2000 AD Covers Uncovered: When Bounty Hunters play? John McCrea’s Prog 2406
30th October 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!
This week, it’s a 48-page extra special thrill-parked Prog, loaded with eight strips instead of the usual five, and including the latest meeting of two iconic characters, as Brit-Cit’s best robo-hunter and the galaxy’s greatest Search/Destroy agent come together. Oh yes, it’s Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter vs Strontium Dog – and it’s John McCrea and Mike Spicer with another Zarjaz cover…
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Yes, after first bringing together Robo-Hunter and Judge Dredd in Prog 2351, Garth Ennis and Henry Flint are back in this extra-sized special Prog to bring together two of the best bounty hunters in the business, as Sam Slade meets Johnny Alpha.
And you’ll find that and much more besides in Prog 2406, wrapped in the latest cover by John McCrea and Mike Spicer. Although actually, as John’s about to show and tell, it turns out Garth Ennis is actually the artistic brains behind all this…
JOHN MCCREA: This cover is to illustrate a story by Garth. He had an idea for the cover and send me this amazing rough. Obviously I didn’t really have to do much except tighten up the pencils a little bit...
Oh yes, the writer who just dreams of being the artist. It’s a tale as old as time. Those poor, poor deluded script droids, always that fault in their circuitry that makes them believe they can actually do it all.
Anyway, taking Garth’s <ahem> masterpiece, the McCrea droid needed to do almost nothing to get his first cover draft, as you can see…
JOHN MCCREA: I then scanned in my rough and shifted things around in Photoshop so that all the characters were in the right place…
I didn’t understand that the main characters were meant to be obscured by their sidekicks for comedy effect.
So I did this. I also added a little decapitated robot head and Sam Slades stogie. I love this character and just wanted to draw him.
All was approved so I inked the cover…
It was at this point that we realized I had spelt Robopoly incorrectly, so I fixed that and added some digital tones…
Happy days! The cover was approved so off to Mike Spicer for delicious colours. I had a few little bits and pieces that I wanted corrected…
And Bobs your Uncle, another 2000 AD cover complete. Now send me my Galactic Groats, Tharg!
Oh yes, another masterpiece from the McCrea and Spicer droids, although Tharg’s now thinking maybe the Ennis droid should get a cover credit and a cut of those Galactic Groats!
Thanks so much to John for sending along his latest cover work. Another fantastic piece giving you a glimpse of just 1/8th of the Thrill Power you’ll find inside the latest bumper Prog!
Prog 2406 is out right now, available everywhere that stocks the Galaxy’s Greatest, including the 2000 AD web shop.
Of course, it’s only right we point you in the direction of some more rather spectacular Covers Uncovered by John McCrea, with plenty of great art and quite a bit of art droid angst and anxiety! Start with a fabulous Armitage for Judge Dredd Megazine issue 467, and then feast your eyes on multiple incredible Dredds on Prog 2024, Prog 2224, Prog 2328, Prog 2351, and Prog 2361. If you’re after a bit of droid pain and torture, try the absolute rollercoaster of emotions that was the Aquila cover for Prog 2380, and there’s a great Prog 2386 cover featuring that other famous blue-skinned G.I. And finally, most recently, his subscriber-exclusive cover for Nordland Rising on Prog 2400.
Oh yes, that’s some collection of covers John’s building up recently!