She’s Just Born Bad – Previewing ‘Durham Red Vol. 1: Born Bad’

by Richard Bruton

The latest of 2000 AD‘s digital collections, out on Wednesday 1st December, is the return of the vamp… Durham Red.

Going back only a few years here to 2018 and 2019, we get one long Durham Red serial, ‘Born Bad‘, plus two Christmas tales.

‘Born Bad‘ was the big return of Durham Red, totally re-vamped and redesigned, with Alec Worley and Ben Willsher obviously having a fine time and putting plenty of work in on the new Red. Unfortunately, Willsher managed to have a little accident with one of those boiling water taps that put him out of the game for a while, meaning Lee Carter stepped in as a fine replacement.

Durham Red – ‘Born Bad’ – art by Ben Willsher

Durham Red, in case you weren’t aware, is/was a Strontium Dog, part of the same Search/Destroy Agency that gave us the great Johnny Alpha. And like Alpha, Red’s a mutie too, but her mutation turned her into a haemovore, needing blood to survive. Over the years, she’s become one of the Strontium Dog’s most feared bounty hunters (both by her quarry and often her fellow Dogs).

Here in ‘Born Bad‘, Red’s a bit down on her luck following the end of the S/D Agency. So it’s crappy bar work and whatever bounty job she can pick up. As you might guess, she’s not cut out for bar work, and before you know it, Durham Red is back in the game.

Like I said, this has labour of love written all over it, all three creators having great times working on an iconic 2000 AD character.

As for the two Christmas strips, there’s ‘Three Gifts’ and ‘Mistletoe Kiss’, both by Worley and Willsher, both making the seasonal tales run red with blood – well, it is Christmas after all and red is the colour.