Simon Bisley Returns To ‘2000 AD’ After 22 Years [Exclusive Art]

Most American comics readers know the work of artist Simon Bisley because of his long association with Lobo, the hilariously ultra-violent alien bounty hunter who appeared in several unforgettably gruesome and wildly popular parodical 1990s titles written by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant. Among them, of course, Lobo: The Paramilitary Christmas Special. But before Biz (as he's known) was depicting the Naughtiest One's brutal decapitation of Santa Claus, he made a name for himself in his native United Kingdom in 2000 AD, the seminal British sci-fi anthology, creating definitive work with the apocalyptic robot adventure series ABC Warriors and fantasy epic Sláine: The Horned God.

Although he'd contribute to 2000 AD spinoff Judge Dredd: The Megazine and of course Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement on Gotham, it's been 22 years since Bisley's last work in the publication with which fans still associate him to this day. That changes next week, when 2000 AD Prog 1800 goes on sale internationally with a brand new Bisley cover featuring the title's signature character, Judge Dredd. Check out the full-size image below.

Beneath Bisley's cover is a Judge Dredd story written and drawn by Chris Weston, an ABC Warriors piece by Pat Mills and Clint Langley, Grey Area: This Island Earth by Dan Abnett and Lee Carter, and the first installment of a brand new feature called Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds by Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard. Here's the blurb on that last one:

The Orrery is a fully functional, life-size clockwork solar system. A clutch of planets, moons and asteroids orbit a vast, life-giving BRASS SUN via immense metal spars, its origin and purpose long since forgotten. The once unified collection of worlds have regressed into eccentric fiefdoms and petty baronies. One such planet, Hind Leg, is ruled by religious dogma – its leaders believe the Cog is Creation, and any suggestion that the sun is slowing is treated as heresy. But for many, there's no escaping the truth that worlds are dying and something needs to be done...

Publisher Rebellion describes Prog 1800 as a "massive" jumping on point for new 2000 AD readers, and is timed to release around the new Dredd live-action film starring Karl Urban. American readers can pick up the issue via 2000 AD's extremely useful app in the Apple Newsstand at the same time it goes on sale in the UK.

There have been a number of great collected editions from 2000 AD released in the last year, causing a couple of us at ComicsAlliance to become quite enamored with this most influential of sci-fi anthologies. You can expect to hear more about 2000 AD comics from us in the near future.