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Interview: Nick Percival talks all things Iron Teeth & his ‘Classically Grotesque’ art.

Time for a chat with the artist hell-bent on bringing some of the deep, dark horrors back to the world of Dredd – Nick Percival.

Nick’s latest dark dive on Dredd, Iron Teeth, written by Ken Niemand, is running in 2000 AD right now and we’re already up to episode 3 in Prog 2384, out right now! It’s classic lone Dredd, venturing into the Undercity after a group of juves who’ve got some dumb idea about confronting one of MC-1’s urban legends, the mysterious and mythical Iron Teeth. Their problem, and now Dredd’s problem, is that there’s nothing mythical about this particular urban legend. Iron Teeth is very, very real and very, very dangerous.

Nick, lovely to talk to you. How the devil are you?

NICK PERCIVAL: Bloody tired to be honest – but of course, living the dream creating those comic books!

Your new Judge Dredd series with Ken Niemand, Iron Teeth, began in Prog 2382 and it’s turning into a great Dredd horror, the classic Dredd against the monster, having to do it all on his own. Can you give us your idea of just what Iron Teeth is all about?

NP: It’s a full-on horror strip which was something I was keen to do. It focuses on Dredd searching for some missing juves that have gone on a quest to find the sinister creature known as ‘Iron Teeth‘ – an urban legend if you will  – he’s a supernatural being, living deep underground beneath Mega City who preys on children foolish enough to wander into his lair.

It’s classic visual horror – all dark shadows, things hiding in the dark, limited light sources and so on with a great, creepy slow build written by Ken.

This runs for just six parts but we have an extended final episode and it intentionally doesn’t end cleanly -we’re setting up some cool spooky stuff that’ll pay off in the future.

From Iron Teeth part 1 (Prog 2382 – introducing the legend of Iron Teeth

When did you come on board for Iron Teeth?

NP: I was finishing up on the Dark Judges and after nearly 400 pages of those guys, I was looking for something new and was already thinking about some possible horror-related things I could do next for the House of Tharg. This was around the end of 2023, I think.

So that led into you and Ken working together on The House On Bleaker Street (Progs 2247-2249) Was it always the plan to work together again and was it a case of you and Ken working this one up together after Bleaker Street had finished?

NP: Oh yeah, we wanted to work together again after Bleaker Street – we’d been meaning to work together before that and at one point I was going to be involved doing some of the Zombie Dredd stuff in the first 2000AD/Megazine crossover event a while back – I did get to paint the cover art for the Megazine issue at least, which was good fun. I also illustrated his Dredd script for the most recent 2000AD/Battle Action crossover last year, so we’re getting to know each other better from a work point of view.

We’d been messaging back and forth about what to do next and wanted to expand the horror/supernatural side of Dredd’s world, which we’d started to dip our toes into with the Bleaker Street story and Iron Teeth kind of grew out of that.

From The House On Bleaker Street – Prog 2248 – the place Niemand and Percival first took us down deep into the Undercity’s horrors

In Iron Teeth you really up the ante by making it all about Dredd alone with just a group of MC-1 juves for company in the underworld beneath the city – no other Judges, it’s just Dredd versus the monster under the city.

NP: I do love stories that take Dredd a bit out of his comfort zone and see him isolated, not being able to rely on tech or other judges, which is perfect for supernatural-themed stories.

It’s a good change of pace for me with the limited cast of characters, since working on the Dark Judges stories felt like doing a team book like the X-Men or something -it had a very large cast which can be very draining to do on a regular basis.

In your Covers Uncovered for Prog 2382, you mentioned that you and Ken had talked about the film ‘Stand By Me’ as a starting point. It’s one of the great films of its time and one of the few really great Stephen King adaptations. Are you a fan or was it just that you and Ken figured there was a way to transpose the themes and tone into Dredd?

NP: I’m a big fan of that film (and the original story) but the main influence we took from it was the dynamic of the four kids and maybe a couple of visual ticks here and there. I wanted each kid to be distinctive both in physicality and personality which was all there in Ken’s scripts from the start.

I know that for Ken, the biggest influence came from Scottish folklore, particularly the story of the Gorbals Vampire, “In September 1954 in Gorbals, Glasgow, rumours had spread among the school children of a terrible, 7-foot tall vampire with iron teeth. Rumour had it that this vampire had kidnapped and murdered two young boys and feasted on their corpses. Despite the adults and the police trying to calm the hysteria, the children decided that action had to be taken to bring this terrible ‘Gorbals Vampire’ to justice.” – I found that fascinating and it really set the tone for what we were going to do with the series.

First look at a monster in part 1 of Iron Teeth (Prog 2382)

As far as the titular monster of Iron Teeth is concerned, where did the idea for the imagery of him come from and what was your thinking when creating the new character?

NP: We talked a little bit about Nosferatu (one of my favourite films and movie monsters), so I wanted to lean heavily on that but also adding a few modern horror elements – things like the Slender Man, the creature from Sinister and so on but with a twist and putting my own visual spin on everything.

I also imagined him somewhat spider-like, crawling around his lair, all gangly limbs and wild hair. I worked up a teaser painting first, just to demonstrate the kind of style and tone I was going for which was ultimately used as a pin-up to promote the story.

Nick’s teaser painting for Iron Teeth to give an idea of the style and tone

You’re certainly well-known for bringing a horror element to the Dreddverse, most notably with your Dark Judges saga (written by John Wagner and then David Hine) that recently finished in the Megazine. But here and in The House on Bleaker Street you’ve brought the horror to Dredd right in his back yard.

NP: Yeah, it’s something I really wanted to do and would want to continue. It’s nice sometimes to move away from some of the sci-fi slickness of the Mega City and delve a bit deeper into the darker and hidden, grisly places that maybe the Judges don’t know too much about. I’m more than happy to be typecast as the horror guy for sure.

Oh yes, Nick Percival – Horror Guy. You should have that on your business cards!

A perfect example of Nick Percival – Horror Guy – the big Iron Teeth moment from episode 2 (Prog 2383)
– all done with a page-turning break to really make it the equivalent of a jump scare.

It’s something that’s hard-coded in the DNA of Dredd right from the start – whether it’s the horrors of the world Dredd exists in or, as here, the horrors that exist in Dredd’s world, all those insanely dark things that come up from the depths, that sort of thing.

Indeed, going back to that Covers Uncovered for Prog 2382, you talk about how you and Ken are not only linking this one back to Bleaker Street and how it is all part of a plan to ‘expand the horror side of Dredd’s world and are sowing some dark and crusty seeds that will hopefully pay off down the line.’

So first of all, do you fancy sharing just how you’re going to link it into Bleaker Street – we doubt you will, but hey, always good to ask!!

NP: Ha. Well, since the series is still running I can’t give too much away but obviously we’re back underground again in areas of the Undercity (and we go even deeper this time) but things do link up and there’s a nice reveal on the very final page that might get fans talking. You’ll see from that, we’ve been playing the long game and there’ll be many more horrors to come…

Bleaker Street was about the horror of the dispossessed in MC-1 after Necropolis and how the city lets its Cits down way too often. Oh, and it was about something damn nasty in there as well. Could it be that the nastiness that infected Bleaker Street is bubbling up in the underworld of Iron Teeth?

NP: It’s linked in some ways but a lot of this is deep-rooted in horror much older than Necropolis. I can say no more.

Tight-lipped art droids living in fear of Tharg… no fun!

More of Nick Percival – Horror Guy – Iron Teeth part 3 (Prog 2384)

As far as expanding the horror side of Dredd – do tell! How far have the plans got so far? Anything concrete, anything big and juicy you can tell us about?

NP: Ken and I were talking throughout Iron Teeth about what would come next. It’s crazy but in Part 3 of this story, you’ll see some new horror/supernatural elements that we just throw out there and any one of them could easily link into their own series, so we’re doing some new horror world-building with this.

But yeah, we know what comes next and if The Mighty One is game, we’re ready to start scaring folks once again. I have some seriously dark stuff ready that will make Iron Teeth look like Aunt May, so I’m good to go. The response I’ve had back just from the first two episodes has been fantastic, so it does seem that most people are liking it and hopefully we can do more.

Yep, across a couple of pages of part 3, I reckon you’ve got the makings of any number of new horror Dredds exploring the folklore of the Undercity!

One of the pages from Iron Teeth Part 3 in Prog 2384 where Niemand and Percival show us Undercity folklore

Now, I’ve long described your art as beautifully grotesque. Would you be happy with that as a shorthand for your art or can you think of something you like more?

NP: Grotesque is fine, I guess – I do like classical horror rather than out-and-out gore, though. It’s the things hiding in the dark, the strange creatures and disturbing narratives that I think make the perfect package. So… Classically Grotesque, maybe…?

Classically grotesque it is! That’s perfect!

And presumably, given the classically grotesque horror of your art, horror’s been something you’ve been interested in for a long time?

NP: I’ve always been a horror fan since I was a kid, I have a huge horror collection (many life-size busts of the Frankenstein Monster, Nosferatu, etc) – my house and studio are like mini horror museums with the amount of collectables on display – I’m trying to compete with Guillermo del Toro but I have a very understanding wife who puts up with all this! I love the Universal Monsters, old pre-code horror films through to the modern stuff, when it’s done well. The 50s EC horror comics, 70s Marvel (Tomb Of Dracula, Werewolf By Night, Man-Thing, etc.) the old Warren horror mags – the list goes on and on. I just absorbed it all and still go back to it regularly for inspiration

As long as it’s a good story with good characters, then I’m always interested. As an artist you spend so many hours at the drawing board that it has to be stuff that you’re into to produce good work and not go mad!

More from part 3 of Iron Teeth, more of that Undercity folklore, and more of the incredible detail Percival gets into every page

As for your art in general, how would you describe what you do and how has your art developed over the years?

NP: I got my first professional work when I was pretty young (19 years old), so even though I’d been drawing comics since I was a kid, I basically developed through my published work, so was learning the craft in public, so to speak. It was a trial-by-fire learning curve with all your novice mistakes there forever for everyone to see, unfortunately. Can’t do anything about that but it’s all a process and shaped me into the artist I am today.

I think I’ve finally got the hang of it, maybe. I suppose the biggest artistic evolution was going from using traditional paints to painting digitally but ultimately, the technique and thoughts behind it are all the same.

Again, in that Covers Uncovered you did for Prog 2382, you said this about your art – ‘I wanted to experiment a little more with my style, getting a bit more scratchy and raw in places, rather than keeping everything super slick’. So what was the impetus for making that change in your art and are you satisfied with the results here?

NP: Yeah, I wanted to get a bit looser and not as tight and slick in the imagery. I’m getting there but it’s a slow process since I don’t want to shock people with an instant, radially different style from what I’m known for. It has to be gradual and has to work for the story I’m working on at the time, not just for the sake of it.

Some of the changes are slight and may only really be noticeable to me. I’m working a few things into the Iron Teeth work and the teaser image had more elements of that. When I finally move over to just drawing stick men, then I’ll be sorted but I’m not sure how pleased Tharg would be!

I would say, however, that if you really want to see how the art was intended to look, you need to pick up the digital versions of the comics as well. So much of the detail and subtle colour work is lost on the printed page (I’d say a good 40%), which is always a huge pain when you’ve put so much effort and time into the pages (especially with painted art). It can be quite disheartening seeing it in print sometimes but I’m used to it and at least we do have digital copies now that are nearly perfect. Buy both – keep those sales up!

Oh absolutely – it’s one thing that is such a highlight when looking at your work in digital, the ability to zoom in to see absolutely everything you put on every page. Like this, a blow-up from that last page we showed from page 3 of Iron Teeth

For something new like Iron Teeth, does it all start off with talking to the writer and seeing what sort of visual vibe you’re picking up for the piece?

NP: When Ken sends me his ideas and influences we always tend to be in agreement. I may come back with some other film or art references and so on, just to to indicate some the visual mood and tone we could go for. I do tend think cinematically with my art in regards to lighting, textures, framing, etc but the storytelling and pacing is all good comics.

Dredd’s always Dredd no matter what environment he’s in or what genre of story you’re working on which is useful, since you know where you are at all times. We may beat him up, maim him and fuck up his uniform now and again but he’s always so rock solid and consistent.

For me, as an artist it’s more working on things like the metallic effects, visor reflections and so on -just little stuff that keeps him interesting to illustrate. I never get bored of painting a big close-up of his grumpy old face.

Is there plenty of sketching and drafting of characters and the like to get into the right place prior to actually sitting down for the very first page of script?

NP: I don’t do a lot of prep work, since I don’t have the time and deadlines can be tight. I also like to keep things fresh, so I don’t bore myself by doing a ton of sketch work before hand – you’ve seen how loose my cover roughs are.

To give you an idea of Nick’s loose roughs are compared with his finished digital paints, he sent over some pages from Iron Teeth (small versions here, but we’ll show you them in all their glory below).

First, Nick’s very rough roughs and very polished finished pages – Iron Teeth Part 2, page 1 above and page 5 below (Prog 2383)…

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NP: If it’s something super important, I may try out a few things but with something like Iron Teeth, the creature felt fully formed right from the start, so I knew what I wanted to do. For each page, I will create thumbnail layouts before getting to tighter pencils just so I know where I’m going and to check that the storytelling all flows but that’s about it.

And once you do sit down to start, what media do you work in – what’s the breakdown of physical – pen on paper – stuff to working digitally now?

NP: Each page is still pencilled traditionally – pencils on paper – and then scanned in to be painted digitally.

Again, you talked about the colour palette you used in Iron Teeth starting as very cool and slowly becoming hotter as the story goes on. What was the thinking behind this choice?

NP: I wanted to experiment more with the colours and use them creatively to help with the storytelling and to draw focus to certain things. It helps that my work is fully painted, so there’s a lot you can do with shades, colour values, textures, FX and so on.

The palette is much cooler at the beginning – lots of blues, sombre shades to reflect the mood of the story. When the kids are exploring, we’ve also got very limited light sources from their torches, so I wanted to reflect that -the same with Dredd and the droid using his light beam – a little bit like the movie, ‘The Decent’, where when they’re underground, the helmet lights were the only source of illumination.

Obviously, I cheat in few places for dramatic effect (artistic licence) but I wanted to keep it pretty consistent. As the story progresses and the danger increases where we slowly introduce Iron Teeth, we move into hotter colours – reds and hot yellows, especially in his lair.

Yep, we saw the cooler palette in the pages you sent over from part 2, and here we have pages 4 and 5 from part 3 (Prog 2384), where the palette’s changing and things are really hotting up…

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NP: When we’ve got these colours in play, Dredd stands out because of his blue/black uniform, signifying he’s an intruder and shouldn’t be there. It’s all a bit ‘A’ level art wanky colour theory but there you go. I never did finish my art ‘A’ level anyway, so what do I know?

Now, nearly at the end, but a fun one for you – if there’s one 2000 AD strip or character you’ve always fancied doing, how about pitching something to our lord and master, the Mighty one himself?

NP: I was asked this recently and I mentioned a horror Rogue Trooper series could be good fun and I always loved the old Harry Twenty series. I did have ideas for a Dark Knight Returns style Leopard From Lime Street series and even got close to doing a teaser painting, but then the character made his comeback elsewhere. There are some other series ideas knocking about that are in the early stages and Dredd of course, so hopefully much more to come.

Oh yes, horror Rogue would be a blast and the DKR-style Leopard From Lime Street – well we just had to ask Nick if we could see that one and here it is…

That’s definitely not the Billy Farmer we all know and love! Who knows, maybe there could be some Treasury Of British Comics alt-universe title some time and you could dust off the idea!

Nick, you’ve presumably finished with Iron Teeth now – or hopefully you have, Tharg can be a harsh master on those who turn in the art late – so can you let us know what to expect next and further down the line from you – both here at 2000 AD and elsewhere?

NP: Yep, Iron Teeth is all done and dusted. I’m just finishing off a strip for a new 2000AD later this year (combining two famous 2000 AD strips which has been fun) and I’m also busy pencilling out a cool Dredd one-off written by Mike Carroll – as well other stuff which we can’t talk about yet.

Elsewhere it’s some film concept and production art, commissions and the usual cover artwork amongst other stuff.

Hang on… which two famous 2000 AD strips?

Nick? Nick?

Oh dear. The spoiler alarms went off with just the barest mentions of a crossover and all I heard after that was something that sounded very much like multiple Rigelian hotshots and then screams of the Percival droid being taken away to face the wrath of TMO. Oops.

Dredd being Deredd – A sneak peek from next week’s Prog 2385 and Iron Teeth part 4

Thank you so much to Nick for taking the time to answer all that – hopefully Tharg will be merciful and not have you spending too much time in the special rooms reserved just for droids who give that little bit too much away!

You can find Judge Dredd: Iron Teeth running right now in the Prog – it began with Prog 2382 and will end in Prog 2387. It’s really a great horror Dredd and it sounds like Niemand and Percival are planning a lot more trips into the nightmares of MC-1 for the future.

We’ve plenty more from Nick here at 2000AD.com for your delights, more of that ‘classically grotesque’ and utterly gorgeous cover art in a load of Covers Uncovered pieces – starting off with the most recent, his intro to Iron Teeth on the wrapround cover of Prog 2382 and then the Covers Uncovered for the latest Prog 2384. After that, plenty of brilliance for Prog 2247Megazine 425Megazine 427Megazine 430Megazine 433Megazine 430Megazine 443Megazine 448Megazine 453Megazine 456, and Megazine 458.

As for interviews – Molch-R talked to David Hine and Nick all about the Dark Judges in the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast Lockdown Tapes here and we’ve interviewed Nick a few times, with David Hine discussing Dark Judges: Deliverance here and Dark Judges: Death Metal Planet here. And there’s a great chat with Nick about wrapping up the six years worth of work on the Dark Judges work here.   

Finally, here are the full-sized versions of Nick’s roughs and final versions of the pages we showed you in galleries through the interview…

Iron Teeth Part 2, page 1 (Prog 2383)…

Iron Teeth Part 2, page 5 (Prog 2383)…

Iron Teeth part 3, page 4 (Prog 2384)…

Iron Teeth part 3, page 5 (Prog 2384)…

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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #462

Judge Dredd Megazine #462 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #462 is OUT NOW!

Former Judge turned Private Investigator Galen DeMarco returns this issue after a four-year absence with a new case, A Picture Paints, by Laura Bailey and Rob Richardson, plus we have a complete Dredd thriller from Ian Edginton and Mike Collins, another flashback to Mega-City 2099 in The Multitronic Man by Arthur Wyatt and Jake Lynch, and Lawless hits the penultimate episode of its current arc (don’t miss the double-length finale next issue!).

Elsewhere, PJ Holden is coincidentally the artist on two book projects we turn the spotlight on this month – he collaborates with John Reppion on Fascinating Folklore, an around-the-world guide to various legends, and he also illustrates the first Skulduggery Pleasant graphic novel, Bad Magic, scripted by the YA series’ creator Derek Landy.

Plus we chat to Rob Williams and Pye Parr about their new Image comic Petrol Head, and regular Meg contributor Karl Stock lifts the lid on Comic Book Punks, his unmissable look at the writers, artists and editors that shaped the creative comics boom from the mid seventies to the early nineties. All that and annuals are back! Enjoy, citizens, enjoy…

Judge Dredd Megazine #462 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover Art by Alex Ronald

Script: Ian Edginton / Art: Mike Collins / Colours: Jim Boswell / Letters: Jim Campbell

JUDGE DREDD / OLD SOLDIERS

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens, with the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!


Script: John Wagner / Art: Dan Cornwell / Colours: Dylan Teague / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR / INCORRUPTIBLE, Part Eight

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: Arthur Wyatt / Art: Jake Lynch / Letters: Jim Campbell

MEGA-CITY 2099 / THE MULTITRONIC MAN

Mega-City One, 2099 AD. Before the Judges took complete control of the metropolis, there were two strands of law enforcement – regular uniformed cops did much of the day-to-day policing, while the helmeted Judges were called upon to pass judgement on certain criminals, their vested powers giving them the ability to dispense on-the-spot sentences…


Script: Brian Buckley / Art: Alberto Ponticelli / Colours: Stephen Downer / Letters: Tom B. Long

ROGUE TROOPER / Part four

Nu-Earth, just another planet ravaged by a galaxy-wide war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. Created to fight in such conditions were the G.I.s – genetically engineered infantrymen. But now only one remains, the man known as… Rogue Trooper!


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED / Part Seven

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


Script: Laura Bailey / Art: Rob Richardson / Letters: Simon Bowland

DEMARCO, PI: A PICTURE PAINTS, Part One

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. Galen DeMarco was once a Judge, a rising star operating out of the corrupt dumping ground that was Sector House 301. But she quit the force after one romantic indiscretion too many and set herself up as a private investigator. Now, a recent case that ended with her fighting for her life has left her scarred, but ready to take on new clients…


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS / MOST WANTED, Part Seven

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, she’s revealed that she’s been working undercover, and is leading a raid against Fugly’s outfit…


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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #461

Judge Dredd Megazine #461 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #461 is OUT NOW!

As the dust clears on the warzones of the Battle Action crossover last month – by all accounts a palpable hit with you Squaxx – it’s back to business as usual. There’s two complete new stories this issue – Mike Carroll and Colin MacNeil collaborate on the Judge Dredd one-off, ‘Risk Assessment’, and we get into the spirit of the spooky season with a Tale From the Black Museum from Guy Adams and Gary Welsh.

Elsewhere, there’s the latest instalments of Spector, Lawless, Rogue Trooper and Johnny Red, plus we reach the finale of the current Dreadnoughts arc (Mike and John will be back for more early-era Judges action in Nothing to Fear next year).

Elsewhere, writer and editor John Tomlinson gets the Interrogation treatment, discussing his recent horror comedy Portals & Black Goo that ran in the prog, Jock talks his new solo project Gone, we delve into the contents of the new three-part Smash! special as Paul Grist handles the Spider alongside artists such as Anna Morozova and Tom Foster, and Karl Stock tries to find out more about Robo-Hunter artist José Luis Ferrer – enjoy!

Judge Dredd Megazine #461 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover Art by Colin MacNeil

Script: Mike Carroll / Art: Colin MacNeil / Colours: Chris Blythe / Letters: Jim Campbell

JUDGE DREDD / RISK ASSESSMENT

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens, with the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!


Script: John Wagner / Art: Dan Cornwell / Colours: Dylan Teague / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR / INCORRUPTIBLE, Part Seven

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: Guy Adams / Art: Gary Welsh / Letters: Jim Campbell

BLACK MUSEUM / THE TOOTH WILL KILL YA!

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. Deep in the heart of the Grand Hall of Justice lies the Black Museum, Justice Department’s permanent exhibition of the relics from bygone crimes. Whether it’s a notorious serial killer’s trophies or the weapons of the Dark Judges, the violent history of the Big Meg is laid bare here. Let undead guide Henry Dubble show you around…


Script: John Wagner / Art: Ian Gibson & Jose Ferrier / Colours: Ian Gibson / Letters: Pete Knight & Steve Potter

ROBO-HUNTER / PLANET OF THE ROBOTS

For forty years, Sam Slade has been one of the best robo-tectives in the business, but all of his experience couldn’t prepare him for his latest case. The Commission believe that robots have taken control of the planet Verdus and want Sam to uncover the truth. It’s a dangerous case, but one Sam can’t refuse – otherwise he’s guaranteed a bullet in the head!


Script: Brian Buckley / Art: Alberto Ponticelli / Colours: Stephen Downer / Letters: Tom B. Long

ROGUE TROOPER / Part three

Nu-Earth, just another planet ravaged by a galaxy-wide war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. Created to fight in such conditions were the G.I.s – genetically engineered infantrymen. But now only one remains, the man known as… Rogue Trooper!


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED / Part Six

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS / MOST WANTED, Part Six

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and becoming a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime…


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: John Higgins / Colour: Sally Hurst / Letters: Simon Bowland

DREADNOUGHTS / THE MARCH OF PROGRESS, Part Seven

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and more than a few cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Judge Veranda Glover is a recent transfer to Boulder, Colorado, where a drugs cartel is striking back at the law…


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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #460

Judge Dredd Megazine #460 out now


Judge Dredd Megazine #460 is OUT NOW!

IMAGINE IF, IN 1982, THE POWERS-THAT-BE IN KING’S REACH TOWER DECIDED THAT BATTLE ACTION WAS TO merge with 2000 AD, much like Starlord and Tornado had done previously.

What characters would cross over into the pages of the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, and what revamps would they undergo to fit with the anthology’s SF/fantasy remit? Well, you can see for yourself in Prog 2350, which takes that very concept and creates an alternate line-up for Tharg’s Mighty Organ – but the speculation doesn’t just stop with one title. What if, two years later, it was such a success that Battle characters were given the Dreddworld treatment in the lawman’s very own mag?

This special issue has the answer, with Dreddverse variants of Rat Pack, Johnny Red/Lofty’s One-Man Luftwaffe and Darkie’s Mob, with a couple of other characters from UK comics history thrown in. Meanwhile, in the second half of this month’s issue, we return to normal programming with the latest instalments of Spector, Dreadnoughts, Lawless, Rogue Trooper and Johnny Red. All in all, an absoutely crammed Meg – I hope you enjoy it, citizens!

Judge Dredd Megazine #460 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover art by Henry Flint

Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Nick Percival / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

JUDGE DREDD // Return To Billy Carter

Mega-City One, 2106 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 400 million citizens, with the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law! Now, in the wake of the Apocalypse War, Dredd’s returning to Billy Carter block, where the Dark Judges caused havoc…


Script: Karl Stock / Art: Kieran McKeown / Colours: Quinton Winter / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

RAD PACK

Following in the footsteps of other late-1970s IPC comics in going direct to the movies for inspiration, Rat Pack took its cue from Robert Aldrich’s gritty 1967 war actioner The Dirty Dozen, in which a group of US Army convicts (played by Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson and co) are enlisted for a dirty and hard-to-survive mission.


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: Staz Johnson / Colours: Gary Caldwell / Letters: Simon Bowland

STRATO SQUAD // Convoy Strike!

One of the launch series in Battle Picture Weekly, with art by the unheralded Italian illustrator Paolo Ongaro, Lofty’s One-Man Luftwaffe lasted for just four months, before aeroplane action left the comic ahead of Johnny Red’s arrival two years later. The premise was simple and effective – that downed RAF pilot and Nazi POW ‘Lofty’ Banks escapes from a concentration camp, takes on the identity of dead German air ace Major Ranke, and begins a secret war of attrition against the Luftwaffe while pretending to be a part of it.


Script: Alec Worley / Art: Patrick Goddard / Colours: Jim Boswell / Letters: Jim Campbell

ANDERSON, PSI-DIVISION // The Wolf & The Dragon

Mega-City One, 2106 AD. There are many divisions in Justice Department dedicated to the fight against crime, from Tek to Wally Squad, and for cases of a paranormal nature there is Psi-Division, its officers all gifted with psychic talents. Most powerful of the telepaths is Cassandra Anderson, who has the ability to read minds and occasionally receive flashes of future events. Sardonic and irreverent, Anderson is given more leeway as as Psi-Judge…


Script: Alex De Campi / Art: John McCrea / Colours: Mike Spicer / Letters: Jim Campbell

DARKE’S MOB

A predecessor to 2000 AD classic Bad Company, Darkie’s Mob had a brutal and uncompromising commander gathering a ramshackle group of fighters around him to fight against an even more monstrously lethal enemy, with their collective descent into the heart of darkness catalogued by a raw private along for the ride.


Script: John Wagner / Art: Dan Cornwell / Colours: Dylan Teague / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR // Incorruptible, part six

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But Spector is making many enemies amongst the cops, and they’re not above murder to try to get rid of him…


Script: Brian Buckley / Art: Alberto Ponticelli / Colours: Stephen Downer / Letters: Tom B. Long

ROGUE TROOPER // Part two

Nu-Earth, just another planet ravaged by a galaxy-wide war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. Created to fight in such conditions were the G.I.s – genetically engineered infantrymen. But now only one remains, the man known as… Rogue Trooper!


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED // Part five

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS // Most Wanted, part five

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and become a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime, and is proving herself for Mr Fugly, the local crimelord…


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: John Higgins / Colour: Sally Hurst / Letters: Simon Bowland

DREADNOUGHTS // The March of Progress, Part six

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and uniformed cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Now a drugs cartel is striking back at the law, and Judge Veranda Glover is fleeing with a vital prisoner, whom the cartel want returned to them…

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2000 AD Prog 2349 out now!


ATTENTION, EARTHLETS – 2000 AD Prog 2349 is OUT NOW!

I am The Mighty Tharg, your galactic green godhead at the helm of this cosmic comic!

At what point in the history of my pulse-pounding publication did you first encounter that severe-looking young Judge with the bob haircut?

Maybe you’re a long-term Squaxx and you were there for her debut in The Judge Child in 1980; perhaps you caught up a little later when she reappeared across the decades in stories like Destiny’s Angels, The Graveyard Shift or The Doomsday Scenario, after which she ascended to the highest office in Mega-City One. Or there were the series of solo adventures that were a regular part of the Megazine’s line-up during the nineties.

Either way, Judge Barbara Hershey has been a significant and iconic character for many, many years, both a reliable ally for Dredd and in more recent years someone with whom he clashed over policy. But now we wave farewell to Hershey as her post-Smiley mission has come to an end, and the pathogen that has been slowly consuming her can no longer be fended off.

Terrans, I bid you to raise a glass (or polystyrene cup, your choice) and say goodbye to Hershey — bringing the law to the lawless until death!

2000 AD Prog 2349 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of 2000 AD in the first week of its release then postage in the UK is free!

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

GET COVER PRINTS >>


Cover by Simon Fraser

Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Tom Foster / Colours: Chris Blythe / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

JUDGE DREDD // A Fallen Man, Part Eight

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. Home to over 200 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant, and only future cops the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, former Judge Kyle Asher is attempting to flee the city, having betrayed his Mob employers…


Script: Eddie Robson / Art: Nick Brokenshire / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

THARG’S 3RILLERS // DIE HOARD, Part Three

Three episodes, one complete, self-contained story — a condensed hit of super-charged Thrill-power beamed to you directly from the Nerve Centre! Earth, the twenty-second century, in the aftermath of a brutal war with an alien race called the Imishoi. A house-clearance team are assessing the hundreds of items that have been hoarded in a reclusive millionaire’s mansion — but the house’s A.I. is still active…


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Tazio Bettin / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Jim Campbell

AZIMUTH // INFLICTER OF SORROWS

Welcome to the city of AZIMUTH, a data-driven metropolis, where anything is possible. Ruled by an aristocracy of the New Flesh, such concepts of life, death, and body-forms are fluid. Anyone can take any shape, if it can be conceived by the imagination. The New Flesh masters have been troubled by strange dreams and portents, which have predicted the coming of a stranger — none other than Ramone Dexter…


Script: Rob Williams / Art: Simon Fraser / Letters: Simon Bowland

HERSHEY // THE COLD IN THE BONES, Part Eight

Barbara Hershey was a respected young officer before she became Chief Judge. Leading the city through numerous challenges, the ‘Small House’ affair and the revelation of Judge Smiley’s clandestine operations on her watch made her re-evaluate her position. Seriously ill from a microbial virus, she’s faked her death to deal with his legacy, and now, with the case closed, her time is almost up…

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2000 AD Prog 2348 out now!


ATTENTION, EARTHLETS – 2000 AD Prog 2348 is OUT NOW!

Alien editor Tharg The Mighty here once again, delivering Thrill-power to your needy circuits!

Things are coming close to wrapping up in this prog, as we hit the penultimate parts of Judge Dredd thriller A Fallen Man, Azimuth, the 3riller Die Hoard, and Hershey’s elegiac outing The Cold in the Bones. Add to that a complete Future Shock, Fear & Loathing of Las Vegas, by the Hartley and Currie droids, and it’s an issue thrumming with sheer momentum. Be here in seven for multiple finales across the board!

Indeed, be here in a fortnight and you’ll have the pleasure of diving into the zarjaz Prog 2350, a bumper outing so expansive that it spills into Meg 460 too, which is on sale the same day (yes, like the zombie spectacular last year, you’ll get the most from the experience if you purchase both titles). So what’s the theme of 2023’s scrotnig special?

Well, long-term Squaxx will be aware that both Starlord and Tornado were merged with 2000 AD, bringing with them select characters such as Strontium Dog and Blackhawk. But what if, in an alternate past, Battle Action folded into the GGC, and the likes of Major Eazy, Hellman and El Mestizo joined the SF line-up? What then, Terrans? What then? Stay tuned!

2000 AD Prog 2348 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of 2000 AD in the first week of its release then postage in the UK is free!

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

GET COVER PRINTS >>


Cover by Jake Lynch

Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Tom Foster / Colours: Chris Blythe / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

JUDGE DREDD // A Fallen Man, Part Seven

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. Home to over 200 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant, and only future cops the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, former Judge Kyle Asher is attempting to flee the city, having betrayed his Mob employers…


Script: Ned Hartley / Art: Joe Currie / Letters: Simon Bowland

FUTURE SHOCKS // FEAR & LOATHING OF LAS VEGAS

Out in the vast reaches of the universe, there are an infinite number of stories waiting to be told. These cautionary tales pass from traveller to traveller in the spaceports and around campfires on distant planets, acquiring the status of legend, their shocking ends a salutory lesson in hubris. Anything is possible in these twisted trips into the galaxy’s dark side. Abandon your preconceptions, and expect the unexpected…


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Tazio Bettin / Colours: Matt Soffe / Letters: Jim Campbell

AZIMUTH // THE STRANGER, Part Six

Welcome to the city of AZIMUTH, a data-driven metropolis, where anything is possible. Ruled by an aristocracy of the New Flesh, such concepts of life, death, and body-forms are fluid. Anyone can take any shape, if it can be conceived by the imagination. The New Flesh masters have been troubled by strange dreams and portents, which seem to have predicted the coming of a stranger — none other than Ramone Dexter…


Script: Eddie Robson / Art: Nick Brokenshire / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

THARG’S 3RILLERS // DIE HOARD, Part Two

Three episodes, one complete, self-contained story — a condensed hit of super-charged Thrill-power beamed to you directly from the Nerve Centre! Earth, the twenty-second century, in the aftermath of a brutal war with an alien race called the Imishoi. A house-clearance team are assessing the hundreds of items that have been hoarded in a reclusive millionaire’s mansion — but the house’s A.I. is still active…


Script: Rob Williams / Art: Simon Fraser / Letters: Simon Bowland

HERSHEY // THE COLD IN THE BONES, Part Seven

Barbara Hershey was a respected young officer before she became Chief Judge. Leading the city through numerous challenges, the ‘Small House’ affair and the revelation of Judge Smiley’s clandestine operations on her watch made her re-evaluate her position. Seriously ill from a microbial virus, she’s faked her death to deal with his legacy, and now she’s returned to MC-1 to see out the case…

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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #459

Judge Dredd Megazine #459 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #459 is OUT NOW!

We’ve got three new stories inside this issue – first off there’s a complete Judge Dredd thriller by Mike Carroll and Nicolo Assirelli; secondly, we head back over forty years to the early days of the future metropolis for another retro Mega-City 2099 tale, once again crafted by Ken Niemand and Conor Boyle; and third, we have the start of Brian Ruckley and Alberto Ponticelli’s sadly short-lived 2014 Rogue Trooper series for IDW, the only other 2000 AD ongoing featuring original material that they put out besides Dredd.

In addition to that, we have the latest instalments of Spector, Lawless, Dreadnoughts and Johnny Red, plus a trio of interviews: John Stokes discusses his wide-ranging career ahead of next month’s new Thirteenth Floor collection, Steve Sampson talks mid-nineties Psi-Judge Anderson, and writer Geoffrey D. Wessel reveals his in-roads to being published in the Galaxy’s Greatest.

Indeed, the Wessel droid will be appearing in Prog 2350, a special Battle Action crossover issue, and we’ll be seeing some of that war drama infiltrating Meg 460 as Battle characters get Dreddworld reinventions. Be here in thirty, creeps, for new twists on old favourites!

Judge Dredd Megazine #459 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover by Dylan Teague

Script: Mike Carroll / Art: Nicolo Assirelli / Colours: Gary Caldwell / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

JUDGE DREDD // Fitting The Description

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens, with the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!


Script: John Wagner / Art: Dan Cornwell / Colours: Dylan Teague / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR // Incorruptible, part five

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Conor Boyle / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

MEGA-CITY 2099 // The Thin Blue Line

Mega-City One, 2099 AD. Before the Judges took complete control of the metropolis, there were two strands of law enforcement – regular uniformed cops did much of the day-to-day policing, while the helmeted Judges were called upon to pass judgement on certain criminals, their vested powers giving them the ability to dispense on-the-spot sentences…


Script: Dan Abnett / Art: Phil Winslade / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS // Most Wanted, part four

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and becoming a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime…


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: John Higgins / Colour: Sally Hurst / Letters: Simon Bowland

DREADNOUGHTS // The March of Progress, Part five

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and more than a few cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Judge Veranda Glover is a recent transfer to Boulder, Colorado, where a drugs cartel is striking back at the law…


Script: John Wagner & Alan Grant / Art: José Ortiz

THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR

Maxwell Tower is a state-of-the art tower block: a bold, experimental council tenement, run by an A.I. called Max. As building superintendent, Max’s primary function is the welfare of his tenants, a duty which he takes very very seriously. If anyone threatens his precious residents or the building itself, they can expect a visit to the thirteenth floor… A place where nightmare and reality become one!


Script: Brian Buckley / Art: Alberto Ponticelli / Colours: Stephen Downer / Letters: Tom B. Long

ROGUE TROOPER // Part one

Nu-Earth, just another planet ravaged by a galaxy-wide war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. Created to fight in such conditions were the G.I.s – genetically engineered infantrymen. But now only one remains, the man known as… Rogue Trooper!


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED // Part four

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


Features:

  • Interview: Geoffrey D. Wessel
  • Interview: John Stokes
  • Interview: Steve Sampson
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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #458

Judge Dredd Megazine #458 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #458 is OUT NOW!

A brand-new complete Judge Dredd thriller kicks off this issue in the shape of ‘Ratings War’ by Ian Edginton and Stewart K. Moore, plus we reach the finale of the Dark Judges saga ‘Death Metal Planet’.

Elsewhere, we have the latest instalments of Spector, Lawless and Dreadnoughts, and take a peek into new title Mega-City Max, which is on sale right now and puts a YA spin on several Dreddverse characters, including Devlin Waugh, DeMarco, P.I. and Walter the Wobot, written and drawn for the most part by creators from outside the regular 2000 AD talent pool. If it proves successful, it could be developed into an ongoing monthly, bridging the audience between the all-ages Regened stories and the prog and Meg itself. Watch this space as to whether another anthology could be joining the GGC family!

In addition, there’s chats with artist Aly Fell about his latest book and the team behind new mini First Men on Mars (both crowd-funded projects, as with last month’s Bogie Man GN – increasingly the most viable route indie creators are taking), and an interview with Conor Boyle – look out for a new ‘Mega-City 2099’ episode next issue!

Judge Dredd Megazine #458 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover by Nick Percival

Script: Ian Edginton / Art: Stewart K. Moore / Letters: Annie Parlhouse

JUDGE DREDD // Ratings War

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens, with the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west and the toxic Black Atlantic to the east. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!


Script: John Wagner / Art: Carlos Ezquerra / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR // Incorruptible, part four

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: David Hine / Art: Nick Percival / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

DARK JUDGES // Death Metal Planet, part ten

After the events on the Mayflower, in which the Dark Judges were ejected into space, they ended up on the colony world of Dominion, which they proceeded to decimate. When Mega- City marines were sent in, assisted by survivor Rosco, the planet was destroyed. Worshipped like gods on Thanatopia by a death-cult, they’re now part of a death-metal festival…


Script: Ales Kot / Art: Rob Richardson / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS // Most Wanted, part three

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and becoming a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime…


Script: Matt Smith / Art: Carl Critchlow / Letters: Shawn Lee

ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION // The King of the Six Sectors, part four

In an adventure from Cassandra Anderson’s early days in the Mega-City One Psi-Division, writer Matt Smith and artist Carl Critchlow present “King of the Six Sectors.” It all starts with Anderson awaking from an unusually strong vision of an attack on the Megapolitan Museum showcasing Cursed Earth artifacts…


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED // part three

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


Script: A;an Hebden / Art: Cam Kennedy

CLASH OF THE GUARDS

Italy, 1943. The United States Army have sent Captain Brad Clash to join a British platoon in order to learn from their experiences of fighting in WWII. A former Hollywood stuntman and speedway driver, Clash is a man of action who likes to tackle the enemy head on. All guts and glory, he uses his superior driving skills and American-made weapons, like the Winchester trench Gun, to keep the German Army at bay.


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: John Higgins / Colour: Sally Hurst / Letters: Simon Bowland

DREADNOUGHTS // The March of Progress, Part four

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and more than a few cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Judge Veranda Glover is a recent transfer to Boulder, Colorado, and is making her presence felt…


Features:

  • New books: First Men on Mars
  • Interview: Ron Tiner
  • Interview: Conor Boyle
  • Interview: Aly Fell
  • New comics: Mega-City Max
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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #457

Judge Dredd Megazine #457 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #457 is OUT NOW!

We reach the climax of ‘One-Eyed Jacks’ as the plot to rewrite history relies on New York cops McBane and Fargo to thwart it and consequently save Mega-City One, plus there’s more thrilling action in Dreadnoughts, Spector (with Dan Cornwell taking over on art duties from the late Carlos Ezquerra), Lawless and the penultimate part of Death Metal Planet.

Elsewhere, there’s chats with Dredd artist Kieran McKeown and fellow pencil-bot Rob Davis, a look at the stunning Kevin O’Neill Apex Edition, following similar tomes featuring the work of Brian Bolland and Mick McMahon, which Kev was closely involved with shortly before his death, and John Wagner reveals all about the return of The Bogie Man, his, Alan Grant and Robin Smith’s creator-owned detective comedy, a collection of which is being Kickstarted as we speak.

Judge Dredd Megazine #457 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>

DOWNLOAD THE APP >>


Cover by Kieran McKeown & Quinton Winter

Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Kieran McKeown / Colours: Quinton Winter / Letters: Annie Parlhouse

JUDGE DREDD // One-Eyed Jacks, part six

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law! Now, Dredd and Rico are investigating a link between 1970s New York and the twenty-second century…


Script: John Wagner / Art: Carlos Ezquerra / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR // Incorruptible, part three

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: David Hine / Art: Nick Percival / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

DARK JUDGES // Death Metal Planet, part nine

After the events on the Mayflower, in which the Dark Judges were ejected into space, they ended up on the colony world of Dominion, which they proceeded to decimate. When Mega- City marines were sent in, assisted by survivor Rosco, the planet was destroyed. Worshipped like gods on Thanatopia by a death-cult, they’re now part of a death-metal festival…


Script: Ales Kot / Art: Rob Richardson / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS // Most Wanted, part two

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and becoming a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime…


Script: Matt Smith / Art: Carl Critchlow / Letters: Shawn Lee

ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION // The King of the Six Sectors, part three

In an adventure from Cassandra Anderson’s early days in the Mega-City One Psi-Division, writer Matt Smith and artist Carl Critchlow present “King of the Six Sectors.” It all starts with Anderson awaking from an unusually strong vision of an attack on the Megapolitan Museum showcasing Cursed Earth artifacts…


Script: Garth Ennis / Art: Keith Burns / Colour: Jason Wordie / Letters: Rob Steen

JOHNNY RED // part two

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


THE SPIDER SYNDICATE OF CRIME VS THE CROOK FROM SPACE

He’s the undisputed king of crime! The Spider is an amazing mastermind with a stunning array of weaponry and a vast network of villainous henchmen! Now the underworld is fighting back and have sent a strange assassin known as The Exterminator to lure the spider into a trap! But one battle isn’t enough for this arachnid adventurer – when a shape shifting crook from another planet arrives on Earth, the Spider must stop the alien from plundering the planet and toppling him from power!


Script: Mike Carroll / Art: John Higgins / Colour: Sally Hurst / Letters: Simon Bowland

DREADNOUGHTS // The March of Progress, Part three

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and more than a few cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Judge Veranda Glover is a recent transfer to Boulder, Colorado, and is making her presence felt…


Features:

  • New Books: Bogieman by Karl Stock
  • Focus on Kevin O’Neill Apex Edition by Karl Stock
  • Focus on Jerry Siegel’s The Spider by Karl Stock
  • Interview with Rob Davis by Stephen Jewell
  • Interview with Kieran McKeown by Karl Stock
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OUT NOW: Judge Dredd Megazine #456

Judge Dredd Megazine #456 out now

Judge Dredd Megazine #456 is OUT NOW!

With the new five-issue series of Battle Action that starts the end of this month. Ennis writes one of the stories per issue with a different artist, and he’s joined by a whole bunch of other creators working on characters such as Major Eazy, Death Squad, D-Day Dawson and more. For #1, John Wagner returns to the naval drama of HMS Nightshade, drawn by Dan Cornwell – learn more about the all-star line-up as Karl Stock chats to the writers and artists involved in this issue!

Indeed, two of those creators, Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade, are back in this very Meg as Lawless returns, picking up on the story from last year, with Metta Lawson now aligning herself with the organised crime outfit plaguing Badrock. Elsewhere, there’s all-out action in the latest instalments of Judge Dredd, Death Metal Planet, Dreadnoughts and Spector – and to coincide with the new Battle Action series, we reprint Ennis and Keith Burns’ Johnny Red mini-series, originally published by Titan in 2015. Fall in and enjoy, citizens!

Judge Dredd Megazine #456 is out now from all good newsagents and comic book stores, plus digitally from our webshop and apps! Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of the Megazine in the first month of its release then postage in the UK is free!

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Cover by Nick Percival

Script: Ken Niemand / Art: Kieran McKeown / Colours: Quinton Winter / Letters: Annie Parlhouse

JUDGE DREDD // One-Eyed Jacks, part five

Mega-City One, 2145 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 200 million citizens. Crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law! Now, Dredd and Rico are investigating a link between 1970s New York and the twenty-second century…


Script: John Wagner / Art: Carlos Ezquerra / Letters: Jim Campbell

SPECTOR // Incorruptible, part two

In a near-future US city, corruption within the branches of government has reached unsustainable levels. City Hall is rotten to the core, and the police force is equally on the take. To that end, Spector is created, a robot detective – beyond bribery and untainted by potential malfeasance – charged with rooting out criminal elements. But the android inspector is making many enemies…


Script: David Hine / Art: Nick Percival / Letters: Annie Parkhouse

DARK JUDGES // Death Metal Planet, part eight

After the events on the Mayflower, in which the Dark Judges were ejected into space, they ended up on the colony world of Dominion, which they proceeded to decimate. When Mega- City marines were sent in, assisted by survivor Rosco, the planet was destroyed. Worshipped like gods on Thanatopia by a death-cult, they’re now part of a death-metal festival…


Script: Ales Kot / Art: Rob Richardson / Letters: Simon Bowland

LAWLESS // Most Wanted, part one

Colonial Marshal Metta Lawson was appointed to the frontier township of Badrock on the planet 43 Rega, intent on stamping her authority on the colony. But in doing so, Lawson made many enemies, including Munce, Inc., the mega-corporation that funded Badrock. Now, having been thrown off the force, and becoming a vigilante, she’s turned to organised crime…


Script: Matt Smith / Art: Carl Critchlow / Letters: Shawn Lee

ANDERSON, PSI DIVISION // The King of the Six Sectors, part two

In an adventure from Cassandra Anderson’s early days in the Mega-City One Psi-Division, writer Matt Smith and artist Carl Critchlow present “King of the Six Sectors.” It all starts with Anderson awaking from an unusually strong vision of an attack on the Megapolitan Museum showcasing Cursed Earth artifacts…


Script: Douglas Wolk / Art: Ulises Farinas / Colour: Ryan Hill / Letters: Tom Long

JOHNNY RED // part one

Legendary British fighter ace, Johnny ‘Red’ Redburn, returns once more as the commander of the Falcons – a Russian fighter squadron battling the Nazis in the skies over Stalingrad. But dogfighting Messerschmitts is about to become the least of his troubles when the NVKD – the notorious Soviet secret police – come calling!


THE 10,000 DISASTERS OF DORT

Written by Mike Butterworth, the writer behind the hit series The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire, and with art by Luis Bermejo and José Ortiz, THE 10,000 DISASTERS OF DORT is a slice of classic British comics filled with disaster, action, and peril! It is the year 2000. In fifty years’ time the planet Dort will collide with its sun and be destroyed. Ratta, the dictator of Dort has chosen Earth as a new home for his people – but first he is creating ten thousand disasters to wipe out all human life! Only Britain’s best scientist, Professor Mike Dauntless, has the mind and spirit to stop Ratta from destroying humankind! Originally running in the legendary comic Lion from 18 May 1968 to 23 November 1968, though when the strip was reprinted in Lion in 1974 it featured a new conclusion! The last two episodes were changed, though the writer and artist behind this remain unknown.


DREADNOUGHTS // The March of Progress, Part One

USA, 2035 AD. The new Justice Department is still in its early years, with Judges working alongside the police. It’s proving an explosive transition, with many citizens – and more than a few cops – unhappy with these helmeted officers taking to the streets. Judge Veranda Glover is a recent transfer to Boulder, Colorado, and is making her presence felt…


Features:

  • Focus on Diceman by Stephen Jewell
  • Interviews with creators behind the new Battle Action series by Karl Stock
  • Focus on José Ortiz by Karl Stock