The 50th Anniversary Of ‘2000 AD’ Kicks Off In January With ‘2000 AD: A Visual History’
by Richard Bruton
As the finest sci-fi weekly anthology celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2027, you can expect plenty of special announcements for the coming year of 2000 AD, all kicking off in January 2027 with 2000 AD: A Visual History…
The Galaxy’s Greatest, the venerable 2000 AD, celebrates the big Five-Oh in 2077. Since 1977, it’s brought you sci-fi thrills weekly, introducing us to the likes of Judge Dredd, Halo Jones, Nemesis, Rogue Trooper, Zenith, Slaine, and so many more, brought to you by names that would go on to become legends in comics: Carlos Ezquerra, Mick McMahon, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, Kevin O’Neill, Simon Bisley, John Wagner, Alan Grant, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison — it’s a list that could go on and on and on and on.
From the outset in 1977, it was a comic that exploded onto the scene, bringing together writers and artists all keen to do something new and different, original and incendiary, subversive and satirical. Kevin Gosnell, sub-editor at IPC Magazines, had the idea of creating a new sci-fi weekly, and brought in writer and editor Pat Mills to make it happen. Mills then brought in writer John Wagner as script advisor, designers Kevin O’Neill and Jan Shepheard, art editor Doug Church, and so many others to create the comic that would come to dominate British comics, creating truly iconic characters known the world over.
With 2027 being the 50th anniversary of 2000 AD, we’re sure to be getting a whole raft of special announcements of new comics, collections, reprints, merch, and a hell of a lot more.
We’ve already had the announcement of Fifty Years of Judge Dredd, out in February. Now we get the next announcement, with 2000 AD: A Visual History released in January 2027, detailing the year-by-year history of the Britain’s greatest comic, the tales of its creation, and the good people behind bringing you that weekly dose of Thrill Power.
Released as an oversized hardcover (and slipcased webshop-exclusive hardcover) on 27 January 2027, this is the coffee-table history of an iconic British comic, featuring rare sketches, test pages, character designs, plus plenty of art from the legion of artists who’ve graced 2000 AD’s pages over the years.
2000 AD: A Visual History is written by Scott Montgomery, who previously authored The 2000 AD Encyclopedia. Expect a voyage of discovery and nostalgia through the 50 years of subversive, spectacular sci-fi comics, coming your way from comic shops and all good booksellers on 27 January 2027.
Presented in an oversized hardcover, an exclusive slipcase edition is also available only through the 2000 AD webshop, featuring new artwork by Pris Bampoh of 2000 AD‘s venerable editor Tharg The Mighty, hard at work in his Nerve-Centre!
