When Dredd hit movie screens back in 2012, it was a theatrical flop, despite being a stellar translation of the source material from the ongoing 2000 AD comic, Judge Dredd, and Karl Urban doing an awesome rendition of the scowling, helmet-clad law enforcer. The film did finally find its audience once it hit the home market via Blu-ray and various streaming services. That being said, with a movie that only recouped $35 million of its $50 million budget in the theater, we’re not likely to see a movie sequel any time soon, if ever.

However, the film has indeed received a direct sequel, just in comic book, and chronicles the criminal underworld moving in to fill the void left by the film’s antagonist, Ma-Ma, and her Slo-Mo drug. Originally released in serialized comic strip form in the UK via Judge Dredd Magazine, the series was collected as a one-shot titled Dredd: Underbelly and was set to be released in the United States in January 2014 via new publisher, Rebellion, which was created specifically to bring this book to the United States.

The book became so sought after, that overnight it immediately sold out at the distributor level leaving few if any issues available at the consumer level. With high demand and low volume, the book is currently selling for over $80! You can still pick it up in digital format for the Kindle for $2.99, though.

In light of this unforeseen demand, Rebellion is rushing back to the printer to create a second run of the book, which is currently slated for release in the U.S. this month and will include brand new cover art. You can check out both the original cover and reprint cover below. This could spell continued success for the release of 2000 AD’s content in the United States. Until now, their content has been released in the U.S. via various licensing and publishing deals with other publisher, but with Rebellion, this marks a direct link for 2000 AD from one side of the pond to the other.

Dredd: Underbelly will be available for pre-order via your favorite comic book shop through February 18th. Are you thinking about adding it to your pull list?

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[Source: THR]