The 2000 AD Art of Mick McMahon: Apex Edition is a gloriously oversized collection of some of McMahon’s best pages from 2000 AD. His legendary work on Slaine is showcased with art from “Warriors Dawn,” “Heroes Blood,” and the incredible “Sky Chariots.” Also represented here are his Ro-Busters and A.B.C. Warriors eras, the climactic pages from “Judge Dredd: The Return of Rico,” the entirety of Superbean, and the complete opening episode of The V.C.’s, along with his V.C. character designs which were used by Cam Kennedy and Garry Leach for artistic continuity. The concluding section of this book exhibits colour pages from his Judge Dredd Annual stories, including the complete “The Fear that Made Milwaukee Famous,” and select pages from throughout The Last American.
- 2000 AD, January 24, 2024
- ISBN 978-1-78618-775-8
- 14.3″ x 18.7″, 144 pages, hardcover
- $135 USD
- Order online: Things From Another World, Walt’s Comic Shop
As with all AE format material (Artist’s Editions, Artifact Editions, Gallery Editions, Art Editions, Studio Editions, etc.), this is a collection of classic comic material and I’ll be reviewing the book and not the story. For a complete list of all current and announced editions, with review links, please visit our Index. Also, see What is an Artist’s Edition and our Artist Index. This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
A career retrospective of Mick McMahon’s 2000 AD work. The previous McMahon volume only dealt with Judge Dredd, but this one has Dredd and much more. While there are only three complete chapters here, we get a breadth of material showcasing his evolving art style. We get an introduction by David Roach, who assembled the art, and a foreword by Ben Saunders, comics academic. The volumes closes with a brief biography.
The original art all presents very well: no scanning or production issues. We’re presented with a wide array of mediums, and the pages really shine. The rubber cement for the dialogue boxes has aged and now shows the art underneath. McMahon didn’t appear to leave space on the page for dialogue boxes, but provided complete art. Blacks show gradients. Minimal use of correction fluid. I didn’t spot any pencils or zip-a-tone. Many pages have staples, creases, and other signs of physical handling, making this a wonderful example of production art.
The design follows the now established Apex Edition format: light tan coloured front matter, white pages for the art, page numbers with title, issue, and story. It’s clean, concise, and visually appealing. Image enlargements throughout the front matter present very well, as does the endpapers. Excellent choices throughout.
Production is very good: a sewn binding of heavy matte paper stock with a slight coating. The book lies flat when the center is smoothed, except where the signatures are glued. The cardboard case is unique for Apex Editions, with a removable tray inside the case; the material is quite thin but gets the shrinkwrapped book to the consumer. I don’t understand what’s happening with the spacing of the text on the front.
I bought The Last American as it was published by Epic, but I wasn’t ready to appreciate that art style. The pages here are so vibrant and stylized they leap at the reader. I’m not a fan of early McMahon in his Dredd days, but can fully enjoy his Slaine. There are so many style changes here it’s easy to find gems over and over.
