With a little help from filmmaker Ben Wheatley, our 2000 AD obsession kicks into high gear this week. The filmmaker behind such brutally banger movies as Kill List, A Field in England, High-Rise, and this year’s Bob Odenkirk actioner, Normal, joins the podcast to discuss his eight-chaptered 2000 AD comic, Judge Dee, which recently wrapped in Prog 2487. Even better, Judge Dee is a sequel to an iconic Judge Dredd story from forty-two years ago, The Haunting of Sector House 9, which encouraged us to dig deep in the franchise’s history.

It’s only fitting that Wheatley layers his 2000 AD tale with a classic, 80s-era cinematic sub-genre, the buddy-cop adventure. It’s a little Lethal Weapon, but maybe even more Heart Condition, for those that can recall that complicated (ie problematic) Denzel Washington/Bob Hoskins ghost cop comedy. Ya see, PSI Judge Dee carries a secret. Wherever she travels, she’s got a demonic passenger with her, Klato.

However, this is not a case of a filmmaker making their way to comics for a little fun. Wheatley is a lifelong Prog reader. It’s been his dream to finally scrounge around Mega-City One and add a little lore to this massive universe. Given the opportunity, he knew he wanted to springboard from The Haunting of Sector House 9, pick up where that horror left off, only decades later, and deliver his unique, grotesque, and funky perspective.

This week, we’re talking Judge Dredd, binary thinking, buddy cops, and surviving the dystopian present with Ben Wheatley. Judge Dee is written by Wheatley, illustrated by Simon Coleby, colored by Jack Davies, and lettered by Simon Bowland. Judge Dee chapters one through five can be found in Progs 2467 - 2471, and Judge Dee chapters six through eight can be found in Progs 2485 - 2487. You can find them all on 2000AD’s website.

You can follow Ben Wheatley on Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

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