Shok!

There's no flattery like imitation, so they say. Ground breaking sci fi comic 2000AD didn't think so when Hardware was released, and the film's makers got in a whole heap of trouble for allegedly stealing the entire plot from a 7-page comic strip first printed over a decade before the film came out (my copy is from the Judge Dredd annual 1981, but it may be a re-print).
I've decided to re-re-print the entire strip so that fans of the film can make up their own minds. See those photos on the right? Are they anything like the stuff on the following pages? Personally, I think yes. In fact, there are so many similarities between the film and the comic strip it makes you wonder how the makers thought they could get away with it!

One thought... considering they made a much better job of re-creating "Mega City One" on film than the makers of the appalling Judge Dredd film did (for about a tenth of the budget as well, probably), don't you think it's time 2000AD forgave and forgot and got Richard Stanley to do the next Dredd film?

And can I also add that I'm aware of the irony of me risking the ire of 2000AD for re-publishing Shok! again without permission. See you in court...

Click here to see the entire Shok! picture strip