Viz

About Viz

2000 AD is a legendary weekly British science-fiction anthology comic, first published in 1977 and home to some of the most famous characters in comics history, including Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Rogue Trooper. Published every Wednesday by Rebellion from Riverside House, Osney Mead, Oxford, it has appeared without interruption for nearly five decades and has launched the careers of writers and artists including Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. Known to its readers as the "Galaxy's Greatest Comic", it remains the cornerstone of British comics publishing.

Launch in 1977

2000 AD was launched in February 1977 by IPC Magazines, the publishing giant behind a stable of popular British children's comics. The new title was the brainchild of writer Pat Mills, writer John Wagner and editor Kelvin Gosnell, who saw an opportunity to create a science-fiction comic for the post-Star Wars generation. The first issue, prog 1, was cover-dated 26 February 1977. From the start it was different from anything else on the British newsstand: fast-paced, violent, anti-authoritarian and visually explosive, with a science-fiction setting that allowed its creators to satirise contemporary Britain through the lens of the future. The comic's issues are known as "progs", a piece of house jargon that has endured for the title's entire life.

Judge Dredd

The comic's most famous creation arrived in prog 2. Judge Dredd, the fascistic lawman of Mega-City One, was created by John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, with Pat Mills contributing to his early development. Dredd is a street judge empowered to arrest, sentence and execute on the spot, patrolling a vast, overcrowded future metropolis that stretches down America's eastern seaboard. The strip's genius is its ambiguity: Dredd is simultaneously a heroic action figure and a chilling embodiment of authoritarianism, and the strip has spent decades exploring that tension. Landmark storylines such as The Apocalypse War, The Day the Law Died and the epic Judge Dredd Megazine saga have made Dredd one of the most complex and enduring characters in comics, as well as the subject of two feature films.

The classic strips

Beyond Dredd, 2000 AD built a roster of strips that defined British science-fiction comics. Strontium Dog, created by Wagner and Ezquerra, follows Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter in a future where mutants are second-class citizens. Rogue Trooper, by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons, is a genetically engineered soldier fighting on the chemical-ravaged planet Nu-Earth. Sláine, by Pat Mills and Angela Kincaid, draws on Celtic mythology for its barbarian hero. The ABC Warriors, Nemesis the Warlock, Halo Jones (by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson) and Nikolai Dante all became reader favourites. The anthology format, with five or six serialised strips per issue, meant that readers could follow multiple ongoing sagas at once, and the strip roster was constantly refreshed with new creations.

Ownership and editorial history

2000 AD's publishing history mirrors the convulsions of the British comics industry. Launched by IPC Magazines, it passed through the various incarnations of the IPC comics division, becoming part of Fleetway and later Egmont's Fleetway Editions. In 2000 the title was acquired by Rebellion, the Oxford-based video game developer and publisher founded by brothers Jason and Chris Kingsley. Rebellion's purchase rescued the comic and its archive at a critical moment, and under its ownership 2000 AD has enjoyed a sustained revival. The comic is edited by Matt Smith, who has overseen the title through much of the Rebellion era, maintaining its weekly schedule and its commitment to new strips and new talent.

Rebellion and Oxford

Under Rebellion, 2000 AD is published from Riverside House on Osney Mead in Oxford, and appears every Wednesday. Rebellion has invested heavily in the title: restoring and reprinting the vast back catalogue in collected editions, digitising the archive, and expanding the brand into novels, audio dramas, merchandise and games. The company also publishes the Judge Dredd Megazine, a monthly sister title launched in 1990 that carries longer Dredd stories and reprints classic material. Rebellion's stewardship has been widely credited with securing the long-term future of Britain's most important comics property and with treating its archive as a cultural asset rather than a mere backlist.

A launchpad for talent

Few publications can claim to have shaped modern comics as profoundly as 2000 AD. Its pages provided the proving ground for a generation of writers and artists who would go on to transform the industry. Alan Moore wrote for the comic in the early 1980s, including the groundbreaking Future Shocks and the Halo Jones saga with Ian Gibson. Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Garth Ennis all began or developed their careers at 2000 AD before conquering the American market. Among artists, Brian Bolland's meticulous Dredd covers, Dave Gibbons's clean storytelling, and the painted work of Simon Bisley and Glenn Fabry set new standards for the medium. The comic's willingness to give young creators ambitious, creator-driven work made it the most important talent incubator in British comics.

Political edge and satire

From its earliest days, 2000 AD carried a subversive political charge. Its future dystopias were transparent satires of contemporary Britain: Mega-City One's block wars and unemployment mirrored the inner-city crises of the late 1970s and 1980s, and strips routinely mocked politicians, the police, the media and the military. The comic's anti-authoritarian streak, inherited from the British underground and punk, distinguished it from the more earnest superhero comics of America. Even as its politics have evolved, the title has retained its sceptical, irreverent voice, and its willingness to address war, surveillance, corporate power and environmental collapse through science fiction has kept it relevant to successive generations of readers. The comic's creators have never shied away from direct commentary: Thatcher-era Britain was refracted through Mega-City One's unemployment towers and block wars, the Cold War through strips about nuclear dread, and later decades through stories about surveillance states, corporate overreach and environmental collapse. This willingness to engage with the politics of the moment, wrapped in spectacular science-fiction adventure, is a large part of why 2000 AD has retained its bite long after the more escapist comics of its era faded from memory.

Publishing rhythm and format

2000 AD is published weekly, appearing every Wednesday, a demanding schedule that it has maintained for nearly fifty years. Each prog carries around five serialised strips plus features, letters and the occasional one-off Future Shock. The weekly rhythm creates a distinctive reading experience: fast, dense and constantly propulsive, with cliffhangers every seven days. The comic is sold through newsagents, comic shops and subscription, and is also available digitally. Special anniversary issues, most notably the lavish celebrations of its 40th anniversary, have showcased the title's history and its continuing vitality.

Cultural influence

The influence of 2000 AD extends far beyond comics. Judge Dredd is a globally recognised character, the subject of two Hollywood films and countless homages. The visual language of British science fiction, from its chunky technology to its grimy, lived-in futures, owes an enormous debt to the comic's artists. Its writers carried its storytelling techniques into American comics, film and television: the widescreen action, the moral ambiguity and the compressed, high-impact serialisation pioneered in its pages became industry standards. In Britain, 2000 AD remains a cultural touchstone, a shared reference point for generations who grew up reading it. Its characters appear on merchandise, at comic conventions and in gallery exhibitions, and its influence is routinely cited by filmmakers, novelists and game designers. The comic's famous cover lines and catchphrases are part of the vernacular of British popular culture, and its role in proving that a British comic could be commercially successful, critically respected and creatively ambitious has inspired every independent comics publisher that followed.

Legacy and continuity

Approaching its fiftieth anniversary, 2000 AD stands as a unique achievement in publishing: a weekly anthology comic that has survived the collapse of the British comics industry, multiple changes of ownership and the digital revolution without losing its identity. Under Rebellion's ownership, with its archive restored and its weekly schedule intact, it continues to publish new strips by new creators alongside the ongoing adventures of Judge Dredd. For its readers, it remains the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. For the wider culture, it is proof that a bold, distinctive editorial vision, maintained week in and week out for decades, can create something that outlasts every trend.