A ComicsAlliance favorite for his super inky, wildly expressive style in Dark Horse books like Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest, B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, and Conan the Barbarian, James Harren is going to make his 2000 AD debut next month in a story starring Judge Dredd. An arguably heroic, tough-as-nails and ultra-violent policeman/judge/executioner in a nightmare fascist dystopia, Dredd is the perfect vehicle for Harren's graphic talents. As such, writer Rob Williams envisioned the seven-page story -- in which Dredd enters the mind of a catatonic Psi Judge -- specifically for Harren to draw, and you can get a first look at the results below.

2000 AD editor Matt Smith gave us the crucial info about Harren and William's short:

Rob had been talking with James about doing a Dredd story together. Rob asked me if I was up for the two of them doing something together, and when I gave the thumbs up he wrote the script for 'Save Him' specifically for him, knowing James's forte was big monsters. The post-Day of Chaos story starts with Dredd being brought before a catatonic psi-cadet called Salas, whose only words have been Dredd's name. Dredd has never met the cadet before, and while he's in the room with him things get very weird indeed... James has had great fun taking apart the city, cramming seven pages with as much destruction and action as possible! After Guy Davis and Dave Stewart's fantastic work for the Judge Dredd Megazine in 2010, it's great to see another BPRD artist bring their flair to 2000 AD.

(click images to enlarge)


"Save Him" will appear in 2000 AD Prog 1819 (Progs are like issues), on sale February 13 and available digitally via 2000 AD's website and apps.