Posted on February 11, 2024

2000AD Progs 601-700

There were no logo or format changes over these 100 progs, though more colour pages were added and the price went from 35p to 45p. But, as always, the real story was in the stories themselves.

From its first issue in 1977, the driving force behind 2000AD was REVOLUTION. This stretch was a revolution OF a revolution with huge creative strides. All four of the most popular characters saw significant events that spun their respective worlds into new orbits.

Celtic warrior Slaine was the first when Simon Bisley took over the art for The Horned God in prog 626. His painted work made this the first series in the comic’s history to appear entirely in color. Others would follow. Rogue Trooper’s story came to an end with the conclusion of Hit Four in prog 603 and an epilogue in the 1989 Winter Special…or at least that’s how it seemed. A completely new, rebooted Rogue Trooper launched in prog 650 and took off in its own direction. Another ending took place in Strontium Dog, when both of the main characters (Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer) met their fates one by one. The series ended in prog 687, though a parallel version of Johnny would “time hop” into other realms in later years.

But the biggest moves took place when literally years of subplots finally came together in the flagship title Judge Dredd, in a masterstroke by writer John Wagner. Dredd started experiencing doubts about the fascist judge system all the way back in prog 531. When they reached a breaking point in prog 668, he turned in his badge and left Mega-City One. His younger clone Kraken took his place to become the new Dredd. Here’s the twist: a spinoff series titled The Dead Man had debuted in 650, following a “walking corpse” through the Cursed Earth. In 661, he was revealed to be…Judge Dredd. This came full circle in 668, after which evil forces began to infiltrate the city with Judge Kraken as their pawn. This led to the 26-episode Necropolis mega-epic, featuring the return of none other than Judge Death. Carlos Ezquerra drew the entire run in yet another Olympian performance.

In other news, Judge Dredd’s most popular perp Chopper got his first extended series in prog 654, the first Rogue Trooper spinoff Medivac 318 debuted in prog 619, and veteran artist Ron Smith returned to draw the series Chronos Carnival in prog 676. Judge Anderson got a few more of her own episodes, and when prog 700 arrived, the Judge Dredd Megazine launched as a companion. Both are still in flight today.