Review
“truly fantastic... It makes me want to read more... a great experience” -- Comics Alliance ― http://comicsalliance.com/judge-dredd-xxx-files-review-2000-ad-preview/
About the Author
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.
With over 300 2000 AD stories to his name – not to mention over 250 Daily Star Judge Dredd strips – Alan Grant’s prolific creative record speaks for itself. Outside the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, Grant is well-known to Batman fans following a lengthy run on various incarnations of the title. More recently he has adapted Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novels Kidnapped and Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde in Graphic Novel format with artist Cam Kennedy.
Simon Bisley occupies an almost unique place in 2000 AD history, as one of the first UK artists to popularise the fully-painted style pioneered by Argentinian artist Alberto Brecchia. His highly dynamic artwork made his two major series in the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic — A.B.C. Warriors: The Black Hole and Sláine: The Horned God — very popular, as they remain to date. He also illustrated Heavy Metal Dredd in the Megazine, an ultra-graphic, adults-only take on the lawman, before going on to pencil the hugely successful first Batman/Judge Dredd crossover story, Judgement on Gotham. Bisley has provided countless pin-ups and short pieces across an astonishing variety of comics, from legendary fantasy anthology Heavy Metal to anarchic DC superhero series Lobo, and has an even more extensive CV in Europe, where his painted style enjoys enormous success.
Mike Collins is the illustrator and co-creator of American Gothic. He has also worked on Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper Sinister Dexter, Sláine and several Future Shocks.
Carlos Ezquerra was the co-creator of Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rat Pack, Major Eazy and many other fan-favourite characters, he designed the classic original Dredd costume as well as visually conceptualising Mega-City One. In addition to these credits he also illustrated A.B.C. Warriors, Judge Anderson, Tharg the Mighty, and Cursed Earth Koburn amongst many other stories. Outside of the ‘Galaxy’s Greatest Comic’, Ezquerra illustrated the first Third World War episodes in Crisis magazine, and became a regular collaborator with Garth Ennis, working on Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, Bloody Mary, Just a Pilgrim, Condors, The Magnificent Kevin and two special Preacher episodes. He died in 2018 but his profound influence on the world of comic art cannot be overstated.
One of 2000 AD’s best-loved and most honoured artists, Ian Gibson is responsible for the co-creation of The Ballad of Halo Jones (with Alan Moore), and created Bella Bagley, an unfortunate character in Judge Dredd’s world who fell head-over-heels in love with ‘Old Stoney Face’ himself! His work outside the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic includes Chronicles of Genghis Grimtoad, Star Wars: Boba Fett, X-Men Unlimited, plus the designs for the TV series Reboot.
David Roach joined the art Droids at 2000 AD in late 1986 after studying Fine Art and Philosophy at art college, going on to draw Nemesis the Warlock and Judge Anderson for five years. In the ’90s he was one of many artists enticed over to America where he drew Star Wars and Aliens for Dark Horse, Star Trek for Wildstorm, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs for Topps and numerous strips for DC including a lengthy association with Batman which he both drew and inked. Much of the late ’90s was spent drawing Dungeons and Dragons illustrations for Wizards of the Coast, but he returned to British comics in 1999 with work for Panini’s Doctor Who Magazine where he still draws or inks the comic strip, and is the company’s Principal Graphic Novel cover artist. The new millennium also saw a return to 2000 AD where he drew Judge Dredd, Synnamon and in 2016 returned to Judge Anderson in Prog 2000. Away from comics, Roach has created artwork for records, advertising, storyboards and countless commissions. He also lectures in art and enjoys an alternate existence as a fine artist working with life-models to create large scale drawings of the nude. In a parallel career Roach has also written extensively about art, comics and pop culture and has contributed to various titles including Escape, Comic Book Artist and Illustrators magazine. He has written or co-written numerous art books including the Warren Companion (with Jon B Cooke for TwoMorrows, 2001), The Fleetway Companion (with Steve Holland for the Book Palace, 2007) The Art of War (Carlton, 2008), Life Style Illustrations of the ’50s and ’60s (two volumes for Fiell books compiled by Rian Hughes, 2010, 2013) and several books for Dynamite including the Art of Vampirella (2013), The Art of José González (2015) and Masters of Spanish Comic Art (2017). Future books will include The Art of Luis García Mozos and Drawings Volume 1; a collection of his favourite life-drawings. He lives in Cardiff with two daughters and far too many comics.
