Judge Dredd, quite frankly, is not a character one might associate with going to the beach — but that’s exactly where writer Al Ewing and Dan Cornwell have taken him in their new story, Costaferatu, which is slated to appear in next week’s 2000AD Sci-Fi Special 2025.
It is, perhaps obviously, not a story of Dredd going to play some volleyball and get a tan (although can you imagine?). It’s actually a follow-up of sorts to a rather macabre story that appeared in the Judge Dredd Annual — all the way back in 1989. But to be honest, saying much more than that about it is to risk spoilers. So, I’ll just let this interview with Ewing and Cornwell speak for itself, along with a set of accompanying preview pages…enjoy!
Al Ewing and Dan Crowell Talk the 2000AD SCI-FI SPECIAL 2025
Q: Before getting to my Costaferatu questions, Al I have to ask…how was it for you returning to write Dredd after a long time away from the character?
Al Ewing: In some ways, it was like slipping back into an old and comfortable pair of shoes – or tight boots, maybe. Part of that is that it was quite a light brief, like the Zombo crossover I did with him – I don’t have to worry that much about what Dredd’s been up to in the years since I last handled the character, or how the politics of Mega-City One have developed – it’s just Dredd being Dredd, though as with the original Costa Del Blood, I sprinkled in a little commentary on UK seaside towns.
Q: And Dan, you’ve been working on Dredd for a while. What appeals to you most about him as a character and as a series?
Dan Cornwell: Well, first things first, it’s an honour. As a lifelong fan I can’t believe I get to draw Dredd quiet regularly and I’ll do my utmost to keep it going. It’s a dream gig. As for what’s the appeal, it’s multiple things. The iconic design, the good cop/bad cop situations he finds himself in, the city, the endless possibilities of stories, the history of the character. Really, just so many things. But most of all he’s just a badass character to draw. Big guns, big pads, big boots, big chin and big attitude.
Q: Where did the idea to build on the Costa Del Blood story from the ‘89 Judge Dredd Annual come from, and how did each of you engage with that story as you worked on this new strip?
AE: The idea came from Tharg as a starting point – I knew Dredd had fought Dracula in an annual once, but going back and reading the story in question, I was surprised at how it was a story as much about seaside holidays as it was about vampires. Mega-City One’s always had an element of “Britain with a coat of paint” about it – I find it hard to believe the seaside boarding house in the original is something they have in the US, dystopian future or no.
So I tried to bring in some UK seaside flavor for the sequel – I take a trip down to Whitby every so often, where the Dracula industry is very much alive and well, so that figured in. The economic malaise that’s claimed the Costa Del Meg hasn’t happened there, though, Whitby’s still thriving.
DC: For drawing it I had a wealth of reference, the obvious being the original story by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, which is a delight. When Tharg asked if I’d be interested in drawing it I couldn’t say no – it’s an Al Ewing Dredd, man! And after reading Al’s script I knew it was going to be a cracker. I mean, a laugh out loud script. Even as I was drawing it and double checking the script to my art I was still giggling. I knew I had to be on my A-game to do it justice.
Q: How did either of you change your approach to the work (if at all) in order for the strip to play Dredd for laughs as strongly as this story does?
DC: I think I’m lucky enough that my style is quite universal. So I’m able to go from a serious storyline to outright comedy and everything in-between. This one is comedy/horror, so I wanted to make sure the comedy elements were strong, and the horror elements almost retro 70’s in style. Not terrifying like other Dredd artists Nick Percival or Dave Kendall, but just enough to blend with the strong comedy elements.
AE: I didn’t change much about Dredd – I have a theory that Dredd isn’t our Batman so much as our Spider-Man, in that he’s constantly making jokes and cracking wise. It’s just that his delivery is so incredibly deadpan that readers remember him as having no sense of humour. But if you go back and read the old strips, he’s constantly making some dry aside or lowering himself to a terrible pun.
Even when the strip is pure future police procedural, Dredd still allows himself the occasional one-liner, so in a lighter episode like this, I enjoyed throwing in some real groaners.
Q: I don’t want to step on any of the jokes, so I’ll ask about the puns generally … how did they find their way into the story? Were they in the script from the start? Did you work on them together at all?
DC: This is all Al’s work. Genius that he is.
AE: All me, I’m afraid. The weekly pace of 2000 AD means I don’t tend to see the art before my comp copy comes through the letterbox, so this was a case where all the jokes were in there from the start. The end line – punctuated with a stern “move!”, as is Dredd’s wont – might be one of the best puns I’ve ever written for Dredd, but I can’t say the same about the one right before that.
Q: Finally, this one starts out as, essentially, holiday gone wrong … have either of you ever suffered through a tragicomic holiday? If so, what can you tell us about it…
AE: I had a bad oyster in Edinburgh once – that got me on the way home, but I did end up painting the side of a train (and anyone who had the window open). Aside from that, most of my holidays have been pretty decent, if few and far between.
DC: Not personally, though I had a mate of mine who shat himself going up one of the Sagrada Familia spires in Barcelona and had to scurry down the wrong way to safety. That’s a horror/comedy right there!
The 2000AD SCI-FI SPECIAL 2025 is out July 16!
Read more great interviews at The Beat
