Carlos Ezquerra's Lawgiver - Signature Edition by Planet Replicas

Planet Replicas brought out a full size replica of Carlos Ezquerra's Lawgiver at the back end of 2018. This was the Signature Edition run of 100 pieces, which would come with a signed gold foiled certificate card. Sadly for comic fans around the world, our beloved King Carlos passed away and so things went quiet for a short time, as his fans mourned his death.

Planet Replicas came back to the fans and informed them that they would still get the gold foiled signature card but obviously, unsigned and that there would be a commemorative item included in this run of Lawgivers. There was no rush from the fans, as they knew things had slowed down due to the aforementioned sad event.

Sometime in the near future there will be another 250 pieces added to the total run but those will be just the Lawgivers themselves. The commemorative pieces were just for the initial run of 100. When these go online, make sure to grab one, as I am sure they will sell out rather rapidly and at only £85 plus P&P, you can't go wrong!

I was off to Wales Comic Con at the beginning of December, with a few photo ops booked with Karl Urban and a ton of stuff to be signed. I managed to have my Lawgiver sent early, so we could have Dredd himself holding it in a picture, which we succeeded in. Sadly he pointed his straight down the camera lens, so to the untrained fan, it might not be possible to figure out what he is holding! He also held in his left hand the Carlos Ezquerra Dredd badge and all in all it looks good, even with me stood next to him holding the MKI Lawgiver. Steve Green manipulated the background from plain white to Mega-City One.

The Lawgiver comes in a well designed box, that shows you exactly what you are getting and enough info to cover all bases.

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Can you see what they have done here. This is another reason why Planet Replicas are so in touch with their fans. For a start, they produce excellent merchandise, at reasonable prices but they know that these little extras really go down well.

This next piece is the gold foiled certificate card, which as you can see is credit card sized. Just looking at it and that blank space will always remind me of Carlos and all the enjoyment he has brought me, through his work.

Some people say you should never meet your heroes but as with many of the 2000 AD creators, that saying can be ignored. Carlos was a lovely human being and so up for a chat and a drink with his fans, as well as his fellow creators. A true gent!

This final piece is the special commemorative item that was included with the Lawgiver and if anyone tells you that they didn't well up a little when they held this in their hand, then they're lying.

I was mightily impressed with the Dredd groups on Facebook, as when the initial deliveries of the 100 Lawgivers arrived, nobody posted pictures of theirs for a while. I feel this was out of respect for Carlos and wanting others to feel the same, when they opened their box. Another part of why the Dredd fans are a breed apart. We might be a small but growing fan base but when something like this happens, it's not a case of SPOILER DROKK YOU!

Here are a couple of pictures just to show the size comparison of each item!

Let's end with my YouTube video, showing the Lawgiver plus the other two items!

Strontium Dog badge by Planet Replicas

Strontium Dog is another one of 2000 AD's main characters and a fan favourite, since he arrived in Starlord. Don't tell me that you don't know about that comic, well best you go and try and read his stories from there then!

You also may or may not know that Planet Replicas were the prop makers for the two fan films, Judge Minty and also Search/Destroy. While the Strontium Dog fan film was being made, a few people were hoping that merchandise would be forthcoming from that character and this badge is the first official item.

You can watch Judge Minty HERE! 

You can watch Search/Destroy HERE!

This badge is another one from the House of Tharg range and looks absolutely gorgeous. What do you expect!

Now for the obligatory pictures. Don't forget, click on the first one and open the slideshow!

I wonder which characters badges they can come up with next!

The 2000 AD Archive's Volume 1 & 2

In August 2002, 2000 AD published these two Archive books but then, there were no more! These were the precursor of the Case Files and were in black and white, which meant that the 4 colour pages, of each prog look quite strange. The reproduction is of varying qualities, as many pages are crisp and sharp but then, every so often a dull and faded page is included, which spoils the readers pleasure.

Here's a video of me looking at Vol 1 and you can see some of those pages below.

As for the size of the two books, they are slightly taller and thinner than the original progs but the strip is reprinted at the same size. As for the contents, it's as if the progs were stapled together in groups of ten, as all the adverts are included, along with posters and cutaways.

Don't forget to click on the first picture, to start a slideshow!

Just look at those paras shooting with rocket launcher/bazookas in Invasion!

Absolutely gorgeous art on Dan Dare, so out of this world, only killed by the lack of colour in this reprint but you can still see the weirdness of it all.

Tharg introduces Dredd for Prog 2 and asks for letters and art from the readers.

Comparing the covers!

Harlem Heroes cutaways and equipment.

Readers Aliens. I wonder if this lot still get the Prog and if they work in the industry now!

Tharg helps out with recruiting boy soldiers!

The Roll of Honour for the first 10 Progs!

So there you have it folks, the original Case Files!