2000 AD #1289
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeProg 1289 (cover-dated 1 May 2002) is the launch issue of two significant concurrent storylines in the 2000 AD canon: the Judge Death solo serial 'My Name is Death' and the Judge Dredd epic 'Sin City.' The Death story, written by series creator John Wagner and drawn by Frazer Irving in stark black-and-white, was a deliberate creative course-correction — Wagner's own response to years of Death being played for dark comedy — returning the Dark Judge to genuinely menacing, horror-inflected territory. Irving's debut on the character drew a BSFA Award nomination for Best Artwork 2002 for the story's very first page, marking prog 1289 as the issue that introduced one of 2000 AD's most visually distinctive artist–character pairings to readers. Running alongside it, 'Sin City' — also by Wagner, with art by Kevin Walker — reunited Dredd with the recurring adversary Orlok the Assassin and featured Chief Judge Hershey in a prominent role, giving the issue an unusually heavy concentration of the franchise's A-list characters.
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Prog 1289 appeared in the first full year of Rebellion Developments' editorial stewardship of 2000 AD, with Matt Smith having taken over as editor in 2002. The issue launched three serials simultaneously — 'Thirteen' (written by Mike Carey, art by Andy Clarke), 'My Name is Death' (Wagner/Irving), and 'Sin City' (Wagner/Kevin Walker) — an unusually ambitious triple-premiere structure that gave the prog exceptional density. Wagner crafted 'My Name is Death' in direct response to the perception, noted by commentators, that Judge Death had become too comedic in crossovers and lighter tales; the story structurally alternates present-tense chase sequences with grey-wash flashback sequences that Psi-Judge Anderson draws from Death's mind, a technique Irving amplified through a deliberate shift in inking style between timelines. The issue's cover, featuring Judge Dredd by Kevin Walker, tied visually to the 'Sin City' strip inside.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated 1 May 2002, published by Rebellion Developments under editor Matt Smith — the first full year of Rebellion's editorial leadership of 2000 AD.
- Launches 'My Name is Death' (progs 1289–1294), a 6-episode, 36-page Judge Death solo serial: script by John Wagner, art by Frazer Irving, letters by Tom Frame, featuring Psi-Judge Anderson.
- Launches 'Sin City' (progs 1289–1299), an 11-episode, 78-page Judge Dredd story: script by John Wagner, art by Kevin Walker, letters by Tom Frame — featuring Chief Judge Hershey and the villain Orlok the Assassin, with first and final episodes double-length.
- Also launches 'Thirteen' (progs 1289–1299), an 11-episode, 86-page serial: script by Mike Carey, art by Andy Clarke, colours by Chris Blythe, letters by Annie Parkhouse.
- Cover art for the issue was by Kevin Walker, depicting Judge Dredd.
- Frazer Irving's opening page of 'My Name is Death' was nominated for a British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) Award for Best Artwork 2002.
- 'My Name is Death' was later reprinted by Rebellion in the collected trade paperback 'Judge Death: My Name is Death,' also incorporating the sequel 'The Wilderness Days' (Megazine #209–216, also by Wagner and Irving).
- The Judge Dredd 'Sin City' story and all surrounding Dredd content from progs 1276–1301 were subsequently reprinted by Rebellion in 'Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 35.'
Cast · 14 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Judge Dredd: Satan's Island #[nn] (2005), Th1rt3en #[nn] (2005), Thirteen [Th1rt3en] #[nn] (2005), Judge Death: My Name Is Death #[nn] (2005), Judge Death: The Life and Death of... #[nn] (2011), Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection #44 (2016), Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection #7 (2016), Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #35 (2020)
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