Christmas 1978.
I have no idea where and when I got this but it is the 2000Ad annual from 1978, the year after 2000ad started. It is a pretty hefty offering and features no less than 21 different stories or features. Generous indeed! It still looks great for something nearly 40 years old!
18th January 1986
When I was going through some of my older copies this one really stood out as I actually remember reading it when it came out in 1986. I even cut the back page off, the Slaine Glen Fabry poster, and stuck it on my bedroom wall. I would have been 14 at the time and at a stage when I was desperate for anything 2000ad related.
It has some wonderful stories, a real collection of classics for sure. You get Dredd, Halo Jones, Ace Trucking, Strontium Dog and Slaine. Damn!
4th of Feb 1978
At some point in the late 1980’s I seem to have encountered the comic ‘CRISIS’. I don’t quite remember exactly when but I do remember it being something very different to 2000AD despite it being written and drawn by mostly the same pool of people.
I shall steal from Wikipedia I think…
Crisis was Fleetway’s response to the success of Deadline. David Bishop, in his Thrill Power Overload, comments “2000 AD had once represented the cutting edge of British comics, but was now in danger of looking staid and old fashioned next to Deadline”.[1]
Conceived by editor Steve MacManus, Crisis would offer to make the work creator-owned, which might lead to the chance for royalties and greater copyright control, which was a departure from the way they had done business up until then. They also planned to turn the stories into American comic books which would sell better on the other side of the Atlantic, although ultimately only the first few titles got this treatment and the title moved to shorter stories after issue #14.[1]
It was political and edgy, I recall a burning church at some point and there were people trying to save the planet and blowing things up. That is what I recall at least. I managed to buy most of them off of ebay in recent years and even now it remains an abrasive read at times but I did so enjoy it even though I didn’t really know what was going on sometimes. I have some of the artwork somewhere too which I should dig out really. Maybe next time.
Worth a read if you can pick up old copies if only to enjoy some of the Ezquerra artwork or Mills writing.
4th of Feb 1978
Prog 50 was a pretty amazing read, with no less than 8 different stories. The breadth and variety of art work alone makes it a thing of beauty and with writers such as Gerry Finley Day and Pat Mills and John Wagner it was bound to thrill. Art by Dave Gibbons, Montero, Ian Gibson and Belardinelli (amongst others) make it pretty stand out for me.
You know, a forty year old Comic smells pretty amazing too!
April – October 1990
I am no historian of 2000AD. Yes I have them all, in boxes all over the house, and I love them dearly but I am no expert on the matter. I simply enjoy reading them and the way they make me feel and the artwork and the wonderful stories and the places that they take me.
There are few stories that sum up 2000AD for me more than this one. Necropolis. I remember it so clearly from when I was younger and I think it is where I developed my love of the artwork of Carlos Ezquerra. The way he painted Dredd and the dark judges thrills me now still and the story…oh god the story was amazing. For me pipped by the “Apocalypse war” but only just. Perhaps that’s because Apocalypse resonates more with me because I grew up in the eighties and the idea of Russia vs the west was so prevalent.
Seeing Mega-City one in flames was insane and the dark judges were terrifying and there was a real desperation as the story unfolded over 26 weeks. Curiously though Dredd never appeared for the first dozen or so.
The photos are from the graphic novel collection, and I’ve posted a few pages and I was going to write more but I think I am actually going to go red it for a bit. Just enjoy Carlos’ work…
Revisiting this as it got messed up by the WordPress shenanigans a while back…
Hard to take a photo of this but there you go, this is my other Dredd Tattoo which sits at the back of my left arm just below the elbow. I can then show it to people when they ask whether my Dredd is in fact Magneto. I can understand why I guess, think its the helmet.
It took about 4 hours as I recall, despite it having nowhere near the detail of the my larger Dredd one. All part of the larger collage I will likely complete one day. Might get another next year thinking about it…
Revisiting this as it got messed up by the WordPress shenanigans a while back…
I think you know I love Judge Dredd by now, and a couple of years ago I decided to add to my tattoos with a Judge Dredd piece. I don’t quite recall how this piece was selected exactly but the cover of megazine 302 was just so brilliant and it was one that really struck me with the wonderful character of Dredds face and the Artist that did my piece, Lee Reynolds, really took to it.
The artwork was done by Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry for the 20th anniversary edition of the megazine. This is the original.
I actually think I have one Simon Bisley piece of artwork tucked away somewhere but I’m not currently lucky enough to own a Glenn Fabry piece but it’s on my list of things to buy. Glenn Fabry’s Slaine work is particularly gorgeous and I’m pretty sure something that I will be covering in a future blog.
It took about 5 hours to do as I recall and the worst thing about it was not the pain of the needle but rather having to sit there lying forward with my left arm extended behind me for that amount of time.
I actually rather enjoy the pain and it certainly take your mind off everything when you’re sat there for that amount of time and in a weird sort of way it’s a quite fabulous way to relax and get away from everything else that might be on your mind.
Certainly well worth the time and money and a piece I just absolutely love. I have 2 other 2000AD pieces I will show you another time.
30th of April 1977
Okay, so this one matter s for a number of reasons. Prog ten was the first ever multi part Dredd story and importantly was the first where John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra worked together. Their work would become some of the finest to fill the pages of 2000ad and Robot wars was a sign of things to come. Inside is a wonderful double page Dan Dare spread. The cover was drawn by the unmistakable Carlos Ezquerra (I will show you my Ezquerra piece another time) and inside you will also find the following:
A freaking amazing prog!
1st of July 1978
I wrote about the banned Ronald McDonald storyline here, well here is another fantastic colour double spread from the story printed in Prog 71. A thing of real beauty drawn by Mike McMahon and written by pat Mills.
I’ll tell you about the time I met Mike another time, but he is a thoroughly pleasant chap.
12th of August 1978
Last week I showed you the 2000AD Ronald McDonald v Burger King episode from 1978 that will never see a reprint due to it’s copyright infringement. Today I will bring you another from 5 weeks later. This time they featured the Jolly Green giant and again, you’ll never see a reprint I am certain.
The prog also features Dan Dare, Ant Wars, a Future Shock and Ian Gibson’s unmistakable ROBO HUNTER art. Love it muchly! The back cover has a series of what were intended to be cu out cards that formed part of a board game that would be printed over a 6 week period. I’m rather glad the person who had mine originally did not!
8th of July 1978
There are a number of issues of 2000ad which will never see a reprint because they infringed copyright, and Prog72 is one of those. It featured the ‘Burger Wars’ story which sees Ronald McDonald and The Burger King take centre stage. It has a gorgeous colour centre spread by Mike McMahon which still looks great now even after thirty years.
You can still get your hands on the originals fairly easily if you’re willing to spend a few quid, it certainly won’t break the bank. Old Ronnie hasn’t changed much over the years as you can see though the King does look somewhat better now than then I think. Inferno, Dan Dare, Ant Wars and Mach Zero also feature in the prog.
26 February 1977
I have written about 2000AD previously and my love for what is most definitely the most marvelous comic in the galaxy, but unfortunately the blog I posted them all to was deleted in a nasty WordPress accident a while back so I figured I’d start posting again on the subject. Rather than waffling on about how and why I love this comic so much let’s just jump straight in to the very first issue published in 1977.
These are photos of my actual copy. For A comic over forty years old even now it still looks amazing. I don’t have the red space spinner that came with it and whilst many collectors would be crazy about the copy with it attached I’m not overly fussed I just love being able to read it even if it isn’t in the best of conditions.
Judge Dredd was not actually in the very first copy and you can see in one of the photographs below it says he’s coming next week.
I have a fair collection of 2000AD progs. Okay by a fair amount I mean them all, or at least all of the weeklies at least going all the way back to 1977. I didn’t collect them all each week myself and will write more about my acquisition another time but for today I thought I would share Prog3. Why 3? Well because I wanted to keep 1 and 2, which featured Dredd for the first time, for another time.
I am no student of these things and cannot truly do justice to the history of this most wonderful work but what I am most happy to do is to share from the huge piles of them scattered around my home.
It was published on the 12th of March 1977 costing 8p, and the stories featured can be seen below. With a Colour front and back cover and double page middle spread it is still a thing of beauty to hold even today. It smells amazing too and has lasted so well for something forty years old. Sadly my copy doesn’t have the ‘Red Alert’ free gift but I don’t really mind, I collect them to read them and am less concerned with condition and such. Click on the pictures below to take a look.HARLEM HEROES
Featuring Pat Mills’ FLESH, INVASION, M.A.C.H. 1, John Wagner’s Dredd and DAN DARE from Frank Hampson it packed a real punch. Interesting, at this early stage there was no credit given with the now familiar credits to artist, writer and letterer only appearing in later progs.
Afterwards 