There has never before been an anti-hero in British comicslike Hellman of Hammer Force!
From the invasion of Poland in 1939 through to the fall of Berlin in 1945, Hellman of Hammer Force saw action on many fronts, and this collection contains all the hard-hitting war stories told through the eyes of Hellman which were published in Battle from 1977 through to 1978.
This ground-breaking series of thrilling combat is written by Gerry Finley-Day (Rogue Trooper) and drawn by Mike Dorey (Ro-Busters) and Patrick Wright (Day of the Eagle).
Includes all the stories published in Battle, including the never before reprinted ‘Fall of Berlin’ storyline!
Hellman of Hammer Force: Downfall is out on 28 March from comic book stores and will be available for stores to order through Diamond Distribution’s Previews magazine. It will also be available in print and digital from the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops and digitally through the 2000 AD app.
You’re gonna need a bigger book shelf – because the first collection of the classic Gums from the pages of Monster Fun is here!
The Great White (toothless) shark stalks a territory around the Australian coast, where he constantly butts heads with local surfer, Bluey. While Gums is out to snack on the youngster, Bluey is determined to take the shark’s false teeth as a memento!
Written by Roy Davis with art by Robert Nixon and Alf Saporito, this hapless, loveable shark with false teeth was a highlight of the short-livedhumour comic Monster Fun and proved to be so popular with the fans that he appeared as the front cover strip for most of the run.
Out now, this collection includes Gums strips from Monster Fun 7 February to 30 October 1976, as well as the Monster Fun annual stories from 1977 to 1985.
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire Vol.5 is out now!
The best-selling books collecting the legendary science-fiction classic, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, continues with a fifth volume collecting comics legend Don Lawrence’s final work on the iconic series.
The 1960s science fiction series from the pages of Ranger and Look & Learn, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire is one of the great treasures of the British comics and one of the first full-colour ‘widescreen’ comics, thanks to Lawrence’s incredible painted artwork.
The series’ fascinating and thrilling combination of the Roman Empire and ancient Greece alongside fantasy and sci-fi storylines make it one of the landmarks of British comics, and provided childhood inspiration for pop culture luminaries such as writer Neil Gaiman and director Duncan Jones.
This fifth volume in the hit series reprints all the stories originally published in Look & Learn from 1975 through to 1977, and contains Lawrence’s final, flawlessly-painted pages on the series he co-created with Mike Butterworth.
Trigo, his nephew Janno, and the trusted scientist Peric all band together to protect the citizens of the Trigan Empire, from threats both alien and clandestine in these fast-paced yet beautifully painted comic stories which enthralled readers on original publication.
Hibernia Comics are back with the fifth in its Fleetway Files collection – ‘TimeQuake’!
“TIME TRAVEL! IT’S FLAMIN’ IMPOSSIBLE! Before the agents of Indigo Prime and Loki’s Time Variance Authority there was ‘TimeQuake’! Time-Control patrol the timelines to keep reality safe from time-quakes: devastating changes to the structure of time caused by threats ranging from alien incursions to Nazi meddling and techno-Aztec attacks. Time-Control recruit unsuspecting 1970s hard man, James Blocker, to join their fight against the murderous alien Droon and Blocker’s no-nonsense East End attitude soon makes him an indispensable, albeit reluctant, member of the Time-Control team. Together with 32nd Century princess Suzi Cho, the Aztec Quexalcholmec and Time-Control chief Harl Vinda, Blocker must help keep the timelines safe and on the right track!
Written by Chris Lowder (Adam Eterno, Victor Drago) and boasting the artistic talents of Ian Kennedy, John Cooper, Alberto Salinas and Jesús Redondo, this time-bending tale is one of the highlights of short-lived 2000 AD stablemate, Starlord.
The artwork has been restored to match its original publication, this is the first time TimeQuake has been collected in any format, in this limited print run of just 300 copies.
This volume presents all of the weekly adventures of this classic from the pages of Starlord and 2000 AD. Don’t find yourself stuck in the past, jump onboard with TimeQuake now!
108 pages (A4 perfect bound), including all colour pages and centrespreads, and with cover gallery.
Packed with lovingly-restored classics and brand new high-octane stories, the Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024 is a festive treat for fans of the best of British comics.
Collected together in a gorgeous hardcover, the Treasury of British Comics Annual not only features stunning early work by industry greats such as Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) and Steve Dillon (Preacher) but also gems like ‘Moon Madness’ by Alf Wallace and artist Brian Lewis, Leo Baxendale’s Grimly Feendish and Ken Reid on Frankie Stein, as well as new comics such as the comics head-to-head The Spider vs The Leopard from Lime Street by Simon Furman (Transformers), David Roach (Anderson, Psi Division) and Mike Collins (Doctor Who), fantasy questing in Black Beth by Alec Worley (Durham Red) and DaNi (Coffin Bound) and the gory action of Gustav of the Bearmacht by Kek-W (The Order) and Staz Johnson (Dark Legacies).
Available only from comic book stores and the Treasury of British Comics webshop, the Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024 comes in a retail edition with cover by Henry Flint (Judge Dredd) and webshop exclusive edition featuring a cover by David Roach.
Standard edition with Henry Flint coverWebshop exclusive ed. with David Roach cover
The team behind the Treasury of British Comics imprint have dived deep into the archives of IPC, one of the world’s biggest publishers of comic books, to select slick and exciting stories from such legendary British comic book titles as Lion, Starlord, Misty, Action, Wham!, Scream!, Smash!, Battle and Valiant!
Featuring the best of British talent including Brian Bolland (Batman: The Killing Joke), Joe Colquhoun (Charley’s War), Steve Dillon (Preacher), Pat Mills (Nemesis the Warlock), Leo Baxendale (Bash Street Kids) and many more, the Treasury of British Comics Annual will bring the magic back to this great British tradition with a veritable newsagents’ shelf full of classic stories from annuals, specials and titles of the past, lovingly restored and reprinted comics will sit alongside three brand new strips.
Famed Transformers writer Simon Furman pits two of Britain’s greatest characters – The Leopard from Lime Street and The Spider – against each other. Artists David Roach and Mike Collins (Doctor Who) bring to life the titanic head-to-head between the feline powers of young Billy Farmer against the inventive but ruthless master criminal and anti-hero!
There is the thunderous return of the wandering warrior, Black Beth, as writer Alec Worley (Durham Red) once again teams up with breakout artist DaNi (Coffin Bound) to deliver another tale of Beth’s quest to punish evildoers, with stunning pages evoking the work of master artist Sergio Toppi but with a dynamic, gothic edge and startling colour.
And, on the Eastern Front in the dying days of World War Two, Sergeant Holstein and his battle-hardened unit of men (and one mighty beast) face off against cutthroat Cossacks in Gustav of the Bearmacht by Kek-W (The Order) and Staz Johnson (Dark Legacies).
With something for all ages, the Treasury of British Comics Annual 2024 is the perfect Christmas gift for fans of classic British comics and a perfect introduction to a world of action and adventure for the next generation.
Superheroes from across the ages – assemble! A brand new comics mini-series unleashes the power of some of comics’ greatest characters of all time!
Written by renowned artist/writer Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff) with art from Tom Foster (Judge Dredd), Anna Morozova (Lowborn High) and cover artist Andy Clarke (Batman and Robin), this fast-paced action-adventure mini-series features the very best and the most outlandish heroes, superheroes, and anti-heroes that comics can offer!
From two very different 1960s secret agents – Jane Bond and The Steel Claw – to mechanical menaces Robot Archie and the murderous AI Max from The Thirteenth Floor, and villainous anti-hero The Spider and supernatural avenger Cursitor Doom, this is a series a whole century in the making.
This brand new mini-series unleashes the power of some of the last century’s greatest comic book characters. Having been inspired by them to create his acclaimed self-published series Jack Staff, Grist now realises his vision with the original versions of these legendary characters.
In Victorian London, when the legendary elastic-limbed escapologist Janus Stark traps a demon in a stone idol, hoping to seal away the malevolent monster for all time – yet he has just created a prize too alluring for criminal masterminds to resist!
Sixty years later, terrifying high-tech thief The Spider organises a heist for his Crime Syndicate to the steal the statuette. But heroes from across the ages unite to confound the king of crime, and prevent him from unleashing the demon hidden inside. Can they succeed and keep the evil of the stone idol contained?
However, The Steel Claw and Jane Bond are assigned to halt the theft, but they encounter a mysterious stranger who throws both sides’ plans into disarray.
Paul Grist said: “The Spider is, without doubt, my favourite British comic character. There are others that are more famous, more heroic, or just longer running, but it’s the Spider that’s been living rent free in my head since I first came across him in the pages of a ‘Summer Special’ whilst on a caravan holiday with my family many summers ago.
“So to be asked to write a bunch of stories of his battles with his more ‘heroic’ contemparies wasn’t something I was going to turn down! At least I could finally get him to earn his keep!
“The three-issue that make up this series of Smash! give the Spider a chance to cavort across 60 years of British comics history, crossing paths with the Steel Claw, Robot Archie and Adam Eterno, as well as a few surprise ‘guest stars’ along the way. I even get to write a Janus Stark story to kick things off!
“But don’t worry, it doesn’t require the reader to have read years of British comics in order to appreciate it. But I hope that it will give the you, the reader, a flavour of the range, variety and, quite frankly, the sheer bonkersness of British comics over the years!”
Every week, 2000 AD brings you the galaxy’s greatest artwork and 2000 AD Covers Uncovered takes you behind-the-scenes with the headline artists responsible for our top cover art – join bloggers Richard Bruton and Pete Wells as they uncover the greatest covers from 2000 AD and beyond!
This week, we’re going away from the Prog for a moment to celebrate the coming together of superheroes from across the ages of Brit comics with the release of the first issue of Smash!
Across three issues writer Paul Grist and artists Tom Foster, Anna Morozova, Jimmy Broxton, and VV Glass are going to unleash the power of Brit comics’ greatest, including Janus Stark, The Spider, Cursitor Doom, Robot Archie, Jane Bond, and The Steel Claw. There’s even a visit to the Thirteenth Floor with the psychotic AI Max!
It’s a no-letting-up, fast-paced, action-adventure mini-series that features the very best and the most outlandish heroes, superheroes, and anti-heroes that comics can offer! It all begins in Victorian London with Janus Stark creating a demonic prize way too tempting, some sixty years later, for The Spider to avoid planning a heist! And that’s just the start of it all, with heroes from across the ages coming together to attempt to thwart the King of Crooks!
Smash! #1 arrives in comic book stores and on the 2000 AD webshop and app on 25 October. Each issue has a stunning cover by Andy Clarke, and he’s here right now to tell you all about putting the cover to SMASH! Issue 1 together…
ANDY CLARKE: I’ll admit, as with the Battle Action cover, I knew the characters in Smash! by name only. I’d seen the odd piece of artwork before – The Spider in particular, but I hadn’t seen any of the comics. Despite my ignorance, I was well up for taking a crack at these covers – it felt like something fresh and new (to me) to have a go at. So when editor Oliver Pickles asked if I’d like to do them, I didn’t have to think about it, it felt exciting to give it a go.
Oliver was able to provide a whole bundle of reference material, past and fairly present, so I could familiarise myself with the characters. There was some great classic-looking artwork in there, a couple of terrific Chris Weston pieces and some superb pages for issue 1. It makes things a lot more enjoyable when you have art from Anna Morozova and Tom Foster to look at and spur you on. Top stuff.
And here’s that reference material that Oliver sent over to Andy…
The Spider by Chris Weston & The Steel Claw by Jesus Blasco
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Classic Janus Stark by Ian Kennedy and the Smash! issue 1 version by Tom Foster
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More reference – Anna Morozova’s take on The Spider and Jane Bond (no relation) from Smash! issue 1
ANDY CLARKE: Oliver had the initial idea of looking at Sean Murphy’s Batman covers for composition ideas to start with – it made a lot of sense as the kinda film-poster feel of those covers would suit these multi-character Smash! covers pretty well.
More reference to set the gears inside Andy’s head working – Sean Murphy’s recent Batman covers, all evoking that classic film poster look to things
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So, with that in mind (but in the back somewhere, so it wasn’t too prevalent), I roughed up some sketches for all three, just really to see if anything popped out that I could carry across them all so they had a connection of some kind.
Pretty soon, the Idol looked like it would be the thing that could link the covers together – the Idol also did a lot of the heavy-lifting for each layout/composition in the end, it helped tie everything together. And, as the series is set in different decades, I wanted to add a 1960s (for issue 1) and a 1980s (for issue 2) background pattern or design as a nod to that.
Once it was agreed the Idol would be the one element repeated on all three covers, I thought that once I’d inked the outline, done all the grey-tone, the flats, the colour and rim-lights on it for issue 1, I could drop it into the other two covers without having to redo it from scratch each time. Then all I had to do was alter the colours and highlights on the Idol for #2 and 3 so it matched the colour-scheme around it. Bit of a cheat really, but it saved some time.
Andy Clarke’s initial sketch roughs for the cover of Smash! issue 1
And here’s Paul Grist’s sketch of the Idol, sent to every artist to maintain the look
The sketch for #1 came together fairly quickly, but 2 and 3 took a little longer to finalise. So, while I thought about those, I got on with working up the cover for issue 1 – I’d come back to 2 and 3 after #1 was done. I was hoping I’d have a better idea how to proceed on the other two once the first one was complete.
The process with these covers was the same as with my 2000 AD ones. The only extra this time was I thought I’d make things a little easier for myself by looking at Chris Weston’s Spider piece and make some quick models of the equipment (the gun, the back-pack etc.) in SketchUp. As The Spider was central to each of the three covers, I thought it might benefit and I wasn’t all that confident about drawing that stuff from scratch each time and from different angles.
And that’s just what Andy did. So, working through his process pieces that he sent over, first we have those SketchUp models of The Spider’s equipment…
Andy’s model renderings of The Spider’s gun, back-pack and… actually, what they hell are those things?
And after that we have the process of Andy working through the stages – pencils, inks, adding the greys, adding flat colour, and then making it all pop for the final version…
Pencil stage first – and Andy’s pencils really are incredibly detailed and tight
Now to the inks – as usual, Andy inks the outlines and leaves the detailing for the next stage, adding in the greys
Next up, adding in the greys – and Andy’s an artsit who leaves it to this stage to really go to town on the details
Nearly there – adding in the flat colours
And hey presto – with just a touch of a button, it’s all done. Actually no, more like after hours and hours and hours of back-breaking colouring work, it’s all done!
Well, what can we say except SMASHing! stuff from Andy right there! The covers to all three issues look amazing and the insides promise a cross-time caper with all the excitement of the best Brit comics and their unique take on superheroes! This is one series you shouldn’t miss.
You can find SMASH! issue 1 in comics shops and from the 2000 AD webshop and app on 25 October, and there’s also the chance to pick up all three SMASH! Issues in a bundle from the webshop right here.
Superheroes from across the ages – assemble! A brand new comics mini-series is unleashing the power of some of comics’ greatest characters of all time!
Written by renowned artist/writer Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff), this fast-paced action-adventure mini-series features the very best and the most outlandish heroes, superheroes, and anti-heroes that comics can offer!
From two very different 1960s secret agents – Jane Bond and The Steel Claw – to mechanical menaces Robot Archie and the murderous AI Max from The Thirteenth Floor, and villainous anti-hero The Spider and supernatural avenger Cursitor Doom, this is a series a whole century in the making.
With each issue featuring brand new art from Tom Foster (Judge Dredd), Anna Morozova (Lowborn High), Jimmy Broxton (Hope), V.V. Glass (Mega-City Max) and stunning covers by Andy Clarke (Batman and Robin), Smash! #1 arrives in comic book stores and on the 2000 AD webshop and app on 25 October, retailing at £4.99 (UK) and $7.99 (US).
This brand new mini-series unleashes the power of some of the last century’s greatest comic book characters. Having been inspired by them to create his acclaimed self-published series Jack Staff, Grist now realises his vision with the original versions of these legendary characters.
In Victorian London, when the legendary elastic-limbed escapologist Janus Stark traps a demon in a stone idol, hoping to seal away the malevolent monster for all time – yet he has just created a prize too alluring for criminal masterminds to resist!
Sixty years later, terrifying high-tech thief The Spider organises a heist for his Crime Syndicate to the steal the statuette. But heroes from across the ages unite to confound the king of crime, and prevent him from unleashing the demon hidden inside. Can they succeed and keep the evil of the stone idol contained?
However, The Steel Claw and Jane Bond are assigned to halt the theft, but they encounter a mysterious stranger who throws both sides’ plans into disarray.
Paul Grist said: “The Spider is, without doubt, my favourite British comic character. There are others that are more famous, more heroic, or just longer running, but it’s the Spider that’s been living rent free in my head since I first came across him in the pages of a ‘Summer Special’ whilst on a caravan holiday with my family many summers ago.
“So to be asked to write a bunch of stories of his battles with his more ‘heroic’ contemporaries wasn’t something I was going to turn down! At least I could finally get him to earn his keep!
“The three-issue that make up this series of Smash! give the Spider a chance to cavort across 60 years of British comics history, crossing paths with the Steel Claw, Robot Archie and Adam Eterno, as well as a few surprise ‘guest stars’ along the way. I even get to write a Janus Stark story to kick things off!
“But don’t worry, it doesn’t require the reader to have read years of British comics in order to appreciate it. But I hope that it will give the you, the reader, a flavour of the range, variety and, quite frankly, the sheer bonkersness of British comics over the years!”
Smash! #1 is out on 25 October, with subsequent issues released monthly. Grab this issue and more from your local comics shop – find your nearest comic book shop at ComicShopLocator.com.
To read Smash!, 2000 AD, the Judge Dredd Megazine, Monster Fun, fiction ebooks, and hundreds of graphic novel collections, download the 2000 AD app for iOS and Android devices. As well as reading a host of free comics, can read your purchases in the app or download them as DRM-free files from the 2000 AD webshop.
“The most peculiar, imaginative and challenging work in British comics ” – The New Statesman
Misty: 45 Years of Fear is a hardcover collection bringing together some of the best stories of the classic British girls’ horror comic.
In 1978 British comics were changed forever with the release of Misty, the classic cult horror comic for girls. Masterminded by Pat Mills, the creator of 2000 AD, this weekly comic featured the best comics talent working on haunting, terrifying tales.
With work by John Armstrong, Brian Delaney, Mario Capaldi, Jordi Badia Romero, Shirley Bellwood, and Jaume Rumeu Perera, this hardcover collection is out on 13 September.
Featuring the long stories ‘Moonchild’, ‘The Nightmare Academy’, ‘The Loving Cup’, ‘The Sentinals’ and the shorter stories ‘The Power of Young Melissa’, ‘The Twin Catastrophes’, ‘The Day The Sky Grew Dark’, ‘Mirror Mirror’, ‘Home For Christmas’ and ‘The Aegis’, from high ’70s glamour to chilling stories that have haunted readers for decades this essential collection curates the creepiest, campest Misty serials and short stories alongside critical essays, in a volume perfect for readers old and new.
The thrilling new BATTLE ACTION mini-series comes to an explosive end with its fifth issue!
The last issue of Battle Action is out from your local comic book store (Diamond code JUL231918) or from the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops.
This issue kicks off with an early adventure of ‘Hellman of Hammer Force’, when he leads the Condor Legion in Spain and the conflict forces him to determine what he will stand for – written by Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher), with art by Mike Dorey (2000 AD).
In ‘Nina Petrova and The Angels of Death’, Petrova takes a new Commissar under her wing and the green officer sees first-hand what war truly entails, by Torunn Grønbekk (Thor, Punisher War Journal) and Patrick Goddard (Rogue Trooper).
Classic series from the legendary British comics Battle Picture Weekly and Action such as ‘Johnny Red’, ‘HMS Nightshade’, ‘Crazy Keller’, ‘D-Day Dawson’, ‘Dredger’, ‘Major Eazy’, and ‘Hellman of Hammer Force’ burst back into life in this new five-issue mini-series, which features the work of John Wagner (Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog), Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy, Warhammer 40k), Torunn Grønbekk (Thor, Punisher: War Journal), Rob Williams (Suicide Squad, Judge Dredd), John Higgins (Watchmen, Judge Dredd) and Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated, Unstoppable Doom Patrol)!
Available through comic book stores and the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops, this first issue features the return of fan favourite World War Two flying ace ‘Johnny Red’ by Ennis and Burns, as well as the return of Battle Picture Weekly’s co-creator John Wagner to ‘HMS Nightshade’, the series he co-created with artist Mike Western in 1979, which tells the story of a Royal Navy warship protecting Allied shipping from the U-Boat menace!
Battle Picture Weekly was where the revolution in British comics began. Created in 1975 by writers and editors Pat Mills and John Wagner, it introduced new grittiness into comics with its cast of anti-heroes and misfits. Its bombast and energy sparked a sea-change in what comics could do, leading to Mills’ creation of the controversial Action and the globally influential 2000 AD.
The new Battle Action mini-series celebrates the merging of this landmark title with its controversial stablemate, Action, a combination that took the two comics to even greater heights. Now, more than forty years after the original, some of the cream of British comics talent are bringing these classic characters back to life.
Battle Action #1 is out on 31 May from comic book stores and will be available for stores to order through Diamond Distribution’s Previews magazine. It will also be available in print and digital from the 2000 AD and Treasury of British Comics webshops and digitally through the 2000 AD app.
Issue 1:
JOHNNY RED by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns
HMS NIGHTSHADE by John Wagner and Dan Cornwell
Issue 2 on sale: 28 June
CRAZY KELLER by Garth Ennis and Chris Burnham
D-DAY DAWSON by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade
Issue 3 on sale: 26 July
DREDGER by Garth Ennis and John Higgins
MAJOR EAZY by Rob Williams and Henry Flint
Issue 4 on sale: 30 August
COOLEY’S GUN by Garth Ennis and Staz Johnson
DEATH SQUAD by Rob Williams and PJ Holden
Issue 5 on sale: 27 September
HELLMAN OF HAMMER FORCE by Garth Ennis and Mike Dorey
NINA PETROVA AND THE ANGELS OF DEATH by Torunn Grønbekk and Patrick Goddard