Another big week of Thrills galore from The Mighty Tharg this week, starting with a brand new Prog of 2000AD, with John McCrea on cover duty with Mike Spicer.

In Prog 2478, Judge Dredd‘s hunt for two young terrorists continues in “Flames & White Phosphorous”, as “Brink”, “Silver” and “Helium” all progress their current stories… um, in their own unique ways, if you’ve seen “Helium”’s preview page below, anyway. They’re joined by a new “Future Shock” from James Peaty and Steve Yeowell, intriguingly called “The Vessel”…

Then, Judge Dredd Megazine 491 welcomes back “Atomfall” for a new story, which follows Jenny Coggins to The Wicked Isle! What’ll she find there? If you’ve played the game, released last year, you’ll have an idea – and it isn’t pleasant! There’s a standalone Judge Dredd story, “Fear City”, too, alongside the latest instalments of “Fargo & McBane”, “Department K” and “Rok The World”.

This issue also sees artist Chris Weston join the team to help steer the acclaimed “Megatropolis” home over the next few months, taking over from the late, great, Dave Taylor, who passed last year.

Plus, there’s an interview with art-bot David Roach, a look inside both the new Charley’s War Apex Edition and the upcoming Trigan Empire graphic novel, a deep-dive into UK superhero King Cobra, and much more.

Finally, the comic they couldn’t kill returns, as Rebellion celebrate 50 years of Action comic with a massive new Special! Hook Jaw the killer shark menaces some deep-water drug dealers (exclusively previewed here on downthetubes); Hellman deals with a tank-sized screw-up in his ranks; footballer Lefty’s temper gets him into serious trouble; and Dredger seeks revenge for a car bombing.

It’s all-out Action, as Britain’s most controversial comic returns once more!

2000AD Prog 2478
UK and DIGITAL: 15 April £3.99
COVER: John McCrea with Mike Spicer

In This Issue:

JUDGE DREDD // FLAMES AND WHITE PHOSPHOROUS
By TC Eglington (Writer) Paul Marshall (Artist) Quinton Winter (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)

Mega-City One, 2148 AD. Home to over 300 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Tensions are on a knife-edge, crime is rampant, and only the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, a pair of teens are waging a war of revenge against certain elite business types…

BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID
By Dan Abnett (Writer) INJ Culbard (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

The late 21st century, and through environmental catastrophe and industrial overload Earth has been reduced to a wasteland. Mankind finally evacuated the planet in 2072 and millions were housed in a number of deep-space Habitats. But life on these cramped, overcrowded stations is tense, often spilling over into madness. Sects are rife, and Bridget Kurtis of the Habitat Security Division is investigating their reach…

SILVER // MALIGNANT
By Mike Carroll (Writer) Joe Currie (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

Earth, the year 2001. A group of armed survivors sought out the resting place of a five hundred-year-old vampire, who may just help them against the alien Sepsis, who invaded the planet a few decades earlier. The vamp, called Baroness DeSilva, has proved powerful in battling the extra-terrestrials, and now, having aided the rebels in destroying Sepsis infrastructure, has just been instrumental in blowing up a nuclear facility…

FUTURE SHOCKS // THE VESSEL
By James Peaty (Writer) Steve Yeowell (Artist) John Charles (Colourist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

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…

HELIUM // RED OCTOBER
By Ian Edginton (Writer) D’Israeli (Artist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)

The far future. It has been three hundred years since the Great War ended, and eightyfive per cent of the Earth’s surface now lies beneath a gaseous ocean known as the Poison Belt. The survivors live above the lethal fugue, but a Professor Bloom has emerged from a city below the belt, claiming he can make the planet habitable again. Constable Hodge was tasked with protecting him, but it came at great cost…

• Available in print from: 2000AD webshop, newsagents, Local Comic Shops and supermarkets | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop, 2000AD app for Apple & Android | Buy a Cover Print 

Don’t forget that if you buy an issue of 2000AD in the first week of its release from 2000AD direct, then postage in the UK is free!

Judge Dredd Megazine 491
UK and DIGITAL: 15 April £7.50
COVER: Dylan Teague

In This Issue:

JUDGE DREDD // FEAR CITY
By Karl Stock (Writer) Dan McDaid (Artist) Jack Davies (Colourist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

Mega-City One, 2148 AD. This vast urban hell on the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America is home to over 300 million citizens, where tensions run a constant knife-edge. Bordered on one side by the toxic Black Atlantic and the irradiated Cursed Earth to the west, crime is rampant, and stemming the tide of chaos are the Judges. Toughest of them all is Judge Dredd – he is the Law!

ATOMFALL // THE WICKED ISLE
By Jonathan L. Howard (Writer) Anthony Williams (Artist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

Wyndham village, 1958. A year ago, reporter Jenny Coggins was sent by her newspaper to write a story on the Windscale Atom Plant, but she’d been receiving inside information that all was not what it seemed with the facility. While she was there, however, the plant exploded, and the entire area was quarantined by the military – now a new society has developed, and more mysteries emerge…

FARGO & MCBANE // FAVOURED SONS
By Ken Niemand (Writer) PJ Holden (Artist) Quinton Winter (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)

New York City, the 1970s. Detective Jack McBane was one of the toughest cops to patrol the metropolis, having no compunction in handing out summary justice upon criminals. Although his ruthless attitude wins him few friends, he has one in Officer Eartha Fargo, who’s partnered with him to investigate strange crimes on the mean streets of the Big Apple…

DEPARTMENT K // …NO MORE
By Ned Hartley (Writer) Mike Walters (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)

Mega-City One, 2148 AD. Justice Department has many divisions within it tasked with dealing with the various threats that face the metropolis. The mysterious Department K is a branch of Tek-Div, whose brief is to tackle interdimensional enemies that are seeking to break through the walls of reality. Young intern Afua recently had an encounter with one such entity…

ROK THE WORLD
By John Wagner (Writer) Dan Cornwell (Artist) Jim Boswell (Colourist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

MEGATROPOLIS II
By Ken Niemand (Writer) Chris Weston (Artist) Antonietta Saulino (Colourist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

Imagine a Mega-City One from an alternate timeline – less the gleaming metropolis of the twentysecond century but instead an art deco retro-future variation. Joe Rico is the one good cop in a police department riddled with corruption, and partnered with the young Amy Jara, they investigated a series of vigilante killings committed by a robot. Now, a mayoral election is looming…

Available in print from: 2000AD webshop, newsagents, book shops, Amazon, and Local Comic Shops | Available in digital from: 2000AD webshop, 2000AD app for Apple & Android

Action 50th Anniversary Special
UK and DIGITAL: 15 April £6.99
COVER: Steve White & John Higgins

In This Issue:

HOOK JAW // NECROMONE
By Steve White (Writer) Staz Johnson (Artist) Matt Soffe (Colourist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

For many readers, Hook Jaw was the mascot of Action: a shark tearing through all manner of people, representative of the comic’s boundary-pushing violence. The story survived the late 1976 censorship to be published all the way through Action’s merger with Battle. Read our exclusive preview!

HELLMAN // A WINTER’S TALE
By Garth Ennis (Writer) Mike Dorey (Artist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

Hellman of Hammer Force, the exploits of a German tank commander frustrated by the political party observer sent to interfere with his work, was barely any trouble for Action; only when the spotlight turned to the comic as a whole did people who fought in World War Two take note of it critically.

Garth Ennis and original artist Mike Dorey have been exploring different eras of Hellman’s wartime career in previous stories, but this episode firmly takes place ‘On the Russian Front’…

LOOK OUT FOR LEFTY // ARISE, SIR LEFTY!
By Rob Williams (Writer) Patrick Goddard (Artist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

”Look out for Lefty” was originally written by “Roy of the Rovers” writer Tom Tully, so it seemed appropriate that the writer of the Roy of the Rovers reboot, Rob Williams, should take a crack at telling a story about where Lefty ended up. And while the original story was not an out-andout comedy, it did have its moments of humour; Rob Williams has revived that aspect too.

DREDGER // AFTER THE ACTION
By Garth Ennis (Writer) John Higgins (Artist) Rob Steen (Letterer)

Dredger, like Hellman, was one of the two stories to make the jump to Battle when the two comics were merged in November 1977. And while “Dredger” may have started off in a Dirty Harry-esq way, when he made the leap to Battle he became more of a Bondian protagonist…

Available in print from: Treasury of British comics webshop, online retailers, book shops, and Local Comic Shops | Available in digital from: Treasury of British Comics webshop, 2000AD app for Apple & Android

• About the Author
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John Freeman

John  is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of  comics such as 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.

• Hang on to your hats! Tharg thrills ahead - and plenty of them!
• Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass comes to Lancaster
• Classic British comics aplenty on offer in this week’s Vectis “Comics and Publications” auction
• British indie Scratch Comics partners with Philbo Distribution as it expands its services for independent comic publishers
• Psychological sci-fi short film “Locked In” launches transmedia project, The Artificial Companion Universe

Categories: 2000AD, British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News

Tags: 2000AD, Action, Action 50th Anniversary Special, Atomfall, downthetubes News, Dylan Teague, Hook Jaw, John Higguns, John McCrea, Judge Dredd, Judge Dredd Meagzine, Mike Spicer, SF Comics, Steve White