Previewing The First All-Ages '2000 AD Regened' Collection
by Richard Bruton
Since May 2018, the 2000 AD Regened series has been giving us regular all-ages adventures featuring some very familiar names in comics – Cadet Dredd, Strontium Dog, Judge Anderson, Rogue Trooper, and many more. And now we have the very first Regened collection…
We first saw the Regened idea back in 2018 as 2000 AD's Free Comic Book Day offering that year, giving us all-ages versions of Dredd as Cadet Dredd, Strontium Dog, Future Shocks, and a time-twisting free comic book day special adventure for DR & Quinch.
Since then, we've seen Regened become a major part of 2000 AD, with four Regened Progs in the main 2000 AD numbering in 2020.
Now we're getting this first collection of Regened, pulling together strips from this little lot…
Over the last couple of years, the Regened strips and Progs have been a little controversial with a certain vocal section of 2000 AD fandom, but I have to say that not only have I enjoyed them, but they're also something that is essential to the continued success of 2000 AD. You simply can't keep a comic like 2000 AD going by appealing exclusively to an ever ageing group of fans.
To have continued success, to make sure things continue ten or twenty years from now, you have to adapt, you have to appeal to new and younger readers, and Regened is a damn fine attempt from 2000 AD to do that.
Of course, it's not perfect, nothing is. And there are issues over how it's delivered – sticking four Regened Progs out a year with three months between them, in the middle of other, more older orientated strips is a potential problem for sure.
But it's an experiment that appears to be working – after all, 2000 AD wouldn't carry on doing it if sales were going down for the Regened Progs.
Anyway, one thing I can tell you – I've really enjoyed these all-ages strips and it's a great pleasure to see them collected this way, with a huge number of super talented names involved, far too many to give you a full list of those involved and full previews of all the strips.
But we will give you just a little idea of the sights to be seen in here, beginning with a couple of preview pages from the brand-new, not seen before Cadet Dredd strip, Coming To America, where a Brit-Cit Cadet, Radcliffe, arrives in MC-1 on an inter-city meet 'n greet… two top cadets in the one place, crime will have a tough time today…
Cadet Dredd: Coming To America – script by Matt Smith, art by Neil Googe, colours by Gary Caldwell, letters by Annie Parkhouse
After that, there's more Cadet Dredd laying down the law in Crowd Control by Matt Smith and Neil Googe, where it matters not whether Dredd's laying down the law to man…
… or to dinosaur…
… it that youth makes not one bit of difference – Cadet Dredd has it covered.
And whilst talking of dinosaurs, we also get to see Chris Weston's sumptuous artwork on Cadet Dredd: Grudzilla, where Dredd and particularly Rico come up close and personal with one of MC-1's biggest movie stars – sonic bowel disrupters and a Judge in a dino's stomach is never a good mix…
There's more Cadet Dredd in School Trip by Rory McConville and Ilias Kyriazis, with the Cadets making best use of a cache of experimental weapons to solve a little malfunction in the inter-dimensional investigation section of a Tek facility…
Of course, there's more than just Cadet Dredd in here, with appearances from a young Johnny Alpha attempting to get his Strontium Dog badge in Trial Run by Alec Worley and Ben Willsher…
Another old favourite gets the Regened makeover in Rogue Trooper, Secret of the Keep and Savage Swamp by Cavan Scott and Nick Roche…
And of course, what 2000 AD collection would be complete without a Future Shock or three, as is the case here. – with the surprise appearance of an orange coloured ex-president in Humancraft by Ned Hartley and Tanya Roberts…
And finally, we have the first DR & Quinch tale in a long, long time, as written by Owen Johnson and Colin Bell and drawn by Indio. It's time travel trouble as everyone's favourite psychopaths hijack free comic book day….
Like I say, not all of what's inside, but it should give you more than enough idea what to expect!
The 2000 AD Regened Collection Volume 1 is out on 7 January 2021.
November 19, 2020 Richard Bruton 1080 Views 2000 AD, Alec Worley, all-ages, Arthur Wyatt, Ben Willsher, Brett Parson, Cavan Scott, Chris Weston, Colin Bell, comics, Comics for Children, Comics for Kids, David Baillie, Davide Tinto, Henry Flint, Ilias Kyriazis, Indio, John Reppion, Karl Stock, Leah Moore, Luke Horsman, Matt Smith, Ned Hartley, Neil Googe, Nick Roche, Owen Johnson, PJ Holden, Pye Parr, Regened, Rob Davis, Rory McConville, Tanya Roberts
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