2000AD Progs 1901-2000
As the cover price rose from £2.45 to £2.55, the hits kept on coming. The last annual Christmas issue numbered for the upcoming year was Prog 2015; after this, these annual issues would maintain regular numbering since it wouldn’t be much longer before an actual prog 2015 (et al) arrived.
Grey Area, an imaginative allegory for international immigration (featuring aliens, natch) started in Prog 1924. The Dark Judges, long respected as Dredd’s worst enemies, got their own strip in Prog 1946 with art so creepy (by Dave Kendall) that even the living characters look like corpses. Deadworld continues to this day in the pages of the Judge Dredd Megazine.
Bad Company, a twisted Vietnamesque war tale from the late 80s, made its latest comeback in Prog 1950 with two of its original creators. Ro-busters, a popular strip from the very early years, was revived in Prog 1961. Prog 1977 stood out for citing the year of 2000AD‘s founding, marked by a strip featuring alien editor Tharg. Finally, Prog 2000 was a treasure trove of Easter eggs and guest shots from the “greatest generation” of artists including Brian Bolland, Mick McMahon, Kevin O’Neill, and more.
And finally, we were treated to the return of Glenn Fabry for occasional cover duty after far too long an absence.
Glenn Fabry cover
38th anniversary
Brian Bolland cover
Throwback-style cover by Maurice Aitkin
Brendan McCarthy cover
Carlos Ezquerra cover
Glenn Fabry cover
Conclusion of Nikolai Dante
The Previews Exclusive cover of Prog 2000 was a wraparound by Glenn Fabry and Ryan Brown that put all the most popular characters in a single image and included, for the first and only time, a SMILING Judge Dredd (far right).
Bonus
Starting in Prog 2263 (January 2022), 2000AD featured a weekly lookback as the 45th anniversary approached. Each page summarized one year of history. The pages covering the progs shown above are posted below to add context.