Nick Percival Talks Six Yearssss of Darknessss, Six Years of Dark Judgessss
28th July 2023
Judge Dredd Megazine issue 458, which came out on 19 July and should still be on the stands everywhere Thrill Power is sold, features not just a typically magnificently nightmare-inducing Nick Percival cover but also the very last David Hine and Nick Percival Dark Judges episode in Death Metal Planet.
So, after six years of drawing the Dark Judges, first with John Wagner writing and then with David Hine, it’s time to draw the veil over things and take our leave – or is it? Only Nick can tell us that!
Over the last few years it’s been a pleasure chatting to Nick Percival for Covers Uncovered every time we have a new Dark Judges cover on the Judge Dredd Megazine – dark, grotesque things that have a fascinating beauty about them.
We’d already done the last Dark Judges Covers Uncovered for Megazine 458, but Nick had obviously got the Judges deep in his head (dangerous Nick, very dangerous, just ask Anderson!). He sent over a folder of his completed Dark Judges covers, all 12 of them and this little note about his time on the strip.
And when Nick gets in touch, you just don’t say no! Not unless you want a visit from his deathly palsssss…
NICK PERCIVAL: I just realised that the whole Dark Judges saga began for me when Part 1 of Dominion was released on July 19th 2017 and now it all ends on the same date, July 19th 2023 with the finale of Death Metal Planet – 6 years of grisly, dark fun.
So, since this is my farewell to the Dark Judges… (or not)…
And that’s where he left it, with that teasing little phrase. The possibility of more perhaps? So, suitably intrigued, we came up with a plan. Ask him a few questions about the work he’s done on The Dark Judges and then get the lowdown on what might be happening next.
So, one and all, here’s the man who’s been worryingly close to the quartet of alien fiends for the last six years, Nick Percival…
the first cover, the first episode of Dominion – Megazine 386
Nick, how did Dark Judges come come about – was it all editorial or did John ask for you when you started on the strip?
NP: I’d wanted to work with John for a while and we went back and forth over a few ideas when he then asked if I’d be interested in continuing the saga of the Dark Judges. I’m a big horror fan and I always liked the characters and concept, especially when they were genuinely dark and scary.
I remember seeing the first Judge Death story when it was originally published and it certainly left a lasting impression on me. I did a teaser painting of how I’d approach the characters which John loved, saying it was the most terrifying version of Judge Death he’d ever seen which was a great compliment. I even heard on the grapevine that Brian Bolland really liked the painting as well – you can’t get any better than that!
something he says that John Wagner loved,
saying it was the most terrifying version of Judge Death he’d ever seen!
What’s it been like working with John and then David on The Dark Judges saga?
NP: I’m so pleased that Dominion – the first series I illustrated, was written by John, since he knows the characters better than anybody and he really defined the tone of the series. I’d wanted to do something like John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ – a dark horror tale, set in the snow – and of course we added zombies into the mix! – the perfect story for me.
Working with Dave on the following three epics was also good fun. He has such a twisted imagination with some amazing visual ideas that really took Judge Death and the other Dark Judges into different territory, exploring wild new themes and scenarios.
My favourite series I did with Dave, was The Torture Garden – It was great to design a whole new world for the Dark Judges and have the opportunity to incorporate my own ideas and designs into their look.
containing his favourite Dark Judges storyline – The Torture Garden
What was the real draw for you for getting to play with the Dark Judges for this length of time?
NP: Visually, it’s been a dream job for me. So many different characters and a chance to work in the genre I love.
I’ve done nearly 400 fully painted pages on these series and along the way, I feel we’ve both developed the character of Judge Death, even getting him to question his motives at some point, putting him in situations we’ve never seen before. It all usually ends with a lot of killing, or course…
Did you and David have a long-term plan for where it was all going or did it really go from series to series?
NP: A lot of it has been the saga of Rosco and how she’s gone from being a young, security guard in Dominion, through to Judge Death’s main nemesis as a powerful Light Judge over four series of storytelling – that’s a pretty big deal to fully evolve a character in that way, so we did have some sort of game plan for her and Judge Death but we still kept things open enough to have room to tweak things along the way, to keep things fluid and interesting for us both.
and Nick’s been guiding her all the way
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What do you think you’ve given to the whole Dark Judges saga and the history of Judge Death et al over the course of your time on the series?
I put a hell of a lot of work into the art for all four storylines, so I hope that shows and I tried to keep things consistent throughout.
I wanted to keep it horrific and very dark in tone and while we’ve strayed a little from that in the later parts, I think we’ve still kept Death as a dangerous threat and a character that you don’t want to f**k with.
It was great to be able to tweak the designs and introduce alien Dark Judges, so hopefully that’s seen as something new whilst still respecting the original amazing Bolland designs we all know and love.
It’s been a blast and I’ll miss the characters. I still keep thinking of what can be done with them and have a story idea that keeps nagging at me which would be something truly terrifying but that’s between me and Mr. Judge Death…for now.
See Nick, you keep telling us that it’s the end of things, that this is your farewell, that you have a story idea that involves Judge Death – so go on, spill the beans!
Nick? Nick? Nick?
And that was it. No more contact. No answered emails, phone calls left to ring out. Days and days of radio silence. Except for a weird crackling laugh that you could occasionally hear down the phone line.
And then we received this…
Hopefully all this contact with the Dark Judges hasn’t done something worryingly nasty to one of Tharg’s finest art droids!
All we can do is watch and wait – although we do know that Nick’s back on Judge Dredd for the Megazine, as he said this in the Covers Uncovered for Megazine 458 – ‘I’m back on Judge Dredd now with a little peek at something cool coming in the September Megazine and then a top secret, very dark Dredd epic for 2000AD that makes ‘Se7en’ look like Play School – say no more.
But right now, we’ll cross our fingers and hope there’s no lasting damage from six years of way too close contact with the alien fiends!
The Dark Judges Saga –
Dominion – written by John Wagner (Megazine 386-391)
The Torture Garden – written by David Hine (Megazine 400-409)
Deliverance – written by David Hine (Megazine 424-433)
Death Metal Planet – written by David Hine (Megazine 449-458)
Six years of nightmares right there for you, all thanks to the gruesome, grotesque, and somewhat gorgeous artwork of Nick Percival there.
Thank you to him for six years of magnificently nightmarish cover work and six years of storytelling brilliance that’s reinvigorated the Dark Judges. And thank you as well to Nick for all the times he’s taken time out of making art.
You can get hold of Judge Dredd Megazine 458 wherever the Galaxy’s Greatest are sold, including the 2000 AD web shop, from 19 July.
There’s two previous interviews to take a look at with Nick and David Hine, the first one here taking a look at Dark Judges: Deliverance and a second here on Death Metal Planet. There’s also both fine gents on the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast here.
And if you’re in the mood for more of Nick’s Covers Uncovered work, be sure to have a look at these – Prog 2247, Megazine 427, Megazine 430, Megazine 443, Megazine 449, Megazine 453, and of course Megazine 458, his final Dark Judges cover. Or maybe not. After all… it never endssss.
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As is our want with Nick’s fabulously nightmarish imagery, I didn’t want to leave before putting up that teaser image he sent to John Wagner on getting the Dark Judges gig – let’s get closer and closer to Judge Death, shall we? Try not to have nightmares…
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And for our ending, I can think of no better way to say farewell (for now?) to both Nick and the Dark Judges than a run through of the spectacular set of covers that we’ve seen over the past six years, from Dominion through to Death Metal Planet.
