Absalom: Terminal Diagnosis is out now, and as they say – all good things must come to a grizzly and gruesome end. That’s what they say, right?
Old, irreverent and doomed by supernatural forces, hard-nosed copper Detective Inspector Harry Absalom is tasked with upholding the Accord – the treaty between the British Royalty and the forces of Hell.
As the cancer finally starts to take hold, Harry calls in every friend and favour he has left in a last-ditch attempt to save his kidnapped grandchildren from the depths of the Mills…
This is the third and final collection in Gordon Rennie and Tiernen Trevallion’s Absalom series and available in both physical and digital editions!
“Sumptuously drawn… A Celtic Conan with a feminist mythology” – Time Out
Rediscover one of the most influential graphic novels ever, with the Sláine: The Horned God – Collector’s Edition.
Timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of its first publication, this new, larger edition of the best-selling 2000 AD collection, written by industry visionary Pat Mills, features the groundbreaking fully-painted art of comics legend Simon Bisley.
Slaine: The Horned God – Collector’s Edition is a 208-page 210 x 276mm paperback collection, retailing at £19.99/$24.99 and arriving in stores on May 20, 2020.
One of the most popular stories ever published in the pages of 2000 AD, The Horned God is a heady mix of Celtic mythology, extreme violence, and beautiful artwork. Originally published in 2000 AD in three instalments between 1989 and 1990, as well as Mills’ fascinating characters and saga-like storytelling, the stunning enormity of Bisley’s work on the series cannot be understated, with epic battles and vast landscapes evoking everything from the work of Frank Frazetta to Gustav Klimt.
The Horned God sparked a revolution in sequential comic books and spawned a multitude of imitators, but even after three decades Mills and Bisley’s masterpiece is as fresh and startling as it was when it was first published as a weekly serial.
Created by Mills and artist Angie Kincaid in 1983, Sláine is a wandering warrior cast out from his tribe and wandering the mist-wreathed realm of Tír na nÓg, the ‘Land of the Young’, with his duplicitous dwarf, Ukko. This deluxe collector’s edition returns us to this ancient land, suffering under the dominion of the Drunes; strange druids who have poisoned the land with their magic. Sláine has had enough of their tyranny and, through the Earth Goddess, he learns some shocking truths about the priesthood and his own future. Now Sláine must unite the four kings of Tír na nÓg and use their mystical weapons as he and the Sessair tribe prepare for all-out war!
Pat Mills’ writing and editorial career started in Dundee, working for D.C. Thomson on the teenage romance magazine Romeo. Later he went freelance and started a long relationship with IPC Magazines, initially writing for girl’s titles like Tammy, Pink and Sandy. He then worked with Malcolm Shaw on devising Jinty before moving over to rejuvenate boy’s comics. He created Battle (with John Wagner), Action, Misty and 2000 AD. Other notable works include Marshal Law, Third World War in Crisis, and Requiem Vampire Knight.
Simon Bisley occupies an almost unique place in 2000 AD history as one of the first UK artists to popularise the fully painted style. His highly dynamic artwork made his two major series in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic — A.B.C. Warriors: The Black Hole and Sláine: The Horned God. He also illustrated Heavy Metal Dredd before going on to paint the hugely successful first Batman/Judge Dredd crossover story Judgement on Gotham. Bisley has provided countless pin-ups and short pieces across an astonishing variety of comics, from legendary fantasy anthology Heavy Metal to anarchic DC superhero series Lobo, and has an even more extensive CV in Europe, where his painted style enjoys enormous success.
“Second only to Judge Dredd in the 2000 AD canon” – Den of Geek
The earliest adventures from one of 2000 AD’s greatest series – Strontium Dog – are to be reprinted in colour for the first time in decades.
Reprinted with its original colour pages, Strontium Dog: Search and Destroy is a sumptuous 144-page hardcover collecting the origins of John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s hard-hitting story of prejudice and violence.
The 210 x 276mm book, retailing at £19.99, will hit shelves on 26th June 2020 with a new introduction by co-creator John Wagner and featuring gorgeous artwork by Ezquerra, along with Brendan McCarthy, and Ian Gibson.
Strontium Dog: Search and Destroy brings back into print one of the seminal series of British comics, a science fiction Western that merges everything from time travel to a trip to Hell itself. This new edition, with colour centre spreads lovingly restored, is a must for fans and collectors alike, putting these stories back to their rightful place as one of the key series in the annals of British comics.
Originally published in Starlord, 2000 AD’s sister comic, these early stories had a profound effect upon readers, including future film director Edgar Wright. After the comic merged with 2000 AD, Johnny Alpha quickly became a fan favourite character and Strontium Dog remains one of the most iconic strips in the history of British comics.
The series is set in a world where nuclear war has left two classes of people – the mutants and the Norms. The mutant, their bodies warped by Strontium 90 fallout, are a persecuted minority barred from public life and herded into ghettos. Their only option for employment is as ‘Strontium Dogs’, bounty hunters tracking down the scum of the galaxy for cold, hard cash. It’s a difficult and dangerous life where only the toughest can survive. But Johnny Alpha and his Viking partner, Wulf Sternhammer, are the toughest there is.
One of the most influential names in the British comics industry, John Wagner started his professional career in the 1960s, working for DC Thompson in Dundee. Sub-editing various titles including Romeo, Wagner went freelance in the early seventies, forming a writing partnership with Pat Mills. Soon after, Wagner then made the move down south, joining IPC’s staff, where he initially edited girls’ titles, Sandie and Princess Tina, before helping to develop Battle Picture Weekly. Appointed as editor to the ailing boys’ comic Valiant, Wagner had an instant impact, co-creating and writing the hard-hitting cop strip One-Eyed Jack. He is best known as the co-creator of both Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog for 2000 AD.
Carlos Ezquerra is one of the biggest names in British comics, his utterly unique style and designs inspiring generations of comics fans and creators. Originally from Zaragoza in Spain, Ezquerra began his career on Spanish romance titles before getting work for IPC in London, where he moved from romance onto war and action stories, working extensively on Battle Picture Weekly and Action on strips such as El Mestizo, Rat Pack and Major Eazy. As co-creator of Judge Dredd for 2000 AD, Ezquerra designed the classic original costume as well as visually conceptualising Mega-City One. He also co-created Strontium Dog and illustrated A.B.C. Warriors, Judge Anderson, Tharg the Mighty, Al’s Baby and Cursed Earth Koburn, amongst many others. Away from 2000 AD, Ezquerra illustrated Third World War for Crisis magazine, and regularly worked with Garth Ennis on Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, Bloody Mary, Just a Pilgrim, Condors, The Magnificent Kevin, and Preacher. He passed away in 2018.
Gor blimey, ‘Arry – we’re on a right sticky wicket an’ no mistake! The new collection of Absalomis available to pre-order now!
Written by Gordon Rennie with stunning artwork from Tiernen Trevallion, this is the third and final collection in one of 2000 AD‘s most popular new series – ideal for fans of Hellboy and Hellblazer!
Modern-day London. Veteran copper, Detective Inspector Harry Absalom, heads a special squad that enforces The Accord – a diplomatic treaty made in the sixteenth century between the throne of England and Hell. If any demonic entities step out of line Harry and his team will track the infernal offenders down and sort them out for good. A miserable old bastard with a knack for finding trouble, Harry is the perfect man for the job!
But life is no bed of roses for ol’ ‘Arry – his grandchildren are being held hostage to keep him in line and his cancer is finally start to take hold. Now, he must call in every friend and favour he has left in a last-ditch attempt to save his grandchildren from the depths of the Mills…
“One of the best runs ever. This is special.” – Mark Millar
“The character, and the strip, at its very best” – Hollywood Reporter
“One of the pivotal moments of Judge Dredd history” – Multiversity Comics
The paperback collection of Judge Dredd: The Small House, the critically-acclaimed and fan-lauded story by Rob Williams (Suicide Squad) and Henry Flint (Fear Itself) with colurs by Chris Blythe & Gary Caldwell and letters by Annie Parkhouse, is out now!
Everything is at stake and no-one is safe in the critically-acclaimed storyline from Rob Williams and Henry Flint, Judge Dredd and his team of hand-picked allies finally takes on the nefarious Judge Smiley, Mega-City One s behind-the-scenes manipulator but who will be left standing at the end? And with tensions with Chief Judge Hershey at breaking point, has Dredd finally met his match?
Rightfully lauded as a modern classic, The Small House brings together the creative team behind Judge Dredd: Titan for a showdown for the ages!
“One of the best series that 2000 AD has produced in the last decade” – Broken Frontier
“evokes Transmetropolitan’s snapshots of a strange new world” – Women Write About Comics
“a depth that sets it apart as one of the great bits of 2000 AD of the last decade” – comicon.com
The next collection in the criticially-lauded sci-fi series by Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison – GREY AREA: A LONG WAY HOME– is available to pre-order now!
North America, 2045. The Global Exo Segregation Zone (aka the ‘Grey Area’) is a huge holding area in Arizona housing aliens hoping to visit earth: a melting pot for disputes, crime and inter-species misunderstandings!
The only thing standing in the way of chaos is the Exo Transfer Control squads: heavily-armed immigration cops that keep the peace and make sure everyone has their papers in order… E.T.C. Captain Adam Bulliet has a lot on his plate; The Arakshu want revenge on humanity for their dead ambassador, increasing numbers of aliens are having rapturous visions, and his fraternisation with Officer Birdy isn’t nearly as discrete as he thought. Not to mention a dizzyingly colossal god star is descending on Earth, and Bulliet’s team are the ones suiting up to meet ‘n’ greet the second coming. But they might end up going further than they expect…
Featuring work by Alan Moore, Brett Ewins, Colin Wilson, Dave Gibbons and Mick McMahon, the second volume of the complete collection of 2000 AD‘s mind-bending one-off sci-fi stories is out now!
Future Shocks are one-off, twist ending, sci-fi thrills that have introduced many of the biggest names in the comic book industry through the pages of 2000 AD.
The latest volume of these continues into the 1980s with early work by creators that went on to engrave their names into comics history, such as Moore and Gibbons, the creative team behind the groundbreaking Watchmen.
Make sure you pick up the definitive collection of these classic gems, many of them never reprinted before!
The latest digest edition of classic Judge Dredd stories is out now!
Presented in a handy pocket size edition (15.2 x 22.9 cm, 6″ x 9″), Judge Dredd: Ghost Town brings together five stories celebrating the best of modern Judge Dredd classics in the aftermath of Mega-City One’s darkest hour.
After the destruction wrought by the Chaos Bug with most of the city in ruins, a decimated Justice Department is struggling to cope. With disease, corruption, and looting rife, there are some that seek to take advantage of the city’s condition, including dangerous psychic, Algol Rey.
Judge Dredd and Psi-Judge Anderson have survived, but after all the violence and horror, can they bring order back to a damaged city? Their limits as Judges are put to the test!
Written by comics legends and Judge Dredd co-creators John Wagner and Alan Grant along with modern masters Rob Williams (Suicide Squad) and Ian Edginton (Brass Sun)! Part of the new 2000 AD Digest line – bringing classic storylines to a brand new audience, for a low price.
Illustrated by Vertigo and Image comics master R.M. Guerra (Scalped), Simon Coleby (The Royals), Dave Taylor (Doctor Who) and Michael Dowling (Unfollow).
He’s the greatest daredevil of them all because he doesn’t care if he lives or dies – he has a Death Wish!
It’s Evel Knievel meets the Phantom of the Opera in this original Fast and the Furious from the heyday of British comics, now presented in a mass market paperback and a limited edition with webshop-exclusive art print.
Written by Barrie Tomlinson and with art by Vanyo, this classic strip from Speed has been re-mastered here in its entirety.
Blake Edmonds had it all – fame, money, looks… and then the world-famous F1 driver suffered a terrible accident which left him hideously disfigured.
Fashioning a mask to hide his terrible visage, Edmonds has taken on a new career as a stuntman, flirting with death on a regular basis. Mashing together the 70’s F1 popularity wave with a macabre, uncanny horror and visceral action, Death Wish was a hit across the nation.
Welcome to the neon bathed future of Counterfeit Girl, where identity is everything and there’s a thriving criminal underworld all too willing to make you a new life, new IDs, no questions asked.
Young Libra Kelly, the counterfeit girl of the title, is one of the best ‘simmers’, the crims who craft new IDs, no questions asked. After making the wrong kind of enemies, this Counterfeit Girl finds herself on the run, with a huge price on her head and a terrible new ID.
Originally published in 2016 (Progs 2000-2008, and 2010), you can dive into this frantic, fabulous, full-colour, full-action tale of identity all over again with the collection, which is available now!
We took the opportunity to chat to writer Peter Milligan, artist Rufus Dayglo and colourist Dom Regan to talk Counterfeit Girls and big city sci-fi…
Counterfeit Girl, like all the best sci-fi, this is a story where you’re warning us about the now by telling us a tale of the future. But, instead of making it a dry, lecturing thing, all anti-corporations, ID issues, that sort of thing, you’ve crafted a breakneck speed runaway romp – but what’s Counterfeit Girl all about?
Peter Milligan: At its heart this story is about identity. When I wrote it the whole subject of identity theft was in the headlines – it’s still a pressing issue – and Counterfeit Girl takes the idea of identity theft but because this is science fiction and because this is 2000 AD pushes the whole concept to the extreme: it imagines a future – maybe not so distant – when your identity – and not simply your bank account and credit card details – could really be stolen. Our hero or anti hero, who’s name might be Lulu, is an identity – or persona – thief.
Rufus Dayglo: Revenge, identity theft, Corporate aggression, Justice and rebalance, and shitting your pants in the streets while off your mind on psychotropic drugs! Oh and mind leaches.
What sort of things we’re you all thinking of or channelling when it came to putting together Counterfeit Girl?
PM: I was riffing on the whole idea of stealing identity and what that actually means, what it actually means to pilfer another’s persona.
RD: At the time Trump was busy being elected…so I definitely modelled characters on him, and his Trump Corp. It was a timely story, about identity theft, and ownership, in an age where Facebook and The New/Alt Right are stealing elections, at home and in the USA. It was synchronicity!
Although it’s hard sci-fi, it’s also got a lightness to it, something that doesn’t always happen in sci-fi comics.
PM: There is a lightness, there’s humour, some of it pretty absurd, but in the grand tradition of 2000 AD this is a pretty dystopian future, and our hero finds herself on the wrong side of the law and powerful forces. Although she’s a professional, she has a rule: anyone fighting the system gets her services for free. This clearly has the potential to get her into deep shit. But I think it also makes us like her. It makes me like her, anyway!
RD: Peter has that magical ability to take dark difficult subjects and find the humour and dark bleeding heart of the matter. He is a comics writing alchemist. He can turn a straight-forward idea into a razor sharp whirlwind of madness, and drag you in for the ride.
He has always been one of my favourite writers…so getting his scripts is like Christmas. He trusts his artists to enlarge and expand on his scripts and make something unique. He is a very generous collaborator. I think both he and john Wagner have that incredible ability to balance commentary and absurdity, getting their audiences to think about real world/real life issues whilst still entertaining them with some razor sharp sci-fi.
What was the reaction to Counterfeit Girl when it first appeared in the Progs?
PM: Very positive. Although, this was never going to be one of those big-bollocked shoot ‘em up stories, with a big-bollocked shot ‘em up fanbase, it’s a bit left of field, you might say, but the kind of people who appreciate this kind of story (astute, sophisticated, probably physically attractive) certainly got into it.
Dominic Regan: I don’t know, I think reactions were mixed. From what I heard people either loved it or hated it. Personally, I find it best not to think too much about whatever other people say about a work, whether it’s good or bad. We produced a story we were all proud to be involved with. What readers make of it is up to them.
Rufus, there’s always so much going on with your art and you definitely don’t shy away from the detail here in Counterfeit Girl, it’s got a real vibrant, eye-popping look.
RD: I very specifically wanted Counterfeit Girl to look and feel really different. I feel that most sci-fi comics/films these days are informed by Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner colour palette, a de-saturated, murky, noir look. I love that too…but there’s just too much of it. So Dominic and I designed a saturated migraine nauseous world of extreme colour.
DR: Yeah! A punk rock day-glow dystopian nightmare in six page doses.
What was the thinking behind making it so busy, so in your face, so packed with details?
RD: I have a love of Souks and North African markets… When you wander about in say, Marrakesh, you’re just besieged by a riot of noise, smell, and colour. Everything is vying for space. Everything is a sign, a doorway, or for sale. I just felt that this world was like a massive Air BnB or eBay site, everything and everyone is for rent or sale. Every signage, every property, personality and body. Everything is available…and it is cheerfully miserable. It looks like a fun fair…but it’s rotten inside.
PM: Just to say, I really liked how busy this was. I wanted the busy nature of the story and of the art to represent the busy or packed nature of our hero’s mind, which is sometimes pretty overwhelmed with all the personas she’s assumed. So, cheers, Rufus!
I see so much in Counterfeit Girl in terms of nods and influences… the spirit of McCarthy and Ewins in your work, albeit adapted and transformed to your own style.
RD: Absolutely!! Brendan and Brett’s ’80s work hugely informed my upbringing in comics. There was cheeky, playful madness, a psychedelic edge to everything. I miss that in 2000 AD, and thought we needed some psychedelic insanity. 2000 AD is at its best when there is a true mixture of darkness, comedy and absurdity. No other comic has successfully straddled these intersections the way 2000 AD has. I think it’s a uniquely British quality. Peter has that gift with his storytelling of being very dark, but finding something to laugh at, at the same time… the absurd in the grotesque. I think horror and social commentary work best like that. Because life is horribly absurd at times. Look at our own Governments.
Every other panel seems to have something extra in it, whether it’s ads (POOPSI being a fave), callouts to disparate things such as Orbital Comics, Chopper, and then there’s the Judge as Thatcher, the dedications to John Hicklenton and Garry Leach – what are the stories behind these?
RD: I add in details as I think of things and people. There are also tributes to Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins on the very last page hidden in the signage. Garry is my best friend. John Hicklenton was a good friend too and I like to keep my friends in my art. Orbital is ‘my’ comics shop, they’re good people (an Eisner Award winning shop in fact!!) – these details to me make me part of the work. And I’m pleased you spotted the Spitting Image Thatcher Judge!
DR: I slipped in a few things here and there as well. One being a guest appearance from my oldest boy as a female character who’s only in one panel.
Similarly, Rufus, Peter, the colouring on Counterfeit Girl is a huge part of the look of the book. Feel free to sing the praises of Dom here!
RD: Dom is a bloody genius! I have never been so happy as when seeing these pages. We did discuss things… but Dom brings his own aesthetic entirely. Working with Dom is an absolute privilege and pleasure and we were so lucky Dominic agreed to work with us, it really helped in creating a unique story.
We need people like Dom in comics as he thinks so far outside the box, he has created his own Icosagram!!
PM: Yes, absolutely, Dom’s slightly hyperreal colours perfectly suited this world and helped create a really strong sense of time and space. The colours were great.
DR: Thanks Rufus and Peter! I love you too! Though, after brand testing, it seems the Icosogram will do better if it’s actually in a box…
Dom, Rufus, can you both take us through your processes in putting together the pages? What sort of collaboration was involved?
RD: I thumbnail the pages, then blow them up to A3, ink them, usually consuming my own body weight in Kit-Kats. Then I scan it and clean up the B&W art and send it over to Dom, usually along with a page of annoying notes, explaining panel-by-panel what sort stupid thing I was attempting to invoke.
Dom them goes away, burns a Wickerman full of local numpties while chanting Glaswegian incantations, and comes back in the dawn with the insanity that is his coloured art! How he reads my B&W art is beyond me…as there are so many details it is just nuts.
DR: I think I just grab Ruf’s B&W art and have some fun! Rufus gave me loads of reference for how he wanted things to look, photos of night-time in Hong Kong and Kowloon Walled City were a big part of the inspiration of the look of Counterfeit Girl. I got to try a few things I’d not ever had a chance to do before in comics colouring before but there was a lot of back and forth between the two of us. I think how “glowy” things should be gave us the most hassle really.
RD: There WAS supposed to be someone else colouring this series… they took one look at the first two pages and declined as it was too much work!
It’s now a while since this first Counterfeit Girl series and there’s definitely scope to continue the series, given how things ended. Is there any chance we’ll see another series at some point?
PM: Yes, we wanted to leave it at a place where we could pick it up again. There seems so many potential stories in this character and this world to explore and I know we want to revisit Counterfeit Girl.
RD: Oh yes…I hope so…if Peter is agreeable to it. Working with Peter and Dom has been one of the true highlights of my professional life.
