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The Ballad of Halo Jones, M.A.C.H. 1 and Mazeworld – a guide to collections out in 2018 from 2000AD

By John Freeman on January 26, 2018

A new colour version of Alan Moore and Ian Gibson’s all-time classic SF adventure The Ballad of Halo Jones leads an incredible year of graphic novel releases from 2000AD, which also includes the release of Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson‘s stunning Mazeworld. downthetubes has a full guide to announced projects.

Mixing the old and the new, highlights of 2018’s graphic novel schedule include Moore and Gibson’s timeless world-building, the relentless rampage of the Dark Judges, pocket-sized editions of Judge Dredd classics, and unmissable stand-alone series.

Coloured by beakout Italian newcomer Barbara Nosenzo and published in three volumes this year, Halo Jones is an ordinary unemployed teenager living on a crowded and oppressive housing project floating off the coast of Manhattan. Desperate to leave her humdrum life, she escapes as a stewardess aboard a luxury space-liner but a chance encounter has ramifications far beyond Earth. And after she enlists in a dehumanising interstellar war she becomes embroiled in an unlikely and complicated romance, her humanity tested and strained as she matures.

Considered the first progressive feminist character in British boys adventure comics, The Ballad of Halo Jones strip rightfully deserves 2000AD‘s description as “a mature masterpiece of characterisation and world-building” by Alan Moore, which made the most of concepts prominent in Joe Haldeman’s Forever War SF novels. Ian Gibson’s superlative art is complemented and energised by Nesenzo’s pitch-perfect new colours in an ideal edition for those yet to dive into Halo’s incredible but utterly relatable world.

Also on the schedule this year, the best-selling low price pocket-sized digest editions of Judge Dredd classics move into colour with two all-time great stories in May and August – Dredd teams up with DC Comics’ Batman in the famous Judgement on Gotham while a former Mega-City space marine returns home to find only despair and revenge in Mandroid.

The ever-popular Dark Judges dominate 2018 with two collections. October’s Dominion by John Wagner and Nick Percival follows on from 2015’s Dark Justice and sees the Fearsome Foursome, previously marooned in space, plunge a planet into absolute horror.

The final story in the comic book tie-in to DREDD brings Judge Death to the world of Alex Garland’s gritty, violent 2012 movie. Collected in December, Karl Urban’s version of Dredd confronted with his strangest and most challenging case yet in The Dead World by Arthur Wyatt, Alex De Campi, and Henry Flint.

Collections of the best of the 2000AD archive continue with secret-agent-turned-secret-weapon M.A.C.H.1, and the first volume of the seminal Future Shocks reveals the extraordinary breadth of 2000AD’s nursery for new talent for the first time.

Set in a post-war LA where magic is a fact of life, Guy Adams and Jimmy Broxton’s Hope was one of the breakout hits of 2017 and the collection in November is a claustrophobic, atmospheric noir thriller for fans of James Elroy and Vertigo’s Hellblazer, where a magic-wielding private eye investigating the kidnap of a child movie star gets caught in a web of intrigue and betrayal he could never have imagined. All the while being stalked by a nun in a gas mask…

And in October, Alan Grant and Arthur Ranson’s breathtaking Mazeworld will be republished in a larger format Collector’s Edition. Condemned murderer Adam Cadman who as he is hanged finds himself transported to a fantasy world, the executioner’s hood and noose both fixed to his skin. Is Cadman the fabled ‘Hooded Man’ who will overthrow the tyrant of Mazeworld? And what of his comatose body back in the ‘real’ world?

The full 2000AD graphic novel schedule for 2018

All links to amazon.co.uk – using these links helps support downthetubes

Note this list does not include upcoming Treasury of British Comics releases which include The Beatles Story, out next month, and more

On Sale Now

• Grey Area: This Island Earth

Meet the cops at the front line of alien immigration! Grey Area is a bold dystopian vision; an Alien Nation for the 21st Century!

North America, 2045. The Global Exo Segregation Zone (aka the ‘Grey Area’) is a huge holding area in Arizona housing all manner of aliens hoping to visit earth: a melting pot for alien disputes, crime and inter-species misunderstandings! The only thing standing in the way of chaos is the Exo Transfer Control squads: heavily-armed immigration cops that keep the peace and make sure everyone has their papers in order…

From contemptuous extra-terrestrial ambassadors with diplomatic immunity, to right-wing xenophobic militants and alien freeloaders disguised as luggage: new recruit Jana Birdy discovers that life in the E.T.C. might be the most interesting job on Earth… and the most dangerous!

8th February 2018

• Ant Wars

Ant Wars is an exhilarating take on classic sci-fi B-movies of the fifties and sixties.

PEST CONTROL ISN’T GOING TO FLY WHEN THE BIG BUGS BITE BACK!

When military personnel spray an untested insecticide on ants in the Brazilian rainforest, the colony mutate into super-intelligent creatures with a taste for human flesh! As the terrifying army head closer towards civilisation, Captain Villa and a young forest native race ahead in the vain attempt to warn a thoroughly unprepared world! Also includes Zancudo – bonus story by Si Spurrier and Cam Kennedy!

22nd March 2018

• ABC Warriors: The Mek Files Volume 4 HB

Continuing the legendary ABC Warriors definitive collection series
Been to hell – Lived to tell!

Travelling across mars to recruit their latest companion, the battle-scarred A.B.C. Warriors reminisce about their part in the Volgan War – a vicious conflict fought for oil on Earth. As the droids Hammerstein, Mongrol, Joe Pineapples, Deadlock and Blackblood all relate their memories of the war, old mysteries are revealed and ancient grudges are rekindled!

This collects the first two parts of The Volgan War, Pat Mills and Clint Langley’s brain-boggling A.B.C. Warriors epic!

• Strontium Dog: Repo Men

The Search/Destroy agent Johnny Alpha is still alive. Having wreaked vengeance against the humans that plotted the ‘final solution’ to mutant-kind, he is released from prison for one last job in deep space that only a Strontium Dog can do. And with the freedom of his friends on the line he has no choice but to accept…
Now that their careers as bounty hunters are off the cards, his mutant friends have a new job proposition. They are hired to repossess ‘The Rock’ – an asteroid space-station owned by a galactic crime lord – and to succeed they must pull off a heist of galactic proportions!

• M.A.C.H. 1: The John Probe Mission Files TPB

he Six Million Dollar Man meets James Bond in this first volume of the explosive adventures of 2000 AD’s super-agent!

+ HIGH-RISK FACTOR AT OPTIMUM +

The world is a dangerous place, with terrorists, lunatics and other foreigners plotting destruction at every turn… fortunately the British Secret Service has the world’s back!

And when the threats the world faces are extra-ordinary, they need an extra-ordinary man for the job. Enter secret weapon and special agent, John Probe. Using the technology of computerised acupuncture, they grafted a computer circuit onto his skull and inserted special electro-needles into his body and now he can increase his energy flow until he has the strength of fifty men!

Terrorists and enemy agents beware! John Probe is much more than a man; he is a Man Activated by Compu-Puncture Hyperpower!

This first volume collects the explosive adventures of 2000AD’s original super-agent, M.A.C.H. 1.

5th April 2018

• Judge Dredd Case Files 15 (US edition) TPB

In the aftermath of ‘Necropolis’, Judge Dredd returns to full duty, policing the mean streets of Mega-City One and beyond. No one can escape the law; not even in the Emerald Isle!

• Judge Dredd: Case Files 31 TPB

The galaxy’s number one bounty hunter, Trapper Hag, has escaped his Iso-Cube prison with only one thing on his mind – the death of Judge Dredd!

Meanwhile, the miniature robotic garden guardians, the Banzai Battallion help Dredd foil a kidnapping and Hogwash college’s greatest pupil – Harry Snotter – makes the mistake of visiting Mega-City One.

4th May 2018

• 2000AD Digest: Judge Dredd/Batman TPB

Judge Death has crossed dimensions to Gotham City and Judge Dredd is in pursuit! However, this is the home turf of a certain caped vigilante – the Batman. Two very different brands of uncompromising justice are destined to clash!

• Features two classic stories – JUDGEMENT ON GOTHAM and VENDETTA IN GOTHAM

• Featuring eye-popping art from Cam Kennedy and Simon Bisley, this much-loved classic is available for the first time in a new low-priced digest format!

17th May 2018

• The Ballad of Halo Jones Book 1 TPB

Comic legend Alan Moore’s highly-influential classic of British comics, presented to a new generation coloured and remastered for the very first time.

“Where did she go? Out. What did she do? Everything…”

Bored and frustrated with her life in 50th-century leisure-ghetto housing estate ‘The Hoop’, 18-year-old everywoman Halo Jones yearns for the infinite sights and sounds of the universe. Pledging to escape on a fantastic voyage, she sets in motion events unimaginable; a spell on a luxury space-liner, a brush with an interstellar war – Halo Jones faces hardship and adventure in the name of freedom in the limitless cosmos.

A galaxy-spanning story, comics’ first bona fide feminist space opera, and the first true epic to grace the bibliography of arguably the greatest comic book writer the world has ever known.

* The first in a brand-new prestige format series collecting the utterly compelling and groundbreakingly ambitious classic.
* Written by Alan Moore (Watchmen, V For Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke) and illustrated by Ian Gibson (Robo-Hunter, Mister Miracle) This edition contains expertly re-mastered artwork, coloured for the very first time by Barbara Nosenzo.

14th June 2018

• The Complete Future Shocks Volume 1 TPB

harg’s Future Shocks are one-off, twist ending, sci-fi thrills that have introduced many of the biggest names in the comic book industry through the pages of 2000AD. From Alan Moore to Al Ewing, Kevin O’Neill to Jon Davis-Hunt, Future Shocks have been a staple of the UK’s best-selling comic 2000 AD! This exciting first volume takes us back to the earliest days of the strip and showcases the burgeoning, immense talents of such luminaries as Steve Moore, Alan Moore, Brett Ewins, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, John Cooper, Carlos Pino, Jesus Redondo, Steve Dillon, Peter Milligan and many, many more.

12th July 2018

• The Ballad of Halo Jones Book 2 TPB

“Where did she go? Out. What did she do? Everything…”

A galaxy-spanning story, comics’ first bona fide feminist space opera, and the first true epic to grace the bibliography of arguably the greatest comic book writer the world has ever known.

26th July 2018

• Brink Volume 2 TPB

Humanity is on the brink in the second critically-acclaimed volume of smash comics duo Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard’s atmospheric space-noir.

MERCURY HAS DISAPPEARED. NO-ONE KNOWS WHY.

Her past as an Investigator seemingly behind her, Bridget Kurtis is sent to the under-construction Galina Habitat as a security consultant. With a skeleton crew of engineers, architects and security personnel, construction is running behind schedule and Mariam Junot herself (the acting-CEO of Junot Corp) has arrived to find out why.

Amid rumours of haunting and disappearances, Kurtis uncovers a sect conspiracy that may be more insidious and far-reaching than she ever imagined. Either the claustrophobic life in the space Habitats is driving humanity insane, or there are influences at play beyond any human understanding…

• Lawless Volume 2 TPB

9th August 2018

• 2000AD Digest: Judge Dredd – Mandroid TPB

The dark classic of revenge is 2000AD at its pulse-pounding best – available for the first time in a new low-priced digest format!

HALF HUMAN… ALL KILLER!

SERGEANT NATE SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS THE VETERAN OF MANY BLOODY WARS FOUGHT ON ALIEN PLANETS, but after being mortally wounded on the battlefield the only way to save his life is to cybernetically reconstruct his body, turning him into more machine than man – a mandroid!

Discharged from the army, Nate returns to Mega-City One struggling to deal with his new existence. When his family are subject to a vicious attack, his bitterness turns to anger and he takes to the streets to dispense brutal vigilante justice. But there’s room for only one law in the Big Meg… And Dredd’s on the case!

• Sláine: The Brutania Chronicles Book 4 HB – ISBN 9781781086322

23rd August 2018

• Judge Dredd: Nobody Apes The Law TPB ISBN 9781781086339

18th September 2018

• Halo Jones Book 3 TPB ISBN 9781781086377

4th October 2018

• Mazeworld TPB ISBN 9781781086568

16th October 2018

• Dark Justice: Dominion HB ISBN 9781781086544

13th November 2018

• Hope TPB ISBN 9781781086582

29th November 2018

• Judge Dredd Case Files 32 TPB ISBN 9781781086612

• Dredd: Final Judgement TPB ISBN 9781781086629

John Freeman

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.