THARG’S NERVE CENTRE IN THIS PROG JUDGE DREDD // THE BOOTH CONSPIRACY Mega-City One, 2140 AD. Home to over 100 million citizens, this urban hell is situated along the east coast of post-apocalyptic North America. Crime is rampant, and only the Judges — future law-enforcers empowered to dispense instant justice — can stop total anarchy. Toughest of them all is JUDGE DREDD — he is the Law! Now, a terror cell called the Sons of Booth are attempting to bring down Justice Department... Judge Dredd created by John Wagner & Carlos Ezquerra SURVIVAL GEEKS // SLACK N’ HASH Somewhere in the outer limits of space/time, plunging through the planes of reality, BORAG THUNGG, EARTHLETS! is what looks like a regular suburban two-up two-down, but it is in fact powered by I am The Mighty Tharg, awe-inspiring alien misfiring transdimensional technology. Inside live sci-fi obsessives Clive, Rufus and editor at the helm of this zarjaz SF anthology! Simon, plus reluctant housemate Sam and pet Cthulhu Howard: explorers on the edge I bid you galactic greetings once again, Thrill- of beyond, they’re never far from trouble on the worlds they visit... seekers, to this latest foray into my future-shocked Survival Geeks created by Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby & Neil Googe worlds, and this prog we welcome back those dimension-hopping nerds the Survival Geeks for THE ORDER // THE NEW WORLD another scrotnig comical adventure, courtesy of the Throughout history, mankind has been under threat of extermination by the Wyrms, Rennie, Beeby and Googe droids. Elsewhere, Dredd, creatures from another plane that systematically break into our reality. Defending Grey Area, Mechastopheles and The Order are all humanity are the men and women of THE ORDER, a secret band of warriors that have building towards their grand finales in just three short fought the entities across the centuries. But the Wyrms have fractured time, noble weeks, clearing the decks for the latest of my circuit- robot knight Ritterstahl has been lost, and Anna Kohl is determined to find him... scorching jumping-on issues, Prog 2100, which hits The Order created by Kek-W & John Burns Thrill-merchants’ shelves on 26 September. I promised I’d tease you Squaxx with some of the ghafflebette MECHASTOPHELES // TRUE FAITH delights awaiting you, and below I’ve authorised a It is over a year since the Fall, when the demons rose and society collapsed. A glimpse of Fiends of the Eastern Front: 1812, a brand- band of survivors have sought refuge in a demonically powered robot called new story featuring the vampiric Constanta and crew MECHASTOPHELES, and they use this infernal ark as a means to seek sanctuary set in the Napoleonic era, scripted by Ian Edginton and and find other refugees. But Mechastopheles needs repairing, and has been granted drawn by Dave Taylor. Mouths watering yet, Terrans? passage into the city of Benedictia. However, the authorities have plans for him... Fiends is just one of the stunning stories commencing Mechastopheles created by Gordon Rennie, Lawrence Rennie & Karl Richardson in Prog 2100, and if you want to make sure you don’t miss this awesome issue then I highly recommend GREY AREA // OBJECTIVES you pay a visit to shop.2000AD.com and sign up to The mid 21st century. Earth has a heavily armed defence network, and any ET arrivals a subscription right now. You can be content in the are housed in the Exo Segregation Zone, known as the GREY AREA, which is policed knowledge it’ll be delivered direct to your door! by squads of Exo Transfer Control officers like Captain Adam Bulliet and his team — wife SPLUNDIG Birdy, linguist Kymn, weapons expert Feo, and alien transfer Resting Bitch Face. But VUR THRIGG! Kymn and Bitch, thought KIA, have actually be seconded to a black-ops unit... Grey Area created by Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson THRILLS OF THE FUTURE of the COVER ART Neil Roberts Advertising, Marketing and PR Enquiries: 01865-792201 ([email protected]). 2000 AD is published every Wednesday by Rebellion, Riverside House, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0ES, Earth. All contents © 2018 Rebellion 2000 AD Ltd, unless specifically stated otherwise. 2000 AD® is a registered trademark. Reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission in any form or by any means without prior permission of Rebellion is strictly forbidden. 2000 AD must not be sold for more than the selling price shown on the cover. Any resemblance to people living or dead, or to any companies or institutions (except for satirical purposes) is unintended and purely coincidental. Printed in Great Britain by PCP. SampleDistribution/Trade file Enquiries: Seymour, 2 East Poultry Avenue, : London EC1A 9PT. Tel: 020-7429-4000. ISSN 0262 284X. TMO assisted by Cyber-Matt. Design by SAM 2.0, OZ-BRN-1 and MA2. Damage Report: It’s taken close to a year, but the 2000 AD slush pile has finally dwindled to its last few submissions — what was once a teetering stack of paper and envelopes has now shrunk to below Ro-Jaws’ wheel (the height of any slush mountain is always measured in the 3A figures it stands beside). For a few brief, shining moments, the desk space will be cleared... WWW.2000AD.COM FOR SUBS ENQUIRIES, BACK ISSUES AND MERCHANDISE BY1812 IAN EDGINTON & DAVE TAYLOR CALL 01865 797022 OR VISIT SHOP.2000AD.COM THE BOOTHERS KNEW WHEN TO HIT THE JON RONSON YOU THINK PSYCH-BLOCK _ DEPRO FACILITY. THEY KELVIN SPRAYY KNEW TOO MANY DETAILS IS PART OF FOR IT TO BE A THIS? COINCIDENCE. THE BOOTH CONSPIRACY PART 2 MAYBE YOU COULD TELL ME HOW ‘\ THINK HE’S BEEN TO CONVERT A SINGLE-BEAM YOU’RE MY NEURAL DISRUPTOR INTO A CONTACTED IN SOME FOREVER FRIEND, 360-DEGREE DISCHARGE YOU’RE WAY. WE JUST NEED AREN’T YOU, WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE FUNNY, TO FIGURE OUT HOW.’ MR HUGZ? ENERGY CORE? MR HUGZ. REAL FUNNY. \’M MR HUGZ SCRIPT AND YOU T.C.SampleCAN TELL ME file EGLINGTON ANYTHING. ART STAZ JOHNSON COLOURS \ LIKE MAKING YOU ABIGAIL HAPPY, KELVIN. YOU BULMER COULD HELP MAKE ME HAPPY, TOO. \ JUST LETTERS ANNIE NEED A LITTLE HELP PARKHOUSE UNDERSTANDING THE CONVERSION PROCESS. YOU’RE YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SO FLUFFY, \ THINK HE TO KEEP GOING. MR HUGZ. MIGHT ACTUALLY \ CAN’T GET ANY BE TOO INSANE. FURTHER ON THIS WE’RE GOING CONVERSION WITHOUT TO HAVE TO MORE INFORMATION TRY AGAIN FROM HIM. TOMORROW. PLEASE, KELVIN, FOCUS. MR HUGZ, YOU’RE A REAL CHATTY NATTY TODAY... DOES SPRAYY ALWAYS SPEAK TO HIS TOYS LIKE THAT? WE DO ENCOURAGE RESIDENTS TO TALK WITH THERAPY DOLLS, BUT THAT... THAT IS UNUSUAL. ...IF THE BEAM GENERATOR H-HELLO? DECOUPLES FROM THE RESONATOR HOUSING... Sample file YES, SIR. OF COURSE. LOOKS LIKE IT’S BEEN TAMPERED WITH. TAKE US TO HIS ROOM. GIVE ME THAT! \’M MR HUGZ AND THIS YOU CAN IS JUDGE TELL ME DREDD! IDENTIFY ANYTHING. YOURSELF! H-HE NO, BUT CAN’T TRACK THAT’S NOT US THROUGH THE POINT. HE’S THAT THING, GETTING CAN HE? CLOSER. NONSENSE. YOU CAN’T HE’S SNIFFING AROUND. BE CERTAIN, HE DOESN’T KNOW THE LINUS. PLAN. HE DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING. \’M JUST CONCERNED... WITH SOMETHING THIS BIG WE CAN’T AFFORD TO GET IT WRONG, YOU KNOW? WE’RE MAKING SLOW PROGRESS WITH KELVIN. \’M STILL NOT SURE \ CAN CONVERT THE STUPID Sample fileGUN. TRUST ME. OUR NUMBERS ARE GROWING. WE HAVE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. \ KNOW A LOT MORE THAN YOU IMAGINE. YOU’VE DONE WONDERS WITH THE REMEMBER, WE ARE \ HEAR YOU, LINUS, GEL SUITS, STEVE. YOU’RE FIGHTING FOR OUR \ DO. BUT ALL \’M AN AMAZING ADDITION TO LIVES. WE’VE BEEN SAYING IS WE NEED OUR MOVEMENT. \ HAVE EVERY WINNING BATTLES, TO BE CAUTIOUS. CONFIDENCE THAT YOU’LL YES, BUT OUR NEXT ALL IT TAKES IS FIND A SOLUTION TO MOVE WILL BE ONE OF THE NEW THIS PROBLEM. DECISIVE. RECRUITS TO BLAB ABOUT WHERE WE OUR ARE AND WE’RE NEXT MOVE DONE. COULD WIN A WAR. ‘FOR ALL WE KNOW, THERE COULD BE JUDGES WAITING OUTSIDE AT THIS VERY MOMENT...’ CRIME SWEEP! DROP TO THE Sample file GROUND! GRAND ARE WE HALL _ ANY FURTHER FORWARD? NOTHING HERE. PLACE IS A SHELL. WE’VE NOTHING ON HOW THE DAMN. BOOTHERS GOT ANOTHER THEIR COMM DEVICE BOGUS TO SPRAYY. PATEL TIP-OFF. HAS CARRIED OUT SEVERAL RAIDS ON PROPERTIES BUT WITH NO SUCCESS. THE SONS OF BOOTH HAVE GAINED HUGE POPULARITY. IF IT’S A CITIZENS WHO ARE LOYAL CASE OF MORE TO THEIR CAUSE ARE RESOURCES _ GIVING US BAD INTEL TO DELIBERATELY THROW US OFF MANPOWER THE SCENT. IS NOT THE PROBLEM. TIME AND BADGES ARE BEING WASTED. WHY THE UPSWING PARTLY, MA’AM. THE SONS OF IN POPULARITY? IS BOOTH HAVE THEIR OWN ILLEGAL IT THE MO MALIK BROADCAST, A PROGRAMME REPORTS? CALLED ‘BOOTH TRUTH’. Sample file \’VE BEEN MONITORING IT FOR THE LAST FEW WEEKS. IT’S A PLATFORM FOR PRO-BOOTH CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND ANTI-JUDGE SENTIMENT. SINCE THE ISO-CUBE BREAKOUT, ITS POPULARITY HAS SOARED. GIVEN WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT LINUS ROAVEY, WE’VE TRIED TO TRACE THE IT MIGHT HELP US BROADCAST TO SHUT IT DOWN WITH WHAT WE BUT THEY MUST HAVE SOME NEED. KIND OF MOBILE SET-UP. WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN MIND? IT’S TIME WE BROUGHT THE FIGHT TO US. WE’VE LET THE SONS OF BOOTH CONTROL OUR ENCOUNTERS FOR TOO LONG. THEY THINK THAT ROBERT L. BOOTH IS STILL ALIVE. LET’S CONVINCE WE THEM THAT SampleNEED TO HE IS. file GIVE THEM A TARGET THEY CAN’T RESIST.