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Two of weekly sci-fi anthology 2000 AD's most famous creations unite for the first time later this month in a new one-off strip from The Boys and Preacher co-creator Garth Ennis. Robo-Hunter Vs Strontium Dog, which will be published in October 30's 2000 AD Prog 2406, is a fast and funny tale that finds bounty hunter Johnny Alpha take on a job that will throw him into conflict – and perhaps an alliance – with Robo-Hunter Sam Slade.
Both characters were originally created by John Wagner (who also devised 2000 AD's most famous star, Judge Dredd, alongside artist Carlos Ezquerra) in 1978, in the very early days of the comic's run. Slade, particularly, holds a special place in Ennis's heart, as he explains to Newsarama in an exclusive interview, which also includes a first look at some of artist Henry Flint's unlettered pages from the new story.
Newsarama: Robo-Hunter Sam Slade and bounty hunter Johnny Alpha cross paths in this story. What can you tease about the story and the mission they're on?
Garth Ennis: Johnny's on a mission, Sam's on a job, but they're both after the same target – a particularly troublesome robot from the far future, well beyond their individual capabilities.
These characters share some similarities – they're both guns for hire, in a sense – but they also have some pretty stark differences in tone. So how do they get on?
What makes them similar comes from their roots – along with Dredd, they form the trio of all-time great 2000 AD characters created by John Wagner, and as such are born of the American pulp fiction/tough guy tradition that John loves so much. Really they're variations on that particular theme – the gunslinger, the private eye, the cop. That's why they work so well together (in terms of the narrative, not practical cooperation).
When it comes to Strontium Dog and Robo-Hunter, you have Johnny Alpha – the stoic hero of few words, haunted by his past, life defined by violence, lead character in a more serious strip – and Sam Slade, capable but terminally unlucky, just doing a job to try and get by, constantly undermined by his would-be assistants. Life is funnier for Sam than it is for Johnny, but the joke is generally on him. That's part of what makes him my all-time favourite 2000 AD character.
What role does Hoagy play in the story?
He makes a massive balls of everything, what else?
You're working with Henry Flint on this strip once more. What do you admire about Henry's art?
A true original, unmistakably himself – a great storyteller, excellent with narrative and character. But beyond that, Henry's art is clearly born of the 2000 AD tradition and, as such, perfect for channelling the classic work of Ezquerra and Gibson. As with Paddy Goddard on Rogue Trooper, Henry helps me get in touch with the spirit of those glory days of thrill-power.
Both Johnny and Sam debuted in 1978, making them two very long-running characters! What do you think has made them so enduring?
See above. Their pulp origins notwithstanding, John put enough original ideas into both characters that readers were constantly curious about them, we were always left wanting more. Their personalities, settings, supporting casts, technology and so on were endlessly intriguing, and their individual motivation meant we'd be getting plenty more – Johnny keeps on hunting bad guys because he doesn't know what else to do with his life, Sam will always take on another job because he's desperate for cash (even when he did eventually make his fortune and quit, bloody Hoagy and Stogie could be relied upon to ruin everything for him).
Could you see these two characters working in a longer crossover?
Interesting question. I've written a third story to make up a trilogy along with this and last year's Dredd/Robo-Hunter crossover (shouldn't be too hard to figure the two stars of that one), and also a Stront story for the Xmas prog, which Henry's currently drawing. But beyond that… I'm not sure I have much more to say with Johnny Alpha on his own, but I do wonder what it would be like to put Sam, Johnny and Dredd together, just to see what kind of sparks might fly.
There are differences in character and tone to consider, of course, and for me the classic eras of all three strips cast very long shadows – I'd be extremely wary of going ahead with anything that I didn't think was worthy of John, Carlos, Ian and Alan Grant (not to mention a dozen or so Dredd artists) at their very best.
2000 AD Prog 2406 is published by Rebellion on October 30. The bumper-sized issue also includes new episodes of Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, The Out, Azimuth, and Brink.
Eager to get started reading the fearsome future lawman? Here are the best Judge Dredd stories of all time.
