Rebellion has announced that its quarterly Regened initiative of all-ages 2000 AD special issues will become integrated into its monthly Judge Dredd Megazine starting in June. Select series will make the jump, with brand new installments filling space previously used by reprint material.
According to a press release from Rebellion,
“New home, same attitude – Cadet Dredd is coming to the Judge Dredd Megazine, and he’s bringing his friends!
“Following the success of 2000 AD‘s quarterly all-ages Regened special issues, the best of Rebellion’s all ages revolution will find a home in the Judge Dredd Megazine as they step up into the regular roster in our legendary comic books.”
Announced series and creative teams coming to the Megazine:
- Pandora Perfect, by writer Roger Langridge and artist Gary Welsh (starting June)
- Department K: Interdimensional Investigators, by writer Ned Hartley and artist Mike Walters (starting June)
- Cadet Dredd, by writer Paul Starkey and artist Nick Brokenshire (later in the year)
Since 2019, Rebellion has been testing the waters at drawing a new generation of readers to Britain’s long-running science fiction anthology comic via a quarterly initiative of special issues rebranded as “2000 AD Regened”. In these specials, the regular run of serials was replaced for one week by all-ages content, including kid-friendly reinterpretations of classic characters such as Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper. While contentious to the fanbase – who, at the very least, dislike their (definitely not all ages) stories interrupted – the Regened progs and their collections have proved popular with younger readers.
Earlier this year the fate of Regened was cast in doubt as a new quarterly initiative of jumping on issues was announced by Rebellion. The last Regened issue of 2000 AD was October 2023’s Prog 2356. With this announcement, the continuation of the initiative seems assured.
Regened stories have seen some success in joining the lineup of the weekly 2000 AD anthology. Enemy Earth, by Cavan Scott and Luke Horsman recently completed a three-season run after first making an appearance in 2021’s Regened prog 2256. Likewise, Alex de Campi and Eduardo Ocaña‘s Full Tilt Boogie has become a hit since its debut in 2019’s Regened prog 2130. Pandora Perfect, created by Roger Langridge and Brett Parson; and Department K, created by Rory McConville and P.J. Holden, have also made the jump. All sitting alongside relatively more mature series.
The Judge Dredd Megazine is a monthly anthology comic magazine that features longer-form series (often with a quite mature tone) alongside articles and interviews. Usually set in the Judge Dredd universe, series in the Megazine tend to have double the page count than those in 2000 AD.
Since December 2022, the Megazine underwent a format change to a square-bound 100-page title with reprints – mainly of licensed US-format work alongside samplings from the vintage Treasury of British Comics – running alongside new installments in popular series. Presumably, the all-ages material will replace the space previously made up by US format reprints such as IDW’s Judge Dredd and Titan’s Johnny Red.
This move could prove a little more controversial in the case of the Megazine as the introduction of all-ages content will sit alongside series that are regularly a little bit more on the mature side – the most obvious example being Ales Kot‘s ongoing run on fan favourite series Devlin Waugh featuring a demon-possessed talking dildo as a supporting character.
