2000AD Prog 2268 is out in newsagents today, with a smashing cover from Neil Roberts that has echoes of many a pulp SF magazine of the 1950s, depicting Proteus Vex in action. But Rebellion has just released a fun ”Spider” collection, too… and a new ”Thrill-Cast”, too!
Inside, the aforesaid alien is in devious action to get himself out of a jam, and there’s some terrific action in both “Saphir” and “The Order”, where everyone seems under attack, too!
There’s a smashing one-off black and white “Terror Tale” written and drawn by PJ Holden, too – a brilliant throwback to early 2000AD with a suitably ghoulish climax. We’ll have more of those, please – that’s what you want in the mix of a weekly anthology!
Beyond 2000AD, if you’re a classic adventure comics fan, I hope you’ve picked up your copy of The Spider Crime Unlimited – Picture Library, released last week.
It’s a crazy, terrific mix of 1960s crime craziness, with stories of the Spider during his time as a crime lord, credited to writers Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, and Donne Avenell, with art by Aldo Marculeta and Giorgio Trevisan, stepping in for these stories in place of Lion series regular Reg Bunn.
Their work is a lot more “open” than Bunn’s, perhaps reflecting the demands of the higher page count of the picture library format that survives only in Commando on the UK newsstand today, but the stories crack along at a fair pace, the Spider pitted against larger than life villains in two globetrotting stories, albeit peppered with dialogue that wouldn’t sound out of place in the 1960s Batman TV show!
In Prog 2268…
Judge Dredd: Extraordinary Deaths by TC Eglington (Writer) Silvia Califano (Artist) Gary Caldwell (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
Mega-City One, 2144 AD. Home to over 180 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Unemployment is rife, and boredom universal. Tensions rest on a constant knife-edge. Crime is rampant and only the Judges — zero-tolerance cops empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop
total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law!
The Order: Fantastic Voyage by Kek-W (Writer) John M Burns (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)
Throughout history, mankind has been under threat of extermination by the Wurms, creatures that break into our reality. Defending humanity are THE ORDER, a band of warriors that have fought the entities across the centuries. But time has become fractured, and the despotic Francis Bacon is determined to rule a vast empire. Now, the various members of The Order have become separated at the edge of time…
Saphir: Liaisons Dangereuses by Kek-W (Writer) David Roach (Artist) Peter Doherty (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
Paris, 1899. Inspector Alphonse Mucha of the Sûreté previously met and became involved with the mysterious Lady Sofia Corundum when he was called to her house, and was embroiled in an adventure that took him to a dangerous dimension. Now, the powerful Lady Sofia has need of the Inspector once more — and yet again Paris is feeling the wrath of a being from another reality, who’s kidnapped Sofia’s child…
Tharg’s Terror Tales: Roots by PJ Holden (Writer and Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)
Experience the terrifying side of Thrill-power with these one-off tales from beyond the veil of sanity. Whether they be ghostly goings-on that send shivers up the spine or splatterfests that sear the retina and paralyse the mind, nothing is what it seems in these glimpses of a terrifying realm beyond our own. Family can mean everything in the wake of loss, and one woman is determined to keep her son close…
Proteus Vex: Desire Paths by Michael Carroll (Writer) Jake Lynch (Artist) Jim Boswell (Colourist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)
Another galaxy, the far future. The centuries-long war between the Alliance and the Obdurate people is over, a conflict brought to an end with the deaths of billions when the Alliance teleported a dying white dwarf star into the Obdurate system. Imperium agent PROTEUS VEX — who is operated by a flesh-pilot — has now become an enemy of the Alliance when he released information about past war crimes…
The 2000AD Thrill-Cast is back!
‘Dredd @ 45’ is now open at the Cartoon Museum in London and in a new 2000AD Thrill-Cast, Michael Molcher is joined by museum director Joe Sullivan and Learning Coordinator Steve Marchant to discuss the capsule exhibition marking forty-five years of the lawman of the future. On the way they discuss the process behind the choice of the eight pieces of artwork as well as what makes Dredd such an enduring character and the challenges the museum has faced during lockdown.
The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast is the award-winning podcast that takes you behind-the-scenes at the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic with creator interviews, panels, and more.
You can subscribe to the Thrill-Cast on your favourite podcast app, iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also listen now at 2000AD.com/podcast or you can watch at youtube.com/2000ADonline
Recent Rebellion Releases
• Check out our 2000AD, Treasury of British Collections and Specials – 2022 checklist here
The Spider Crime Unlimited – Picture Library
By Jerry Siegel, Donne Avenell, Aldo Marculeta, Giorgio Trevisan
Out: 3rd February 2022, Hardcover, 256 Pages
ISBN: 9781786184658
The Spider is the uncrowned king of the New York underworld, so elusive to the police that he even manages to taunt the Police Commissioner at his retirment party. But Professor Aldo Cummings, a famous but ill-tempered scientist, determined to stop the schemes of the Spider once and for all, invents a ray-machine which will eliminate the evil from a person’s personality. But a tragic miscalculation will turn Professor Cummings into the Professor of Power, and he will seek a more direct confrontation with the Spider.
The first collection of the Spider stories originally published as part of the Picture Library series.
Coming Soon…
The 2000AD Encyclopedia
Compiled by Scott Montgomery
Out: 15th February 2022, 336 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781786185617
Written by writer and journalist Scott Montgomery, The 2000AD Encyclopedia, compiled from entries first published in Judge Dredd Megazine, with additions and amendments, promises to become the definitive, go-to resource for the hundreds of creations that have appeared in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comics over the past four decades including comprehensive sections on Sláine, Nemesis the Warlock, A.B.C Warriors and many more.
Scott is of course no stranger to writing 2000AD guides – back in the 1990s, he provided a then complete chronology of everyone’s favourite blue-skinned super soldier for the 1996 Rogue Trooper Action Special, a project he recalled with fondness for downthetubes when the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic celebrated its 35th birthday in 2012.
Judge Dredd by Brian Bolland Apex Edition
Compiled by David A. Roach, art by Brian Bolland
Out: 17th February 2022, £65, 128 page, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781786184641
Showcasing the Judge Dredd work of one of 2000AD’s greatest creators. This deluxe, over-sized facsimile edition will feature new high-resolution scans of Bolland’s original art from 2000AD, showing his delicate inking brushwork in unprecedented detail.
As one of the first creators in the ‘British Invasion’ of the American comic book industry in the 1980s, Bolland’s work on series such as Camelot 3000 and Batman: The Killing Joke, and covers for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, and many more, have made him one of the most distinctive and famous artists in comics.
This book will include pages from the Judge Dredd epics “The Cursed Earth”, “The Day the Law Died”, “The Judge Child Quest”, and Bolland’s masterpiece, “Judge Death Lives”. Also included is a gallery of covers ranging from 2000AD to the Judge Dredd reprints published by Eagle Comics which brought Brian to the attention of American readers and show off Bolland’s inventiveness and sardonic humour.
• Check out our 2000AD, Treasury of British Collections and Specials – 2022 checklist here
A guide to all announced 2000AD and Treasury of British Collections and Specials for 2022 so far. Links where available are AmazonUK Affiliate Links – using these helps support downthetubes, thank you – but of course all these books will be available from comic shops, book shops and Rebellion direct – and the 2000AD and Treasury web shops offer exclusive editions, unavailable elsewhere
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 - Collections, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Reviews
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