The first 2000AD Thrill-Cast of 2016, released last week, looks ahead at some of the Things To Come in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine – and there’s some fantastic teases for numerous projects, including the new Scarlet Traces comic strip, which will be set in a 1960s in which the sun never set on the British Empire.
Compered by Michael Molcher, this episode interviews writers Michael Carroll (touching on his career, which includes mention of his early comics work on Solar Wind with now Futurequake editor Dave Evans) and Ian Edginton to whet your appetites for the goodies Tharg the Mighty has planned.
Novelist Michael Carroll reveals more about the just-released Judge Dredd prose novella The Righteous Man, which takes fans of the future cop back to his early days, at a point when he’s not as confident as the hard-bitten lawman we know him as now. “it’s nice to write Dredd as fresh,” says Michael, noting the book also offers the opportunity to also re-introduce Mega City One, a character in itself in the long-running strip.
He also talks readers about his new “Judge Dredd” strip, which begins in Judge Dredd Megazine Issue 368, which features stunning art by Nick Percival, the pitfalls and advantages of working in such a continuity-strict universe and teases about more Dredd work to come in 2016. There’s some dark stuff ahead he isn’t sure some readers will like! (“All my plans have trap doors,” he insists).
Ian Edington talks about his return with Matt “D’Israeli” Brooker to Scarlet Traces, which 2000AD recently bought the rights to. Edington sets out the series premise – Victorian Britain retro-engineering Martian technology after the failed alien invasion described in War of the Worlds – and reveals the new story is set in the 1960s, but has echoes of current issues facing our world today. “The sun never set on the British Empire,” he explains.
While not wanting to give too much away (“I’m really pleased with some of the things Matt and I have come up with”, he enthuses), ian does hint that the original Martians may be back in this new Scarlet Traces story.
“At the end of War of the Worlds, it was sighted that Martian cylinders were seen heading toward Venus, so we kind of pick up on that,” he reveals, “and what’s happened in the interim on Venus.”
Ian says this new story has taken a few years to ferment and he’s pulled several ideas together to create quite a juicy story.
Ian also talks about why he and Matt sold the rights to Scarlet Traces to 2000AD and much more, talking about how the deal will enable many new stories in this huge universe (including a new prequel novel, as well as comic strip), as well as expanding on past material.
• Michael Carroll’s The Righteous Man is available now for Kindle
• More about the 2000AD Thrill-Cast on the 2000AD web site
• Subscribe to the 2000AD Thrill-Cast on PodOmatic | iTunes | Follow the Thrill-Cast on SoundCloud | YouTube
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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