2000AD Progs 901-1000
As the “Galaxy’s Greatest Comic” approached the rarified air of 1,000 issues (how often does any publication reach a number like that?), it reached another type of milestone altogether when the Judge Dredd feature film was released on June 30, 1995. Its arrival was marked (in prog 950) by a new logo change, cover format, more pages, and a price hike from 80p to 1 pound.
The increase in visibility directed the content for the next few issues with Dredd stories oriented toward new readers, and more jumping-on points than usual. That’s the thing with those big issue numbers, which can be a barrier of entry. The comic dealt with it by launching new strips, starting new stories within existing strips, adding one-and-done stories, and otherwise promoting the idea that it was a great time for newbies to tune in. (The word “NEW” was used a LOT.)
Other highlights over this stretch were crossovers; Judge Dredd encountered both Skizz and the ABC Warriors in separate stories, and Rogue Trooper encountered himself (the two versions of the character meeting each other face to face). Time travel and/or dimension hopping was a reliable mechanism for these meetups.
A few new Judge Dredd spinoffs showed up (always a good way to enhance reading value; I never skipped one), and classic characters like Robo-Hunter, Slaine, Nemesis, the Strontium Dogs, etc. took the place of experimental strips that didn’t resonate with longtime readers. New strips that scored highly were Venus Bluegenes (a Rogue Trooper spinoff) and Sinister Dexter (a hit man duo inspired by Pulp Fiction) that are still part of the comic today.
Another experiment in grabbing new readers: multiple 3-part stories that began and ended in sync with each other.
New Dredd spinoff Red Razors, set in Sov-block
Skizz III premieres, created by Jim Baikke
Premiere of The Corps, judges in space
Judge Dredd crossover with Skizz
Rogue Trooper self-crossover begins
Prog 946 got the comic into legal trouble akin to the Cursed Earth “Burger Wars” debacle from back in the old days. Star Wars had faded into the background enough for the editors to assume they could invoke it satirically, but found out otherwise when Lucasfilm launched an immediate threat. They responded a few issues later with public acknowledgement and an apology for hijacking it.
Another interesting note about this cover was the announcement that 2000AD could now be e-mailed for the first time.
Movie tie-in issue with new cover logo and format shift
Start of 3-part triptych cover by SF artist Chris Foss
Judge Dredd crossover with ABC Warriors
Tie-in with Judge Dredd home video release
Premiere of Sinister Dexter
Prog 1000, assumed to be an attention-grabber, made use of a reliable pattern when several new stories began simultaneously. This was a very effective way to offset that large issue number and has been used regularly ever since.