2000 AD and Beyond with PJ Holden

PJ Holden is someone who doesn’t need an introduction. The veteran artist has been a staple part of the comic book industry over the past 20-years and is synonymous with his work within 2000 AD and its related publications. Recently I was able to send some questions over to Paul, who was then kind enough to chat about his work with 2000 AD, and a little bit of life away from drawing our favourite comics. 

Cover from Chimpsky’s first appearance in 2000AD (art & colours: PJ Holden)

Hi Paul, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions regarding your past and current projects. 

PJH - My pleasure!

Most comic book readers will know you from your work with Rebellion Publishing with yourself being a well-known figure within the 2000 AD Prog and the Judge Dredd Megazine. For me, I first discovered your work in the Warhammer Monthly comic series. That said, out of everything you’ve worked on what’s been your favourite strip or series? 

PJH - Cor, that’s a tough one, I’m not even sure how much work I’ve done over the past twenty plus years. I’m proud of the lot of work I’ve done with Garth Ennis on the war stories, that’s stuff I’ll stand by forever, I think. But I’m also really proud of the fokllore project I did with John Reppion, where I’d take a single tweet and turn it in to a one page comic (writing and drawing around that tweet). (And it’s collected as Fascinating Folklore which you can buy from John’s online store here (https://moorereppion.bigcartel.com/product/fascinating-folklore)

I think I’ve been very lucky in the projects I’ve got to do, in that they’ve invariably been brilliantly written and largely exactly the kind of thing I’d like to do, but to pick one favourite, I’ll go with the one off horror story I wrote and drew for 2000ad called Roots - but only because I wrote and drew it.

We’ve seen you recently appear in Battle Action as the artist for Rob Williams Major Eazy strip. How was it working with Rob, and bringing the hardened WW2 major back for yet another adventure? 

PJH - Rob and I are great mates who’ve known each other decades, so it’s always fun to get to work together. Major Eazy was the third war strip I’ve done with Rob and I’m always conscious on a strip like that, following the amazing Carlos Ezquerra, and the equally amazing Henry Flint, that I walk on the shoulders of giants. That said, I don’t count myself in their class, so I take it as a chance to have a bit of fun (because it’s either that or drive myself crazy with comparisons) but the Battle Action strips are - well, they’re war stories - but they’re super compact, more action adventure than war, really. Rob writes some great action, and I just get to draw it.

Art: Death Squad by PJ Holden, written by Rob Williams for a previous Battle Action.

Sticking with Battle Action, you’re also back along side John McCrea for another dip into the deep blue sea with Hookjaw. With an established character like Hookjaw were you able to loosen the reigns as to not tread old ground when it comes to making sure the murderous shark remained scary? 

PJH - Hah, well, that’s interesting because - as John has said in other interviews, for personal reasons he didn’t have the time or headspace to sit and map out the artwork, and asked me if I could, so I drew roughs for him to work on. Very much a skeletal structure he could drape some gnarly anatomy on to. With Hookjaw in particular. I drew a shark with a Hook. John erased that, and drew a monstrous creature from the deep, scarred by what could be hundreds of years of wounds. So the scary part is all on him. His hookjaw looks amazing. 

HookJaw Roughs by PJ Holden

Here at Geek Culture Reviews HQ I’ve been looking back into some Progs from yesteryear and I’m currently reading through Noam Chimpsky’s debut series “The World According To Chimpsky” . How did yourself and fellow creator Ken Niemand go about creating this one of a kind character for Judge Dredd to contend with?

PJH - Well Ken (Niemand) pitched the idea to me and I scribbled some notes - pretty much as suggested, I added some details that felt like they were implied from those notes - though it’s now a bit of a hazy memory, but I may have added the just-william-like catapult, which Ken has used a number of times in the strip. It just grew out of the idea that he looked like a cheeky chappy school kid.

Readers seemed to like him right away, and it’s such a fresh take on Dredd’s world - a dystopia where the on bright shining light is a like bonobo bouncing around buildings firing off a catapult.

Noam is also quite a resourceful character and has outwitted Dredd on a couple of occasions. Do you think he would make a good Judge? 

PJH - Oh not at all, I think fundamentally he’s opposed to the idea of the Justice Department and Dredd as it stands. Noam can see a better way, but he’s just one chimp...

The last time we saw Noam he was in the thick of it dealing with a pretty crazy murder mystery that surrounded his creator. Are there currently any follow up stories being worked on? 

PJH - I can neither confirm nor deny any possible new works. But I’m sure you’ll hear when tharg is ready…

Away from comics and those that follow you on social media would have seen that you’ve just finished a six show run as “Old Saul” in the amateur production of Ghost Train. Will we next see a PJ Holden star on the Hollywood walk of fame? 

PJH - Hah! oh no, my worlds are about to collide! I love acting. Did it a lot in my twenties, before I had a comic career and worked in IT. Stopped because working in IT and drawing already took up substantial time. Came back to it 20 years later, discovered I still loved it, but then life got in the way and covid happened. But now my kids are older, I haven’t worked in IT for close to 17 years, and acting is calling me again.

IT was my day job, and comics my hobby, and acting was a third thing I did - eventually comics was my day job and I didn’t have time for a second thing let alone a third thing, but I’ve got that time again. 

That said, I’m not even sure I’d merit a star on the Holywood, County Down walk of fame let alone Hollywood, USA.

PJ As old Saul. Beard model’s own (wife hated it, so it went the day the play finished)

Do you have any more acting gigs lined up? 

PJH - Not yet, but auditions are in January, so who knows. Certainly if I don’t it’ll not be for the lack of trying!

Your website (pauljholden.com) is a great insight into the man behind the art with yourself commenting on all manner of things. What interested me is a recent post where you talk about how difficult it is to draw dead bodies and the perspective of them. Is there any other situations that are of a similar nature? 

PJH - God yeah. The hardest thing to draw in drawing is whatever the current thing you’re drawing is. I often think the difference between an artist and non-artist is a non-artist will hit a wall quickly and stop drawing whereas an artist will hit the wall and keep pushing until the wall is gone. But you do that with everything. The only time the wall isn’t there is when you’ve drawn that thing thousands of times and even then, now you’re drawing the memory of the thing and not the thing itself and you should really think about stopping and looking at it again.

I think comics is one of the hardest artistic disciplines because as an artist you often don’t get to choose your subject. It’s whatever the script calls for, and so you’ll have days where you’re constantly hitting walls, and then, if you’re lucky, some walls will tumble down.

That said, sometimes you need to go away and draw something you know you can draw well so you stop thinking “woa is me! I can’t draw” you draw something you’re good at and you realise “oh, wait, I can draw - this bit is just HARD!”

And finally, as we head into 2025 what can we expect to see from yourself? 

PJH - Gah, I’ve never allowed to talk about stuff and by the time it sees print I’ve forgotten! in generalities, I suppose: Something from the new EC Line, something long from Mad Cave, something from 2000ad!

That’s all a bit vague, but if you follow me on bluesky or at www.pauljholden.com you’ll find out!

Geek Culture Reviews would like to thank PJ Holden for taking the time to answer this Q&A. For updates and news head on over to 

*images courtesy of PJ Holden*

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