GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY'S GREATEST COMIC: 2000 AD

CELEBRATES ITS 45TH BIRTHDAY IN FEBRUARY, AND ITS SECOND YEAR WAS A TALE OF TWO VERY DIFFERENT MERGERS

- STEPHEN JEWELL

FIRST PUBLISHED IN February 1977, 2000 AD has truly established itself as the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic over the past four and a half decades, thrilling Earthlets with the weekly adventures of classic characters such as Nemesis the Warlock, Slaine, Rogue Trooper and, of course, Judge Dredd. But having been rocked by the copyright scandals that plagued Dredd epic “The Cursed Earth” and the fallout stemming from future-sport strip Inferno’s notorious ultra-violence, the Prog could so easily have been cut off in its prime. For according to former IPC editorial director John Sanders, it was very nearly 2000 AD that was merged into the short-lived Starlord.

“Starlord was sacrificed to keep 2000 AD afloat,” says Sanders. “The truth is, strong and far-sighted management saved 2000 AD and without that management, the publication would have been dead and buried in 1978, a year after its launch.”

“I remember some conversations with John Sanders about the merger, and it may be true that he nearly folded 2000 AD,” continues 2000 AD’s second editor Kelvin Gosnell, who was also in charge of Starlord. “Obviously I argued for 2000 AD to remain as the lead title, and happily, that is what happened. Starlord had started off quite well but tailed off quite a bit, so it was losing more than it could support. Its more expensive production was certainly a factor, but it was IPC’s open-and-close policy that killed it more than anything.”

With the two sci-fi titles joining forces in October 1978’s Prog 86, 2000 AD was given a new lease of life, partly through the addition of Starlord’s leading stories Strontium Dog