''2000 AD'' is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic magazine. As a

comics anthology A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication to co ...

it serialises stories in each issue (known as "progs") and was first published by

IPC Magazines TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. Since 2000 it has been published by Rebellion Developments. ''2000 AD'' is most noted for its ''

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of '' 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology comic. He is the magazine's longest-running ...

'' stories, and has been contributed to by a number of artists and writers who became renowned in the field internationally, such as

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

, Brian Bolland, Mike McMahon,

John Wagner John Wagner (born 1949) is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. ...

, Alan Grant and

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish–American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

. Other series in ''2000 AD'' include ''

Rogue Trooper ''Rogue Trooper'' is a science fiction strip in the British comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'', created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons in 1981. It portrays the adventures of a "Supersoldier, Genetic Infantryman" named Rogue ...

'', '' Sláine'', ''

Strontium Dog ''Strontium Dog'' was a long-running British comics series starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter who lives in Earth's future. The series was created in 1978 by writer John Wagner (under the pseudonym T. B. Grover) and artist Carlos Ezquer ...

'', '' ABC Warriors'', ''

Nemesis the Warlock ''Nemesis the Warlock'' is a comic series created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the British weekly comics anthology '' 2000 AD''. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights again ...

'' and ''

Nikolai Dante ''Nikolai Dante'' was a comic book series published in the weekly British science fiction anthology '' 2000 AD'' from March 1997 through July 2012. History ''Nikolai Dante'' was created by writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser. The ...

''.

History

''2000 AD'' was initially published by IPC Magazines. IPC then shifted the title to its

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

comics subsidiary, which was sold to

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

in 1987 and then to Egmont UK in 1991. Fleetway continued to produce the title until 2000, when it was bought by Rebellion Developments.

1970s

Pre-publication

In December 1975,

Kelvin Gosnell Kelvin Gosnell is a British comics writer and editor. He was involved in the founding of the long-running comic '' 2000 AD'' in 1977, and was its second editor (1977–1978). He also edited '' Starlord'' (1978) and ''Tornado'' (1979). Biography ...

, a sub-editor at

, read an article in the ''

London Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' about a wave of forthcoming science fiction films, and suggested that the company might get on the bandwagon by launching a science fiction comic. IPC publisher John Sanders asked

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather ...

, a freelance writer and editor who had created ''

Battle Picture Weekly ''Battle Picture Weekly'', at various times also known as ''Battle Action'', ''Battle Action Force'', ''Battle'' and ''Battle with Storm Force'', was a British war comic book magazine published by IPC Magazines from (issues dates) 8 March 197 ...

'' and ''

Action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

'', to develop it. Mills brought fellow freelancer

on board as script adviser and the pair began to develop characters. The then-futuristic name ''2000 AD'' was chosen by John Sanders,Mills, Pat (2017) ''Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! 2000AD and Judge Dredd: The Secret History'' (Millsverse Books). as no-one involved expected the comic to last that long. The original logo and overall look of the comic were designed by art assistant Doug Church. Mills' experiences with ''Battle'' and ''Action'' in particular had taught him that readers responded to his

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" an ...

attitudes. Wagner, who had written a

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...

-inspired tough cop called ''

One-Eyed Jack This list of playing card nicknames shows the nicknames of playing cards in a standard 52-card pack. Some are generic, some are specific to certain card games; others to specific patterns, for example, the courts of French playing cards often bear t ...

'' for '' Valiant'', saw that readers also responded to authority figures, and developed a character that took the concept to its logical extreme, imagining an ultra-violent lawman patrolling a future New York with the power to arrest, sentence, and if required execute criminals on the spot. This would allow the new comic to be as violent as ''Action'' had been – a comic which had generated much controversy – but without attracting criticism, because the violence would be committed by an officer of the law. As Sanders put it, "The formula was simple: ''violence on the side of justice'' ... Dredd could be as violent as hell, and no one could say a thing." Meanwhile, Mills had developed a horror strip, inspired by the novels of Dennis Wheatley, about a hanging judge, called ''Judge Dread'' (after the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

artist of the same name). The idea was abandoned as unsuitable for the new comic, but the name, with a little modification, was adopted by Wagner for his ultimate lawman. The task of visualising the newly named ''

'' was given to

Carlos Ezquerra Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (12 November 1947 – 1 October 2018) was a Spanish comics artist who worked mainly in British comics. He is best known as the co-creator of ''Judge Dredd''. Biography Early work Born in Ibdes, province of Zaragoza, Arag ...

, a Spanish artist who had previously worked with Mills on ''Battle'', on a strip called ''Major Eazy''. Wagner gave Ezquerra an advertisement for the film ''

Death Race 2000 ''Death Race 2000'' is a 1975 American science fiction action film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Paul Bartel, and starring David Carradine. The film takes place in a dystopian American society in the year 2000, where the murderous Transco ...

'', showing the character Frankenstein clad in black leather, as a suggestion for what the character should look like. Ezquerra elaborated on this greatly, adding body-armour, zips and chains, which Wagner originally thought over the top. Wagner's initial script was rewritten by Mills and drawn up by Ezquerra, but when the art came back a rethink was necessary. The hardware and cityscapes Ezquerra had drawn were far more futuristic than the near-future setting originally intended, and Mills decided to run with it and set the strip further into the future. By this stage, however, Wagner and Ezquerra had both quit. Mills was reluctant to lose ''Judge Dredd'', and farmed the strip out to a variety of freelance writers, hoping to develop it further. Their scripts were given to a variety of artists as Mills tried to find a strip which would make a good introduction to the character, all of which meant that ''Dredd'' would not be ready for the first issue. The story chosen was one written by freelancer Peter Harris, extensively rewritten by Mills and including an idea suggested by Kelvin Gosnell, and drawn by newcomer Mike McMahon. The strip debuted in prog 2, dated 5 March 1977. IPC owned the rights to '' Dan Dare'', and Mills decided to revive the character to add immediate public recognition for the title. Paul DeSavery, who owned ''Dare''s film rights, offered to buy the new comic and give Mills and Wagner more creative control and a greater financial stake. The deal fell through, however.

The opening line-up

'' Dan Dare'' was extensively revamped to make it more futuristic. In the new stories he had been put into suspended animation and revived in the year 2177. Several artists were tried out before Mills settled on Italian artist Massimo Belardinelli, whose imaginative, hallucinatory work was fantastic at visualising aliens, although perhaps less satisfying on the hero himself. The scripts were endlessly rewritten in an attempt to make the series work, but few ''Dan Dare'' fans remember this version of the character fondly. Belardinelli and Gibbons later switched strips, with Gibbons drawing ''Dan Dare'' and Belardinelli drawing the ''Harlem Heroes'' sequel ''Inferno''. When Gibbons took over ''Dan Dare'' in prog 28 the strip was refashioned as a ''Star Trek''-style space opera. Mills had also created '' Harlem Heroes'', about the future sport of aeroball, a futuristic, violent version of basketball with jet-packs. Similar future sport series had been a fixture of ''

'', and the similarly themed film ''Rollerball'' had been released the previous year. Wanting to give the new comic a distinctive look, Mills wanted to use European artists, but the work turned in on ''Harlem Heroes'' by Trigo was disappointing. Veteran British artists Ron Turner and Barrie Mitchell were tried out, but the newcomer

won the editor over with his dynamic, American-influenced drawings and got the job. Mills wrote the first five episodes before handing the strip to ''

Roy of the Rovers ''Roy of the Rovers'' is a British comic strip about the life and times of a fictional footballer and later manager named Roy Race, who played for Melchester Rovers. The strip first appeared in the ''Tiger'' in 1954, before giving its name to a ...

'' writer

Tom Tully Thomas Kane Tulley (August 21, 1908 – April 27, 1982) was an American actor. He began his career in radio and on the stage before making his film debut in ''Northern Pursuit'' (1943). Subsequently, he was nominated for an Academy Award for hi ...

. The other opening strips were '' M.A.C.H. 1'', a super-powered secret agent inspired by ''

The Six Million Dollar Man ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is re ...

''; '' Invasion!'', about a "Volgan" (thinly disguised and originally billed as Soviet, but changed before printing to a "neutral" antagonist) invasion of the United Kingdom opposed by tough London lorry driver turned guerrilla fighter Bill Savage; and ''

Flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, but ...

'', a strip about time-travelling cowboys farming

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s for their meat. After 16 issues, Mills quit as editor and handed the reins to

, whose idea the comic had been in the first place. Gosnell also appeared as the fall guy in the '' Tharg the Mighty'' comedy photostrips that were a feature of the comic in its early years.

Early years

Wagner returned to write ''Judge Dredd'', starting in prog 9. His " Robot Wars" storyline was drawn by a rotating team of artists, including McMahon, Ezquerra, Turner and Ian Gibson, and marked the point where ''Dredd'' became the most popular character in the comic, a position he has rarely relinquished. Dredd's city, which now covered most of the east coast of North America, became known as

Mega-City One Mega-City One is a fictional city that features in the ''Judge Dredd'' comic book series and related media. A post-nuclear megalopolis covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada, the city's exact geography depends ...

. Dredd had also been unmasked in issue 8 in a story drawn by Massimo Belardinelli, but the decision was made to make out that Dredd's face had been scarred and the panel had a 'censored' banner slapped on it. After this, there were no further attempts to show Dredd's face again. A new story format was introduced in prog 25 – '' Tharg's Future Shocks'', one-off twist-in-the-tail stories devised by writer Steve Moore. ''2000 AD'' still uses this format as filler and to try out new talent. Wagner introduced a new character, '' Robo-Hunter'', in 1978. The hero, Sam Slade, was a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

-type character specialising in

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

-related cases. José Ferrer was the original artist, but the editorial team were not happy with his work and quickly replaced him with Ian Gibson, who redrew parts of Ferrer's episodes before taking over himself. Gibson's imaginative, cartoony art helped drive the series' style from hard-boiled detective to surreal comedy. As the series continued Sam was joined by an idiot kit-built robot assistant, Hoagy, and after a crack-down on smoking in IPC comics, a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n robot cigar, Stogie, designed to help him cut down on

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

. Other ongoing strips included ''The Visible Man'', detailing the misfortunes of Frank Hart, a man whose skin had been made transparent due to exposure to nuclear waste, and ''Shako'', (which followed the same formula as ''Hook Jaw'' from ''Action'' but with less success) the story of a polar bear pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule. '' M.A.C.H. 1'' was killed off in 1978 but a spin-off, ''M.A.C.H. Zero'', continued into the 1980s. ''Flesh'' had a sequel in 1978, set on the prehistoric oceans, and Bill Savage appeared again in a prequel, ''Disaster 1990'', in which a nuclear explosion at the north pole had melted the polar ice-cap and flooded Britain. In 1977 ''2000 AD'' launched the annual 48-page Summer Special, including a full-length ''M.A.C.H. Zero'' story drawn by O'Neill. The yearly hardcover annual also started in 1977 (cover dated 1978) and would continue till 1990 (dated 1991). Pat Mills took over writing ''Dredd'' for a six-month "epic" called "

The Cursed Earth "The Cursed Earth" is the second extended storyline of the British science fictional comics character Judge Dredd. It appeared in '' 2000 AD'', and was the first Dredd storyline to exceed twenty episodes. Written mostly by Pat Mills, this story a ...

", inspired by

Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...

's ''

Damnation Alley ''Damnation Alley'' is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, based on a novella published in 1967. A film adaptation of the novel was released in 1977. Plot introduction The story opens in a post-apocalyptic Southern C ...

'', which took the future lawman out of the city on a humanitarian trek across the radioactive wasteland between the Mega-Cities. McMahon drew the bulk of the stories, with occasional episodes drawn by Brian Bolland. The story saw Dredd moved to the colour centre pages for the first time while ''Dan Dare'' was given the front page.

Steve MacManus Steve MacManus (sometimes credited as Ian Rogan) is a British comics, comic writer and editor, particularly known for his work at ''2000 AD (comic), 2000 AD''. Biography Born in London and educated in Devon, MacManus joined IPC Media, IPC in ...

took over from Gosnell as editor in 1978, starting with prog 86, dated 14 October. In that issue ''2000 AD'' merged with '' Starlord'', a second science fiction comic which had been launched by IPC earlier that year. As Gosnell was editor of ''Starlord'' and ''2000 AD'' at the same time, ''2000 AD'' sub-editor Nick Landau largely edited the latter comic himself during this time. ''Starlord'' was cancelled after only 22 issues and merged into ''2000 AD'' from prog 86. Two ''Starlord'' strips strengthened ''2000 AD''s line-up: ''

'', a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

created by Wagner and Ezquerra, and ''

Ro-Busters ''Ro-Busters'' is a British comic story that formed part of the original line-up of '' Starlord''. Similar in premise to that of the '' Thunderbirds'' television series, it was created by writer Pat Mills and was drawn by Carlos Pino and Ian ...

'', a robot disaster squad created by Mills. ''Ro-Busters'' gave O'Neill the chance to spread his artistic wings and led to the popular spin-off '' ABC Warriors''. ''Strontium Dog'' and ''ABC Warriors'' continued to feature in ''2000 AD'' for the next 40 years. (A third ''Starlord'' series, ''Timequake'', only lasted for four episodes and was not renewed.) ''Dan Dare'' was suspended while "The Cursed Earth" was finished in time for the merger. Wagner returned to ''Dredd'' following the merger to write "The Day the Law Died", another six-month epic in which Mega-City One was taken over by the insane Chief Judge Cal, based on the Roman emperor Caligula. Another cancelled title, ''

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

'', was merged with ''2000 AD'' a few months later from prog 127, contributing three stories to ''2000 AD'': ''

Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus uru ...

'', an historical adventure series about a Nubian slave in the Roman Empire which took a science-fictional turn in ''2000 AD'' with him becoming a gladiator in an alien world; '' The Mind of Wolfie Smith'', a coming of age/psychic story of a runaway teenager, and ''Captain Klep'', a single-page superhero parody. These stories, unlike ''Starlord's'', did not continue for very long. The last issue titled ''2000 AD and Tornado'' was prog 177, dated 13 September 1980. ''2000 AD'' featured an adaptation of Harry Harrison's novel ''

The Stainless Steel Rat James Bolivar diGriz, alias "Slippery Jim" and "The Stainless Steel Rat", is a fictional character and a series of comic science fiction novels written by Harry Harrison. Description James Bolivar diGriz goes by many aliases, including "Slippe ...

'', written by Gosnell and drawn by Ezquerra, beginning in November 1979. Adaptations of two of Harrison's sequels, ''The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World'' and ''The Stainless Steel Rat for President'', would follow later. The appearance of the main character, galactic thief "Slippery" Jim DiGriz, was based on James Coburn, evidently a favourite of Ezquerra's; Coburn was also the inspiration for '' Major Eazy'', which Ezquerra drew in ''Battle,'' as well as ''Cursed Earth Koburn'', a Dredd-universe reworking of the Major Eazy character, who first appeared in 2003.

Gerry Finley-Day Gerry Finley-Day (born 1947, Broughty Ferry, Dundee) is a Scottish comics writer, prolific from the 1960s to the 1980s, best known as the creator of "Rogue Trooper". Career He began his career at D.C. Thomson & Co., before becoming the edito ...

contributed '' The V.C.s'', a future war story inspired by the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, drawn by McMahon,

Cam Kennedy Campbell ("Cam") Kennedy is a Scottish comics artist. He is best known for his work on '' 2000 AD'', especially the flagship titles ''Judge Dredd'' and ''Rogue Trooper''. Biography Following work in commercial art in his hometown of Glasgow, ...

Garry Leach Garry Leach (19 September 1954 – 26 March 2022) was a British comics artist and publisher. Biography Garry Leach's early work for ''2000 AD'' included mainly one-off stories featuring ''Dan Dare'' and ''M.A.C.H. 1''.John Richardson. A feature of the early years of ''2000 AD'' was the opportunities it gave to young British comic artists: by the time the title celebrated its 100th issue Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Ian Gibson, Mike McMahon and Kevin O'Neil were all established as regulars.

1980s

In 1980 ''

'' gained a new enemy. Writer

realised that Dredd's habit of shooting just about everybody he came up against meant that it was difficult to create a recurring villain. The solution was

Judge Death This is a list of characters in the British comic strip ''Judge Dredd'' appearing in '' 2000 AD'', ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' and related publications. They are listed alphabetically by surname, in categories. (Major characters have their own art ...

, an undead judge from another dimension where, since all crime was committed by the living, life itself was outlawed. The law had been thoroughly enforced on his own world, and now he had come to Mega-City One to continue his work. Judge Death first appeared in an atmospheric three-parter drawn by Brian Bolland which also introduced

Judge Anderson Judge Cassandra Anderson is a fictional law enforcer and psychic appearing in the British science fiction comics '' 2000 AD'' and the ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Brian Bolland, Anderson made her debut as a ...

and Psi Division, a squad of judges with psychic powers. Dredd soon began another epic journey in " The Judge Child". A dying Psi Division Judge had predicted disaster for Mega-City One unless it was ruled by a boy with a birthmark shaped like an eagle, so Dredd set off into the Cursed Earth, to

Texas City Texas City is a city in Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and petrochemical-manufacturing ...

, and into deep space in search of the boy, Owen Krysler, and his kidnappers, the Angel Gang. All of them were killed during the course of the story, however the Mean Machine, was later resurrected by Krysler during "Destiny's Angels". "The Judge Child" was drawn by Bolland, Ron Smith and Mike McMahon in rotation, and the later episodes marked the beginning of Wagner's long-running writing partnership with Alan Grant. The pair would go on to write ''Strontium Dog'', ''Robo-Hunter'' and many other stories for ''2000 AD'', as well as for ''

'', ''

Battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

'' and the relaunched ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

'' in the United Kingdom, and a number of comics in America. With prog 178 all current stories, with the exception of ''Judge Dredd'', were wound up, and a new set of stories was launched simultaneously, consisting of '' Mean Arena'', set around a violent high-tech street football game, '' Meltdown Man'', whose hero was transported to a genetically engineered far future by a nuclear explosion, the return of ''

'' and ''

Dash Decent The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the Baseline (typography), baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally lo ...

'', a '' Flash Gordon''

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

introduced ''Comic Rock'', which was meant to be a format for short stories inspired by popular music. The first story, inspired by

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

's ''Going Underground'', was drawn by Kevin O'Neill and featured a complicated underground travel network on a planet called "Termight", in which a freedom fighter called Nemesis battles the despotic Torquemada, chief of the Tube Police. All that was seen of Nemesis was the outside of his vehicle, the Blitzspear. The story was a reaction to an earlier tube chase sequence Mills and O'Neill had done in ''Ro-Busters'', which management objected to. The only other ''Comic Rock'' story was a follow-up called "Killer Watt", in which Nemesis and Torquemada fought on a teleport system. This led to a series, ''Nemesis the Warlock'', in which it was revealed that Termight was Earth in the far future. Torquemada was changed from the Chief of Traffic Police to a despotic demagogue leading a campaign of genocide against all aliens, and Nemesis was the leader of the alien resistance. Mills and O'Neill were on a roll and produced a stream of bizarre and imaginative ideas, but ultimately O'Neill was unable to continue the level of work he was putting into it on ''2000 AD'' pay. He left to work for

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

in America, and was replaced on ''Nemesis'' by first

Jesus Redondo Jesús Redondo Román (born 8 August 1934)
Down the Tubes, 9 June 2011 is ...

and then

Bryan Talbot Bryan Talbot (born 24 February 1952) is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' and its sequel '' Heart of Empire'', as well as the ''Grandville'' series of books. He collaborated ...

. ''2000 AD'' would occasionally take a gamble on non-science fiction material. For example, '' Fiends of the Eastern Front'' was a World War II

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

story by

and

which was probably originally intended for ''Battle''. Its hero was a German soldier who discovered that some of his

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n allies were vampires. Later in the war, when Romania changed sides, he was the only one who knew their secret. A readers' poll revealed that future war was a popular topic, so Gerry Finley-Day was asked to come up with a new war story. He, editor

and artist Dave Gibbons devised ''

'', a "Genetic Infantryman" engineered to be immune to chemical warfare hunting down the traitor general who had betrayed his regiment, who debuted in 1981. He was supported by bio-chips of the personalities of three dead comrades, which, slotted into his equipment, could talk to him. Gibbons left the strip early on and was replaced by

Colin Wilson Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal, eventually writing more than a hundred books. Wilson called his phil ...

, Brett Ewins and

. ''Rogue Trooper'' replaced ''Meltdown Man'', which had recently ended its run. Another new strip in 1981, inspired by the brief

CB radio Citizens band radio (also known as CB radio), used in many countries, is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance person-to-many persons bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two way radios operating on ...

craze, was '' Ace Trucking Co.'', a comedy about pointy-headed alien space trucker Ace Garp and his crew by Wagner, Grant and Belardinelli. In the ''Judge Dredd'' series, Mega-City One had grown too large and unwieldy: therefore authors Wagner and Grant they planned to cut it down to size. " Block Mania", in which wars broke out between rival city-blocks, turned out to be a plot orchestrated by the Russian city East-Meg One, and led directly to "

The Apocalypse War Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...

", another six-month epic and a hard-hitting satire on the concept of

mutually assured destruction Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would cause the ...

. East-Meg One, protected by a warp-shield, softened up Mega-City One with nuclear warheads before invading. Dredd spearheaded the resistance, leading a small team to East-Meg territory, hijacking their nuclear bunkers and blowing East-Meg One off the face of the earth. "The Apocalypse War" was drawn in its entirety by Carlos Ezquerra, making a return to the character he created. A new writer,

, had started contributing '' Future Shocks'' in 1980. He wrote more than fifty one-off strips over the next three years, while also contributing to various

Marvel UK Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Di ...

titles and the independent magazine ''

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

''. In 1982 he gained his first series, '' Skizz'', a less sentimental take on the same basic plot used in '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', set in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and influenced by Alan Bleasdale's ''

Boys from the Blackstuff ''Boys from the Blackstuff'' is a British drama television series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2. The serial was written by Liverpudlian playwright Alan Bleasdale, as a sequel to a televisio ...

''. The series was drawn by

Jim Baikie James George Baikie (28 February 1940 – 29 December 2017) was a Scottish comics artist best known for his work with Alan Moore on '' Skizz''. He was also a musician. Biography Baikie served as a Corporal with the Royal Air Force in 1956–1963 ...

. Moore wrote another series, '' D.R. and Quinch'', spun off from a one-off ''Time Twister''. Drawn by Alan Davis, the strip featured a pair of alien juvenile delinquents with a penchant for mindless thermonuclear destruction. He went on to create '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'' with artist Ian Gibson. Halo was an everywoman in the far future, born into mass unemployment on a floating housing estate, who escaped the earth and became involved in a terrible galactic war. Three books were published, and more were planned, but Moore's demands for creator's rights and his increasing commitments to American publishers meant they never materialised. A new character, '' Sláine'', debuted in 1983, but had been in development since 1981. Created by

and his then wife

Angela Kincaid Angela Kincaid, formerly known by her married name of Angela Mills, is a children's book illustrator best known for '' The Butterfly Children'' series of picture books. In 1983, with her then husband, Pat Mills, she created the Celtic comics chara ...

, ''Sláine'' was a barbarian

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

strip based on Celtic mythology. Kincaid was a children's book illustrator who had never worked in comics before, and her opening episode was drawn and redrawn several times before the editors were satisfied. Other stories were written for artists Massimo Belardinelli and Mike McMahon, but these could not see print until Kincaid's episode was ready. In 1985, after appearing as a supporting character in ''Judge Dredd'', ''

'' finally appeared in her own series, written by Wagner and Grant and initially drawn by Brett Ewins. New artist

Glenn Fabry Glenn Fabry (; born 24 March 1961) is a British comics artist known for his detailed, realistic work in both ink and painted colour. Career Glenn Fabry's career began in 1985, drawing '' Slaine'' for '' 2000 AD'', with writer Pat Mills. He also ...

debuted on ''Sláine'', but, due to his slowness, he was rotated with David Pugh. In the ''Judge Dredd'' story " Letter from a Democrat", Wagner and Grant introduced a pro-democracy movement in Mega-City One, which is after all a

police state A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the ...

. This would provide plotlines for years to come. In 1986 the comic reached its 500th issue. A new ''Sláine'' story, ''Sláine the King'', began, entirely drawn by Fabry.

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...

, a writer who had been contributing ''Future Shocks'', began two series, the bleak future war story ''

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

'' and a strange, psychedelic series called ''The Dead''. In 1986, ''2000 AD'' was selling 150,000 copies a week. In 1987 IPC's comics division was hived off and sold to publishing magnate

as Fleetway. ''2000 AD'' was revamped, with a larger page size and full process colour on the covers and centre pages.

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

became editor. Kevin O'Neill returned for a short ''Nemesis'' series called "Torquemada the God". Not long after came the debut of ''

Zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

'', ''2000 ADs first serious superhero strip, by new writer

and artist

Steve Yeowell Steve Yeowell () is a British comics artist, well known for his work on the long-running science fiction and fantasy weekly comic '' 2000 AD''. Biography Having trained in 3D design (specialising in silversmithing and jewellery), Yeowell bega ...

. The title character was a shallow pop singer with superhuman powers, caught up in the intrigues of a 1960s generation of superhumans and the machinations of some

Lovecraftian Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named a ...

elder gods. Wagner and Grant began a new ''Dredd'' Epic, " Oz", featuring Chopper, a popular supporting character. Chopper was a skysurfer who had been imprisoned for competing in an illegal surfing competition a few years previously. A legal "Supersurf" race was being held in Oz, the future Australia, and Chopper escaped to compete. Dredd also went to Oz, partly to deal with Chopper, but mostly to investigate the Judda, a clone army created by Mega-City One's former chief genetic engineer. The Judda were defeated, and Chopper narrowly lost the race to Jug McKenzie. Dredd was waiting at the finish line, but McKenzie distracted him and allowed Chopper to escape into the outback. This ending was apparently the cause of some dispute between Wagner and Grant, and was a contributing factor (it was '' The Last American'', a mini series for

Epic Comics Epic Comics (also known as the Epic Comics Group)Shooter, Jim. "Bullpen Bulletins: The Truth About the Epic Comics Group!" Marvel comics cover-dated November 1982. was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's ...

which would mark the end) in ending their regular writing partnership. Wagner kept ''Dredd'', while Grant continued ''Strontium Dog'' and ''Judge Anderson''. However the pair would still come together for occasional collaborations. The "Oz" storyline had some lasting implications. Kraken, a Judda cloned from the same genetic material as Dredd, was captured by Justice Department, who had plans for him. Chopper also spun off into his own series, written by Wagner and drawn by

Colin MacNeil Colin MacNeil is a British comics artist, best known for his work on '' 2000 AD'' and in particular on ''Judge Dredd'' and other stories within his world like '' Shimura'' and ''Devlin Waugh''. MacNeil has illustrated cards for the '' Magic: ...

. The ''ABC Warriors'' finally had their own series again in 1987 as a spin-off from ''Nemesis''. This was written, as ever, by Pat Mills, and drawn by two artists in rotation, newcomer

Simon Bisley Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist best known for his 1990s work on '' ABC Warriors'', '' Lobo'' and '' Sláine''. Early life Simon Bisley began drawing when he was six years old. He is self-taught, with only a short one-year stay a ...

and science fiction artist S.M.S. In 1988 Grant and artist Simon Harrison began a new ''Strontium Dog'' story, "The Final Solution". It took nearly two years to complete, and ended with the death of Johnny Alpha, who sacrificed his life to save mutants from extermination. Original artist Carlos Ezquerra did not agree with the decision to kill the character off, and refused to draw it. The number of colour pages was increased, allowing for one complete strip per issue to be painted. Initially the colour pages were reserved for ''Judge Dredd'', but were later given over to a new ''Sláine'' story, "The Horned God", fully painted by

. The series was collected as a series of three graphic novels, then as a single volume, and has remained in print ever since. In 1989 the colour pages were increased again, allowing for three colour stories and two black and white in every issue. One of the colour series was ''Rogue Trooper: the War Machine'', written by Dave Gibbons and painted by Will Simpson. The original ''Rogue Trooper'' series had run out of steam after the Traitor General had been dealt with, though continued with Rogue's adventures on Horst and the 'Hit' series, so Gibbons revamped the concept, creating a different genetic infantryman,

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...

, in a different war, albeit in the same universe. One of the black and white stories, "

The Dead Man ''The Dead Man'' was a science fiction strip in the British comic '' 2000 AD'' by writer John Wagner and artist John Ridgway, published in black and white in 1989–90. Although it was not billed as a ''Judge Dredd'' story, it featured Dredd as ...

", was a low-key beginning for a major event. In the Cursed Earth, villagers come across a man, burnt from head to toe, with no memory of who he is or what happened to him. As he tries to piece his memories back together, he is being hunted by the evil beings who left him in that state. A creepy, atmospheric horror-western, it was drawn by John Ridgway and written by "Keef Ripley", a pseudonym for John Wagner. By the end of the series the Dead Man had discovered his identity: he was Judge Dredd.

1990s

As "The Dead Man" ended, a new ''Judge Dredd'' story, " Tale of the Dead Man", explained how Dredd had ended up in that position. Dredd was getting older and the democratic movement was causing him to doubt his role, so Justice Department had groomed Kraken, the former Judda cloned from his bloodline, to replace him. Kraken was now ready for his final assessment, and Dredd himself was chosen to assess him. Although Kraken performed faultlessly, Dredd thought he perceived a hint of his former allegiance to the Judda in him, and failed him. He then resigned as a judge and took the ' Long Walk' into the Cursed Earth. There he met the Sisters of Death, and only barely survived the encounter. This could mean only one thing: Judge Death was back. This set up the latest six-month epic, " Necropolis". After Dredd had left, Justice Department had put Kraken through one final test, and given him Dredd's badge. But the Sisters of Death, spirit beings from Judge Death's dimension, were able to use Kraken's inner conflict to take control of him and use him to bring Judge Death and the other Dark Judges back from the limbo dimension Dredd had exiled them to. The Sisters possessed all the city's judges and began to enforce Death's twisted law. Out in the Cursed Earth, Dredd had recovered his memory and returned to defeat the Dark Judges. He then tried to lance the democratic boil by holding a referendum on whether the Judges should continue to govern the city. The judges won, by a small margin on a desultory turnout, and Dredd was satisfied. ''2000 AD'' gained an influx of talent from other comics.

and John Smith had come to prominence writing for ''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'', a ''2000 AD'' spin-off for older readers, while artists

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is an English comic book creator, illustrator, music video director, and songwriter. He is the co-creator of the comic book '' Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin and co-creator of the virtual band Gorilla ...

and

Philip Bond Philip J. Bond (born 11 July 1966, in Lancashire) is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on ''Deadline'' magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics impr ...

were the stars of ''

Deadline Deadline(s) or The Deadline(s) may refer to: * Time limit, a narrow field of time by which an objective must be accomplished Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Deadline (DC Comics), a fictional villain * ''Deadline'' (magazine), a British ...

'', an independent comics and popular culture magazine founded by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins. Smith created ''

Indigo Prime ''Indigo Prime'' is the umbrella name for a series of stories written by John Smith for British comics magazine '' 2000 AD''. It is about an agency - existing out of time and whose members are dead - which police the multiverse of parallel reali ...

'', a multi-dimensional organisation that polices reality, whose most memorable story was "Killing Time", a

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

story featuring

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

and Philip Bond contributed ''Time Flies'', a time-travel comedy, and Hewlett was paired with writer

for the surreal '' Hewligan's Haircut''. Writer John Tomlinson and artist

Simon Jacob Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

created ''

Armoured Gideon Armoured Gideon is a comics character (and their eponymous story) who first appeared in British science fiction anthology '' 2000 AD''. The stories were written by John Tomlinson, with art by Simon Jacob. Fictional character biography Armoured ...

'', an action-comedy series about a giant killer robot charged with keeping demons from invading earth. The ''

Judge Dredd Megazine ''Judge Dredd: The Megazine'' is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to '' 2000 AD''. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One. Content Li ...

'', a monthly title set in the world of Dredd, was launched in October 1990. With John Wagner focusing his attentions there, Garth Ennis became the regular writer of Dredd in the weekly. American writer

Michael Fleisher Michael Lawrence Fleisher (November 1, 1942 — February 2, 2018) was an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters Spectre and Jonah Hex. Biography Early life and career Fleisher was raise ...

, who had written '' The Spectre'' and ''

Jonah Hex Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the r ...

'' in the 1970s, was recruited to write the continuing adventures of the new ''Rogue Trooper'', along with several other strips, none of which went down very well. Another new writer who failed to set ''2000 AD'' on fire was Mark Millar, whose revival of ''Robo-Hunter'' was particularly unpopular. Millar has since gone on to become a successful writer of American superhero comics such as '' The Authority'' and ''

The Ultimates The Ultimates is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from ''The Ultimates'' #1 (March 2002), as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel i ...

''. ''2000 AD'' went all-colour about this time (prog 723, dated 23 March 1991), in response to a short-lived new colour weekly, ''

Toxic! ''Toxic!'' was a British comic that was published weekly from March 28 to October 24, 1991, by Apocalypse Ltd, with a total of 31 issues. History ''Toxic!'' was the idea of Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, John Wagner and Alan Grant. T ...

'', launched by Pat Mills and many of the core ''2000 AD'' team of creators. ''Toxic!'' only lasted 31 issues but many of the creators who had worked on the comic eventually found their way to work for ''2000 AD''. '' Button Man'', a contemporary thriller by John Wagner and

Arthur Ranson Arthur James Ranson (born 1939) is an English comic book illustrator, known for his work on '' Look-in'', '' Anderson: Psi Division'', ''Button Man'' and ''Mazeworld''. His work on Cassandra Anderson has been called "photo-realistic". Early lif ...

, was originally intended for ''Toxic!'' but ended up in ''2000 AD''. A new '' ABC Warriors'' series, written by Mills and Tony Skinner and painted by

Kev Walker Kevin Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on '' 2000 AD'' and ''Warhammer'' comics and the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering''. He is now working for Marvel Comics. Biography Walker ...

, began in 1991, in which Deadlock took over the warriors with his "Khaos" philosophy. The old IPC strip '' Kelly's Eye'' was revived, by the new creative team of Alan McKenzie, Brett Ewins, and Zac Sandler, in 1993, when the publishers realized they no longer had the rights to the character.

died in late 1991, and Fleetway was merged with London Editions, a Danish-owned company that owned rights to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

characters, to become Fleetway Editions. In 1992, ''2000 AD'' and the ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' ran their first crossover story, "

Judgement Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

", in which

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

overran Mega-City One. Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra, Peter Doherty,

Dean Ormston Dean Ormston is a British born comic book artist. His most notable work has been for the British comic '' 2000 AD'' and for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Biography Ormston was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and earned a degree in ar ...

and

Chris Halls Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970) is a British video artist and music video director, best known for his music videos for electronic musicians such as Autechre, Squarepusher, and most notably Aphex Twin on videos for " Windowlicker" an ...

, the story teamed Judge Dredd with Johnny Alpha through the medium of time travel. John Smith and artist Paul Marshall created ''

Firekind ''Firekind'' was a comics strip published in the British weekly anthology comic '' 2000 AD'' for 13 issues in 1993. It was written by John Smith, with art by Paul Marshall. Publication history ''Firekind'' came about as part of the "Spring Feve ...

'', a slow-paced story about dragons and alien societies, which was accidentally published with its episodes in the wrong order. The ''Strontium Dog'' world was eventually spun out to encompass a wider field, gaining the plural name ''Strontium Dogs'' – characters such as female vampire

Durham Red Durham Red is a British comics character, originally created in 1987 as a female sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running comic book series ''Strontium Dog'' in '' 2000 AD''. She is a bounty hunter with a mutation that gives her ...

, the albino Feral Jackson, and former Johnny Alpha sidekick The Gronk – the latter, normally a timid creature with weak 'heartses', became a gung-ho action character upon learning of Alpha's death. However, in the 12-parter ''The Darkest Star'', it transpires that the one to ''actually'' kill him was the Gronk himself; changed into a form designed by a cadre of Lyran necromancers to bring him endless agony, Alpha asked his friend to end his torment. The "Summer Offensive" was an eight-week experiment in 1993, when new editor Alan McKenzie gave free rein to writers

, Mark Millar and John Smith, to a mixed reception. Morrison wrote a Dredd story, "Inferno", and a drug-influenced comedy adventure, '' Really & Truly''. Smith contributed ''

Slaughterbowl This is a list of minor ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' list of 2000 AD stories, stories. Stories A Absalom ''Absalom'' is a horror comics, horror story spin-off from ''Caballistics, Inc.'' by Gordon Rennie and Tiernen Trevallion. The stories ...

'', in which convicted criminals on dinosaurs are pitted against each other in a deadly sport, with the survivor being paroled for a year and granted wealth – but being forced to enter the Slaughterbowl again the next year. Millar wrote '' Maniac 5'', an action-packed series about a remote controlled war-robot. During this run was a satire of British tabloid attitudes titled '' Big Dave'', written by Morrison and Millar and drawn by

Steve Parkhouse Steve Parkhouse is a writer, artist and letterer who has worked for many British comics, especially '' 2000 AD'' and ''Doctor Who Magazine''. Biography Parkhouse has worked in comics since 1967, when he drew the occasional "Power House Pin-Up" ...

. John Tomlinson became editor in 1994, and a second crossover between ''2000 AD'' and the ''Megazine'', " Wilderlands", began. Written by Wagner and drawn by Ezquerra,

Mick Austin Michael J. Austin is a fine artist who lives and works in the UK. Initially a comic book artist and illustrator, his painterly style led to him leaving this genre and concentrating on fine art in 1996. Biography Mick Austin started his artistic ...

and

Trevor Hairsine Trevor Hairsine is a British comics artist, whose detailed style has been compared to that of Bryan Hitch. In August 2005 Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada named him as one of Marvel Comics's "Young Guns", a group of artists who have the qual ...

, it followed on from "Mechanismo", a series of stories in the ''Megazine'' in which Justice Department, opposed by Dredd, tried to introduce robot judges. With Wagner writing, ''Judge Dredd'' was again the flagship strip. Former ''Megazine'' editor David Bishop became editor of the weekly in 1996 but sales continued to decline. Unsuccessful series were dropped, and a number of new series were tried out, some more successful than others. Writer

Dan Abnett Dan Abnett (born 12 October 1965) is an English comic book writer and novelist. He has been a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, sinc ...

introduced ''

Sinister Dexter ''Sinister Dexter'' is a long-running comic series in British comics anthology '' 2000 AD'', created by Dan Abnett and David Millgate. Set in the near future, it features the exploits of gun sharks (hitmen) Finnigan "Finny" Sinister and Ramone ...

'' in 1996, a strip about two hitmen influenced by the film ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

'', which became a regular feature. In 1997, writer Robbie Morrison and artist Simon Fraser, who had worked with Bishop on the ''Megazine'', created ''

'', a swashbuckling series set in future Russia starring a thief and ladies' man who discovers he's the illegitimate scion of an aristocratic dynasty. There were also gimmicks, like the "sex issue", sold in a clear plastic wrapper, '' The Spacegirls'', a series attempting to cash in on the popularity of the Spice Girls, '' B.L.A.I.R. 1'', a parody of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

based on '' M.A.C.H. 1'', and an adaptation of the

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...

film ''

A Life Less Ordinary ''A Life Less Ordinary'' is a 1997 romantic black comedy film directed by Danny Boyle, written by John Hodge, and starring Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Ian Holm and Dan Hedaya. The plot follows two angels (Hunte ...

''. A new ''Dredd'' epic, " Doomsday", appeared in 1999 and again ran in both ''2000 AD'' and the ''Megazine''. Wagner had been laying the foundations for this story for several years, introducing the main villain, semi-robotic gang lord Nero Narcos, and supporting characters like Judge Edgar of the Public Surveillance Unit, and

Galen DeMarco Judge (or street judge) is a title held by several significant characters in ''Judge Dredd'' and other series which appear in the British comics '' 2000 AD'' and ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. In the fictional future history of the series, the role ...

, a former judge who had quit after falling in love with Dredd and become a private eye. 1999 also saw the return of another character, ''Nemesis the Warlock''. After a break of ten years, writer Pat Mills decided to bring the story to an end with "The Final Conflict". The series was drawn by Henry Flint in a style that recalled Kevin O'Neill's early work on the series, as well as Simon Bisley's ''ABC Warriors'' work. The decade ended with a special 100-page issue called "Prog 2000". Behind a cover by Brian Bolland, ''Nemesis'' wrapped up for good in a final episode drawn by Kevin O'Neill. War broke out in ''Nikolai Dante'', and writer

Gordon Rennie Gordon Rennie is a Scottish comics writer, responsible for ''White Trash: Moronic Inferno'', as well as several comic strips for '' 2000 AD'' and novels for ''Warhammer Fantasy''. In May 2008, he announced he was leaving comics to concentrate f ...

and artist

Mark Harrison Mark Harrison is the name of: * Mark Harrison (American football) (born 1990), American football player * Mark Harrison (comics) (born 1963), British comic book artist * Mark Harrison (footballer) (born 1960), English footballer * T. Mark Harrison ...

introduced future war story ''Glimmer Rats''. Another old favourite, ''

'', was revived by Wagner and Ezquerra, telling new stories of Johnny Alpha set before his death, with the conceit that previous stories had been "folklore" and the new stories were "what really happened", allowing Wagner to revise continuity.

2000s

The publisher has been owned by Rebellion Developments since 2000, with editors

Andy Diggle Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series '' 2000 AD''. He is best known for his work on ''Adam Strange'' and ''Green Arrow'' for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series '' The Losers'' an ...

and (since 2002)

Matt Smith Matthew Robert Smith (born 28 October 1982) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series '' Doctor Who'' (2010–2013), Daemon Targaryen in the HBO series '' House of the Dr ...

at the helm. Rebellion continues to develop stories (and computer games) based on classic characters such as ''

'' and ''

'', and has also introduced a roster of new series including '' Shakara'', '' The Red Seas'' and ''

Caballistics, Inc. ''Caballistics, Inc'' is a horror/fantasy story, set in the present day, that has been running in the weekly British anthology comic '' 2000AD'' since December 2002. The strip was created by writer Gordon Rennie and artist Dom Reardon (the latte ...

''. It has also published a tie-in to the film ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed ( Nick Frost). The ...

'' in a story written by

Simon Pegg Simon John Pegg (né Beckingham; born 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He came to prominence in the UK as the co-creator of the Channel 4 sitcom ''Spaced'' (1999–2001), directed by Edgar Wright. H ...

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...

. The comic continues to uncover new British talents, including

Boo Cook Boo Cook (born 1972) is a British comic artist, whose work mainly features in the comic '' 2000 AD''. Career Cook's art has appeared in the '' ABC Warriors'' and ''Judge Dredd'', as ''Asylum'' (written by Rob Williams) and ''Dead Men Walking'' ...

Dom Reardon Dom Reardon is a British comics artist, whose work appears mainly in British comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000AD''. He is the illustrator of Gordon Rennie-scripted horror tale Caballistics, Inc. Biography Noted for a sketchy, deliberately rough b ...

and

Al Ewing Al Ewing () is a British comics writer who has mainly worked in the small press and for '' 2000 AD'' and Marvel Comics. Career Al Ewing began his career writing stories in the four-page '' Future Shocks'' format for '' 2000 AD'' and moved on ...

. It has also benefited from an improved dollar-pound exchange rate that has meant the comic can now afford to re-employ some of the talent thought lost to America. A number of shorter self-contained stories, partly created by the new wave of talent, have run including '' London Falling'', ''

Stone Island Stone Island is an Italian luxury men's apparel and accessories brand. It was established in 1982 in Ravarino by Massimo Osti. In December 2020, Stone Island was acquired by the Italian fashion house Moncler. History Designer Massimo Osti fo ...

'' and '' Zombo''. Other developments include a revamping of the ''

'' which has included a section acting as a showcase for

British small press comics British small press comics, once known as stripzines, are comic books self-published by amateur cartoonists and comic book creators, usually in short print runs, in the UK. They're comparable to similar movements internationally, such as American ...

. Starting in program 1500 was the Judge Dredd story "The Connection", a 'prelude' to a 23-part Judge Dredd epic "

Origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

" which filled in a lot of the details about Dredd's past. In prog 1526, dated 28 February 2007, ''2000 AD'' celebrated their 30th anniversary. The issue saw the start of two new storylines: ''

'' (by Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser) and '' Savage'' (by

and

Charlie Adlard Charles Adlard is a British comic book artist known for his work on books such as '' The Walking Dead'' and '' Savage''. Career Adlard began his work in the UK on ''White Death'' with Robbie Morrison and '' 2000 AD'' series including ''Judge Dr ...

), along with a one-off episode of ''

'' (by

and Ramon Sola). The run-up to this saw the first arcs of new series '' Stickleback'' and ''

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

''. ''2000 AD'' was also made available online through

Clickwheel Clickwheel was an artist collective that published graphic novels on the video iPod, and it started in 2005. Clickwheel featured "quirky, independent ... character driven comics." The artists in the collective included Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Eric M ...

, another Rebellion Developments-owned firm. Starting in December 2007, the latest issue was made available to download as a PDF. In early 2008 it was announced that an archive of the 2007 issues would be added to the service. The Clickwheel Comics Reader was launched in July 2008 which would allow the digital versions of the comics to be downloaded and read on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

2010s

On 19 March 2012 the Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history, which included ''2000 AD''. In 2015 a documentary about the history of the comic was made, called '' Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD''. On 1 October 2016, signings were held at comic shops in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US to mark the publication of the 2000th prog. In the same week a 40th birthday convention was announced, which was held in Hammersmith,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in February 2017. At the convention itself, it was announced by the Kingsley brothers that Rebellion would be willing to speak to outside software developers on developing ''2000 ADs intellectual property. In the same year, former editor Steve MacManus published his memoirs, ''The Mighty One: My Life Inside The Nerve Centre''. In 2017, founding editor Pat Mills published his memoirs, ''Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! 2000 AD and Judge Dredd: The Secret History''. Later in that year, Hachette Partworks began publishing '' 2000 AD: The Ultimate Collection'', initially an 80-volume fortnightly series of hardback books featuring classic stories from the first 40 years of the comic. Now the Collection has been extended to 140 volumes. This followed the success of '' Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection'', which had started in 2015 and later been extended to 90 volumes. In June 2018 (July in the United States) a special issue was published, the ''2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2018'', which contained stories written and illustrated entirely by women. Starting in May 2019, ''2000 AD'' began publishing periodic "all ages" issues every quarter, marketed as ''2000 AD Regened'', and targeted at younger readers. In these issues, ''Judge Dredd'' is replaced by ''Cadet Dredd'' stories.

Lists of stories

Wikimedia Commons has the following indexes: * Index of every story published in ''2000 AD'' up to September 2022 (#1 to #2300) * Index of all the ''Judge Dredd'' stories to appear in ''2000 AD'' (including specials and annuals) from March 1977 to September 2022

Crossovers

Although there is no overall

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

containing all ''2000 AD'' stories, some stories spin-off or crossover into other stories. These include the numerous stories that occur in the

universe. Many stories by

, which are frequently interlinked, link into the Dredd universe as well, though have been partially

retconned Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

by the writer. Many stories written by

Ian Edginton Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as ''X-Force'', '' Scarlet Traces'', '' H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' and ''Leviathan''. Career Ian Edginton is known for his steampunk/ alternate history wor ...

feature shared themes and references.

Editors

A long-running theme is that the editor of ''2000 AD'' is Tharg the Mighty, a green extraterrestrial from Betelgeuse who terms his readers "Earthlets". Tharg uses other unique alien expressions and even appears in his own comic strips. Readers sometimes play along with this; for example, in prog 201 a pair of readers wrote to Tharg claiming that they preferred to be called "Terrans"; the resulting controversy ended in Tharg allowing readers to vote for the preferred term in prog 229. In prog 240 Tharg announced that the result was a draw, and "Terran" became an accepted term for readers' letters in the Nerve Centre. In similar vein, Tharg used to draw distinction between male and female letter-writers with "Earthlet" and "Earthlette" until a letter was printed in Prog 314 complaining about the use, and Tharg agreed to use "Earthlet" (or "Terran") regardless of gender. From prog 531 the term "Earthlette" was reintroduced. Another running theme is Tharg's use of

s to draw and write the strips, which bear a marked resemblance to the actual writers and artists. A fictional reason for Tharg to use mechanical assistance was given when the robots "went on strike" (reflecting real-life industrial action that occasionally halted IPC's comics production during the 1970s and 1980s). Tharg wrote and drew a whole issue himself, but when he ran it through the quality-control "Thrill-meter", the device melted down on extreme overload. The offending issue had to be taken away, by blindfolded security guards, to a lead-lined vault where there was no danger of anyone seeing it accidentally.

The role of Tharg has been performed by the following editors: #

, #1–16 (1977) #

, #17–85 (1977–1978)Assistant editor Nick Landau largely edited the comic himself in 1978 while Gosnell was occupied with editing new sister title '' Starlord''. #

, #86–519 or #500MacManus, S. (2016) ''The Mighty One: My Life Inside the Nerve Centre'', Oxford: Rebellion, pp. 228, 231 (1978–1987) #

, #520–872 or #501–872 (1987–1994) # Alan McKenzie, #873–914 (1994) # John Tomlinson, #915–977 (1994–1996) # David Bishop, #978–1199 (1996–2000) #

, #1200–1273 (2000–2002) #

, #1274–present (2002–present)

Contributors

Well-known contributors to ''2000 AD'' include: * Nick Abadzis *

* Massimo Belardinelli *

* Brian Bolland *

* Chris Cunningham * Alan Davis * Steve Dillon * D'Israeli *

* Henry Flint * Tom Frame * Neil Gaiman *

* Ian Gibson * Alan Grant *

John Hicklenton John Hicklenton (8 May 1967 – 19 March 2010), aka John Deadstock, was a British comics artist best known for his brutal, visceral work on flagship '' 2000 AD'' characters like ''Judge Dredd'' (in particular ''Heavy Metal Dredd'') and ''Nemesi ...

John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...

David Hine David Hine (born 1956) is an English comic book writer and artist, known for his work on '' Silent War'' and ''The Bulletproof Coffin''. Career Hine has been working in comics since the early 1980s. For '' Crisis'', he drew the series ''Sticky F ...

Frazer Irving Frazer Irving (born 1970) is a British comic book artist known for the series '' Necronauts'', published by the British magazine '' 2000 AD''. After breaking into the American market he has worked on a number of superhero titles, including a s ...

* Jock *

* Brendan McCarthy * Maura McHugh * Mike McMahon * Mark Millar *

* Robbie Morrison * Kevin O'Neill *

* John Ridgway * John Smith * Ron Smith *

Simon Spurrier Simon "Si" Spurrier (born 2 May 1981) is a British comics writer and novelist, who has previously worked as a cook, a bookseller, and an art director for the BBC. Getting his start in comics with the British small press, he went on to write ...

Richard Starkings Richard Starkings (born 27 January 1962) is a British font designer and comic book letterer, editor and writer. He was one of the early pioneers of computer-based comic-book lettering, and is one of the most prolific creators in that industry. ...

Chris Weston Chris Weston (born 1969) is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries. Biography Weston was born in January 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child. His career began when he was ...

Many of these have since moved on to work for American publishers such as

(especially the

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

and

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...

imprints) and

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Film and TV adaptations

* '' Hardware'' (1990) * ''

'' (1995) * ''

Dredd ''Dredd'' is a 2012 science fiction action film directed by Pete Travis and written and produced by Alex Garland. It is based on the '' 2000 AD'' comic strip '' Judge Dredd'' and its eponymous character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezq ...

'' (2012) * ''

'' (TBA) *'' Judge Dredd: Mega-City One'' (TBA) *''Button Man: Get Harry Ex'' (TBA)

Audio adaptations

In 2021, Rebellion Publishing and

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

released five audio drama adaptations of classic ''2000 AD'' stories: *'' The Ballad of Halo Jones'' *''Brink: Volumes 1-3'' *''Judge Dredd: America'' *'' Judge Dredd: The Pit'' *''Sláine: The Horned God''

Video game adaptations

''2000AD'' video games for 8-bit computers include games based on

Quicksilva Quicksilva was a British games software publisher active during the early 1980s. Quicksilva was founded by Nick Lambert in 1979. The name Quicksilva was inspired by a particular guitar solo in a track on the album Happy Trails by Quicksilver Mess ...

for the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

in 1984, ''Nemesis the Warlock'' and ''Sláine'' by

Martech Martech Games was an early video game publisher based in Pevensey Bay between 1982 and 1989. It published a number of successful video games for the emerging home computer games marketplace, including BBC Model B, Sinclair ZX81, Sinclair Spectrum ...

in 1987, ''

'' written by

Design Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

/ published by ''Piranha'' in 1986 and ''

'' by

Virgin Games Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwoo ...

in 1990, all released for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

, Commodore 64 and

platforms. Melbourne House also released a ''

'' game on the Commodore 64 and

in 1987. ''

'' and '' Halo Jones'' games for the

were being developed by ''Piranha'' but never released.

Krisalis Software Krisalis Software Limited was a British video game developer and publisher founded by Tony Kavanagh, Peter Harrap, and Shaun Hollingworth in 1987 under the name Teque Software Development Limited as a subsidiary label (beginning in 1988) unti ...

released an adaptation of ''Rogue Trooper'' for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1991, and the merchandising that accompanied the 1995 ''Judge Dredd'' film included tie-in games for the IBM PC (

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

, PlayStation, Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A ''Judge Dredd'' arcade game was created but never completed nor released. It can be found online, where it is available for free, but requires an arcade / coin-op emulator. It features Mean Machine and other Angel Gang members. A ''Judge Dredd Pinball'' game was released for

in 1998. The same year saw the release of a Judge Dredd videogame for the Sony PlayStation which was developed by Gremlin Interactive and published by Activision. With the purchase of ''2000 AD'' by Rebellion Developments, a computer game company, several more ''2000 AD''-linked games have been released or are under development. '' Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death'' was released in 2003 and ''

'' followed in 2006 for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

, PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. An updated version for the Wii entitled ''Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre'' was released in December 2009. A licensed Judge Dredd choose your own adventure style game "Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106" was released in 2012 by Australian and UK-based Tin Man Games for iOS, subsequently for Google Play and Steam.

Awards

Although the various stories and creators have also won awards, (see the various entries for details) the comic itself has its own trophies: * 1979: Won the

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's ''Eagle'' comic, they were launched in 1977 for comics released in ...

: Favourite Comic (UK) * 1986: Won the

: Favourite Comic – British * 1987: Won the

: Favourite Comic – British * 1988: Won the

: Favourite Comic – British * 1990: ** Won the

: Favourite Comic – British ** Won the Eagle Awards: Roll of Honour * 1992: Nominated for

UK Comic Art Award The UK Comic Art Award was a British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by an open vote among British comic book professionals (creators, editors, and retailers); the awards were given out on an annual basis from 1990 to 1 ...

: Best Ongoing Publication * 1993: Nominated for UK Comic Art Award: Best Ongoing Publication * 1997: ** Won the

National Comics Awards The National Comics Awards was a series of awards for comic book titles and creators given out on an annual basis from 1997 to 2003 (with the exception of the year 2000) for comics published in the United Kingdom the previous year. The votes wer ...

: Best Comic (British) ** Nominated for the

: Best British Comic Ever ** Nominated for UK Comic Art Award: Best Ongoing Publication * 1998: Won the

: Best Comic (British) * 1999: ** Won the

: Best Comic (British) ** Won the

: Favourite British Comic ** Prog 2000 nominated for the

: Favourite Cover Published During 1999 * 2000: ** Won the

: Favourite British Comic ** 2000adonline.com nominated for the

: Favourite Comics Related Website ** Tharg the Mighty ( David Bishop) nominated for the

: Favourite Comics Editor * 2001: ** Won the

: Best Comic in the World Ever ** Won the

: Best Comic Ever ** Won the

: Favourite British Comic ** Tharg the Mighty (

) won the

: Favourite Comics Editor * 2002: ** Nominated for the

: Best Comic Ever ** 2000adonline.com nominated for the

: Best Specialist Magazine or Website ** Nominated for the

: Best Comic Now * 2004: won the Diamond Comics Awards: Best comic * 2006: won the Eagle Award for Best British Colour Comic *2007: ** Won the Eagle Award for Favourite Colour Comicbook – British ** 2000adonline.com nominated for the Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Related Website ** Tharg the Mighty (

) won the

: Favourite Comics Editor *2008: ** Nominated for the Eagle Award for Favourite Colour Comicbook – British ** 2000adonline.com nominated for the Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Related Website ** Tharg the Mighty (

) won the

: Favourite Comics Editor *2010: Won the Eagle Award for Favourite Colour Comicbook – British *2011: ** Won the Eagle Award for Favourite British Comicbook – Colour ** Tharg the Mighty (

) won the

: Favourite Comics Editor *2012: Tharg the Mighty (

) nominated for the

: Favourite Comics Editor *2013: Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Anthology *2014: Won the True Believers Comics Award for Favourite British Comic: Colour

Related publications

*The current sister publication to ''2000 AD'' is the monthly ''

'', which originally focused exclusively on expanding the world of Judge Dredd, but in recent years has expanded its focus to include other stories set in other universes as well. *'' Starlord'' was a weekly title (originally intended to be monthly) launched in 1978 following much the same format as ''2000 AD'' and included ''

'' and ''

'' which introduced characters that would later reappear in '' ABC Warriors''. The two titles were merged later the same year and published as ''2000AD and Starlord''. A third ''Starlord'' series, ''TimeQuake'', also had a 4-week run in ''2000AD'' over a year later. *''

'' was a weekly title launched in 1979. There was less emphasis on Science Fiction series. It was merged with ''2000 AD'' after 22 issues, transferring the strips ''

'', ''The Mind of Wolfie Smith'' and ''Captain Klep''. For a while the publication was titled ''2000 AD and Tornado''. *'' Diceman'' (1986) was an early attempt at creating a

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

comic featuring regular ''2000 AD'' characters such as Rogue Trooper and Slaine, as well as original characters, like Diceman. The magazine was not a success and only lasted five issues. *''

'' (1988–1991) was a sister publication that did not follow the format of ''2000 AD'', but did share many editorial staff and creative teams. Early issues featured two SF-themed stories aimed at a slightly older age group than ''2000 AD'' with strong political themes. It became a magnet for British creators who wanted to create comics for the adult market. The ''2000 AD'' series ''Finn'', begun the year after ''Crisis'' was cancelled, continued the adventures of the character from ''Third World War'', though with more of a fantasy emphasis. *'' Revolver'' (1990–1991) joined ''Crisis'' though it only lasted for seven issues. Dan Dare was in the original line-up, and this transferred to ''Crisis'' when ''Revolver'' finished. *A ''Best of 2000 AD'' title was published in the mid-1980s which featured reprint material from early issues of ''2000 AD''. In the early 1990s, ''The Complete Judge Dredd'' began publication in a similar format. Both titles were relaunched as ''Classic 2000AD'' and ''Classic Judge Dredd'' in the mid-1990s but were cancelled soon after. * The bimonthly ''2000 AD Extreme Edition'' presented reprints of classic and hard-to-find 2000AD stories, but poor sales led to its cancellation in mid-2008. Since the cancellation, a smaller reprint supplement has been packaged with the ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' instead. *A yearly hardcover annual was published from 1977 to 1990 (though the cover dates on the annuals were always the following year). From 1991 this was replaced by a softcover ''2000AD Yearbook''; the last of these was published in 1994. There were also annuals/yearbooks dedicated to ''2000 AD'' characters such as ''Dan Dare'' (1978–1979, cover dated 1979–1980), ''Judge Dredd'' (1980–1994) and ''Rogue Trooper'' (1990). * An annual summer special was published during the summer months between 1977 and 1996, entitled the ''2000AD Sci-Fi Special'' from 1978. This was revived in 2014. * Other specials include the ''2000AD Winter Special'' (1988–1995, 2005 and 2014), ''Judge Dredd Mega Special'' (1988–1996) and ''Rogue Trooper Action Special'' (1996). (1996's ''Judge Dredd Action Special'' was a tie-in to the defunct ''Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future'' rather than ''2000AD'' proper). * In April 1992, a ''2000AD Action Special'' featured six strips reviving classic British comics characters such as the

Steel Claw The Steel Claw was one of the most popular comic book heroes of British weekly adventure comics of the 1960s and 1970s. The character was revived in 2005 for ''Albion'', a six issue mini-series published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. P ...

. Of these only '' Kelly's Eye'' also appeared in ''2000 AD'' proper. * In the mid-1990s a series of ''2000 AD Poster Progs'' were published, each featuring a new strip. There were five ''Judge Dredd'' poster magazines, plus one each for four other ''2000 AD'' series: ''Nemesis the Warlock'', ''Strontium Dogs'', ''Sláine'' and ''Rogue Trooper''. * A series of American comic format reprints started in 1983 by

Eagle Comics Eagle Comics was a short lived comic book publishing company that existed to reprint comic stories from the UK's '' 2000 A.D.'' magazine for distribution in North America. They existed from 1983 to 1986 and were based in London, England with pro ...

with the first issue of an ongoing monthly ''Judge Dredd'' title. Eagle Comics also reprinted other ''2000 AD'' material in other titles. The license to reprint ''2000 AD'' material in the US was later taken over by

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

. These reprints ended in the early 1990s. * ''

'' was a short-lived rival publication, established by ''2000 AD'' talent, that was published during 1991.

Fanzines

''2000 AD'' has an extremely lively and thriving

fanbase A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant ...

, which has produced a number of independent fanzines. In 1998 W.R. Logan, frustrated at the lack of activity from the comic's publishers both in promoting the title and also in making best use of new talents, decided to create an independent title using ''2000 AD'' copyrighted characters and situations. This was titled ''

Class of '79 Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

'', named after the year of Dredd's graduation from the Academy of Law – 2079. The first couple of issues contained work from now-professional comics creators

Rufus Dayglo Rufus Dayglo is a British comics artist working in comics, illustration, and storyboards. He is working for '' 2000 AD'' and Titan Books in the United Kingdom, and DC Vertigo, IDW Publishing and Image Comics in the United States. His ''Tank Girl' ...

, Henry Flint and

PJ Holden Paul Jason Holden (born 28 December 1969) is a Northern Irish comic artist based in Belfast. He has worked for '' 2000 AD'', ''Warhammer Monthly'', and '' Judge Dredd Megazine''. Among other stories for these publications, he has provided the a ...

and won the best Self Published/Independent Comic Award at the 1999 National Comics Awards. In 2001, Andrew J. Lewis created '' Zarjaz'' comic, with strips featuring characters from a variety of ''2000 AD'' stories. There were also interviews with Alan Grant,

and

, as well as an extensive article on breaking into comics as a writer. Another long-running fanzine, dedicated to the world of Johnny Alpha, is '' Dogbreath'', originally run by the pseudonymous Dr Bob it is now being produced by FutureQuake Publishing. In 2003, Arthur Wyatt created ''

FutureQuake FutureQuake was a British small press comic book founded by Arthur Wyatt, and later edited by Richmond Clements, David Evans and Owen Watts. Dedicated to showcasing work by new writers and artists, they published mostly self-contained comic stor ...

'', a fanzine devoted to the Future Shocks format. Although ''Class of '79'' and ''FutureQuake'' now appear to be on hiatus, the other titles are in continuous publication, ''Zarjaz'' having started up again with a new issue 1. In addition, a number of small press comics have emerged from the ''2000 AD'' fanbase, including ''

Solar Wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sol ...

'', ''Omnivistascope'' and ''

The End Is Nigh ''The End Is Nigh'' was an annual British fanzine edited by Michael Molcher. It was launched at the Bristol Comic Expo in 2005 and, since becoming a semi-annual publication, each subsequent issue is also launched there. It deals with the Risks t ...

''.

Notes

References

* David Bishop (2002–2003), ''

Thrill Power Overload ''Thrill Power Overload'', or ''TPO'' is a book about the history of the British comic '' 2000 AD'' written by David Bishop, one of its editors. History The book started life as series of articles written by David Bishop and serialised in the ...

!'' (''Judge Dredd Megazine'' vol 4 issues 9–18, issues 201–209, collected and expanded into a book: Rebellion Developments, 260 pages, February 2007, ) * * * * * * *
Futureshock! The Story of 2000AD
presented by Phill Jupitus,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, 22 September 2007

External links

* *
BARNEY -- Keeper of the 2000 AD database (fansite)Prog 0
the test issue created in 1976,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

.co.uk
When ''2000AD'' Was The Future
retrospective by

for ''

Bleeding Cool Bleeding Cool is an Internet news site, focusing on comics, television, film, board games, and video games. Owned by Avatar Press, it was launched by Rich Johnston on March 27, 2009. Avatar Press also publishes an associated magazine, ''Bleeding ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:2000 Ad (Comics) 1977 comics debuts Fiction set around Betelgeuse Judge Dredd Comics anthologies Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1977 Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Science fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom

History

1970s

Pre-publication

The opening line-up

Early years

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Lists of stories

Crossovers

Editors

Contributors

Film and TV adaptations

Audio adaptations

Video game adaptations

Awards

Related publications

Fanzines

See also

Notes

References

External links