MIND WARS comes to the Megazine!

Next week's issue of Judge Dredd Magazine, on sale Wednesday 15th May, will be 64 pages of all-new material as usual, and also as usual it'll be bagged with a chunky reprint of a bygone strip. This time it's a reprint of a series a lot of people have been wanting for quite some time; Mind Wars, which originally appeared in Starlord weekly back in 1978!

Written by Alan Hebden, with art by Jesus Redondo and Ian Gibson, Mind Wars is sure to be welcomed by readers. Judge Dredd Magazine No.408 features volume 1, and the second volume concluding the series will be bagged with the following month's issue.  

There's lots of great NEW material in this issue too of course! Here's the info and a few preview pages...

• UK and DIGITAL: 15th May 2019 £5.99
• NORTH AMERICA: 15th June 2019 $13
• DIAMOND: MAR191964
• COVER: CLIFF ROBINSON (a) DYLAN TEAGUE (c)

In this issue:
JUDGE DREDD: THE CRAZY by Kenneth Niemand (w) Nick Dyer (a) John Charles (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)

LAWLESS: ASHES TO ASHES by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Ellie De Ville (l)

STORM WARNING: GREEN & PLEASANT LAND by John Reppion, Leah Moore (w) Tom Foster (a) Eva De La Cruz (c) Simon Bowland  (l)

TALES FROM THE BLACK MUSEUM: JUST BUSINESS by Rory McConville (w) Neil Googe (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)
THE DARK JUDGES: THE TORTURE GARDEN by John Wagner (w) Nick Percival (a) Annie Parkhouse (l)

Features: Geoff Senior interview, Abigail Bulmer interview
Bagged reprint: Mind Wars Vol.1

Available in print from: newsagents and comic book stores via Diamond Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop and apps for iPad, Android, Windows 10

STARLORD cover gallery (1978)

Art: Ramon Sola

As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the short-lived Starlord weekly from 1978, I thought I'd run a gallery of all 22 covers. I've scanned them from my own comic collection, and the art credits (where I didn't recognise them) are from sources online. 

If you didn't already know, Starlord was launched as a slicker companion comic to 2000AD, and introduced us to Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters; characters that are still around today. After just 22 weeks, Starlord merged into 2000AD, but it's still remembered as one of the best comics of its day.

Starlord comic is Copyright ©Rebellion Publishing Ltd.

Art: Brian Bolland??? Anyone know for sure? 

Art: Kevin O'Neill

Art: Carlos Ezquerra

Art: Kevin O'Neill

Art: Ron Embleton

Art: Ramon Sola?

Art: Brian Lewis?

Art: Graham Coton

Art: Graham Coton

Artist unknown.

Art: Brian Lewis

Art: Carlos Ezquerra

Artist unknown.

Art: Alberto Salinas?

Art: Kevin O'Neill

Art: John Higgins?

Artist unknown.

Art: Graham Coton

Art: Ian Kennedy

Art: Jose Luis Ferrer?

Art: Graham Coton

There was also a Starlord Summer Special published in 1978 while the weekly was still in circulation...

As a bonus, here are the free gifts from the first three issues of the weekly... 

The free foil badge was designed by Kevin O'Neill and there were six to collect, each one randomly attached to the front cover. 

Issue 2 gave away a cardboard slide that revealed info on the planets...

Issue 3 presented Starlord's equivalent of the old 'Battleships' game...

Front

Reverse

This week in 1978: STARLORD No.1

Saturday 6th May 1978 saw the publication of IPC's new sci-fi weekly Starlord in newsagents across the UK. The new comic was a companion to 2000AD and was originally planned as a monthly until IPC got cold feet, resulting in some quick changes before launching as a weekly. 

As one IPC editor told me a few years later, monthly comics were considered too risky back then. The concern was that the young target audience who were accustomed to weekly comics would either forget which week a monthly would come out, or even lose interest during the four week wait for the next issue. Of course that attitude changed over the years as UK publishers had to rethink the frequency of their comics in the wake of ever decreasing sales to give them a longer shelf life. These days a monthly frequency is the norm, with weeklies being the oddities.

Anyway, back to Starlord No.1. The 32 page comic was on slicker paper than its sister title 2000AD and boasted more colour and better printing. It was also a few pence more expensive at 12p an issue. What it had in common with 2000AD was its presentation of stories in a dynamic and hyperactive fashion. For example, upon opening issue 1, the reader was immediately plunged into the relentlessly fast-paced Planet of the Damned by 'R.E.Wright' (Pat Mills) and Lalia. Here's the first two pages of the six page first episode which used the then-popular story theme about the 'Bermuda Triangle'...

Next came the first chapter of Time Quake, written by Jack Adrian with fantastic artwork by Ian Kennedy. Here's the first three pages...

Next, time for a breather and for the comic's fictional editor Starlord to introduce himself with art by Ian Gibson and an editorial dripping with paranoia...

The facing page showed the six alternative free badges, one of which was randomly attached by tape to the cover. If the readers weren't already jittery from Starlord's warning of imminent alien invasion the advisory about sticking the badges onto flesh would have completely pushed them over the edge: "you could develop a skin disorder, putting you out of combat"! 

Here's one of those very badges, designed by Kevin O'Neill...

Across the centre pages, the first episode of Strontium Dog, by T.B. Grover (John Wagner) and Carlos Ezquerra. A popular character still around today in the pages of the latest 2000AD. Here's the first two pages...

Rounding off the issue was the longest story, Ro-Busters, running to 11 pages! This was one of the strips originally intended for the monthly, which accounted for its length. Subsequent chapters would be half the size.

Script by Pat Mills, artwork by Carlos Pino. The war robot Hammerstein still appears today in 2000AD's A.B.C. Warriors and Savage strips, with Pat Mills having connected several of his series into one universe. 

Starlord wasn't a big success for IPC and sadly ended after 22 weeks, merging into 2000AD. Apparently 2000AD's sales were not good either, but it's thought that Starlord was sacrificed because it was more expensive to produce. On a positive note, the merger did 2000AD a lot of good, bringing in Ro-Busters and Strontium Dog which strengthened the comic.

***************
While I'm at it, here are the covers to issues 2 and 3, plus the free gifts. No.2 was drawn by Brian Bolland, relating to the Time Quake story inside...

...and No.3 sported a fantastic cover by Kevin O'Neill...

The free gift in No.2 was the 'Space Calculator', a cardboard slide which gave information on the planets of our galaxy. No.3's freebie was a 'Starblast' game; a variation of 'Battleships', with a wipe-clean laminated card that could be re-used. 

For more information on the background of Starlord comic, check out the book Thrill-Power Overload by David Bishop and, if you can find a copy, the now-out-of-print Beyond 2000AD from Hibernia Comics.  

Beyond 2000AD

Written by David McDonald, Beyond 2000AD is a new book under his Comic Archive banner. The 68 page softback is a fascinating look at the comics that relate to 2000AD, such as Starlord, Tornado, the Judge Dredd newspaper strip and much more.

The book is excellently researched, interviewing people directly involved with the comics such as John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra,Kelvin Gosnell, Nick Landau, Dez Skinn and others. It's a revealing insight into the workings of IPC in the 1970s, and how creativity was often frustrated by the changing opinions of management. (For example Starlord was revamped from a monthly to a weekly at short notice, and Tornado was intended to be called Heroes until management decided it was "a nothing title".)

There's also a look at the history of the 2000AD material being repackaged for the American market, starting with Eagle Comics' full colour Judge Dredd monthly and how and why Quality Comics took over the reprint operation. There's the background to the newspaper strip version of Judge Dredd and related strips such as the short-lived Scatha (reprinted in full). There's even a feature on the often overlooked Metalzoic by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill.

I was pleased to see that two people who are seldom (if ever) mentioned in such comic histories are given their due. I'd heard of Doug Church (and I'm sure I met him once up at King's Reach Tower) and knew he worked in production at IPC, but I didn't know he was a strip artist himself, drawing war picture libraries and even moonlighting for DC Thomson's Victor whilst still on the staff at IPC.

Doug's anecdotes prove interesting reading, particularly the information that he was tasked with producing a revamped Eagle in 1972! Frank Bellamy's cover is shown, as are two pages that Joe Colquhoun did for the dummy. Sadly, the project was shelved and Eagle had to wait another ten years for a completely different revival. 

The other ex-IPC staffer interviewed is Colin Wyatt. You may know his work for some of the marvelous covers he illustrated for Donald and Mickey comic in the seventies, but he has also worked in production on 2000AD, Tornado, and Action. The book shows some of the artwork that was censored from Action and 2000AD for its violent content.

Beyond 2000AD is an essential read for anyone genuinely interested in the history and background of British comics. It's available to buy either as a digital or print edition from the Hibernia Comics website:

Print:
http://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/store/products/comic-archive-beyond-2000ad/

Digital: http://www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/store/products/category/digital-downloads/