2000 AD (comics)
1970s
### 1970s

#### Pre\-publication

In December 1975, [Kelvin Gosnell](/wiki/Kelvin_Gosnell "Kelvin Gosnell"), a sub\-editor at [IPC Magazines](/wiki/IPC_Media "IPC Media"), read an article in the *[London Evening Standard](/wiki/Evening_Standard "Evening Standard")* 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](/wiki/Pat_Mills "Pat Mills"), a [freelance](/wiki/Freelance "Freelance") writer and [editor](/wiki/Editing "Editing") who had created *[Battle Picture Weekly](/wiki/Battle_Picture_Weekly "Battle Picture Weekly")* and *[Action](/wiki/Action_%28comic%29 "Action (comic)")*, to develop it. Mills brought fellow freelancer [John Wagner](/wiki/John_Wagner "John Wagner") 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](/wiki/Anti-authoritarian "Anti-authoritarian") attitudes. Wagner, who had written a [Dirty Harry](/wiki/Dirty_Harry "Dirty Harry")\-inspired tough cop called *[One\-Eyed Jack](/wiki/One-Eyed_Jack_%28comics%29 "One-Eyed Jack (comics)")* for *[Valiant](/wiki/Valiant_%28comic%29 "Valiant (comic)")*, 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](/wiki/New_York_City "New York City") 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."Sanders, J. (2021\) *King's Reach: John Sanders' 25 Years st the Top of Comics* (Rebellion: Oxford), pp. 132–133

Meanwhile, Mills had developed a [horror](/wiki/Horror_fiction "Horror fiction") strip, inspired by the novels of [Dennis Wheatley](/wiki/Dennis_Wheatley "Dennis Wheatley"), about a [hanging judge](/wiki/Hanging_judge "Hanging judge"), called *Judge Dread* (after the [reggae](/wiki/Reggae "Reggae") and [ska](/wiki/Ska "Ska") artist of the [same name](/wiki/Judge_Dread "Judge Dread")). 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 *[Judge Dredd](/wiki/Judge_Dredd "Judge Dredd")* was given to [Carlos Ezquerra](/wiki/Carlos_Ezquerra "Carlos Ezquerra"), 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](/wiki/Death_Race_2000 "Death Race 2000")*, 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](/wiki/Mike_McMahon_%28comics%29 "Mike McMahon (comics)"). The strip debuted in prog 2, dated 5 March 1977\.

IPC owned the rights to *[Dan Dare](/wiki/Dan_Dare "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](/wiki/Dan_Dare "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](/wiki/Massimo_Belardinelli "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](/wiki/Harlem_Heroes "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 *[Action](/wiki/Action_%28comic%29 "Action (comic)")*, and the similarly themed film [*Rollerball*](/wiki/Rollerball_%281975_film%29 "Rollerball (1975 film)") 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](/wiki/Trigo_%28comics%29 "Trigo (comics)") was disappointing. Veteran British artists [Ron Turner](/wiki/Ron_Turner_%28artist%29 "Ron Turner (artist)") and [Barrie Mitchell](/wiki/Barrie_Mitchell "Barrie Mitchell") were tried out, but the newcomer [Dave Gibbons](/wiki/Dave_Gibbons "Dave Gibbons") 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](/wiki/Roy_of_the_Rovers "Roy of the Rovers")* writer [Tom Tully](/wiki/Tom_Tully_%28comic_writer%29 "Tom Tully (comic writer)").

The other opening strips were *[M.A.C.H. 1](/wiki/M.A.C.H._1 "M.A.C.H. 1")*, a super\-powered secret agent inspired by *[The Six Million Dollar Man](/wiki/The_Six_Million_Dollar_Man "The Six Million Dollar Man")*; *[Invasion!](/wiki/Invasion%21_%282000_AD%29 "Invasion! (2000 AD)")*, 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](/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare "Guerrilla warfare") fighter Bill Savage; and *[Flesh](/wiki/Flesh_%28comics%29 "Flesh (comics)")*, a strip about [time\-travelling](/wiki/Time_travel "Time travel") cowboys farming [dinosaurs](/wiki/Dinosaur "Dinosaur") for their meat.

After 16 issues, Mills quit as editor and handed the reins to [Kelvin Gosnell](/wiki/Kelvin_Gosnell "Kelvin Gosnell"), whose idea the comic had been in the first place. Gosnell also appeared as the fall guy in the *[Tharg the Mighty](/wiki/Tharg_the_Mighty "Tharg the Mighty")* comedy [photostrips](/wiki/Fumetti "Fumetti") 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](/wiki/The_Robot_Wars "The Robot Wars")" storyline was drawn by a rotating team of artists, including McMahon, Ezquerra, Turner and [Ian Gibson](/wiki/Ian_Gibson_%28artist%29 "Ian Gibson (artist)"), and marked the point where *Dredd* became the most popular character in the comic, a position he has rarely relinquished.Jarman, Colin M. and Peter Acton (1995\) *Judge Dredd: The Mega\-History*, Lennard Publishing, , p. 58 Dredd's city, which now covered most of the east coast of North America, became known as [Mega\-City One](/wiki/Mega-City_One "Mega-City One"). 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](/wiki/Tharg%27s_Future_Shocks "Tharg's Future Shocks")*, one\-off twist\-in\-the\-tale stories devised by writer [Steve Moore](/wiki/Steve_Moore_%28comics%29 "Steve Moore (comics)"). *2000 AD* still uses this format as filler and to try out new talent.

Wagner introduced a new character, *[Robo\-Hunter](/wiki/Robo-Hunter "Robo-Hunter")*, in 1978\. The hero, Sam Slade, was a [private detective](/wiki/Private_detective "Private detective")\-type character specialising in [robot](/wiki/Robot "Robot")\-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 [Cuban](/wiki/Cuba "Cuba") robot [cigar](/wiki/Cigar "Cigar"), Stogie, designed to help him cut down on [nicotine](/wiki/Nicotine "Nicotine").

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](/wiki/Polar_bear "Polar bear") pursued by the Army because it had swallowed a secret capsule.

*[M.A.C.H. 1](/wiki/M.A.C.H._1 "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](/wiki/The_Cursed_Earth_%28Judge_Dredd_story%29 "The Cursed Earth (Judge Dredd story)")", inspired by [Roger Zelazny](/wiki/Roger_Zelazny "Roger Zelazny")'s *[Damnation Alley](/wiki/Damnation_Alley "Damnation Alley")*, 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](/wiki/Brian_Bolland "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](/wiki/Steve_MacManus "Steve MacManus") took over from Gosnell as editor in 1978, starting with prog 86, dated 14 October. In that issue *2000 AD* merged with *[Starlord](/wiki/Starlord_%28comics%29 "Starlord (comics)")*, 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](/wiki/Nick_Landau "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: *[Strontium Dog](/wiki/Strontium_Dog "Strontium Dog")*, a [mutant](/wiki/Mutant_%28fictional%29 "Mutant (fictional)") [bounty hunter](/wiki/Bounty_hunter "Bounty hunter") created by Wagner and Ezquerra, and *[Ro\-Busters](/wiki/Ro-Busters "Ro-Busters")*, 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](/wiki/ABC_Warriors "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](/wiki/Judge_Cal "Judge Cal"), based on the Roman emperor [Caligula](/wiki/Caligula "Caligula").

Another cancelled title, *[Tornado](/wiki/Tornado_%28comic%29 "Tornado (comic)")*, was merged with *2000 AD* a few months later from prog 127, contributing three stories to *2000 AD*: *[Blackhawk](/wiki/Blackhawk_%28Tornado%29 "Blackhawk (Tornado)")*, 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](/wiki/The_Mind_of_Wolfie_Smith "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](/wiki/Harry_Harrison_%28writer%29 "Harry Harrison (writer)")'s novel *[The Stainless Steel Rat](/wiki/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat "The Stainless Steel Rat")*, 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](/wiki/James_Coburn "James Coburn"), evidently a favourite of Ezquerra's; Coburn was also the inspiration for *[Major Eazy](/wiki/Major_Eazy "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](/wiki/Gerry_Finley-Day "Gerry Finley-Day") contributed *[The V.C.s](/wiki/The_V.C.s "The V.C.s")*, a future war story inspired by the [Vietnam War](/wiki/Vietnam_War "Vietnam War"), drawn by McMahon, [Cam Kennedy](/wiki/Cam_Kennedy "Cam Kennedy"), [Garry Leach](/wiki/Garry_Leach "Garry Leach") and [John Richardson](/wiki/John_Richardson_%28comics%29 "John Richardson (comics)").

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.


How long did some stories in 2000 AD and Tornado last?