PRG2309D
PRG2309D
                                      COVER ART
                                      Simon Fraser
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   Damage Report: Journal of the Plague Years: week one
hundred and twenty — the revelation that there was a Shadow
Tharg at some point during the last forty-five years of the
Galaxy’s Greatest has sent a wave of unease rippling through
the Command Module droids, especially the long-timers. Just
what influence did it wield? And when — what era did it make its
presence subtly felt? Current TMO claims not to know...
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                                                    HA! IS THAT
THEN:     NOT        NOTHING. IT’S                REALLY IT, JOE?
        A THING,   HIGHLY UNUSUAL,                THOUGHTS DON’T
                                                   EVER STRAY TO            WHAT
         RIGHT?     REALLY, BUT...
                                                     ANYTHING              ELSE IS
                                                  OTHER? EVER?             THERE?
                                 ALL YOU
                             PICK UP IS DUTY
                           AND THE LAW
                                   LAW.. AND AN
                           UNDERLYING, HIGHLY
                              CONTROLLED...
                    ...WELL,
                   ANGER , \
                   ANGER,
                   SUPPOSE.
NOW:                                                                                        SCRIPT
                                                                                          ROB
                                                         CREEP...                       WILLIAMS
                                                                                             ART
                                                                                            HENRY
                                                                                            FLINT
                                                                                            LETTERS
                                                                                         ANNIE
                                                                                       PARKHOUSE
       < **
         **MASTER!
            MASTER! \
     HAVE BROUGHT THE
     EXPERIMENT AS YOU
       INSTRUCTED! ** >
       < WE WOULD
     HAVE USED IT
   AS THE GREATEST
    WEAPON OF ALL
      TO DESTROY
      MEGA-CITY
         ONE! >
          <\
     DID KILL WAR,
      VASILISA... >
      < ...BUT
           BUT \                                     SENTIENTOID...
  RETAINED SAMPLES
 FROM ITS BODY, AND
  FROM THESE, IN MY
  LABORATORY, WITH
 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
     BACKING... >
                                                 < A PSYCHIC
                                             MAGPIE! A PARASITIC
                                             INFESTATION SERVING
                                                ONLY ITSELF! >
< DON’T
 MAKE
 ME... >
  < AND \ WILL
NOT REST UNTIL \                                MNE
RAISE THIS, YOUR                               ZHAL.
 ADOPTED CITY,
   TO THE _ >
                    ...WHAT
                   DID \ JUST
                       SAY?     SOV.
                                        YOU
                                       SPOKE
                                        SOV.
  YOU SAID,
‘\’M SORRY.’
HE HAD NO MEMORY OF
 ANYTHING AFTER THE
  SENTENOID HIT HIM.
    HAD BURATINO
  CONTROLLED HIM?
     USED HIM AS A
   PSYCHIC BLINDSPOT
  TO SNEAK UP ON THE
    SOV? A PUPPET?
      A WEAPON?
                                         A CLONE
                                     OF WAR? THAT’S
                                    WHAT THEY’VE HAD
                                      YOU WORKING
                                           ON?
YES.
              MEGA-CITY
             ONE IS SAFE,
           ANDERSON. THAT
             IS ALL THAT
              MATTERS.                                    ONE LOOSE
                                                            END...
IZAAKS.
 IZAAKS AND
WHOEVER HE’D
BEEN SECRETLY
  MEETING...
        \ DIDN’T WANT
   JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
 TREATING ME. DIDN’T WANT                          SIX MONTHS,
 YOUR CHEMICALS INSIDE ME                      DREDD. THAT’S ALL.
  AT THE END. THAT’S WHY                       MAYBE NINE MONTHS
     \ TRIED TO KEEP IT     PETTY, \              IF \’M LUCKY.
           SECRET.          REALISE.
                                                         DOCTOR SAYS
                                                       IT’S PROBABLY A
                                                       REMNANT OF THE
                                                       WAR. ALL THOSE
                                                            NUKES...
   THE WAR...
          \ WAS
   SECOND-IN-COMMAND
    OF THE ENTIRE SOV
   ASSAULT, AND KAZAN
  DEMOTED ME TO KADET.                                             EVERY DAY
  THE HUMILIATION! \, A                                        HE GAVE ME THIS
   PROUD MAN. A PROUD                                        OLD REVOLVER AND ONE
        SOLDIER...                                            BULLET AND HE MADE
                                                               ME PLAY RUSSIAN
                                                                   ROULETTE.
                BUT
            THAT WASN’T
            ENOUGH FOR                                             SPIN THE
               HIM...                                         CHAMBER, PULL THE
                                                             TRIGGER. CLICK! THEN
                                                              HIS ENJOYMENT AS
                                                                  HE’D SAY...        SAME
                                                                                TIME TOMORROW,
                                                                                      THEN.
    KAZAN             IF YOU
  GAVE YOU A       WERE A HERO,
REVOLVER AND A                                                                YOU GOT
                  WHY DIDN’T YOU                                              WHAT YOU
BULLET... EVERY     SHOOT HIM?
     DAY.                          ...W-WHAT?                                 DESERVE.
                                                                                         THE END
 OBITUARY KEVIN O’NEILL
                                                                                                                                                       By Karl Stock
A HYPER TALENT
KEVIN O’NEILL, WHO DIED THIS MONTH, WAS THE             Special Effects in 1975, for which he secured a             Kudos, then, to 2000 AD’s PR droid and Thrillcast
ORIGINAL 2000 AD ART DROID. HE WAS WELL-                Ray Harryhausen interview by calling the only            host Michael Molcher, who in 2021 persuaded
known by readers of the title as the co-creator of      person with that name in the London phonebook.           him to sit for a near five-hour chat which can
the defining strips Ro-Busters, which evolved into      A later design job for a proposed Gerry Anderson         currently be heard on 2000 AD’s podcast channels.
the ABC Warriors, and Nemesis the Warlock with          project didn’t work out, but O’Neill’s enjoyment of      Thoroughly essential listening for anyone intrigued
writer Pat Mills, as well as Marshal Law with Mills     Thunderbirds and his robot-focused 1976 fanzine          by the career of this most unique of artists, O’Neill
for Epic Comics in America and the two-decade           Mek Memoirs with writer Chris Lowder fed into Ro-        is open, warm and very funny throughout, revealing
masterpiece of steampunk futurism The League            Busters’ creation.                                       that he considered 2019’s The Tempest, the fourth
of Extraordinary Gentlemen with Alan Moore.                Through the 1980s, his work became synonymous         and final volume of The League of Extraordinary
   He was also assistant art editor on 2000 AD          with his closest working partner and lifelong friend     Gentlemen, to be his final major work in comics,
from its pre-launch period in 1976, as deputy to        Pat Mills, with the brilliantly garish, hyper-detailed   and that he was content to leave it there.
his mentor and friend Jan Shepheard, with whom          world of Nemesis the Warlock and his arch-enemy             ‘I really want to finish with long-form comics
he’d worked on titles like Buster and Monster Fun       Torquemada influenced by their shared upbringing         on a happy note,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be all
since cold-calling IPC’s office at the age of sixteen   in religious schooling. In 1987 they created the         miserable and bitter and twisted because that can
in 1969 and being offered a junior position.            fabulously brutal superhero satire Marshal Law for       so easily happen. No, I think of all the happy times
When Shepheard left to become art editor on             Marvel’s Epic Comics, later taking it to their own       and I can laugh at the times that weren’t happy
Starlord a few months later (a job O’Neill turned       self-started UK title Toxic! (alongside John Wagner,     now, because they’re in the past. I’ve found things
down because he enjoyed 2000 AD so much and             Alan Grant and Mick McMahon).                            are either good exciting, or they’re terrible but
expected it to last the longest), he became art            O’Neill’s work on a 1986 Green Lantern strip          funny. You’ve got to see the funny side, you know?’
editor himself, eventually leaving to go freelance      with Moore for DC was famously banned by the                Kevin O’Neill’s final work for 2000 AD, a return
late in 1978.                                           censorious Comics Code Authority on the basis of         to his first strip for the title Bonjo From Beyond
   During his time at 2000 AD, O’Neill drew the         his general style, and he did relatively little work     the Stars alongside writer Garth Ennis, will
first-ever image of Tharg the Mighty on the cover       in America in those days, aside from the 1986 DC         appear in 2022’s final prog of the year. The long-
of Prog 1, a small thumbnail headshot at the            graphic novel Metalzoic with Mills (later reprinted      delayed Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic
centre of the swirl where the free Space Spinner        in 2000 AD) and the Batman spoof Bat-Mite with           by Alan Moore and the late Steve Moore, scheduled
toy was mounted. His other major contribution           Alan Grant. In 1999, however, Moore enlisted him         for publication by Top Shelf/Knockabout next year,
had an incalculable effect on the development of        for his Victorian superhero fantasy The League           will also feature a strip illustrated by him.
British comics into a new era.                          of Extraordinary Gentlemen with America’s                   The comics industry has lost one of its greatest,
   Having grown sick of ‘bodging’ out artists’          Best Comics, later adapted into a Sean Connery-          most visually explosive imaginations ever. ‘It’s been
signatures on strips, and determined that they          starring film.                                           a good roll,’ Kevin told the Thrillcast. ‘I’ve done
be recognised by name for their talents rather             ‘He is one of the finest and most distinctive         more than I expected back when I walked into the
than kept anonymous as a form of institutional          comic-book artists this country has ever turned          Fleetway building. It’s been quite an experience.’
protectionism to stop other publishers trying to        out,’ Moore said of O’Neill in the Guardian in
poach them away, he introduced the 2000 AD              2011. ‘Also, he is the only one of my mainstream
‘Credit Card’ in Prog 36. It was the first time         collaborators who is from a similar background to
British creators were recognised by name for their      myself and who has ever taken my side in any of
work, and this allowed for the concept of the ‘fan      my bust-ups with the comic companies.’ 
favourite’ artist in years to come, while American         He was quietly spoken and not often
editors now knew who to approach for work. What         interviewed, a calm and mellow flipside to the
was bad news for the management unleashed a             very visible generation of rock-star comic creators
generation of creators.                                 who emerged alongside him and in the years after.
   Raised in south-east London and inspired by Tex      Attempting to secure an interview for the Judge
Avery cartoons, Mad magazine, his elder brother         Dredd Megazine a few years back, he told me
John’s drawing and the work of Ken Reid, O’Neill        ‘I don’t really like doing that sort of thing’, and
was an aficionado of film special effects. He           asking again earlier this year, he sadly had to
published a fanzine dedicated to the craft named        decline for the time being due to his health, with
Just Imagine: The Journal of Film and Television        the hopeful caveat we might pick things up later.                   KEVIN O’NEILL 1953 - 2022
  \’M              NO. YOU                                             NONE OF                            \’D NEVER
SORRY,           DON’T GET TO       THIS                            THIS WOULD’VE                    HAVE BEEN BITTEN...
ZOE _             TOUCH ME.     IS ALL YOUR                      HAPPENED IF \’D LEFT                \ WOULD STILL HAVE
                                   FAULT!                      YOU IN THAT BUNKER...IF                    MY ARM!
                                                                \’D NEVER MET YOU OR
                                                                   YOUR OVERGROWN          ZOE...
                                                                       TIN-CAN!          PLEASE...
                  ZOE!
      NOTHING                                                                                                   ZOE?
       AT ALL!                                                             LET HER
                                                                           BE, KID.
SCRIPT
CAVAN
SCOTT
ART
                                                                 NO _ \
LUKE                                                             CAN’T.
HORSMAN
LETTERS
ANNIE
PARKHOUSE
                                       \ CAN’T                                YOUR
                                    DO THAT. NOT   WHY NOT?               FAMILY. WHAT
                                    WHEN YOU’RE    EVERYONE               HAPPENED TO          THEY DIED.
                                     LIKE THIS.    ELSE DID.                 THEM?          BECAUSE OF ME.
   JUST                                                                                  BOBBY... MY BROTHER...
 LEAVE ME                                                                   REALLY?
ALONE, WILL                                                BOBBY...                        HE DIED BECAUSE...
   YOU?                                                    GRAN...                        BECAUSE \ LEFT HIM
                                                                                                 BEHIND.
                                                                                                         AND
                                                                                                        GRAN...
                            RUN,
                            ZOE !
                                                          GRAN _
                                                           NO !
‘BUT
 BUT SHE WAS JUST
  LOOKING AFTER
 ME, HER FAVOURITE
 GRANDDAUGHTER...
                                                                        STAY
                                                                      AWAY FROM
                                                                        HER !
                      OOOFF !
‘...SAME AS
 ALWAYS...
                                                   YAAAHHH!
              GET AWAY,
               ZOEEEE ...
GNNN _
G-GRAN?
   GRANNY,                                          GO WHERE?
 \’M SORRY...                                    \’M NOT GOING TO         L-LESS
                                                  BE ABLE TO COPE     OF THAT TALK,
                                    WHY?                            MY GIRL... YOU’RE
                              N-NONE OF THIS        WITHOUT YOU _
                                                                    S-STRONGER THAN
                            IS YOUR FAULT, ZOE                         YOU THINK...
                              LUV. Y-YOU NEED
                                   TO GO...                                             GRAN?
                                                                            YOU...
‘AND
 AND THAT’S WHERE \
LEFT HER... JUST LIKE
  \’D LEFT BOBBY...
    ‘JUST
     JUST LIKE \’VE
   LEFT EVERYONE.’
         \ THOUGHT                  WE’LL
     \ COULD MAKE IT UP       LOOK AFTER EACH
          TO THEM.                 OTHER.
        THOUGHT \
  COULD LOOK AFTER YOU.
    BUT LOOK AT ME...
  CAN’T EVEN LOOK AFTER
         MYSELF.
                BUT YOU
              DON’T HAVE TO
             LOOK AFTER ME,
              ZOE. NOT LIKE
                  THAT.
        LET’S GIVE
     THEM SOME ROOM,
        EH, FELIX?
SURE...
                     IT’S OKAY.
                    WE’RE GOING                                             \’LL
 SORRY.                                                                  BE RIGHT              \’M NOT
                  TO BE OKAY, YOU
                 KNOW? YOU’RE SAFE   DO YOU NEED                           BACK.           SURE HOW MUCH
                                                                                           MORE OF THIS \
                  NOW. WE’RE BOTH    A TISSUE OR                                         CAN TAKE, JESS. ALL
                        SAFE.        SOMETHING?                                            THE DRAMA, THE
                                                                                           TEARS. IT’S NOT
                                                                                              WORTH IT.
YEAH _
 SNFF !
SOUNDS
 GOOD.
                                                                        WE ALL
                                                                    ARE, FELIX. BUT
                                                                  IT WON’T BE LONG, \
     HOW                                                        PROMISE. WE JUST NEED
  MANY TIMES                                                      TO GET SOME MEAT
                                      _ UNLESS                       BACK ON THEIR                _ GOOD
HAVE WE GOT TO                                                                                   ENOUGH TO
 GO THROUGH                           YOU WANT                          BONES _
                                      TO FINISH                                                     EAT!
     THIS?                                             NAH, IT’S
                WE JUST                IT NOW.      FINE. \’M JUST
              NEED TO LOOK
                                                   SO HUNGRY, YOU
            AFTER THEM FOR A
                                                        KNOW?
              WHILE, THAT’S
                  ALL _
                 PART
                 EIGHT
 SCRIPT
 KEN
 NIEMAND
 ART
 PJ
 HOLDEN
 COLOURS
 CHRIS
 BLYTHE
 LETTERS
 SIMON
 BOWLAND
The End
 SCRIPT
  ROB
WILLIAMS
  ART
  SIMON
 FRASER
 LETTERS
 SIMON
BOWLAND
             THE
            COLD
           IN THE
PART 8
           BONES
            BOOK
             ONE
END OF BOOK ONE
     #
          42
  2018 // Progs 2062-2111
                                 BRIMFUL
                                 BRIMFUL OF
                                         OF THRILLS
                                            THRILLS ON
                                                    ON THE
                                                       THE 45!
                                                           45!
  Cover-dated: 03 January       By Scott
    – 12 December 2018
                                    Montgomery
                                                                                                                                                                       W W W . 2 0 0 0 A D . C O M
                                                                                                                                                                       £2.75 // 27 JUNE 2018 // EVERY WEDNESDAY
Jaegir: In the Realm of Pyrrhus; Judge Dredd:
Fit for Purpose; Judge Fear: Memories Are Made
                                                                                                     OUT FOR
                                                                          9
                                                                                                                                                                                           9
                                                                          7 7 0 2 6 2 2 8 4 2 2 7
                                                                                                                                                                                           7 7 0 2 6 2 2 8 4 2 2 7
of This; and Sinister Dexter: The Salad of Bad
                                                                                                    BLOOD!
                                                                          8 2
                                                                                                                                                                                           8 7
Café. Meanwhile Johnny Alpha encounters
                                                         PROG
                                                                                                                                                                          PROG
                                                                                                    DURHAM RED’S BACK – PRAY YOU’RE NOT IN HER SIGHTS!
                                                      2082
                                                                                                                                                                       2087
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       THE DARK JUDGES SNIFF OUT SURVIVORS AS DEADWORLD FALLS
Kenton Sternhammer, the grown-up offspring of           P.01 (2082 COVER).indd 1                                                                   09/05/2018 17:52      P.01 (2087 COVER)_3.indd 1                                                                            13/06/2018 17:44
his long-dead partner Wulf, in The Son. Future       Dave Taylor’s prequel to the popular World War
Shock Freedom Wears Two Faces is the first           II/vampire mash-up series.                                                                                       BEHIND THE SCENES:
published work by writer James Peaty, who will       Prog 2106: Tharg’s 3rillers: Infestinauts are                                                                        On 1 October 2018, the comics world lost
go on to script Diamond Dogs for the Judge           Go! is a three-part follow-up to Prog 1822’s                                                                       artist Carlos Ezquerra, who sadly died at
Dredd Megazine.                                      Intestinauts are Go! Future Shock by                                                                             the age of seventy. Co-creator of Judge Dredd
Prog 2081: Futuristic crime drama Skip Tracer        Arthur Wyatt and Pye Parr.                                                                                       and Strontium Dog, plus numerous other
debuts, also written by Peaty and drawn by Paul      Prog 2110: Judge Dredd: Trial by Fire sees                                                                            characters, his contribution to 2000 AD
Marshall. Dreddverse horror series The Fall of       the first appearance of Tek-Judge Kirby,                                                                              and its lasting legacy is incredible.
Deadworld is back with Damned.                       who will get her own spin-off strip in a
Prog 2082: Writer Alec Worley and artists Ben        couple of years, Department K.
Willsher & Lee Carter reboot Durham Red in Born      Prog 2111: The traditional 100-page end-
Bad – a back-to-basics tale for the vamp Stront,     of-year special features Brink, Durham
set after the Second Mutant War. Survival Geeks      Red, Fiends of the Western Front, Sláine,
return in Geek-Con.                                  Judge Dredd and Skip Tracer. A treat
Prog 2087: Historical romp The Order begins          from The Mighty One is Visiting Hour – the
its fourth story arc, The New World, which           concluding episode of Caballistics, Inc.,
features the surprise return of Guardian of the      resolving the series last seen in Prog
Edge Armoured Gideon, not seen in the comic          1558 from October 2007.
since April 1995’s Prog 935.
Prog 2093: True Faith is the first full series for
Mechastopheles, spinning off from Tharg’s            Companion titles:
3rillers and by the same creators: Gordon &                   2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2018
Lawrence Rennie and Karl Richardson.                         An all-female roll-call of creators
Prog 2100: The autumn jumping-on prog has                 unleashes new adventures for Judge
one-offs for Anderson, Psi-Division and                 Dredd, Anderson, DeMarco, P.I., Judge
Sinister Dexter as well as the following new         Death and Rogue Trooper, plus Future
story arcs: Brink: High Society; Kingdom:            Shocks, Terror Tales and Tyranny Rex.
Alpha & Omega; and Skip Tracer: Legion.
Judge Dredd: The Small House sees the                Judge Dredd Megazine 400
lawman track down insidious covert                    This milestone issue features Judge Dredd,
                                                                                                                                                                       W W W . 2 0 0 0 A D . C O M
                                                                                                                                                                       £4.99 // 20 JUNE - 31 JULY 2018
Eastern Front: 1812 is Ian Edginton and              Judges, as well as interviews with all five
                                                     previous Meg editors.                                                                                                                                                              ALL-NEW STORIES FEATURING
                                                                                                                                                                      2018
GRAPHIC NOVEL
COLLECTION
WITH DEFINITIVE STORIES
AND EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT
                                        ISSUE 136
                                        ON SALE NOW
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                                        LOCAL NEWSAGENT!
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