The 2000AD Not Free Comic Book Day Comic For 2019 – The Villains Take Over!
by Richard Bruton
Free Comic Book Day, a time of marvelous celebration of all things comics, right?
Well, that’s, certainly, one way to look at it. However, there is another point of view, espoused by some braver retailers over the years. And that’s that FCBD is the day of the year where people come in store, grab everything that’s free and leave.
You may, or may not, know that FCBD isn’t free for retailers. Each comic costs them a little bit per book, but all those little bits do mount up. And it can really put a big dent into a retailer’s April profits. Another issue I’ve heard put forward by some retailers is that FCBD simply makes the punters grab everything, without really caring just what it is, and in the worst case scenario, many of these comics just get thrown on a pile and never read, hardly the thing the day is meant to be all about. These retailers, brave souls that they are, decide instead to charge a small amount for each of the FCBD comics they stock, 25p, 50p, that sort of thing, knowing that just the act of spending a little on a book makes the customer think a little more about the comic they’re picking up and make it far more likely that they’re going to read it.
All of which preamble brings me to this…
That’s the 2000 AD Villains Takeover Special, out the week of FCBD, at the knock-down price of 99c, 99p (and don’t even get me started on the 1:1 pricing point there!).
This year, Rebellion have their FCBD title, The Treasury of British Comics Presents The Funny Pages, but there’s no FCBD 2000AD this year. Instead, for just less than a buck, less than a quid, you get the 2000 AD Villains Takeover Special where you’ll find tales of the bad guys from some of the 2000 AD’s biggest strips, all getting their own particular moment of glory.
The issue promises all-new material by some of the biggest stars of 2000AD. You get Dredd versus that most deathly of the Dark Judges in Judge Death: The Judge Who Laughs by Rob Williams and Henrik Sahlstrom, Slaine’s nemesis takes centre stage in Lord Weird Slough Feg: Lord Of The Hunt by Pat Mills and Kyle Hotz, Rogue Trooper takes a backseat as the crims of his world come forward in Brass and Bland: The Professionals, those mutant-bounty hunters-turned-bad-guys, The Stix, from Strontium Dog star in Stix: Sleeping Dogs Lie by Matt Smith and Chris Weston. And it’s all rounded off by a Henry Flint Terror Tale: Last of the Hellphibians.
Five villainous tales, one great comic, not free, but that’s not that big a deal. Pony up the 99c or 99p, and enjoy the villainy going on! You can find the 2000 AD Villains Takeover Special in stores from the 1st of May 2019.
