of Cliff Robinson and Dylan Teague?
And what a cover it is from Robinson, brought to finished colour splendour by his regular colourist, Dylan Teague, a perfect cover for the finale of Wagner and MacNeil’s latest bit of Dredd magnificence!
Robinson’s been an art droid for many, many years, with his first strip art coming in Prog 362, soon followed by a first cover for Prog 414. And although he hasn’t drawn all that much inside the Prog, he’s been responsible for coming up to a couple of hundred covers, every one of them an absolute classic the moment it hits the stands. He’s just the master of beautiful composition, linework that’s so fine it’s almost unbelievable, and finishing that’s just so incredibly clean – all of it combining to achieve perfection every time.
So, time to see what wonders Cliff has for us this time with this latest, surely one of the covers of the year…
It all started off, Cliff tells us, with four different versions of the cover, based on Dredd’s stand-off with the Mechanismos on page 1 of this final Machine Rule episode…
CLIFF ROBINSON: Versions 1 through to 4: Dredd’s helmet, shoulder pads and badge of office were all taken from previous covers (of my own, of course!!). Waste not, want not.
All the rest are original, with help from a few reference photos I took of myself standing in as Dredd. These photos will be released to the public in 100 years from now.
For those who cannot wait, here’s a small teaser (the gun barrel extension was supplied by Jus-Rol Puff Pastry Sheets, and I deeply thank them).
Version 3: I decided that I didn’t like the figure drawing, so I re-drew it. Then I realised the second version wasn’t that much better, so reverted back to the original. I’m still unsure about it. Maybe Dredd’s body is a little too small compared to his head?
Yep, the familiar art droid insecurities kick in – there’s always a better way to do it, their version’s never good enough! But Cliff, trust us, it’s incredible!
After that, it’s time to put all that fine, fine, glorious linework into place and give us the finished cover, all ready for Dylan Teague to add his perfect colours to it all. Although, as Cliff says, sometimes it all depends on the pens. [Which is, of course, absolute rot. Cliff Robinson could make unmistakably perfect art with a blunt Crayola.]
CLIFF ROBINSON: The line art came out okay-ish, but mainly because I was lucky enough to have a half-decent ‘Hunt 102 nib’. Life is like a box of Hunt 102’s. You never know what you’re going to get.
As usual, Dylan Teague’s colours are excellent. Thanks, Dylan.
That they are Cliff, that they are! And here’s that finished cover in all its glory, another perfect Robinson/Teague collaboration…
Damn, every time the Robinson/Teague droids join up for a cover it’s just something special. And as a special treat, there’s another one coming up in just two weeks time, with Robinson & Teague returning for the cover of Prog 2400, the start of the Nordland Rising Prog & Meg event!
But first, head on out to wherever you get your weekly dose of Tharg’s finest prescription of Thrill Power and marvel over the wonders of this cover for Prog 2398 – out right now and available everywhere, including the 2000 AD web shop.
As for more of Cliff and Dylan’s always special covers here at Covers Uncovered, look no further than these beauties – Megazine 441, Prog 2000, Prog 2152, and Prog 2362.
And finally, we couldn’t let you go without showing you those pencil and ink beauties Cliff sent along at full size… gaze on his work and be amazed once more…
