Comics

2000 AD Sci-Fi Special – Talking 20 Years of Rebellion with Matt Smith

22nd June 2020

The 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special this year is a 100-page celebration of the last two decades since games developer Rebellion acquired the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.

Inside, you’ll find brand new stories and classic tales from the archives – featuring a stunning cover from Jock and new tales from Al Ewing and Jake Lynch on Judge Dredd, Dan Abnett and Richard Elson on Kingdom, John Reppion and Clint Langley on Storm Warning, and Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell on The Red Seas. And each new tale has its own very special guest to really max out the Thrill Power!

It’s all been put together by Tharg’s Earthly representative, Matt Smith, who kindly took the time to talk about 20 years of Rebellion, his own near 20 years at the helm, and what to expect from the Sci-Fi Special.

The 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special is available from all good newsagents and comic book stores on Wednesday 24th June!

PRE-ORDER NOW >>

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Matt, you’ve been Tharg for the Rebellion years, starting off in 2001, just 18 months after Rebellion acquired 2000 AD & Judge Dredd Megazine.

Congratulations are in order! What does it feel like being the longest running Tharg?

Matt Smith: Exhausting! Little facts like I’d been editor for eight years by the time my daughter was born, and she’s now 10, make me want to have a sit-down. But it’s nice to have made the Nerve Centre record books.

How did the job come about in the first place?

MS: After three years as a desk editor at Pan Macmillan, I applied for the job of editorial assistant back in 2000 – David Bishop had stepped down as Tharg, and his assistant Andy Diggle was replacing him. I got the job, and discovered that Rebellion has bought the comic, so I signed straight on as a Rebellion employee. Eighteen months later, Andy resigned as editor, and I took on the role in December 2001, moving to Oxford as Rebellion relocated the Command Module to their office.

Any favourite moments you care to share or particular achievements in your time in the role?

MS: Lots of great stories that I’m happy to have been editor when they were published (Judge Dredd: Origins, Brink, Caballistics, Inc.). I was particularly happy with the way Prog 2000 turned out in 2016.

It’s been 20 years now for Rebellion and nearly the same for yourself. What do we have to look forward to for the next 20 years?

MS: More of the same, I expect, in all kinds of media!

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This years’ Sci-Fi Special is a celebration of the Rebellion years, mixing some reprint strips with four very special new strips where you have older characters meeting up with Rebellion era characters.

Thus we’re getting to see Judge Dredd vs Zombo by Al Ewing & Jake Lynch, Kingdom vs Shako by Dan Abnett & Richard Elson, Red Seas vs Ant Wars by Ian Edginton & Steve Yeowell , and Storm Warning vs Blackhawk by John Reppion & Clint Langley.

Was it your idea for the team-up format with the new strips in the Special?

MS: Yes, I had a think about what we could do that would celebrate the 20th anniversary, and came up with the face-off between eras idea. It’s the sort of thing you can get away doing in a special.

And just how did you go about choosing the characters to be included and the creative teams involved?

MS: I tried to match characters whose worlds fit in some sense. Dan Abnett and Richard Elson on Kingdom, and Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell on The Red Seas, was easy as they’re the creators on the respective series. John Reppion’s the co-creator on Storm Warning, but I asked Clint Langley as he does good supernatural plus a nice Belardinelli homage.

After coaxing Al Ewing back to Dredd for the FCBD story (which hasn’t been published yet), I was pleased he agreed to do the Dredd story – Henry Flint was busy on End of Days in the prog, so Jake Lynch’s done a fantastic job.

It’s a really fun set of strips, with creative teams freed from the constraints of continuity. All of them are hugely enjoyable, but special mention has to go to Al Ewing and Jake Lynch for their Dredd vs Zombo – haven’t laughed that hard at 2000 AD for a long time!

Any particular strips or dream teams you wanted to include but the fates simply wouldn’t allow?

MS: No, four seemed enough without twisting continuity too much!

And is this something we might be seeing more of in the future?

MS: Maybe, if I can get my head round who else would be a good match. If readers have any ideas, send them into the Input address!

You heard the man Squaxx dek Thargos – tell us who you want to see!

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With the reprint strips in the Special, this is a collection of five Rebellion era strips. Were these your personal picks for inclusion or did some of them depend on the creators involved in the new strips?

MS: These were purely personal selections – I wanted to pick stories that were fairly standalone so they could be read in isolation. Obviously, a lot of amazing stories that could’ve been reprinted, but were too long, and it wouldn’t be satisfying to pull out an extract.

How did you go about narrowing down the reprints to a representative five?

MS: I tried to be representative of the 20 years, and characters and creators.

Karl Stock has written a particularly good 20 years, 20 standout stories for this Special. Anything that you particularly think should have gone in there? A personal favourite that Karl savagely ignored perhaps?

MS: It’s very difficult for me to play favourites – as far as highlights go, I think he picked a good selection. But somebody reading the special might have a completely different twenty! Hopefully, it’ll generate some chatter on what people’s own favourites have been in the last two decades.

Thanks to Tharg for letting Matt speak as always. The Mighty One is surely a generous dictactor boss. Splundig vur Thrigg Eartlets!

The 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special is available from all good newsagents and comic book stores on Wednesday 24th June! Or get it from the 2000 AD web shop.