Tag: interview

2000 AD Prog 2030 is out right now, featuring the 2000 AD Regened, a celebration of all your favourite characters, with an all-ages twist, perfect for readers new and old, but especially for those younger Earthlets who haven’t discovered the Galaxy’s Greatest source of thrill-power!

One very special strip in the 48-page special Regened is Cadet Dredd, with Chris Weston on writing and art duties. Last year he faced off against Velociraptors, this year it’s an even more problematic prehistoric menace in Cadet Dredd vs Grudzilla! We caught up with Chris to talk about Cadet Dredd, dinosaurs, and the fun of a good poop gag…

Chris, you’re the writer and artist on Cadet Dredd in the special 2000 AD Prog 2030, the all-ages issue, effectively a follow up to last year’s free comic book day special 2000 AD Regened. In that FCBD Special, we saw Matt Smith and Neil Googe delivering the first tale of Cadet Dredd, everyone’s favourite lawman as a boy, wearing the white helmet of a cadet and dealing out justice to a rowdy crowd and keeping a pack of Velociraptors in check! This time, you’re doing Cadet Dredd versus Grudzilla… what is it about giant monsters and were you just wanting to up the ante from last time? They did veloceraptors, you do Grudzilla? it’s all just about creators loving putting huge monsters into the comics, isn’t it?

Chris Weston: Absolutely! Who doesn’t love Giant Monsters?! The idea for this story came after I saw the American 2014 Godzilla remake and was less than impressed. I thought it was really boring and hated the way it kept cutting away from the action. That’s not what I want when I pay money to see Giant Monster movies; I want ninety minutes of utter mayhem and destruction! The subject of “Giant Monsters”has always raised a lot of questions in me; questions like: what happens when they poo? What if someone got swallowed whole by a “Giant Monster”? How long would they survive?

What’s your tale all about? Aside from Cadet Dredd beating up on Grudzilla!

CW: Our story  opens with “Grudzilla” rising out of the Black Atlantic and heading straight for Mega-City One!But don’t worry: he’s not bent on havoc and destruction. Grudzilla is actually the star of his own long-running monster-movie franchise and they are going to be filming the latest installment in The Big Meg! Within Grudzilla’s genetically-modified and enlarged lizard body is the transplanted brain of Hondo-Cit’s most dedicated method actor, Ho-HoMesoddo! Unfortunately, he has a monster-sized ego to match his form… and he throws a massive destructive hissy-fit after Cadet Rico criticises his acting!

Chaos ensues! Rico gets swallowed-whole by this monstrous diva and only Cadet Dredd can save the day with the assistance of the particularly repellent riot-control measure known as “The Brown Note”. Google it.

We did. And now our imagination is filled with the sort of giant dino images we simply cannot unsee. Thanks Chris! Putting poop gags to one side for a moment… Is this the same Cadet Dredd as we saw in that first adventure in 2018’s Regened Special?

CW: Yes. And the beauty of telling a story in this timeframe is you can also bring in his clone-brother, Rico. His slightly more cynical, streetwise persona provides a nice counter-point to Dredd’s more stoic outlook. You can put in little hints of the character traits that eventually lead to Rico’s tragic demise, which is fun.

Neil Googe was the artist on that first Cadet Dredd adventure, responsible for a lot of the design of this new, younger Dredd. He talked about bringing in a slightly more modern look but sticking to the existing uniform.

CW: Hah! I completely ignored that, and drew Cadet Dredd’s uniform in a completely retro-style, exactly the way Carlos Ezquerra designed it in 1977! Firstly, because I love that original version and had been dying to draw it for years; secondly, because I was still mourning the passing of Carlos when I drew this story and I wanted it to be another tribute to the great man; and finally because I want the costume differences to be canon, at least in my stories. It helps establish that this tale is set firmly in the past.

I don’t think you’ll be offended if I say that you and Neil have hugely different styles and I was wondering what sort of look you’ll be going for?

CW: I love Neil’s artwork! It’s so dynamic! I only wish I could draw as vibrantly as he does. That’s not my “thing” though…I’m your nitty-gritty, too-much-detail artist… so I may as well embrace whatever it is I do well. This story really leans into that: it’s crammed full of crumbling city-blocks, exploding Manta-tanks, crashing H-Wagons! I was trying to channel the spirit of Mike McMahon’s Block War stories, with all the action on an epic scale. The script-writer didn’t exactly make my job easy, curse him!

This is now the second outing for the young adventures of everyone’s favourite Judge, what are the chances of more Cadet Dredd from you?

CW: I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see what the readers make of it. It might be nice to do one every year.Then, eventually, they can collect them all together in a big book.

It seems to me that there’s a huge amount of potential in the character for younger readers. Part of this is the brilliant simplicity of the character and the relative lack of continuity knowledge needed for readers to get into the character and the strips. What other characters would you love to see in an all-ages 2000 AD? If you could pitch one story, what would it be for you?

CW: Ooh, good question. I think a young Torquemada story could be fun; showing the rise to power of the evil tyrant. It could be have an element of  “Game of Thrones” about it, with all the internecine intrigue within his family. You could show him cruelly disposing of his rivals; all the despicable deeds he’d perform to become The Leader of The Tube Police. And Nemesis would be there, in the background, waiting…

Oh, I want to draw this now!

Finally, with Regened and Prog 2030, we’re seeing 2000 AD extend an invitation to younger readers. Obviously, it’s a good idea, as getting new readers in at a young age makes for a far healthier comics industry long-term… what are your thoughts on getting a new generation of readers into 2000 AD?

CW: I like the idea of bringing younger readers in, but you have to be pretty careful you don’t talk down to them in the process. Kids know instantly when they are being patronised. I like films like “How To Train Your Dragon” which can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The trick is to write something from the heart; I think younger readers really respond to that. All the stories that made an impact on me as a young reader were the ones that moved me in some way. But on the other hand, kids can respond well to more puerile material! They can appreciate a good fart joke more heartily than us repressed adults! There’s an element of this in my “Grudzilla” story where I tackle the subject of a Giant Monster’s bowel movements. Don’t panic, though: it’s all done in the WORST possible taste!

Last year’s 2000 AD Regened special for Free Comic Book Day featured a feast of all-ages fun with Cadet Dredd, a young Johnny Alpha, and many more. But there was one very important character very obviously missing – everyone’s favourite psychic Judge, Cassandra Anderson!

Well, this year 2000 AD Regened comes at you in the pages of the very special 48-page Prog 2030, out in May and features more Cadet Dredd, a new Rogue Trooper, Future Shock, and much more.

But, most importantly, this time you’ll get to see the early adventures of Mega-City One’s finest Psi-Judge, courtesy of Alec Worley and PJ Holden.

So, with the PJ Droid hard at work on the strip, we grabbed Alec Worley to chat all things Anderson…

Alec, last time there was a 2000 AD Regened, you were responsible for bringing us a version of Strontium Dog, right at the beginning of his bounty hunting career. This time, in Prog 2030, you’re turning your attention to another iconic character, Anderson.

Alec Worley: It’s very similar, I suppose, to doing Dredd as Cadet Dredd, the concept of Anderson, psychic lawmaker of the future, doesn’t need any idea of the continuity involved and new readers can jump on right away.

How did deliver something that fits into the all-ages aspect of the strip?

AW: Just make it relatable to the target audience. So I made sure there’s a younger character in there, along with things with which that readership will be familiar. As with writing anything, it’s all about identifying your ideal reader. That profile dictates EVERYTHING, from subject matter, panel count count, syntax, transitions, blah, blah, blah… Comics writing isn’t like posting on social media. You can’t just write for some amorphous generalised audience.

What age Anderson do we have here? Are you going the same route as Cadet Dredd? Taking Anderson back to the very beginning as a young novice Psi-Judge?

AW: I placed her in her ‘Debbie Harry’ days, so pretty much fresh out of school. I think that gives you a good visual key that synchs up with what’s gone before.

I’m presuming, as you did with Strontium Dog, that there’s no attempt to fit this story in with established continuity?

AW: None at all. Haha! Established continuity is meaningless to this readership, so I just wrote the story to be as accessible as possible. Stick to the basic concept and run with it.

What other characters would you love to see in an all-ages 2000 AD? If you could pitch one story, what would it be for you?

AW: I think Pat Mills should write an all-ages ABC Warriors, for sure. For me, I’d love to do more Black Beth, though the story of hers I did for the Scream/Misty Special was for a slightly older readership. For little ‘uns, though I reckon Robo-Hunter could be a winner!

With Regened and Prog 2030, we’re seeing 2000 AD reaching out to younger readers. In the past few years we’ve seen a huge explosion in kids reading comics, but they aren’t the comics adults are reading. They tend to turn their noses up at superheroes but simply can’t get enough of authors such as Raina Telgemeier. What are your thoughts on kids comics and the future?

AW: I think original graphic novels are the way to go in the long term. One-and-dones. I’m in complete agreement with you about creators like Raina Telgemeier and Dav Pilkey – these guys have initial print runs in the millions!!! Yet are almost never discussed in the comics news. Younger readers are chronically underserved by the mainstream (i.e. superhero) comics publishers. Friends who work at my local bookshop are always telling me about customers’ children wanting to read Captain Marvel or Spider-Man and all they can find on the shelves is a £30 collector’s edition of Batman with the Joker’s ripped-off face on the cover! Perhaps comics are still treated as a genre rather than a properly diverse medium. Go into your local Waterstones and you’ll find novels in the Young Adult, Tween, Middle Grade and nursery sections, while the graphic novels are just dumped in one place. Everything from Crossed to Lumberjanes. How on earth can you expect children to browse and find something they like? Or for parents to find anything appropriate if they’re new to the medium? Libraries at least curate their GNs a little better, but we all know where UK libraries are heading, sadly…

I feel like I’m painting a pretty gloomy picture here, but I’m confident that you’ve got a generation of kids falling in love right now with books like Dog Man, Baby-Sitters Club, Roy of the Rovers and the all-ages 2000 AD that comics can look forward to a super-strong talent pool in years to come!

2000 AD Prog 2030 is out now and available from all good newsagents, comic book stores, and online from the 2000 AD store.

The latest issue of 2000 AD is a spectacularly special all-ages 48-page extravaganza, featuring a host of your faves, with a special 2000 AD Regened spin!

2000 AD Prog 2130 is out now from all good comic book stores and newsagents, and digitally through the 2000 AD webshop and apps!

This issue follows up on last year’s 2000 AD Regened special, with all-new, all-ages tales of Cadet Dredd vs Grudzilla, Rogue Trooper, Psi-Judge Anderson, teenage bounty hunting action in new thrill Full Tilt Boogie, a special all-ages Future Shock, and to complete this very special Prog, a chilling tale of the supernatural from 2000 AD regular writing team Leah Moore and John Reppion with artist Davide Tinto and colourist Pippa Mather.

We caught up with Leah and John to talk all about adding apprehension and alarm to all-ages comic tales…

What are you doing for this special one-off Prog?

John Reppion & Leah Moore: Our story is called Finder & Keeper, and it’s about a couple of school friends who find something pretty unexpected in an old house in their neighbourhood.

Who’s your artist on the tale? Have you seen what they’ve done for you already? What do you think?

JR/LM: Our artist is Davide Tinto, whose work we both really, really like but we haven’t seen the finished pages for the story yet. We’re looking forward to it as much as everyone else!

I’m going to assume it’s a new tale, something like a Terror Tale but with an all-ages spin?

JR/LM: Kind of. It’s also a bit of an introduction to the characters and the world since we’re really hoping to do more with both. But yeah, it’s a neat little creepy tale for all.

You’re used to writing for an all-ages audience, your Conspiracy of Ravens graphic novel with Sally Jane Thompson was a fabulous tale, with its own level of spooky as well. How do you adapt your writing style with 2000 AD for these all-ages tales?

JR/LM: Truthfully, writing for an all ages audience is actually more comfortable than not. You have your parameters set for you. You know what you can and can’t get away with, and you’re not tempted to try to push things too far in a gory or sweary direction. We’re both reading all ages stuff all the time because we have three kids, and there’s lots of stuff about it we really enjoy. You can tell virtually any story for an all ages audience really.

What other characters would you love to see in an all-ages 2000 AD? If you could pitch one story, what would it be for you?

JR/LM: No DR and Quinch in this year’s all ages special? That seems like a bit of a shame. Chris Weston’s Cadet Dredd story looks like it’s going to be the star of the show, but we’re really, really excited to see the whole issue. What would we pitch? We could pitch all day long to be honest. Are we allowed to bring Mytek the Mighty back yet? That would be good for an all ages special!

Finally, with Prog 2030 we’re seeing 2000 AD make inroads, or at least extend an invitation to younger readers. How important do you think it is to see more all-ages 2000 AD tales out there?

JR/LM: 2000 AD fills a very important niche and is a genuine jewel in the crown of British comics, but it would be great to have a title out there alongside it and the Megazine which was suitable for younger readers. There’s definitely a market for it, and it would be good to have 2000 AD corrupting the minds of the youn… I mean getting kids interested in UK comics again.

2000 AD Prog 2130, the all-ages Regened 48-page special, is out now!

Beginning this week in Prog 2124, Judge Dredd writer Rob Williams returns – but, this time he’s not alone, as his frequent artistic collaborator Chris Weston grabs the co-writing reins!

The two-part Judge Dredd tale, ‘Unearthed’, begins this week as workers uncover a true blast from the past – with Patrick Goddard on art, Chris Blythe on colours, and Annie Parkhouse on letters.

Seriously, Williams, Weston, Goddard, and Dredd? You couldn’t really ask for more!

The ‘Pinstripe Freak’ is back, baby!

Yes, Max Normal, the debonair, shuggy-playing, Shampagne swilling, bowler hat-wearing, umbrella-carrying eccentric informant returns to 2000 AD this week for new adventures in the neon playground of Mega-City One.

Max Normal and his fabulous pinstripes have been an infrequent star of 2000 AD since his creation way, way back in Prog 20 by John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Mike McMahon.

But, courtesy of writer Guy Adams and artist Dan Cornwell, the super-suave and sophisticated stool pigeon finally gets his own series!

The magic is back – Kingmaker by Ian Edington and Leigh Gallagher is back in 2000 AD!

In the first series (Progs 2011-2022), readers were introduced to the rich, spectacular fantasy sci-fi world of the Nine Kingdoms, where Edginton and Gallagher take JRR Tolkien, George RR Martin and Orson Scott Card out the back and hit them until they agree to do a sci-fi/fantasy mashup.

Now, with ‘Ouroboros’, beginning in Prog 2123 with a spectacular double episode and stunning Leigh Gallgher cover, we’re returning to the world of Kingmaker!

It’s a dangerous world where the folk of Nine Kingdoms, fresh from overthrowing Ichnar the Wraith King and his Legion of Shadows, now have to live under the rule of The Thorn, an alien race of planet conquerors. With the Thorn Shrike troopers hunting down those with magical abilities, the wizard Ablard now finds himself in the strange company of the Ork Crixus and the dryad princess Yarrow. But will they flee or fight?

We asked series creators, Ian Edginton and Leigh Gallagher, to spill the beans…

In the first series we met Ablard and Crixus, the classic odd couple, forced through circumstance to work together in the face of a shared threat. Can you give new readers an idea of the background to the series?

Ian Edginton: Essentially, it’s aliens invade Middle Earth. The Houses of the Thorn are an intergalactic conglomerate run by a collective of ancient, alien royal families. The most valuable substance to them is known as the Aether or the Quintessence. It’s a form of energy that they use to run everything and even extend their lives. The acquisition of it has become the driving force behind everything they do. There’s much Machiavellian jockeying for power amongst the families but none has had the nerve or resources to go up against the Chairman, until now.

The Aether is usually found locked within the geology of a planet and has to be excavated out, destroying the world in the process. On the world of the Nine Realms though (where our story take place) it manifests as a form of magic. It can be physically wielded by certain of the worlds inhabitants. Duke Eschatus who is overseeing the exploitation of Nine Realms, soon realises that a magic army trained could overthrow the Chairman.

The story opens several years after the House of the Thorn have conquered the Nine Realms and Eschatus secretly trying to get his plan together, capturing magic wielders to either recruit or harvest their powers. There’s a snag however, in the Nine Realms, the Aether (known to the locals as the Ebora or World Spirit) is sentient and has chosen the Ork, Crixus as its agent. Orks are not customarily known for being the good guys and Crixus doesn’t want to be a hero but the world quite literally has decided otherwise. To help him win back the Nine Realms, he’s joined by the aged and whiffy wizard Ablard and the opinionated Dryad Princess Yarrow.

Where will you be taking Kingmaker in this second series?

IE: Crixus, Ablard and Yarrow are endeavoring to find allies but discover that old loyalties have shifted since the invasion and you have to be careful who you trust. Also, Ablard is trying to teach Crixus how to manage his new found powers. Meanwhile, the Duke Eschatus realises that Crixus may well be key to his plans and pulls out all the stops to capture him. We also meet Crixus’s dad.

The series mixes fantasy and sci-fi in a way that 2000 AD has done from early on, Slaine being the best example. In fact, you could, were you so inclined, to shorthand Kingmaker as the sword and sorcery of Sláine without the Conan-like physiques meets good, old-fashioned hard sci-fi. Did you set out with the intention of creating something to mash up the genres in this way?

IE: Absolutely, especially some of the Lord of the Rings type tropes. I wanted to throw them all up in the air and mix them up. There’s no disrespect to the source material (love the books, love the films) but I wanted to kind of do something from an Ork or Trolls perspective. I wanted put forward the notion that because everyone expects them to be nasty and evil, they treat them as such without actually trying to find out first. The rule of thumb seems to be, if you’re ugly, you’re evil and deserve a kicking. In the end they get so pissed off at being treated like shit they react violently which then validates those beating up on them. At one point Crixus says that if you kick a dog long enough it will eventually turn around and bite you, so then the one doing the kicking can say, ‘Look, see. It was a bad dog all long!’

I also wanted to introduce a threat to the Nine Realms that was totally outside of the realm of their experience. Until the Houses of the Thorn invade, they have no clue that there’s life on other worlds. It completely undermines their belief system. The Nine Realms hasn’t been invaded by a Sauron-like, monstrous metaphysical villain who represents a sort of abstract evil. Instead they’ve fallen prey to an efficient, predatory industrial and economic engine. It forces many in the Nine Realms to change their world-view. Heroes become villains and vice versa with many shades of grey in between.

What was your initial desire with Kingmaker, how did it all come about?

IE: All of the above plus I wanted to do something that had a 1970s Heavy Metal magazine vibe. Shades of Moebius and especially Phillippe Drulliet. Massive outlandish looking spaceships, scores of alien races, huge sweeping operatic visuals. Leigh and I had talked about working together for ages. Plus you can always turn an artists head with talk of monsters and spaceships!

Leigh Gallagher: I think Ian and I were at a festival in Lille a few years back. I’ve always wanted to work with that charmer. I was looking for a new series that didn’t involve any historical research as I’d spent a long time doing that on both Defoe and Aquila. I wanted something sci-fi. So he gave me a couple of pitches and I grabbed one of them and said “YES!” Then he told me the rest of the story which involved a feudal society that involved horse and carriages…. and I said “MUTHER FU….NO!!!” So he told about his idea for Kingmaker which I fell in love with.

Leigh, one thing that was instantly obvious in Kingmaker was the lush look to the art, particularly during those incredibly green and gorgeous episodes amongst the Dryads. But, it’s also a strip of contrasts, between that lush green and the barren landscapes under the control of the Thorn, and of the organic shapes of the magical, natural worlds of the Kingdoms and the sharp, technological look of the Thorn. In the first series, you managed to get the balance between intensely kinetic action and worldbuilding just right, delivering a strip that feels balanced and reads beautifully well. How do you go about breaking the beats of the strip down to fit both the five-page serialised nature of 2000 AD and to create a cohesive whole that will work in collected form?

LG: Ian’s pretty descriptive in his scripts with nice bits of reference. In the first book with the first appearance of the massive Thorn ship, he described it as a “refinery with Rococo decoration” so that was a massive help. The Thorn soldiers themselves are a mixture of alien races forced into servitude, so I just go crazy there. With the Kingdom it’s our version of Middle Earth so we don’t deviate too far from what’s established, but at the same time not wanting to repeat what’s out there. We’ve done a good job hopefully making the Dryads different from the Elves. I have a few Lord of The Rings art books to make sure I don’t shamefully rip anything off.

How do you work when putting together Kingmaker?

IE: I send the scripts to Tharg who then sends them to Leigh who then rings me up and weeps down the phone at all the stuff I’ve asked him to draw.

LG: Pretty traditionally to be honest. Me and Ian will have a chat on the phone, he’ll tell me his ideas at 560mph and Tharg will later teleport me the script. When I’m reading it I’ll usually get images sparking in my head of magical creatures, epic battles full of fury and chaos…. then I realise that Ian has laced the pages with a powerful hallucinogen. So I get a cold shower and start again. I do the roughest layouts that only I can decipher, praying to Benedict Cumberbatch that I can get the images in my head to appear exactly the same way on the page. Then I’ll stare at that terrifying white page for the longest time whilst eating cakes. My pencils are pretty loose as I ink myself, but once the inks are done, I scan them into Photoshop and colour on a 19 inch drawing monitor.

It’s a series that looks like it’s a difficult one to put together, with a lot more detail on the page than many strips. Is that right?

LG: Yeah, that’s exactly right! Though that’s all my own doing unfortunately. I seem to be like this on every bloody project, despite me saying that on the next one I’m doing a simpler, easier, quicker style. On Kingmaker in particular, as Tharg very generously allowed me to colour my own interiors this time, I’ve discovered a whole other method to add more detail. I’d rather not spend as many hours doing this stuff than I do, but there’s always been this annoying creature hanging over me, telling me to add lines here, highlights over there….. maybe I’ll find a way to destroy that fecker on my next project….

Also, is there a moment in the scripts where Ian describes the fabulously lush environments of something like the Dryad kingdoms and all you can see is the hours of intense labour he’s just thrown at you?

LG: Yeeeeaaaaaah…… excuse me whilst I just give this creature hanging over me a kick in the balls….

You’re responsible for co-creating several 2000 AD strips, all of which have a very distinct setting/style/look, including Aquila, Defoe, and Kingmaker. Is this something driven by your desire to experiment and change, or by demands of the writer/strip?

LG: It’s true, I’ve made a lot of babies 😉 But yeah, in some cases, I’ve mentioned before it was not wanting to be known as the “historical fantasy guy” in a comic famous for it’s sci-fi. I’m not even a historical fan in real life. So as much as I loved working on both Defoe and Aquila, it’s time consuming looking for the right reference of a historical cod piece, just so I don’t get shouted at by Bob on the internet. (I’m still scarred by my first internet hate mail which said “Leigh Gallagher is full of shit for not doing his research and not drawing the correct breed of buffalo in the buffalo sanctuary!” I was drawing a sex scene taking place at a buffalo sanctuary.) ANYWAY…. it’s just about wanting to scratch itches. Kingmaker with Ian allows me to do that with the awesome sci-fi scenes, and I love having total control over the art now that I’m colouring.

How has your drawing style changes and evolved over the years?

LG: Definitely less cross hatching from my Defoe days. I tortured myself over some of those pages, but I think it’s what you have to do sometimes if it’s a black and white strip. I reigned it in with Aquila and ditched the paint brushes to start using brush pens instead, and with that talented Dylan Teague colouring it looked very different. With Kingmaker, I think my line work is still the same, but with me colouring I can do little things that I couldn’t convey to a separate colourist, like blurring out elements in the foreground.

Do you look back over your old work?

LG: Not much, and if so, only up to a certain time frame. But even after then I’ve definitely screwed certain pages. Some of the later books of Defoe I could still look at with not much wincing, and I’m still pretty made up with how the Carnifex storyline of Aquila turned out. But generally I try to avoid looking back at most of it as obviously I wish I’d drawn it better…..curse of the artist!

What else do we have to look forward to from both of you in the future, both 2000 AD and beyond?

IE: There’s more Scarlet Traces and Brass Sun in the works. D’Israeli and I are also bringing back Stickleback which we’ve wanted to do for ages. There’s more Fiends of the Eastern Front on the cards too.

I’ve also been editing and putting together a collection of prose short stories set in the Scarlet Traces universe. There’s a great line-up with authors such as Stephen Baxter, Adam Roberts, James Lovegrove, Mark Morris, Chris Roberson to name but a few. It’s a lush hardcover that will be coming out from Abaddon later in the year. I’m also writing the next Iron Maiden mini-series for Iron Maiden!

LG: I’ve been so consumed with Kingmaker and a second baby that I’ve not had a chance to nail something solid down. I’ve a couple of possible things in the air once I’ve finished these last episodes, but it’ll be something different until Ian’s ready to jump onto the third Kingmaker series.

Leigh, to end with and seeing as this is the first time we’ve interviewed you here, what were your first 2000 AD experiences as reader?

LG: Prog 546 in 1987 was my first ever prog with that seriously cool and dark John Hinklenton Nemesis cover. Inside was a Freaks strip drawn by John Higgins, who over 30 years later is one of my favourite friends in the business.

The first episode of Kingmaker: Ouroboros is in 2000 AD Prog 2123 – out now in print and digital!

The latest of Tharg’s 3Rillers, those three-part slices of spectacular storytelling, began in 2000 AD with Prog 2120.

Written by newcomer Andi Ewington, Tooth and Nail introduces Max Ha who finds himself handcuffed and beaten by mystery Russian assailants. The sole survivor of a massacre that left 17 dead, Max’s interrogators want to know more about the man responsible, who dragged Max into this mess…

Ewington has another 3Riller and a Future Shock in the pipeline for 2000 AD, so Richard Bruton sat down with Andi to talk about writing for Tharg…

Andi, you have your first 2000 AD work coming up soon in Prog 2120, the Tharg’s 3Riller, ‘Tooth and Nail’, with art by the fabulous Staz Johnson. I suppose, first of all, we’d love to hear from you about what it’s all about!

AE: Of course, without giving too much away, ‘Tooth and Nail’ is a tale about an unfortunate protagonist who’s found himself on the wrong end of a brutal interrogation. There’s been a hit on a criminal organisation and our protagonist is the only survivor left standing who could have any answers.

In the recent Megazine article about new creators coming to 2000 AD, you mentioned that it allowed you to dip into some very important films to you, including Leon, The Usual Suspects, Fight Club. How have you managed to work these three, very different films into one 15 page strip?

AE: It’s a tough one to answer without spoiling the story. Each of those iconic movies have elements that have always resonated with me. I’ve tried give a respectful nod to each of them in ‘Tooth and Nail’.

You’ve also got two more projects in the pages of 2000 AD, a Future Shock called ‘Juncture’ with new artist Anna Morozova, and another Tharg’s 3Riller, ‘Red Road’. When will we be seeing these and what will they be about?

AE: Soon I hope, I haven’t been told when they’ll appear just yet! ‘Juncture’ is a story set in a superhero retirement home. I’ve seen some of the pages from Anna, her work has a wonderfully natural feel to it, perfect for this story. ‘Juncture’ is my first Future Shock story, so it’s a really important moment for me as writer, like a right of passage.

‘Red Road’ harks back to my love of motorised mayhem. It’s Mad Max set on Mars with a sprinkling of Halo for good measure. I wrote Freeway Fighter back in 2017 and I’ve missed throwing cars around in a script and smashing them together. ‘Red Road’ does a lot of that; it reminds me of being a kid and bashing the hell out of my matchbox cars as they raced one another.

When it comes to the discipline of delivering a very short story, just five pages for the Future Shock and 15 for the 3Rillers, how do you go about getting all the necessary story beats into the limited page count?

AE: It requires a lot of discipline and acceptance that not everything is going to wind up on the page. Ensuring the pace and tension is hits the right beats. Fortunately, I’ve Tharg on hand to help me keep the narrative flow on track.

Can you give us an idea of your background in comics? I first became aware of you with your rather unique graphic novel, 45, where you looked at superheroes in a very different way, with the book structured as an interview series, and featuring 45 superhero interviews, with each one illustrated by some very big names. But where have you gone since there?

AE: It’s been a strange journey to say the least! 45 was a pivotal moment for me and I honestly thought I’d kick on to bigger and better things. The reality was much harder, the comic scene was still really closed to me. A few years later I managed to land a writing gig with 451 Media Group; I was given Exmortis, Sunflower and S6X pretty much off the bat. I spent a lot of time writing for 451, I got to work with the likes of George Pelecanos, Mark Mallouk and Rob Cohen. That gave me the confidence to approach Bandai Namco to write a Dark Souls II comic and Square Enix for a Just Cause 3 comic. Since then I’ve also written a Freeway Fighter and Vikings comic for Titan, plus a couple of others in the pipeline. I’ve also written a couple of Pac-Man interactive adventures for Amazon Echo.

As this is your first 2000 AD material, we’d love to hear about your first experiences of reading the comic.

AE: I got onboard around the age of eight, I remember going to my nan’s house and running to the shop on the corner to grab a copy of Beano or Dandy and spotting 2000 AD on the shelf. I was blown away by the gritty stories and striking art, this was unlike anything I had read before. Before I knew it, I was collecting every issue I could get my hands on. I loved Judge Dredd, especially with anything that featured the Dark Judges. I have fond memories of Brian Bolland’s Dredd slamming his fist through the back of Judge Fear’s helmet.

When did you first submit to 2000 AD and how has the whole process been for you?

AE: I think I tried around four or five years ago, but didn’t get very far. I lost faith in myself a little and gave 2000 AD a miss until I felt my writing was strong enough to be accepted. With three stories accepted in quick succession, perhaps I’m about ready now.

And what does it mean to you to be in the pages of 2000 AD?

AE: Everything! 2000 AD has been part of my childhood and now I’m going to be a ‘Droid’, I wouldn’t swap that for the world!

What do we have to look forward to from you, both 2000 AD and beyond?

I have a five-issue series called Drone Swarm due out via 451 Media Group later this year, then after that? I really don’t know. I lost my day job at the start of the year, so I have to concentrate on that in the short-term, who knows where I’ll turn up!