2000AD - The Early Years

[MacNimon]

We go back to 1979 today, Prog 96 to be exact - 20th January 1979 - with an Ian Kennedy 'Angel' cover. I've got to say, I don't remember this strip at all but the cover looks intriguing...

Inside this issue:
Judge Dredd - The Day the Law Died (part 8) (John Wagner - Mike McMahon)
Angel (part 2 - Man With A Mission) (Chris Stevens - Carlos Pino)
Tharg's Future Shocks - The End of the Universe? (Gary Rice - Brett Ewins)
Flesh File - collectable booklet (part 1) (art: Massimo Belardinelli)
Flesh - book two (part 11) (Geoffrey Miller - Massimo Belardinelli)
Ro-Busters - Ro-Jaw's Memoirs (part 4) (Pat Mills - Mike Dorey)
2000AD Futuregraph - Holiday to Mars! (part 1) - Car to the Spaceport (design and art: Bill Le-Fevre)

[MacNimon]

We jump forward to Prog 402 today, 26 January 1985 issue, which features a Brendan McCarthy Judge Dredd cover featuring a scene from City Of The Damned.

Inside this issue:
Rogue Trooper - Re-Gene (part 2) (Gerry Finley-Day - Cam Kennedy)
Tharg's Future Shocks - Bad Maxwell! (Peter Milligan - Brendan McCarthy)
Nemesis the Warlock - book four: The Gothic Empire (part 16) (Pat Mills - Bryan Talbot)
Judge Dredd - City of the Damned (part 9) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Ron Smith)
The Stainless Steel Rat - For President (part 10) (Kelvin Gosnell - Carlos Ezquerra)
The Helltrekkers (part 16) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Horacio Lalia)
Backcover cut-out poster: 2000AD Calendar 1985 (part 2 of 2) featuring D.R. and Quinch (art: Alan Davis)

[Stuart Wallis]

Andrew, this is the zombie Dredd on the right, which we referred to earlier in the thread.

[MacNimon]

It's the Ace Trucking Company on today's cover, by Massimo Bellardinelli; Prog 247, from 16 January 1982.

Inside this issue:
Ace Trucking Co. - Lugjack (part 4) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Massimo Belardinelli)
The Mean Arena - The Edinburgh Executioners (part 8 - final part) (Tom Tully - Mike White)
Tharg's Future Shocks - Salad Days! (Alan Moore - John Higgins)
Judge Dredd - The Apocalypse War (part 3) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
Nemesis the Warlock - book two (part 2) (Pat Mills - Jesus Redondo)
Rogue Trooper - Fear of the Machine (part 2) (Gerry Finley-Day - Colin Wilson)
Towards 2000AD - Laser Lift-Off! poster (part 1 of 2) (design and art: Bill LeFevre)

[Andrew Curnow]

Andrew, this is the zombie Dredd on the right, which we referred to earlier in the thread

And a lovely looking chap he is too!! Brendan McCarthy I must admit is another artist's style that I never really took to. Maybe I'm just very fussy!

Bellardineli on the other hand... really like that cover of GBH & Ace.

[Stuart Wallis]

Fussy old fusspot! Mind you I was unhappy when Bellardinelli came off Ace Trucking.

[MacNimon]

We have a Dave Gibbons cover once again in todays issue: Prog 196, 24th January 1981.

Inside this issue:
Strontium Dog - The Bad Boys Bust (part 3) (Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
Dash Decent (part 18) (Dave Angus and Kevin O'Neill - Kevin O'Neill)
Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tale - Spirit of Vengeance (Gary Rice - Dave Gibbons)
Judge Dredd - The Fink (part 4 - final part) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Mike McMahon)
Meltdown Man (part 19) (Alan Hebden - Massimo Belardinelli)
Return to Armageddon (part 12) (Malcolm Shaw - Johnny Johnstone)
2000AD Star Pin-Up - The Angel Gang (art: Dave Gibbons)

[MacNimon]

We have a cover by Bryan Talbot today, from Prog 504, 10th january 1987

Inside this issue:
Slaine - The King (part 5) (Pat Mills - Glenn Fabry)
Bad Company (part 5) (Peter Milligan - Brett Ewins and Jim McCarthy)
Judge Dredd - On the Superslab (John Wagner and Alan Grant - John Higgins)
Nemesis the Warlock - book six: Torquemurder (part 11 - final part) (Pat Mills - Bryan Talbot)
one-off - The Ark (Jamie Delano - David Wyatt)
poster - A Mega-City Primer (part 4) (letters G-H-I) (art: Robin Smith)

[MacNimon]

It's the turn of Cam Kennedy today, with his Rogue Trooper cover from Prog 351, 14th January 1984.

Inside this issue:
Strontium Dog - The Killing (part 2) (Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
Judge Dredd - Mutie the Pig (part 1) (reprint from 2000AD prog 34) (John Wagner - Mike McMahon)
Tharg's Future Shocks - The Sum of the Parts... (Alan Hebden - Steve Hatton)
Rogue Trooper - Colonel Kovert (part 2) (Gerry Finley-Day - Cam Kennedy)
Slaine - The Shoggy Beast (part 4 - final part) (Pat Mills - Mike McMahon)
D.R. and Quinch - Go Straight (part 2 - final part) (Alan Moore - Alan Davis)
2000AD Calendar 1985 (part 2 of 2) featuring Tharg the Mighty (art: Eric Bradbury)

[Andrew Curnow]

Neat cover... although I suspect at the time the reference to the famous US WW2 photo was lost on me.

I didn't realise they'd reprinted some old Judge Dredd's - although to be fair, it would have been new to me at the time.

[MacNimon]

It's another Halo Jones cover by Ian Gibson today, Prog 453 from 18 January 1986.

Inside this issue:
Slaine - Tomb of Terror (part 7) (Pat Mills - David Pugh)
Tomb of Terror - YOU are Slaine game (part 7) (Pat Mills - Garry Leach)
The Ballad of Halo Jones - book three (part 2) (Alan Moore - Ian Gibson)
Judge Dredd - The Warlord (part 3) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Cam Kennedy)
Ace Trucking Co. - The Doppelgarp (part 3) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Massimo Belardinelli)
Strontium Dog - Max Bubba (part 9) (Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
2000AD Star Pin-Up - Nest and Ukko (art: Glenn Fabry)

[Stuart Wallis]

At the time it was fairly obvious how much of 2000AD was drawn by the same admittedly fairly large team of artists. It's looking at this thread though, that's shown how much was written in the first decade or so was written by just Pat Mills, John Wagner, Alan Grant and Alan Moore.

[MacNimon]

And it wasn't just 2000AD that these guys all worked on, either. aii of them worked on other IPC titles from the era as well such as Action, Battle Picture Weekly, Misty, Scream and Eagle. Not to mention Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly as well. A bunch of very talented, and prolific, guys!*

Speaking of DWW, todays cover is the first one featured in this thread by an artist I first came across in the very first issue of DWW, the late Steve Dillon. Prog 507 from 31 January 1987.

Inside this issue:
Bad Company (part 8) (Peter Milligan - Brett Ewins and Jim McCarthy)
Tharg's Future Shocks - Maniac for Hire (Grant Morrison - Johnny Jonhstone)
Judge Dredd - The Taxidermist (part 1) (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Cam Kennedy)
Slaine - The King (part 8) (Pat Mills - Glenn Fabry)
Strontium Dog - Bitch (part 3) (Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
poster - A Mega-City Primer (part 7) (letters M-N-O) (art: Robin Smith)

* And as an aside, while on the subject of the creators (and simply because I have no better place to put this) I came across an interesting old post on Pat Mills blog regarding his work in reviving and revamping the Dan Dare character not once, but twice...for 2000AD then, several years later, for the revamped Eagle. It makes for interesting reading

https://patmills.wordpress.com/2012/...n-his-revival/

[Rob McCow]

Hmm, the Pat Mills blog is very interesting!

That cover is very Dick Tracy, isn't it? Although I have to admit I know little about Dick Tracy in general apart from the style. :/ Terrible pun too. Love it.

[Stuart Wallis]

In which case I shan't bother you with the recent case of Moby Nick, the great white cod, swallowing a holiday liner belonging to Cap'n Zoozie of Zoozie's Cruises...

Imagine what Pat Mills might have got if he weren't on a Ray Cusick-type fixed fee...!

[Andrew Curnow]

Yes Mac, thanks for the link to that Pat Mills blog. Dan Dare didn't last long in 2000AD after I started getting it (although I don't feel I can really take the blame) but I did collect 'The New' Eagle for several years after it started, which always seemed more in the traditional style - albeit with Dan now being the grandson (or whatever) of the original, and with the original later retcon'd as a 1940s pilot who travelled into the future. Interesting to see what Pat Mills said about that, at least it being prompted by an attempt to tie it into a (proposed) movie made a sort of sense - and actually, the story itself was quite intriguing. I'm probably wrong, but I have a feeling that the issue 1 Dan Dare strip started with the Mekon puzzling over a 20th Century Dan Dare tombstone, and that it was then ages later (over a year maybe?) that we got the explanation - along with a few frames lifted from various original strips, which was clearly a labour of love and really quite thrilling, even though I was of course far too young to have seen them originally!!

A long time later I have a feeling they did the inevitable 'two Dans' story, with the original (and Digby!) timeslipping into the future and meeting the current Dan. And then again, later on I have a feeling they killed him off only for him to be mysteriously brought back to life.

More lives than a cat, that chap Dare!!

[Andrew Curnow]

As for 2000AD... I always liked Steve Dillon's art, his 'minimal' style, lots of clearly-defined lines, has a very appealing neatness to it I think, which also gives it a lot of impact. I think he was the main (only?) artist on the Zenith strip which I really enjoyed.**

Bizarrely, Steve Dillon and Belardinelli were probably my two favourite artists overall in 2000AD - I say bizarrely because minimal and neat are two words you definitely wouldn't apply to Belardinelli's work, which was always brimming with detail.


**I won't be at all surprised if I'm now told that it wasn't Steve Dillon who worked on Zenith at all!! The memory cheats, etc

[MacNimon]

**I won't be at all surprised if I'm now told that it wasn't Steve Dillon who worked on Zenith at all!! The memory cheats, etc

(ahem...) (cough, cough) It was Steve Yeoell, actually, on the art chores while it was one of writer Grant Morrison's early series...Dillon did do some Zenith covers for 2000AD though. Not that today's is one of them, but we'll have another cover from Dillon before January is out...it's Bellardinelli's turn today, though, with this Black Hawk cover from Prog 149, Jan 26 1980. An issue which also features the first appearance of Judge Death...

Inside this issue:
Judge Dredd - Judge Death (part 1) (John Wagner - Brian Bolland)
The VCs (part 9) (Steve MacManus - Garry Leach)
Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales - It's a Knockout! (part 2 - final part) (Oleh - Jose Casanovas)
The Stainless Steel Rat - Stainless Steel Rat (part 10) (Kelvin Gosnell - Carlos Ezquerra)
TimeQuake (part 2) (Chris Lowder - Jesus Redondo)
Captain Klep - Lord Klep (part 8 - final part) (Dave Angus - Robin Smith)
Black Hawk (part 22) (Alan Grant - Massimo Belardinelli)
2000AD Postergraph - Warriors of the Future - 05 - Silent Warden: Warrior of the Deep (design and art: Bill Le-Fevre)

[Rob McCow]

Sorry for leaping in but Si got me this for my birthday:



Which I am currently enjoying! Originally published from May to October 1978, this features Judge Dredd travelling from Mega City One on the east coast of America to deliver some vital drugs to Mega City Two in the west. Notorious for featuring the MacDonalds Marauderers, the Jolly Green Giant and other well-known US brands that resulted in certain sections of the epic being banned in the UK (2000AD were sued but settled out of court and agreed not to reprint them).

Strangely, we have a European Directive to thank for their reprinting, as they allowed using copyright-protected characters for parody. I think these comics fall well and truly under that description!

[Andrew Curnow]

It was Steve Yeoell, actually, on the art chores while it was one of writer Grant Morrison's early series...Dillon did do some Zenith covers for 2000AD though

I said I wouldn't be surprised (I sometimes feel like Alan Davies on QI, forever only a sentence away from a klaxon). It may have been the covers I was remembering perhaps; at least I got the 'Steve' part right.

And talking of 'Steve' (with a link like that, I fear I've missed my calling as a DJ) I didn't realise they were now able to print the Cursed Earth strip, due to the legal issue. Excellent.

I remember that cover to 149, very striking - and especially remember the appearance of Judge Death in his first (three-part?) story. I have a feeling that the sequel, with the four judges, was the following Summer** because I think by the time we got back from Summer holidays the local paper shop had got two or three issues saved up for me. Like an omnibus edition!


**Or is this where the klaxon appears again?

[Stuart Wallis]

**Or is this where the klaxon appears again?

That or you need to see the doctor about that tinnitus!

[MacNimon]

Sorry for leaping in but Si got me this for my birthday:



Which I am currently enjoying! Originally published from May to October 1978, this features Judge Dredd travelling from Mega City One on the east coast of America to deliver some vital drugs to Mega City Two in the west. Notorious for featuring the MacDonalds Marauderers, the Jolly Green Giant and other well-known US brands that resulted in certain sections of the epic being banned in the UK (2000AD were sued but settled out of court and agreed not to reprint them).

Strangely, we have a European Directive to thank for their reprinting, as they allowed using copyright-protected characters for parody. I think these comics fall well and truly under that description!

So this has been released then, has it? I hope you enjoy it then, Steve. I remember reading those issues nearly 40 years ago, I can't remember too much detail though. These strips had been banned from being reprinted for such a long time that many of us thought they'd never see the light of day again! I'll have to add it to my wish-list, but the 2000AD Dan Dare is currently my first to-buy book.

[MacNimon]

We have Steve Dillon once again today with this Dredd cover from Prog 353, 28th January 1984.

Inside this issue:
Slaine - Sky Chariots (part 2) (Pat Mills - Mike McMahon)
D.R. and Quinch - Go Girl Crazy! (part 2) (Alan Moore - Alan Davis)
feature - Rogue Trooper crossword
Judge Dredd - Captain Strange and his Weird Boys (John Wagner and Alan Grant - Steve Dillon)
Rogue Trooper - Colonel Kovert (part 4) (Gerry Finley-Day - Cam Kennedy)
Strontium Dog - The Killing (part 4) (Alan Grant - Carlos Ezquerra)
2000AD Star Pin-Up - Venus Bluegenes (art: Brett Ewins)

[MacNimon]

We move into February now with this Brian Bolland cover from Prog 98, 3rd February 1978...

Inside this issue:


The classic Ro-Busters story Terra-Meks begins this prog, although it doesn't feature series regulars Ro-Jaws or Hammerstein, they do still appear on their laugh-in pages at the back of the prog

Judge Dredd - The Day the Law Died (part 10) (John Wagner - Brian Bolland)
Angel (part 4) (Chris Stevens - Carlos Pino)
Tharg's Future Shocks - The Four-Legged Man! (Mike Cruden - Mike Dorey)
Flesh File - collectable booklet (part 3 - final part) (art: Massimo Belardinelli)
Flesh - book two (part 13) (Geoffrey Miller - Carlos Pino)
Ro-Busters - The Terra-Meks! (part 1) (Pat Mills - Dave Gibbons)
2000AD Futuregraph - Holiday to Mars! (part 3) - Into Space! (design and art: Bill Le-Fevre)

[Andrew Curnow]

In hindsight, I'm surprised I didn't pick up 2000AD earlier - I certainly got Star Lord on & off, so I would have thought I'd have been aware of the 'merger'.

Good cover though!