DIsraeli

War of the Worlds has been a cultural touchstone for over a hundred years now, so it's not really surprising that we've gotten a handful of comics that take that influence and ran with it. With Scarlet Traces, though, Ian Edginton and Matt "D'Israeli" Brooker are taking it a step further, focusing not on the Martian invasion, but on the aftermath and how the introduction of extraterrestrial technology has changed the balance of power in the world. And in July, Scarlet Traces is returning to the pages of 2000 AD with "Cold War," which takes place in 1968 and finds Britain dealing with the aftermath of another war of the worlds --- Earth's invasion of Mars. Check out some preview pages!

The week’s over! And with it we reach the final days of September --- which you've all done a dazzling job with, by all accounts. But while you’ve been off working and living and doing all those things that humans do, what have you missed in the world of comics? With Weekender, ComicsAlliance is here to give you a heads-up on some of the stories that you might have overlooked, and to showcase some great writing on comics for you to enjoy over buttery crumpets this weekend.

If you've been looking for an excuse to jump on 2000 AD and receive the gift of thrillpower, you could certainly do a lot worse than starting with this week's Prog 1934. Not only is there a new Judge Dredd story featuring an invisible ninja assassin --- because why stop at just "ninja assassin" when you could also give him the ability to turn invisible? --- there's the first chapter of a brand-new sci-fi saga from Ian Edginton, D'Israeli and Ellie De Ville, called Helium.

As a Briton living overseas, I am always delighted to see people from the old country shamelessly milk their Britishness to sell themselves abroad. The more we ham it up, the more people seem to love it, as evidenced by Eddie Redmayne's Oscar win. So it's in that same glorious spirit that Titan Comics is playing up the "Downton Abbey and crumpets" angle for its May comics promotion, Best of British, featuring new and classic works from a roster of creators that includes Peter Milligan, Si Spurrier, Alan Martin, D'Israeli, and the late Brett Ewins. Check out the trailer above, debuting exclusively on ComicsAlliance.

The way I've always understood anthology series is that you never want every story to end at the same time, because the idea is that by chaining everything together, the reader never has a chance to jump off. That might sound mercenary, but really, it's just simple economics: If everything you're into ends all at once, then you've got a lot less incentive to come back for the next issue. Right? Right. Well, it seems that last week's issue of 2000 AD went against that little bit of conventional wisdom by capping off every story that they had going so that they could set up this week's offering: Their 1900th issue, which celebrates the milestone by launching three new stories, and provides a perfect jumping-on point. If you haven't been reading 2000 AD and want to see what all the fuss is about, this is the issue to get -- and you should definitely get it, because all three stories are pretty awesome.

Let me be the first to apologize to you, on behalf of the entire comics press. We screwed up. We were too focused on the wrong events in 2012. We spent tens of thousands of words on Avengers vs X-Men, Before Watchmen, Night of the Owls, and we missed the fact that there was a bigger, better, and extremely satisfying crossover sitting right under our noses...

On sale now is SVK by Warren Ellis and Matt "D'Israeli" Brooker, a new detective story that's particularly remarkable not just because of the typically superlative work of both creators but also because of the technology the book employs...