As part of my movement to increase the readership of 2000 AD in North America I have decided to add a new weekly feature to the site called Thrill-Power Thursday. Every Thursday I shall dedicate a long article to 2000 AD and/or The Judge Dredd Magazine.

As I just came up with the concept this afternoon, and I only slept for three hours last night, this will not be my first real post, but more a statement of intent. I am fermenting some ideas in my mind as to what would work well, and I would appreciate some feedback.

Here is what I have so far:

1. I plan to pimp out the week’s prog, talking about what strips are featured that week, highlighting and reviewing a few stories etc. If the story is, for example, Volume VI of ‘Savage’,  I will give readers a little back story to get them up to date, and inform them of what back issues the previous books were in. If a collection of previous arcs is available in print, I will point them to places where they can buy it.

2. As above, but for Judge Dredd Megazine. Possibly in the week of release, but most likely spread over a few few columns, as the Meg is so freaking big and has interviews, articles etc. It takes me a while to get through it all

3. Features on various characters and the strips they appear in.

4. Creator profiles. Looking at art and script bots of the past and present. Highlighting key works, and what they are currently working on.

5. Spotlighting key stories in the history of 2000 AD. This will include classic Dredd tales, SD tales etc. Why they were so great, and where to find them.

6. I will try to hook up some creator interviews, let the bots sell the prog themselves

I imagine more ideas will come to me over the next week, as I get ready for the first ‘real’ post, and any suggestions that you have would be much valued. I think the layout will involve ideas #1/#2 every week, with a revolving feature appended from the rest of the list, so there are basically two sections to each week’s post. Like I said, it’s all work in progress, and advice and assistance from any 2000 AD peeps out there would be MUCH valued!

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Before I go to mull over ideas I thought I would remind you that prog #1641 came out this Weds in the UK, and through Clickwheel, and Prog #1637 should have just hit the finer comic shops of North America.

Prog #1641 has an amazing full cover illustration of Ro-Busters by Patrick Goddard and Chris Blyth. Click the pic below to make it big, it’s a fantastic cover! Goddard goes from strength to strength!

FEATURES:

‘Judge Dredd: High Spirits (Pt 2)’

Script Droid: Ian Edginton
Art Droid: Dave Taylor
Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Mega-City One, 2131 AD. This vast urban nightmare is situated along the
eastern coast of post-apocalyptic North America, with the irradiated
wasteland known as the Cursed Earth to the west and the polluted Black
Atlantic to the east. Home to 400 million citizens, crammed into gigantic
citi-blocks, overcrowding is rife, unemployment endemic and boredom
universal. Tensions run a constant knife-edge, and crime is rampant. Only the Judges can prevent total anarchy. Empowered to dispense instant justice, these future lawmen are judge, jury and executioner. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD – he is the Law! Five citizens have gone nuts at Starkweather-Fugate block, indiscriminately shooting passers-by, with no obvious cause. When Dredd instructs Psi-Judge Peach to read one of the perps mind’s, all hell breaks loose.

Future Shocks: ’9 to 5′

Script Droid: John Howson
Art Droid: Ben Willsher
Letters: Simon Bowland

Out in the vast reaches of the universe, there are an infinite number of stories waiting to be told. From the lowliest swamp denizens in backwater galaxies to rulers of entire star systems, anything is possible in these twisted tales. Abandon your preconceptions, expect the unexpected and take a trip beyond the edges of the imagination…

‘Savage: 1984, Part 10′

Script Droid: Pat Mills
Art Droid: Patrick Goddard
Letters: Ellie De Ville

In 1999, Britain was invaded by the Volgans. When London lorry driver Bill Savage learned his family had been killed by a Volgan shell, he began a one-men war against the aggressors. Escaping to Canada, with help from the CIA he returned to the UK under the guise of his dead brther to fight the occupiers. Now, London has been e-bombed…

‘Cradlegrave: Part Nine’

Script Droid: John Smith
Art Droid: Edmund Bagwell
Letters: Annie Parkhouse

The Ravenglade Estate, somewhere in Lancashire, 2009. Shane Holt has just been released from Thorn Hill Young Offender Institution following an eight-month stretch for arson, and is returning home. But despite his attampts to stay out of trouble, a drunken joyride has led to tragic consequences, and something disturbing is afoot at Ted and Mary’s…

‘Defoe: Queen of the Zombies, Part 2′

Script Droid: Pat Mills
Art Droid: Leigh Gallagher
Letters: Annie Parkhouse

1669. It is three years since London was devastated by the Great Fire, the inferno caused by a comet passing over the capital. But from the ashes rose the undead, hungry for the flesh of the living. Protecting the populace is Titus DEFOE, who leads an elite squad of zombie hunters. Now they’ve discovered the layer of Diabolonians in Ipswitch…

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OK, I’m off to brew some stuff up for next week. Remember to grab this week’s issue!

SPLURDIG VUR THRIGG!

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3. What I’m Buying – Week of Wed 13-August-2008
4. What I’m Buying – Week of Wed 20-August-2008
5. Current Week’s Shipping List