2000 AD'S SUMMER OFFENSIVE!

2000 AD, Britain's award-winning weekly science-fiction, fantasy and horror comic, turns up the heat as the Summer Offensive kicks in with Prog 1250, featuring four all-new stories!

JUDGE DREDD: HELTER SKELTER

Mega-City One's top lawman faces some of his strangest foes yet in this action-packed twelve-part thriller by Garth Ennis and Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra.

When an inter-dimensional research projects causes unexpected side-effects, parallel worlds begins to bleed into Mega-City One ­ with potentially catastrophic consequences! Only Judge Dredd, together with a female research scientist who may hold the key to preventing the disaster, can stop the shadowy forces behind the dimensional rift. Shadowy forces who look strangely familiar...

Garth Ennis and Judge Dredd co-creator Carlos Ezquerra have teamed up before on Bloody Mary and Adventures in the Rifle Brigade for DC, as well as the recent Just A Pilgrim for Black Bull.

"It's a real pleasure having Garth working for 2000 AD again," says editor Andy Diggle. "He's a real old-school 2000 AD fan, and with the number of in-jokes and cross-references to other series, Helter Skelter reads like a love letter to the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. A twisted, scary, incredibly violent love letter..."

DURHAM RED: THE VERMIN STARS

A sequel to the highly popular 1998 series The Scarlet Cantos, this new adventure is truly epic in both scope and visualisation. Written by Dan Abnett, with stunning computer-enhanced artwork from Mark Harrison, this eagerly awaited story is set to be even more impressive than its predecessor.

When mutant vampire Durham Red awoke from hyper-sleep a thousand years into her own future, she found herself the object of worship by a whole new generation of mutants ­ and reviled as the ultimate heretic by the genocidal Iconoclasts.

Now, Durham Red has made contact with an ancient force ­ a force which could hail the final victory of mutant over human, with the Vampire Saint to lead them. The final battle between human and mutant will not be fought in known space... but in the distant reach known as the Vermin Stars...

NIKOLAI DANTE: THE ROMANOV EMPIRE

Another series long in preparation is this final chapter in the Tsar Wars saga. Written by Robbie Morrison and with sumptuous fully painted artwork by John Burns, this story sees the civil war between the Houses of Romanov and Makarov reach its bloody conclusion. As usual, the Russian rogue Nikolai Dante is in the thick of battle, but not even he can predict the twists the conflict will take...

TOR CYAN: CRUCIBLE

Genetic Infantryman Tor Cyan has turned his back space hospital Mercy Heights, he is now struggling to come to terms with his bloody past and killer instinct. Writer John Tomlinson and artist Kev Walker have crafted a series of short stories that reveal Cyan's links with the original Rogue Trooper.

"Tor Cyan is an intriguing character," says Diggle, "a pacifist genetically engineered for war, who keeps finding his violent past coming back to haunt him."

PUSSYFOOT 5

Prog 1251 sees the start of a new adventure for Pussyfoot 5, ultravixen agents of the Vatican's off-world interests, in a shagadelic new series by John Smith, Steve Yeowell and Chris Blythe.

Pussy Willow, Lucy Melmoth and Mantissa must infiltrate an extraterrestrial brothel in order to seize the Sex Drive ­ a revolutionary new form of hyperspace propulsion!

"Prog 1250 is lining up to be a stonker, another benchmark in the annals of Thrill-power," Diggle concludes. "We've got the premiere of four major new series by some of the most talented people working in the business, plus covers by the likes of Glenn Fabry and Chris Achilleos. The Summer Offensive starts here!"

Prog 1250 goes on sale 11 July 2001. For more information on this or other series appearing in 2000 AD, please contact Andy Diggle on (020) 7357 0130 or email Andy@2000ADonline.com