2000AD Progs 501-600

As the cover price drifted upward from 26p to 35p, “The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic” did everything in its power to live up to that slogan. All the favorite characters continued to break new ground. Strontium Dog added the femme fatale Durham Red to its roster, a character who would prove popular enough to earn her own “solo career.” Rogue Trooper embarked on a series of assassinations (called “Hits”) that would theoretically end his never-ending war. New character Zenith (by Grant Morrison & Steve Yeowell) explored the impact of superheroics on the real world, a conversation begun by 2000AD alum Alan Moore in Watchmen. Bad Company and Tyranny Rex would later be counted among new strips that spiked in popularity at the beginning but faded to make way for others.

Flagship series Judge Dredd stayed vital by introducing several new developments. Increasingly conscious of Dredd’s dual hero/villain nature, writer John Wagner made no bones about his fascist overtones when a fledgling democracy movement tried and failed to gain traction in Mega-City One. Dredd teamed up with favorite criminal Chopper for the 6-month epic OZ (set in Australia), in which seeds were planted for the next mega-event to come when we met the first of Dredd’s next generation of clones. (Unlike most American comics, Dredd unfolds in real time. Every year for us is a year for him, and his advancing age is a continuing factor in the storytelling. He himself is a clone of the original judge, Fargo.)

Many of the first-generation artists had moved on by now (Carlos Ezquerra, Massimo Belardinelli, and Ian Gibson being the major exceptions), but the second generation (Glenn Fabry, Cam Kennedy, Steve Dillon, etc.) was holding their own and new artists continually brought new flavors. If punk rock fueled the comic’s inception, heavy metal was now having its say, especially with the eye-popping style of newcomer Steve Bisley on the long-awaited return of A.B.C. Warriors. He would shortly change his name to Simon “Biz” Bizley and later make his mark on American comics like DC’s Lobo. Other new arrivals included Colin MacNeil and Brendan McCarthy.

The comic also hit its 10th anniversary in this round (prog 520), celebrating with a format change that traded half an inch of width for half an inch of height, and noticeably improved the paper and printing quality. This coincided with a management shift when IPC sold off its subsidiary company Fleetway and 2000AD went with it. Another jump was taken with a logo change in prog 555 and a double upgrade came in 589 with glossy cover stock and more colour (color) pages. Whereas only the centrespread had been in colour up to this point, now four additional pages were added as the long march toward full colour began.

Finally, the tenth anniversary became an occasion for the first 2000AD documentary film; watch it on Youtube here.


Prog 501 • 12/20/86


Prog 502 • 12/27/86


Prog 503 • 1/3/87


Prog 504 • 1/10/87


Prog 505 • 1/17/87

Durham Red debuts in Strontium Dog


Prog 506 • 1/24/87


Prog 507 • 1/31/87


Prog 508 • 2/7/87


Prog 509 • 2/14/87


Prog 510 • 2/21/87


Prog 511 • 2/28/87


Prog 512 • 3/7/87


Prog 513 • 3/14/87


Prog 514 • 3/21/87


Prog 515 • 3/28/87


Prog 516 • 4/4/87


Prog 517 • 4/11/87


Prog 518 • 4/18/87


Prog 519 • 4/25/87

Senile Ronald Reagan appears in Strontium Dog


Prog 520 • 5/2/87 (format and printing quality upgrade)


Prog 521 • 5/9/87


Prog 522 • 5/16/87


Prog 523 • 5/23/87


Prog 524 • 5/30/87


Prog 525 • 6/6/87


Prog 526 • 6/13/87


Prog 527 • 6/20/87


Prog 528 • 6/27/87


Prog 529 • 7/4/87


Prog 530 • 7/11/87


Prog 531 • 7/18/87

“Democracy” storyline begins in Judge Dredd


Prog 532 • 7/25/87


Prog 533 • 8/1/87


Prog 534 • 8/8/87


Prog 535 • 8/15/87

Debut of Zenith


Prog 536 • 8/22/87


Prog 537 • 8/29/87


Prog 538 • 9/5/87


Prog 539 • 9/12/87


Prog 540 • 9/19/87


Prog 541 • 9/26/87


Prog 542 • 10/3/87


Prog 543 • 10/10/87


Prog 544 • 10/17/87


Prog 545 • 10/24/87


Prog 546 • 10/31/87


Prog 547 • 11/7/87


Prog 548 • 11/14/87


Prog 549 • 11/21/87


Prog 550 • 11/28/87


Prog 551 • 12/5/87


Prog 552 • 12/12/87


Prog 553 • 12/19/87


Prog 554 • 12/26/87

Transition to new cover logo


Prog 555 • 1/2/88

Return of A.B.C. Warriors drawn by Steve Bisley


Prog 556 • 1/9/88




Something curious arrived along with the logo change in prog 555. “Tharg’s Nerve Center” had been the title of the editorial page since the beginning. Here, “alien editor” Tharg would tell you what the prog held in store and answer letters from readers. For the first time, “Tharg’s Nerve Center” appeared in Japanese, which caught my eye immediately as an anime fan. This was 1988, when anime and manga from Japan was making its first major impact on international media, so I’m 100% certain this was a statement of solidarity from 2000AD editorial. It stayed up through prog 699.


Prog 557 • 1/16/88


Prog 558 • 1/23/88


Prog 559 • 1/30/88


Prog 560 • 2/6/88


Prog 561 • 2/13/88


Prog 562 • 2/20/88


Prog 563 • 2/27/88

First Steve (Simon) Bisley cover


Prog 564 • 3/5/88


Prog 565 • 3/12/88


Prog 566 • 3/19/88

Debut of Tyranny Rex


Prog 567 • 3/26/88


Prog 568 • 4/2/88


Prog 569 • 4/9/88


Prog 570 • 4/16/88


Prog 571 • 4/23/88


Prog 572 • 4/30/88


Prog 573 • 5/7/88


Prog 574 • 5/14/88


Prog 575 • 5/21/88


Prog 576 • 5/28/88


Prog 577 • 6/4/88


Prog 578 • 6/11/88


Prog 579 • 6/18/88


Prog 580 • 6/25/88


Prog 581 • 7/2/88


Prog 582 • 7/9/88


Prog 583 • 7/16/88


Prog 584 • 7/23/88

“Bloodline” story in Judge Dredd


Prog 585 • 7/30/88


Prog 586 • 8/6/88


Prog 587 • 8/13/88


Prog 588 • 8/20/88


Prog 589 • 8/27/88

Glossy cover stock and more internal color added


Prog 590 • 9/3/88


Prog 591 • 9/10/88


Prog 592 • 9/17/88


Prog 593 • 9/24/88


Prog 594 • 10/1/88


Prog 595 • 10/8/88


Prog 596 • 10/15/88


Prog 597 • 10/22/88


Prog 598 • 10/29/88


Prog 599 • 11/5/88


Prog 600 • 11/12/88


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