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2000AD has challenged readers to draw one of its best known female heroines, Halo Jones, in its latest Art Stars competition – surely no easy task given Ian Gibson’s iconic look. Unsurprisingly, it got some fans wondering if 2000 AD has or is negotiating a return of the character with Alan Moore.

Unfortunately, no. 2000 AD have made it absolutely clear that the current competition is just that – an art competition featuring one of its favourite characters.

Where did she go? Out. What did she do? Everything. Created by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson, Halo Jones lived on a floating housing project off the coast of Manhattan in the far future. Bored of her life on the Hoop, which could be as dangerous as it was mundane, she dreamt of escape aboard luxury space-liner, the Clara Pandy – but her journey to the stars was no dream.

One of the greatest all-time 2000 AD characters, Halo continues to delight and inspire, almost 40 years after her debut and also with “The Ballad of Halo Jones” comic strips, her saga has been adapted from comic to stage play more than once.

Some of the biggest artists in comic books got their break at the legendary award-winning 2000 AD – and the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic art competition – 2000 AD Art Stars – is a chance to join them, get into the pages of 2000 AD – and get paid for it.

Star Scans have been a staple of 2000 AD since its earliest days: single-image pin-ups of the greatest characters in the galaxy, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Dan Dare and Rogue Trooper, drawn by some of the best artists in comics from Brian Bolland and Dave Gibbons to Jock and Liam Sharp.

Full details of the latest Halo Jones-inspired 2000 AD Art Stars competition are here on the 2000 AD web site. The deadline for entries is 9.00pm GMT on Friday 18th October 2019.

THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

As for any further “Halo Jones” stories, fans of the character will just have to hope that, one day, Halo might return, but if she ever did, it’s unlikely at this point that Alan himself would script any new stories featuring the character, since Alan recently announced his retirement from comics, his last comics work, #6 of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest, co-created and drawn by Kevin O’Neill, on sale now from Knockabout.

He has also made it clear in the past that he does not believe he owns any rights to the character, and Ian Gibson has stated he assigned any rights he had to Halo to Rebellion.

If the series as planned had continued beyond The Ballad of Halo Jones Book Three, artist and co-creator Ian Gibson recalls it would have seen Halo Jones on her way to becoming a Pirate Queen – a theme that would have extended into Book Five.

• The full details of the latest Halo Jones-inspired 2000 AD Art Stars competition are here on the 2000 AD web site. The deadline for entries is 9.00pm GMT on Friday 18th October 2019

• The collected edition of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest will be released in October, then that’s all folks

Alan Moore refers to a proposed future Halo Jones character on the last page of the final issue…

• The Imagination of Ian Gibson Facebook Group

A page dedicated to the incredible artwork of comic book artist Ian Gibson with input from the man himself. Featuring information on Halo Jones, Judge Dredd, Robo Hunter and so much more

[amazon_link asins=’1905437188,1781086354,1781086362,1781086370,B075MMDG89′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’downthetubes’ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=”]

With thanks to Ian Gibson

An earlier version of this story suggested Alan Moore still owns rights to Halo Jones. Alan Moore has made it clear he acknowledges he does not, as alluded to in this article published in The Guardian in 2013. My thanks to Gordon Rennie for the link. My apologies for any confusion caused. This story has also been updated to make it absolutely clear that 2000 AD Art Stars is an art competition and nothing more

The Ballad of Halo Jones © Rebellion Publishing Ltd

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John Freeman The founder of downthetubes, John works as a comics editor, writer, as Creative Consultant on the Dan Dare audio adventures for B7 Media, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing for over 30 years, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz, published on Tapastic; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood for digital comic 100% Biodegradable.

Categories: British Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, SF Comics