Rebellion, publishers of 2000AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, have announced that the incredible work of one of comics’ greatest ever artists – Carlos Ezquerra – is to be showcased in the Judge Dredd by Carlos Ezquerra: Apex Edition.
When you think of Judge Dredd, one artist comes to mind before any other – “El Maestro”, Carlos Ezquerra.
The artist who co-created and designed Dredd with writer John Wagner in 1977, Ezquerra not only set the tone – and the bar – for adventure and action in Dredd’s world, but also created the design framework for Mega-City One, a legendary locale for one of the all-time great characters to deliver justice and punish Lawbreakers!
This November, Rebellion will be publishing a collection of his stunning original artwork for the next volume of their Apex Editions.
Ezquerra undeniably drew the first and definitive Judge Dredd – and this collection of his art will do justice to his vision of the character, printed at the size that he drew each page, and newly-scanned directly from the original artwork to present it to the reader at the best resolution possible.
This book contains seven complete colour stories – “Behold the Beast”, “The Big Itch”, “It’s Happening on Line 9”, “The Other Slab Tynan”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “Tarantula”, “John Brown’s Body”) from the early 1980s Judge Dredd annuals, when Ezquerra was at the peak of his power, in addition to many other classic pages and cover art from stories including the epic “The Apocalypse War’”
It will also include pages from “Strontium Dog” in the book.
“If we’re going APEX, we’re not going to do things by halves!” say Rebellion.
The Judge Dredd by Carlos Ezquerra: Apex Edition will be released as a Standard Edition, available from comic book stores via Diamond Distribution and the 2000AD webshop; and as a webshop-exclusive edition with special slipcase.
The Apex Edition series is a deluxe, over-sized facsimile edition reproducing his original art pages at their actual size. Each page of this book has been scanned directly from Carlos’s art and presents each page as if you were looking at it in person.
Measuring a huge 19 x 14 inches, this is a landmark collection of El Maestro’s staggering career in comics, running across 128 incredible pages. Now Ezquerra finally joins the critically-acclaimed Apex lineup which also features editions from titans of the industry including Kevin O’Neill, Steve Dillon, Mick McMahon, Brian Bolland and more.
• The Judge Dredd by Carlos Ezquerra: Apex Edition will be released on 26th November 2025, with pre-orders available now on the 2000AD webshop for both the standard and the webshop-exclusive slipcase editions
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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.
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