Comic Books

Rob Williams and PJ Holden talk their Judge Dredd story in ‘2000 AD’ new “jump on” issue

Newbies can now experience the madness of this long-running British comics juggernaut.

September 21, 2023

As far as comics institutions are concerned, you don’t get more prestigious than 2000 AD. Running since late February 1977, there’s some 2,300 regular issues and a whole suite of specials and annuals to boot. But if you want to enjoy the many zany adventures of characters like Judge Dredd but aren’t keen to read half a century’s worth of back issues, then you’re in luck.

The September 27 issue (that’s officially #2,351) of 2000 AD is set to serve as a “jump on” point” with four new starts that are “ideal for new readers to…get into the swing of the weekly Prog.” And the four stories feature some big names tackling some decidedly important projects to the 2000 AD canon:

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Feral & Foe from Dan Abnett and Richard Elson, which is fantasy series described as “what happened to the orcs after Sauron was defeated.”

Helium from Ian Edginton and D’Israeli, which is making its surprise return after roughly a decade.
A one-off story from Garth Ennis and Henry Flint, in which Dredd “fights another 2000 AD character.” (We’re not dumb enough to spoil it with the title, folks.)
Judge Dredd: Poison from Rob Williams and PJ Holden.

To celebrate this monumental jumping on point, we spoke to Williams and Holden about their contribution. In addition to the storyline (which centers around Chief Judge Barbara Hershey), we talked about their love of Dredd and 2000 AD, welcoming in new fans, and building on the magazine’s legacy of great comics storytelling.

For more info on where you can grab issue #2,351, head here.

Courtesy of 2000 AD.

AIPT: Just how much do fans need to/should know before leaping into this story?

Rob Williams: Ex-Chief Judge Hershey was a longstanding character in the Dredd stories, going back to her first appearance in The Judge Child quest [drawn by Brian Bolland] back in 1980). I’m not sure Dredd has friends per se, but Hershey was as close as he comes to that. Hershey was poisoned and killed. This story is Judge Dredd in detective mode, trying to track down and bring justice to her murderer.

PJ Holden: It’s a mystery and we’re following Dredd trying to figure it out, so anyone can read it from a standing start.

AIPT: Without spoiling too much, this story delves into the poisoning of Hershey. Why is that such a big moment and what does it represent from a storytelling aspect?

RW: Hershey’s been one of the major characters in this world for a long time. To the extent that Simon Fraser and I have recently written four series of her solo adventures. For such a big player to be killed off is one thing. For her to be murdered and us not know who did it? Dredd is the ultimate deliverer of brutal justice. On this case, he is truly invested in finding the perp and making them pay.

AIPT: Rob, you’ve written in this universe before with Hershey. What was that experience like and how did it influence the creation of this story (over any specific story threads)?

RW: One of the unique things we did with the recent Hershey series was to have her know she’s dying from this slow-acting alien pathogen at the start of that story, and then we followed a dying woman attempting to come to terms with her life, trying to put certain things right before she passes.

You could say that Poison is the culmination of that story, or you could say our Hershey series was all laying the groundwork for this – a true whodunnit tale of crime and punishment.

AIPT: What can you tease about this story in terms of some tantalizing threads?

RW: No spoilers but there’s some twists and turns along the way, and more than a couple of red herrings. It’s really a road movie through Dredd’s universe, as he travels into space to where Hershey contracted the virus, and then back to Earth to track down and interrogate certain suspects. We had a lot of fun hopefully leading readers down certain roads and then whipping the carpet out from under them.

Courtesy of 2000 AD.

AIPT: How do you prepare for tackling any kind of project in the Dredd-verse?

PH: Crack my fingers and get on with it, I’ve been reading Dredd and drawing Dredd related stuff since I was about 10 years old, so, you know, I’m always prepared!

RW: I wonder round the house saying “creep” a lot to the dog, who looks at me confused. I’ve been reading Dredd and 2000 AD since I was a kid and I’ve written a lot of Dredd stories over the past… ten years or more. I think I have a good handle on the world, and Joe Dredd, by this point. It helps working with two really good artists in PJ Holden and Pete Doherty (on colours). Both are mates and we’ve all done a lot of work in this world.

Saying that, PJ and Pete will sometimes call me on things like “Dredd keeps his pistol in his boot holster” and I’ll go “oh yeah, I forgot that.” It happens.

AIPT: What are some of the challenges and/or opportunities of disseminating so much Dredd history and stories for new readers?

RW: I try not to worry about that too much. I like to think that PJ, myself, and our editor, Matt Smith, are savvy enough to know if we’re going down a Dredd canon road that new readers might not recognise – and we’ll bring them up to speed on the history quick if so. I’m not really interested in an exposition-heavy trawl through Dredd’s history. It’s a whodunnit, a friend of Dredd’s has been killed. He’s a cop, first and foremost, I thought it’d be fun to have him in detective mode for once, as he’s usually the heavy hitter smashing jaws. Here he’s investigating.

AIPT: Is it hard to add or undo stuff in Dredd given how beloved it is among fans?

RW: It being beloved to fans isn’t the issue, really. The main challenge to changing the world in a fundamental way is that John Wagner, Dredd’s creator and one of the best comic writers of all time, is still occasionally writing the character. It’s still John’s world, so any major changing of the status quo has to be run past him, via 2000 AD’s editorial droids.

PH: Dredd’s had so many unique visualisations over his history that you’ve got a pretty wide scope for what you can do. Aside from some big fixed rules on what constitutes the uniform you’re pretty much open to drawing everything in a way that services the story. And the history of Dredd also shows you that you’re better playing to your strengths, whatever they might be, when you attack drawing Dredd, because that’s where the really interesting stuff comes from.

It’s pretty easy to add stuff, it’s really up to subsequent artists and readers whether anything you add gets to stick.

Courtesy of 2000 AD.

AIPT: Do you have any favorite moments in this project or anything that speaks the loudest about the story?

RW: PJ’s drawn some rather beautiful classic Dredd panels throughout this strip, I think. And Pete’s colors have a real cinematography feel about them – it’s noir, it’s a world shrouded in darkness and doubt but the truth is rays of pure white that break through occasionally.

There’s a few spoiler-y things that I won’t share here. But something happens that makes Dredd doubt himself in a major way. As he says, he’s always had his gut instinct and it’s never served him wrong. So when a major plot twist occurs here, he has that rare moment for him – a crisis of his entire operational structure. If he can’t trust his gut… everything falls apart. That’s the ‘Poison’ of the title, really. A doubt that spreads…

PH: There’s a nice little character moment with Dredd looking out into the stars, and all we see is his back and his reaction to the universe, which I think Rob played beautifully, one of those perfect Dredd pieces of Dredd wisdom. I’ll not spoil it for you, but it was fun to draw.

Also, there’s a page where I snuck in some baby T-Rexes. Totally superfluous to the plot — BUT NOT IN THE WAY OF IT! — and I quite enjoyed that.

AIPT: Why is Dredd still so compelling after so many years and stories?

RW: Because thematically Dredd stories always have and still do have things to say about our present and our future. And his world is so rich that you can tell any story in it – a detective story like this one, an action tale, a horror story, a comedy. And Dredd’s a fascinating character. There is a lot going on beneath that robotic exterior. He, and his world, are a dream to write.

PH: There’s a weight that comes with a character like this, where he has aged with the readership, not the simple reboots of U.S. comics, Dredd now is a character that’s been dispensing law and order in mega city one and beyond for 46 years in real time in the comic, and that just carries a huge amount of gravitas. While still being capable of silly stories. He’s just wonderfully textured character in a world that’s enough like our own that we can recognise our world in it. Also, just to stress this: he’s a bad guy you sort of want to win and that is a really interesting dynamic to play with.