Not only is there a pulse-pounding edition of 2000AD on sale this week – there are several collections hitting book shops and comic shops, too, including The Crimson Sea, a war comics title featuring some of renowned comic artist Hugo Pratt‘s work for the British market.
As we previously reported, 2024 will see Rebellion complete their release of stories drawn by Italian comics maestro Hugo Pratt, best known for creating Corto Maltese.
Following up on previous collections of his strips – Battler Briton, Battle Stations and Night of the Devil, The Crimson Sea is on sale from 31st January 2024, and is available to order direct from The Treasury of British Comics web shop. This release will be followed by The Iron Fist, out in May.
Two new thrills join “Judge Dredd“, “Thistlebone” and “Enemy Earth” in this week’s 2000AD, Prog 2367: “The English Astronaut” by Paul Cornell and Laura Helsby, a chrono-collapsing, reality-shaking 3riller; and Alex De Campi and Eduardo Ocana are back for the second series of deep-space caper “Full Tilt Boogie” first seen in 2020, the collection of that first arc available now from the 2000AD webshop as a hardback edition and elsewhere in paperback.
2000AD Prog 2367
Cover by Alex Ronald
Out: 31st January 2024
JUDGE DREDD // A BETTER WORLD
by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (Writer) Henry Flint (Artist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
Mega-City One, 2146 AD. Home to over 200 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant, and only future cops the Judges — empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, Accounts Judge Maitland has been conducting an experiment in Sector 304 in a bid to reduce crime…
THE ENGLISH ASTRONAUT
by Paul Cornell (Writer) Laura Helsby (Artist) Matt Soffe (Colourist) Jim Campbell (Letterer)
Three episodes, one complete, self-contained story — a condensed hit of super-charged Thrill-power beamed to you directly from the Nerve Centre! Earth, November 1963, and Major Thomas Anderson is about to become the subject of a British Experimental Space Programme project. Locked into the Injection Seat, he’ll take a cocktail of drugs that will dislocate him from the current year and plunge him into 2024…
FULL TILT BOOGIE // BOOK TWO
by Alex de Campi (Writer) Eduardo Ocana (Artist) Eva De La Cruz (Colourist) Annie Parkhouse (Letterer)
Out in the deep reaches of the cosmos, teenager Tee — together with her grandmother and cat — is a bounty hunter/hired help, operating from her spaceship the FULL TILT BOOGIE. Capable and resourceful, Tee was paid to rescue the Luxine Prince Ifan from his debtors’ prison. In the process, she encountered a resurrected Anubite warrior, a member of the enemy race with whom the Luxine Empire was at war…
• Buy Full Tilt Boogie: Volume 1 from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
ENEMY EARTH // BOOK THREE
by Cavan Scott (Writer) Luke Horsman (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)
The near future. Mother Nature has turned against the people that live upon the Earth’s surface, and the planet ’s flora and fauna have mutated and are viciously attacking humanity. As society crumbles, and survivors seek safety, young Zoe, who has lost her own family, has rescued Jules, who ’s the prime minister’s son. Now, he’s being used by the military as a way to control the creatures — just as aliens arrive…
THISTLEBONE // THE DULE TREE
by T.C. Eglington (Writer) Simon Davis (Artist) Simon Bowland (Letterer)
Britain, 2020. It’s been over a year since journalist Seema Chaudry accompanied cult survivor Avril Easton back to the village of Harrowvale, where she suffered at the hands of THISTLEBONE worshippers, a crazed occult group that believed in an ancient woodland deity. One man in the village, Malcolm Kinniburgh, was keeping the Thistlebone legend alive — but it seems to be connected with an old ‘70s horror film…
The Crimson Sea
Writers: Donne Avenell, Fred Baker, Alf Wallace, E. Evans Art: Hugo Pratt
Out: 31st January 2024
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1837861996
The title story of this collection, “The Crimson Sea”, first published in War Picture Library 50, written by Donne Avenell, tells the tale of a younger brother of an officer, both survivors of the sunken HMS Grapnel, who feels he must step out of his brother’s shadow with astonishing acts of bravery.
There are three other stories in this collection; “Pathfinder” (War Picture Library 40, written by Fred Baker) focuses on an Australian pilot joining the RAF; “Up the Marines” (War Picture Library 58, written by Alf Wallace) features tales of Royal Marine Commandos being sent on daring missions behind enemy lines; and in Dark Judgment (War Picture Library 92, written by E. Evans), two rescued POWs are suspected of not being who they claim to be.
• You can preorder a copy of The Crimson Sea here direct from The Treasury of British Comics web shop | Out: 31st January 2024 | Hardback | ISBN: 978-
1837861996 |
• You can preorder a copy of The Iron Fist here direct from The Treasury of British Comics web shop | Out: 29th May 2024 | Hardback | ISBN: 978-1837862009
• Read Keith Page’s Hugo Pratt Creator Spotlight
• Hugo Pratt works available on Amazon
February 2024
Strontium Dog – Search and Destroy 3: The 2000AD Years
By Alan Grant, John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra
Out: 1st February 2024
Hardback, 192 pages
ISBN: 978-1837861033
In 2150 a catastrophic war led to 70 percent of Britain’s population being wiped out. Strontium 90 fallout led to an increase of children being born with strange mutations. Hated by average humans, the mutants faced terrible oppression when politician, Nelson Kreelman, introduced a series of anti-mutant laws enforced by a brutal police force.
In 2167 the mutants decided to fight back. Amongst their ranks was a young boy with named Johnny Alpha with white blank eyes and a mutant power that grants him a series of powers, including the ability to see through many surfaces. Driven by tragedy, Johnny has a very personal reason wanting to topple the regime and bring Kreeler down.
Co-written by Alan Grant (Batman) and John Wagner (A History of Violence) and featuring the artwork of Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd), this collection features the explosive origin of Johnny Alpha in ‘Portrait of a Mutant’, a tale widely considered to be the greatest Strontium Dog story of all.
Best of 2000AD Volume 5: The Essential Gateway to the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic
Writers: Al Ewing, Gordon Rennie, John Smith, John Wagner, Rob Williams
Artists: Evan Cagle, Henry Flint, Sean Phillips, Frank Quitely, Chris Weston, Annie Wu
Out: 15th February 2024
Paperback, 192 Pages
ISBN: 978-1837860937
Best of 2000AD is a landmark series from the cult comic, bursting with our greatest stories for a new generation of readers. Every edition contains a mix of modern classics and gems from the vault. In each edition you’ll find an explosive new Judge Dredd adventure, fresh essays by prominent popular culture writers, a graphic novel-length feature presentation by global legends and a vintage Dredd case.
In this volume: Judge Dredd raises only the law when Mega City One’s super-rich consider themselves above it all in Elevator Pitch; crash-land on a Death Planet as Al Ewing (The Immortal Hulk) and Henry Flint (Eerie) introduce the monstrous, weaponised (but dead polite) Zombo; go Swimming in Blood with occult detective Devlin Waugh as he investigates a vampire outbreak in an underwater prison by John Smith (Hellblazer) and Sean Phillips (Reckless, Night Fever); ride out into the Godless wasteland of the Cursed Earth and witness Gordon Rennie (Doctor Who) and Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman) preach faith through firepower in Missionary Man.
Boasting brand new covers from an all-star line-up of artists including Annie Wu (Hawkeye, Black Canary) and Evan Cagle (Dune, Detective Comics) with designer Tom Muller (X-Men), Best of 2000AD is the essential gateway into the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic.
Rob Williams is the writer of Suicide Squad and Martian Manhunter for DC Comics, Unfollow for Vertigo and Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor for Titan Comics. His previous work for 2000AD includes Judge Dredd: Titan, The Grievous Journey Of Ichabod Azrael (And The Dead Left In His Wake) and The Ten-Seconders, and he is currently writing Roy of the Rovers for Rebellion.
Chris Weston has drawn a vast array of 2000AD and Megazine stories, including Indigo Prime, Downlode Tales, Future Shocks, Canon Fodder, Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Nikolai Dante, Pulp Sci-Fi, Robo-Hunter, Rogue Trooper and Vector 13. Beyond 2000 AD, Weston’s work includes Fantastic Four: First Family, Enemy Ace: War in Heaven, The Filth, The Invisibles, Ministry of Space and Garth Ennis’s War Story: Johann’s Tiger.
Al Ewing has been a Judge Dredd aficionado since the age of nine, and is best known in the UK for his work on Dredd in 2000 AD, where he also co-created Zombo and Damnation Station. In addition, Ewing has written various novels for Solaris and Abaddon Books, including The Fictional Man, Pax Omega and Gods of Manhattan, and is currently writing Mighty Avengers and Loki: Agent of Asgard for Marvel Comics.
Superstar artist Frank Quitely first wowed 2000 AD fans with his work on Shimura and Missionary Man. He broke into the US comics’ scene, working with 2000 AD writer Grant Morrison on Flex Mentallo and JLA: Earth 2. The pair would continue to collaborate on such titles as New X-Men, We3 and All-Star Superman, the latter two titles winning various Eisner Awards between 2005-2007.
John Wagner has been scripting for 2000 AD for more years than he cares to remember. His creations include Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Ace Trucking, Al’s Baby, Button Man and Mean Machine. Outside of 2000 AD his credits include Star Wars, Lobo, The Punisher and the critically acclaimed A History of Violence.
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, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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