Posted in: Comics, Rebellion / 2000AD | Tagged: action, battle, judge dredd

What If… 2000AD & Judge Dredd Merged With Battle/Action

Rebellion is asking "What If 2000 AD had merged with Battle Action", with character team-ups and Dreddverse versions of Battle strips.

Published Wed, 28 Jun 2023 12:38:11 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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2000AD and Judge Dredd time! Any British kid who read British weekly comic books in the sixties, seventies or eighties will be familiar with this cry. "Great news for all readers inside!" the comic book would say on the cover of the issue. To be revealed as "your favourite strips from BinkyBonky will now be appearing with your favourite strips from Corwumph!" Two comic books would merge, with the dream of carrying both titles' readerships to hopefully combine them and keep one comic alive, instead of cancelling them both. Eventually the strips from the lesser title would (mostly) be dropped and the title would fade from the masthead.

Buster and Jet merged, Tiger and Jag merged, Tiger and Roy of The Rovers merged, Starlord merged with 2000 AD, Tornado merged with 2000AD, Wham merged with Pow, Hoot merged with Dandy, Cor merged with Buster, Oink merged with Buster, Lion merged with Valiant, Smash merged with Valiant, Joe 90 merged with TV 21, TV 21 merged with Valiant, it was the way of things.

Now Rebellion Publishing is asking "What If 2000 AD had merged with Battle Action", itself a merged title, and 2000AD's war-themed predecessor, in the 1980s? So they are reviving Battle Action in the pages of 2000AD, with team-ups of the respective characters, as well as Dreddverse versions of classic Battle strips. A special 48-page bumper issue of 2000 AD Prog 2350 and the 132-page Judge Dredd Megazine #460 will be merged with Battle/Action for one – well, two – issues only. The comics will be published on the 20th of September in the UK and the 1st of November in the US.

Judge Dredd Megazine will see Judge Dredd take on the anarchic, riotous teens of 'Kids Rule OK', the controversial comic strip that saw questions asked in Parliament and Action being from shelves in 1976. The comics will also feature Alan Hebden and Carlos Ezquerra's former enslaved gunslinger El Mestizo and laconic WWII officer Major Eazy, as well as deadly future sport 'Death Game 2049', and daring Panzer officer 'Hellman of Hell Force', as well as Dreddworld reinventions of strips such as John Wagner and Mike Western's tale of the 'Forgotten Army', 'Darkie's Mob', and Tom Tully and Joe Colquhoun's WW2 air ace 'Johnny Red'.

Creators include Ken Neimand, Alex de Campi, Gordon Rennie, Arthur Wyatt, Chris Weston, Staz Johnson and more.

Matt Smith, editor of 2000 AD, said: "The history of comics on the UK's newsstand is marked by the practice of merging titles, where two great anthologies combine. In the case of Starlord joining 2000 AD, it meant the Prog gained Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters. When Tornado's Black Hawk joined the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, it led to a radical reinvention of the strip. Writer Ken Niemand suggested to me a special asking what would've happened if Battle Action merged with 2000 AD in the early eighties, with its war stories getting something of a science-fiction/fantasy makeover, and I couldn't resist! Major Eazy, Hellman of Hammer Force, El Mestizo, Dredger – all these great characters get the 2000 AD treatment in Prog 2350, courtesy of the likes of Niemand, Simon Coleby, Chris Weston, Dan Cornwell, Jake Lynch and more. And over in Judge Dredd Megazine #460, we've got Dreddworld reinventions of 'Rat Pack', 'Darkie's Mob' and 'Johnny Red' – it's a 'What if…' that fans of both Battle and 2000 AD won't want to miss."

This crossover will then be followed by a brand new 'jumping on' issue of 2000 AD featuring an all-new line-up including 'Poison', a new 'Judge Dredd' story by Rob Williams and PJ Holden, more 'Feral & Foe' by Dan Abnett and Richard Elson, the return of 'Helium' by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli, plus a special one-off clash between two classic characters by Garth Ennis & Henry Flint.

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