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IDW’s Judge Dredd Resumes Next Month with “Mega City Zero”, Dan McDaid on art

By John Freeman on November 23, 2015

Dan McDaid takes on the art duties on IDW’s new Judge Dredd series next month, in a new ongoing series written by Ulises Fariñas and Erick Freitas. After a bit of a break from their take on Dredd, the US publisher is really pushing out the boat with this relaunch, announced at Comic Con earlier in the year, with several variant covers, including an Archie 75th Anniversary Variant by Francesco Francavilla, tying in with celebrations for the iconic American high schooler.

In “Mega-City Zero”, Judge Dredd awakens to find that Mega-City One has been sent back to the Stone Age, with city blocks overgrown and nary a citizen to be found. Witness as Dredd struggles to unravel the mystery as he copes with being just an ordinary Joe…

Judge Dredd Mega-City Zero Work in Progress by Dan McDaid

An artist and writer who meticulously blends genres, styles, and universes, Ulises (who drew Judge Dredd: City of Courts written by Douglas Wolk) depicts super-saturated, hyper-detailed worlds in his work, breaking down the walls between imagination and reality, where heroes and monsters are as fantastic as the landscapes they inhabit. As well as Judge Dredd, he is also the cowriter of the much-praised pulp-throwback anthology Amazing Forest, available on Comixology and soon to be published by IDW.

He is the artist and cowriter, of Gamma, a one-shot comic previously serialized in Dark Horse Presents. He also has drawn Catalyst – Agents of Change, written by Joe Casey. Follow him on Twitter @ulises_f – and check out Amazing Forest on Patreon.

Erick Freitas, Ulises co-cospirator on “Mega City Zero” and the Monkey Brain Amazing Forest project, launched in 2013, which has offered a platform to some great creators, such as Angelica Blevins, Caitlin Rose Boyle, Julien Dufour, Melody Often, Matt Rota and Yumi Sakugawa. (There’s a 2013 interview with the pair about the project here on Comics Alliance). He also co-wrote IDW’s Godzilla in Hell drawn by Buster Moody.

Judge Dredd Mega-City Zero Work in Progress by Dan McDaid

Writer and artist Dan McDaid should be well known to downthetubes readers, with credits that include Doctor Who Magazine, Jersey Gods at Image Comics, Planet of the Apes for Boom! Studios and Catalyst Comix at Dark Horse. He’s a terrific artist and I think his work is perfectly suited to drawing Dredd, so I’m looking forward to seeing the book, especially given the teasing he’s been featuring on his tumblr. Follow him on Twitter @danmcdaid.

Here are all the variant covers to Judge Dredd #1, including the retailer incentive wraparound variant cover by Paul Hanley (whose tumblr you should really check out if you’re a Who fan).

Judge Dredd #1 — Archie 75th Anniversary Variant cover by Francesco Francavilla

Judge Dredd Mega-City Zero #1 – Retailer Incentive Cover by Paul Hanley

<br /> • Judge Dredd #1—”Mega City Zero”
Ulises Fariñas & Erick Freitas (Writers) • Dan McDaid (Artist)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

• As well as a Blank Sketch Variant IDW is also offering the Judge Dredd: Mega City Two Trade Paperback alongside the new launch. ISBN: 978-1-63140-080-3

• More about IDW at www.idwpublishing.com

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.