Artifacts for July 21, 2021

What’s new(s) in the AE format world: more from 2000AD/Rebellion, first look at a 40th-anniversary book, a sale, and a table of contents.

Some of these aren’t particularly new, but I’ve been waiting to have at least two items before posting.


A Brian Bolland Apex Edition was previously announced, but as part of their 2022 plans, a release date has been provided.

The Brian Bolland Apex Edition (published in February) will showcase the Judge Dredd work of one of 2000 AD’s greatest creators. This deluxe, oversized facsimile edition will feature new high-resolution scans of Bolland’s original art from 2000 AD, showing his delicate inking brushwork in unprecedented detail. As one of the first creators in the ‘British Invasion’ of the American comic book industry in the 1980s, Bolland’s work on series such as Camelot 3000 and Batman: The Killing Joke, and covers for Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, and many more, have made him one of the most distinctive and famous artists in comics. This Apex Edition, which will be available in an exclusive edition through the 2000 AD webshop and a standard edition through comic stores via Diamond Distribution, will provide fans with unprecedented insights into his original art in an edition befitting such a landmark talent.

A new Apex Edition was also included at the end of the press release.

October will see the eagerly-anticipated Mick McMahon Apex Edition. Few artists have stamped their signature on Judge Dredd the way McMahon has; the artist on the first published Dredd story in 2000 AD Prog 2, he was initially hired to imitate Ezquerra’s distinctive style but soon developed his own kinetic, visceral style, which evolved into the chunky, powerful ’big boots’ style. Constantly evolving, his work on seminal Dredd stories such as ‘The Cursed Earth’, ‘Block Mania’ and ‘The Judge Child’ was a world away from the almost woodcut-like art on Sláine, and his slick, sci-fi action on The VCs and Ro-Busters. This deluxe, oversized facsimile edition will feature new high-resolution scans of McMahon’s original art from 2000 AD. It will also be available in an exclusive edition through the 2000 AD webshop and a standard edition through comic stores via Diamond Distribution.

No word yet on what will be in the “exclusive edition”.


IDW updated their upcoming catalogue through Penguin Random House with this Artist’s Edition getting an updated third printing.

Dave Stevens The Rocketeer 40th Anniversary Artists Edition cover

Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition 40th Anniversary

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the debut of The Rocketeer in comics with this beautiful book showcasing the art of one of comics’ masters!

In April of 1982, The Rocketeer debuted as a backup feature from Pacific Comics. From those humble beginnings the artistry of Dave Stevens caught the imaginations of countless readers and became a worldwide sensation, even being turned into a big-budget feature film! And in 2009 when IDW launched its award-winning Artist’s Edition series, The Rocketeer was the inaugural release, even winning a coveted Eisner Award that year. The book quickly sold out and went into a second printing. Now, more than 10 years later, The Rocketeer is soaring back with a new 40th anniversary printing.

As with all Artist’s Editions, the art reproduced in this book has been meticulously scanned from the original art. Readers will be able to peruse these pages and see all the quirks and nuances that make original art so unique—blue pencil notations, white-out, gradients in the ink, and so much more. Unless you were looking over Dave’s shoulder as he painstakingly drew these pages, this is your best chance to see the art of The Rocketeer as close to the originals as possible!

Hardcover | $150.00 | Apr 19, 2022 | 136 Pages | 12 x 17 | ISBN 9781684058877

A few items of note. Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition was first published in 2010, not 2009. And in 2011 this book won two Eisner awards, not one and not in 2009. The second printing happened in 2012, with a regular cover and a variant cover. So this will be the third printing and the fourth cover. Scott Dunbier has confirmed the two pages missing from the first printing have been located, so the entire book will be original art.


IDW has started their SDCC sale, with two DC Artifact Editions, Jim Lee and Bernie Wrightson, available at a discount of $87.99 from their cover price of $125. They’ve also emailed this out.

SDCC At Home Email

Look for this sale to begin Saturday, July 24 at 10 AM PT, according to their FAQ. I’m concerned about what’s for sale since four of the five books shown in the above advertisement have been sold out for some time. Perhaps some extra stock has been located in a forgotten corner of the IDW warehouse. We’ll see.


The Penguin Random House solicitation for EC Covers Artist’s Edition now includes a “look inside” to the first few pages, and that includes the table of contents. This was as large as the preview window would allow.

A keen-eyed forum member sifted through and found 76 of these 151 covers have already appeared in earlier Artist’s Editions, so there will be 75 new covers in this volume.