2000 AD

This page is where I collect all the posts I have written about the grande dame of British comic books, a publication named 2000 AD, and some posts about related titles, such as its glossy, high-brow, European-style stablemate Starlord.

2000 AD was first published in 1977 as a swift cash-in project on the back of the huge popularity of Star Wars, and even though it had built in obsolescence with its then futuristic title, and even though the smart money was on it disappearing after a few issues, it is still with us.

At the time of writing, the publication has reached 2117 issues, and I intend to read all of them. All. Of. Them. And, not only that - I intend to write a blog post about every single, motherf**ing one of them. I don't have any particularly good reason to do this, nevertheless it shall be done.

Some of that journey will be a lot of fun for me. I remember reading some of these issues when they were first published, so there is a nice taste of nostalgia, and there are some absolute classics, featuring creative talents who went on to become giants of comic book writing and art.

Some of this journey will not be much fun, because 2000 AD, like any long-running publication, has some periods in its history where it lost its way. There are some diabolically bad issues out there to be read, and I shall read those ones, too.

Anyway, now that the project has been outlined, here is a listing of the posts I have written thus far. Most posts are about 2000 AD, but some posts are about the various short-lived sister titles and are slotted in among them, at the appropriate point in the chronology.

2000 AD - Issue 0001 - The 70s boys comic book formula reworked with a sci-fi flavor.
2000 AD - Issue 0002 - Remember the Six Million Dollar Man?
2000 AD - Issue 0003 - A big geezer with a shotgun.
2000 AD - Issue 0004 - He upgrades to a pump-action shotgun.
2000 AD - Issue 0005 - Giant cyborg ape attacks future city. Hell yeah!
2000 AD - Issue 0006 - Good, solid, issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0007 - All action, all problematic, but a lot of fun.
2000 AD - Issue 0008 - A fat T-rex.
2000 AD - Issue 0009 - Dinopuncher.
2000 AD - Issue 0010 - Dinosaurs attacking a train... cool!
2000 AD - Issue 0011 - Flesh has added mecha to the mix.
2000 AD - Issue 0012 - Giant robots in Judge Dredd.
2000 AD - Issue 0013 - A TV detector van is used by the invaders.
2000 AD - Issue 0014 - Again, an issue that doesn't pass the Bechdel test.
2000 AD - Issue 0015 - Abominable snowmen on the cover, nice.
2000 AD - Issue 0016 - Classic issue marred by racism.
2000 AD - Issue 0017 - Great and bloodthirsty early issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0018 - Wonderful cover, showcasing Judge Dredd.
2000 AD - Issue 0019 - The end of FLESH.
2000 AD - Issue 0020 - The start of Shako.
2000 AD - Issue 0021 - Giant robots gunning for Dan Dare.
2000 AD - Issue 0022 - Strange geopolitical echoes of today's world.
2000 AD - Issue 0023 - Dredd's look is still evolving.
2000 AD - Issue 0024 - A 'super cover' nicely drawn by Kevin O'Neil.
2000 AD - Issue 0025 - A classic Dredd story, You Bet Your Life.
2000 AD - Issue 0026 - A truly bad cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0027 - A truly average cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0028 - Contains art by O'Neil and McMahon.
2000 AD - Issue 0029 - Echoes of our future time.
2000 AD - Issue 0030 - First time we meet Dredd's brother, Rico.
2000 AD - Issue 0031 - Devil's Island.
2000 AD - Issue 0032 - Another potentially classic issue, if not for the wasted front cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0033 - Great issue, bad front cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0034 - Interesting cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0035 - The last of Shako, a sad day.
2000 AD - Issue 0036 - Classic episode of Invasion, of all things.
2000 AD - Issue 0037 - A solid early issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0038 - Some nasty racism in this one, in Dredd and Invasion.
2000 AD - Issue 0039 - This one has a bad fridging.
 
2000 AD - Issues 0040 to 0084 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0085 - An iconic Dredd cover.

Starlord - Issue 01 - Stands up pretty well.
Starlord - Issue 02 - Ripsnorting space opera.
Starlord - Issue 03 - A cyborg t-rex.
Starlord - Issue 04 - A bright spot among all the gloom.
Starlord - Issue 05 - The most eye-catching cover yet.
Starlord - Issue 06 - A great cover and three strong strips.
Starlord - Issue 07 - Steeped in its time, this issue more than many.
Starlord - Issue 08 - With a full-page color advert for Wagon Wheels.
Starlord - Issue 09 - A doozy.
Starlord - Issue 10 - With the Jackal Troopers.
Starlord - Issue 11 - A strange one.
Starlord - Issue 12 - A great issue.
Starlord - Issue 13 - A beautiful Strontium Dog cover.
Starlord - Issue 14 - Ardeni and Tilman find a planet to rest from their adventures.
Starlord - Issue 15 - Quality stories.
Starlord - Issue 16 - Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein cover.
Starlord - Issue 17 - Average issue.
Starlord - Issue 18 - Horrible, airbrushed cover.
Starlord - Issue 19 - Great poster of Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein.
Starlord - Issue 20 - One of Starlord's best covers.
Starlord - Issue 21 - Cool Johnny Alpha poster.
Starlord - Issue 22 - Sad day - Starlord ends its run.

2000 AD - Issue 0086 - 2000 AD joins with Starlord.
2000 AD - Issue 0087 - Pleasantly savage.
2000 AD - Issue 0088 - Classic shark action.
2000 AD - Issue 0089 - Dredd gets a bullet to the head.
2000 AD - Issue 0090 - Tyrant Chief Judge Cal is Trump.
2000 AD - Issue 0091 - "M" for Manly.
2000 AD - Issue 0092 - Quite a roller-coaster of emotions.
2000 AD - Issue 0093 - Classic Ro-Jaws story.
2000 AD - Issue 0094 - Judge Cal cover (McMahon).
2000 AD - Issue 0095 - Bouffant 70s hair.
2000 AD - Issue 0096 - More echoes of Trump, before Trump.
2000 AD - Issue 0097 - McMahon draws alien hounds... beautiful.
2000 AD - Issue 0098 - First installment of the greatest story ever in 2000 AD.
2000 AD - Issue 0099 - On the cover, a giant robot eating a car.
2000 AD - Issue 0100 - Two giant robots trying to bash each other’s brains out.
2000 AD - Issue 0101 - Dave Gibbons brings his A game.
2000 AD - Issue 0102 - Not a classic issue but a ripsnorting episode of Dan Dare.
2000 AD - Issue 0103 - First episode of The Fall and Rise of Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein.
2000 AD - Issue 0104 - Problematic stuff in story after story, oh dear.
2000 AD - Issue 0105 - The Robot Investigation Police arrive.
2000 AD - Issue 0106 - Grampus the giant alien crocodile.
2000 AD - Issue 0107 - The Death of Nelson at Trafalgar (but with robots).
2000 AD - Issue 0108 - One of the best issues, ever.
2000 AD - Issue 0109 - A text-book example of the white savior trope.
2000 AD - Issue 0110 - A jump in quality (of the paper).
2000 AD - Issue 0111 - A US-style-superhero theme to this one.
2000 AD - Issue 0112 - Classic cover by O'Neil.
2000 AD - Issue 0113 - The best episode of the best strip in this comic book, ever.
2000 AD - Issue 0114 - Beautiful mayhem by McMahon.
2000 AD - Issue 0115 - The last Ro-Busters - a sad day.
2000 AD - Issue 0116 - Includes a poster of Tyranno-Mek, nice.
2000 AD - Issue 0117 - Has an advert for the 1979 Jif Space Calendar.
2000 AD - Issue 0118 - Satan as cover star.
2000 AD - Issue 0119 - Moonraker issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0120 - Giant robot cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0121 - ABC Warriors: Mongrol is added to the team roster.
2000 AD - Issue 0122 - More classic ABC Warriors.
2000 AD - Issue 0123 - Deadlock's stupid little bike.
2000 AD - Issue 0124 - Excellent Dan Dare episode.
2000 AD - Issue 0125 - Powerful impression.
2000 AD - Issue 0126 - The last Starlord.
2000 AD - Issue 0127 - A feeling of betrayal.
2000 AD - Issue 0128 - A bad issue with a great Dredd strip.
2000 AD - Issue 0129 - The start of ABC Warriors.
2000 AD - Issue 0130 - A classic ABC Warriors cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0131 - Excellent Dredd cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0132 - Pyramids on Mars, and the Red Death.
2000 AD - Issue 0133 - An issue so bad that I quit.
2000 AD - Issue 0134 - Robots and dinosaurs in the same strip.
2000 AD - Issue 0135 - More robots and dinosaurs.
2000 AD - Issue 0136 - Even more robots and dinosaurs.
2000 AD - Issue 0137 - ABC Warriors is great, the rest, not so much.
2000 AD - Issue 0138 - ABC Warriors is okay.
2000 AD - Issue 0139 - Great McMahon giant robot chaos and destruction.
2000 AD - Issue 0140 - A couple of new stories this week.
2000 AD - Issue 0141 - Great alien art by McMahon.
2000 AD - Issue 0142 - Stupid alien art by Belardinelli.
2000 AD - Issue 0143 - A much better issue than it has any right to be.
2000 AD - Issue 0144 - Actually funny Xmas issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0145 - Another Xmas issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0146 - Half of a good issue.
2000 AD - Issue 0147 - The fist Long Walk.

2000 AD - Issue 0148 - Not a great issue, but a great cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0149 - The first Judge Death story.
2000 AD - Issue 0150 - This issue contains both sexism and racism.

2000 AD - Issues 0151 to 0159 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0160 - The introduction of Mean Machine.
2000 AD - Issue 0161 - Not a great issue, but a great cover.

2000 AD - Issues 0162 to 0177 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0178 - Contains fascinating early Nemesis story.

2000 AD - Issues 0179 to 0184 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0185 - Return to Armageddon starts.
2000 AD - Issue 0186 - Return to Armageddon again the best thing in the comic.
 
2000 AD - Issues 0187 to 0202 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.


2000 AD - Issue 0203 - An issue with an intriguing cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0204 - An issue with a classic Dredd cover.

2000 AD - Issues 0205 to 0242 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0243 - The death of Judge Giant - too soon.
2000 AD - Issue 0244 - Brutal, classic, 2000 AD action.
2000 AD - Issue 0245 - Filler.
2000 AD - Issue 0246 - Intriguing.
2000 AD - Issue 0247 - Shows its age.
2000 AD - Issue 0248 - Iconic cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0249 - Great cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0250 - Bitter-sweet.
2000 AD - Issue 0251 - Quite political.
2000 AD - Issue 0252 - Weird cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0253 - A lot of fun.
2000 AD - Issue 0254 - Vintage 2000 AD.
2000 AD - Issue 0255 - Very pleasing.
2000 AD - Issue 0256 - Nice cover.
2000 AD - Issue 0257 - Not great.

2000 AD - Issues 0258 to 0307 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0308 - The first appearance of Skizz.

2000 AD - Issues 0309 to 0335 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0336 - Problematic.
2000 AD - Issue 0337 - A great issue, with great art, and much less problematic.
2000 AD - Issue 0338 - Problematic, but it has a wicker man, so that's good.
2000 AD - Issue 0339 - Problematic again.

2000 AD - Issue 0340 - Mek-Quake is back.

2000 AD - Issue 0341 - A beautiful end to a classic Judge Dredd story.


2000 AD - Issues 0342 to 0662 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 0663 - The first Bix Barton.

2000 AD - Issues 0664 to 2116 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 2117 - Tempts me to jump back in.
2000 AD - Issue 2118 - Even better than last issue.
2000 AD - Issue 2119 - Hershey written out? Say it isn't so!
2000 AD - Issue 2120 - Now with added racism. (Not a good thing).
2000 AD - Issue 2121 - Not much better than last week.
2000 AD - Issue 2122 - A real return to form. Great issue.
2000 AD - Issue 2123 - Just enough of interest to maybe keep me coming back.

2000 AD - Issues 2124 to 2183 - Haven't gotten round to them yet.

2000 AD - Issue 2184 - A jumping on point, so let's jump on.
2000 AD - Issue 2185 - A great Dredd story continues.






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