Durham Red revamped in the latest 2000AD!

By John Freeman on May 23, 2018

The mutant vampire bounty hunter Durham Red returns to the pages of 2000AD this week with a brand-new eight-part series written by Alec Worley (Judge Dredd, Star Wars, Warhammer), with art by Ben Willsher (Doctor Who, Roy of the Rovers) and Lee Carter (Rogue Trooper, Indigo Prime), lettered by Ellie de Ville.

“Durham Red: Born Bsd” promises a new look, new thrills, and a new direction for the character. A bounty hunter no more, Red is reduced to working the door in the galaxy’s scuzziest bar, until she is contacted by a terminally-ill gangster desperately searching for his long-lost mother. But his mom proves to be a woman with a very particular set of skills and no intention of being brought home alive!

Durham Red originally appeared in 1987 as a love interest for Johnny Alpha in “Strontium Dog”, and quickly landed both her own series and a place alongside Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the 2000AD hall of fame.

She was resurrected in 1998 in a spectacular far-future trilogy by Dan Abnett and Mark Harrison, and has since featured in several one-shots by talents including Leah Moore, John Reppion and novelist Lauren Beukes.

The new series follows the character’s original Strontium Dog run, but comes with no continuity baggage whatsoever – making this the perfect jumping-on point for new readers! However, the series has also proved a hit among long-term 2000AD subscribers, whose online response to the first episode has been overwhelmingly positive!

“It’s been twenty years since Red’s last makeover and she’s too good a character to be left on the bench,” says Worley. “We’ve gone back to the original concept of her as this vampiric femme fatale who must kill in order to survive.

“She wants to do the right thing (sometimes), but she’s also a natural-born monster feared throughout the galaxy. I really want to explore that angle and see how she maintains a moral compass – if at all!”

The first episode of Durham Red: Born Bad appears in 2000AD Prog 2082, published in the UK and on digital Wednesday 23rd May (and in North America, 23rd June. It features a cover by Vampirella artist Jimmy Broxton, along with a host of other stories: a brand-new “Judge Dredd” adventure by Michael Carroll and Jake Lynch, comedy in “Survival Geeks” by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby and Neil Googe, sci-fi action “Skip Tracer” by James Peaty, Paul Marshall, Dylan Teague and Simon Bowland, and surreal horror in “Fall of Deadworld” by Kek-W, Dave Kendall and Ellie De Ville.

As ever, it’s available from all good newsagents and comic book stores, as well as digitally from 2000AD‘s webstore and apps – iTunes, Android and Windows

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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.