Rebellion, publisher of British weekly 2000 AD, has been left scrambling as its UK printer of twenty years unexpectedly folded. While they have found emergency alternative printers, the turnaround time will cause a week’s delay for subscribers and newsstand readers in Great Britain.
Prog 2498 was originally set to hit shelves Wednesday, it will still be available digitally, and the US edition (printed domestically by Lunar, with a two week delay) is presently unaffected.
Frustratingly for fans, 2000 AD progs 2498 and 2499 see the wrap up of all remaining presently running series and major storylines – including Judge Dredd epic The Oubliette and Brink’s latest series – ahead of prog 2500’s full refresh of the anthology lineup.
In a post on the 2000 AD website and social media on Friday, Rebellion said:
“We’re sorry to inform all loyal Squaxx dek Thargo that the September 2nd issue of 2000 AD — #2498 — will be delayed getting to shelves by one week. We have been informed that the company that prints 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine has gone into administration and we have had to secure new printers. This has been sudden and we have been working around the clock to rectify the situation. Digital subscriptions will remain unaffected.”
They added:
“We apologise for this unfortunate outcome – our loyal readership is the bedrock of 2000 AD and we deeply regret the inconvenience of this unexpected disruption.
“We want to reassure you that the supply of Thrill-power will be resumed and steps taken to bring us back onto our normal schedule as soon as possible.”
A similar message was sent to subscribers who typically can expect the next week’s issue to arrive as early as five days before street date.
Magazine and catalogue specialist Precision Colour Printing (PCP) based in Telford, England, announced it was going into administration – UK bankruptcy proceedings – on Thursday, August 27. It had been the go-to printer for 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine since August 2007 (the first issue with PCP accredited is prog 1550, dated August 15). It was also the first printer assigned by videogames company Rebellion following its 2000 acquisition of the comic, and entry into the comics market. Up to 2007 Rebellion previously relied on Goodhead, who had been printing 2000 AD under the title’s previous owner Egmont Fleetway since 1998.
While alternative printing facilities have been found it is unclear if this is a new permanent printer for the comic in the UK, or how the backlog/delay will be handled on the newsstand front (just to be on the safe side – British and European fans may want to order direct from the 2000 AD webstore).
According to trade publication Printweek, PCP had already changed hands twice in the past two years. Its current owner was Barry Edwards and Sean Austin’s Precision Colour Media. Edwards and Austin, both involved in investment and asset management, co-registered their similarly named company in February prior to completing the purchase of PCP in April 2026. The pair acquired it from another independent investment company, Hypax, who in turn acquired it from its longtime owner the Claverly Group in 2024.
Prior to the collapse, on August 10 Precision Colour Media had fired the printer’s longtime managing director and finance director, Nick Evans and Nick Denning, who had both been with the company for 12 and 30 years, respectively.
Michael Denny and Michael John Magnay of Alvarez & Marsal were appointed as administrators on August 27, reporting that the printer has around 160 employees.
2000 AD follows a strict weekly schedule that has seldom been missed in its 49 year existence. Outside of industrial disputes at the printing and distribution level in the late 1970s and 1980s, which intermittently caused problems for the British comic, such snags have been rare. At the onset of Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, issues were still making it into the hands of subscribers even when the situation at newsstand level was uncertain.
