Fifty years of Thrill-Power deserves a proper reunion, Crusaders, and 2000 AD is bringing some serious company. The 2000 AD 50th Anniversary Special arrives worldwide on February 24, 2027, with a Brian Bolland cover, new adventures for familiar troublemakers and returning creators whose names are woven into this comic’s history. Dredd is leading the charge, but look down this lineup and the reunion gets bigger with every turn.
Rebellion is pitching the standalone special to newcomers as well as readers who have spent decades with The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. The anniversary package is billed as five new stories across sixty pages, with a story representing each decade of the publication’s existence. There is also a welcome-back announcement for the ABC Warriors, giving readers another reason to pay attention to this birthday bash.
First decade, first big name: John Wagner is returning to Judge Dredd. Dredd’s co-creator teams with artist Dan Cornwell for another ride with the Lawman of the Future, bringing the comic’s most famous creation back onto the streets. Having Wagner involved gives this celebration a direct connection to the character’s beginnings, while Cornwell supplies the new adventure’s artwork.
The second decade belongs to Robo-Hunter, with Sam Slade taking on a fresh cybernetic case. Robbie Morrison and Mike Perkins are the creative team handling that return. Morrison is pulling double duty for the special, because the third decade also brings back Nikolai Dante, reunited with original co-creator Simon Fraser for a new swashbuckling outing.
Fraser describes drawing Dante again as instinctive. He knows the designs, knows what the characters are feeling and finds the work comfortable because the world was built around the way his hand moves across a page. He also stresses that the story offers something new, even with all that nostalgia surrounding the reunion. That is a promising way to approach an anniversary: let the history invite people in, then give the characters somewhere to go.
Morrison says contributing two stories to the fiftieth anniversary has been a pleasure, and returning to Dante with Fraser came surprisingly easily after their time away. The finished story was not the one he initially expected to write, but he is pleased with how it turned out. Tharg’s response to the script was, “It’s like Dante’s never been away!” Morrison promises fans the things they want from a Dante adventure, with a little extra waiting in the wings.
Moving into the fourth decade and the new millennium, Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell reunite with Captain Jack Dancer and the crew of The Red Seas. Edginton’s description of the adventure includes a 1950s Chevy, dinosaurs, aliens and pirates. Fam, that is a whole lot of trouble to fit into one voyage, and it sounds perfectly suited to a crew already comfortable sailing straight into the impossible.
Yeowell calls this ten-page return a particularly enjoyable collaboration with his old shipmate Edginton. He points readers toward the Harryhausen-style antics and plenty of swashbuckling, while specifically warning them about mysterious islands. The anniversary is giving this team room to play with the strange, adventurous energy that belongs to Jack and his companions.
The current decade is represented by Brink, with writer Dan Abnett and co-creator INJ Culbard adding a new installment. Abnett places the story between Brink Book 6 and Brink Book 7, while Kurtis and company are traveling to Luna Hab. He describes the upcoming seventh book as the series’ most devastating chapter yet, making this stop along the way an especially interesting piece of the timeline.
Abnett also says the anniversary story keeps the unsettling side of Brink alive. Even as the series seems to be finding rational explanations for its ongoing weirdness, there is still high strangeness out there. Anyone comfortable with the idea that the answers have finally arrived might want to keep one eye on the shadows.
Then comes the other major reunion: Pat Mills and Colin MacNeil are bringing back the ABC Warriors. Mills wanted the Warriors represented in the fiftieth anniversary, and the initial story idea came from MacNeil. The artist explains that it began with a fireside drawing of Deadlock holding a tarot card called Mekropolis. That image sparked a story honoring the early ABC Warriors strips, which he wrote down and eventually sent to Mills to adapt.
That path from an artist’s drawing to a new collaboration feels right for a celebration of a comic built on bold ideas. Between the Warriors, Dredd, Sam Slade, Dante, Jack Dancer and the cast of Brink, this special is offering readers several very different doors into five decades of 2000 AD.
Preorders are available through the 2000 AD webshop and UK comic shops. US readers can order through stores served by Lunar Distribution, while Canadian readers can check shops supplied by Universal Distribution. Mark February 24, 2027, and check out our coverage of 2000 AD’s London anniversary celebration for more of the birthday festivities.
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