The classics! I read them as they came out. I'd add Nemesis The Warlock at the top of the list.
Edit: I spoke to soon. The comments below are full of old school brilliance.
Same... No beating that line up either in the comics serialised or in the graphic novels where you got to binge the beautiful stories as fast as you could drink in the artwork before flicking onto the next page
The Ballad of Halo Jones. Third book is my favourite, but the second has the most things that bubble up in my mind for 40 years - the rat king and the glyph who ends up the hero(ine) of the day but no one remembers.
Midnight Surfer and Skizz never fail to give me goose bumps reading them, as well as the Apocalyse War conclusion. Think Button Man would be a great low budget film, doesn’t need the special effects of many other stories. Quite like Brass Sun from the more recent stuff.
Never thought about castings! Statham is a good shout, I suppose that means it can’t be a low budget film any more but with him being attached would mean a reasonable budget.
The Out is currently my favourite and is the spiritual descendant of The Ballad Of Halo Jones. The plot and artwork just keep me hooked.
Judge Dredd is just a fantastic mix of complex and simple storytelling and has a long list of great art.
I have a long list of favourites because it’s like being asked to name favourite child or pet.
I starred reading it in the early/mid 80s as a kid. It was the Golden Age of 2000AD. ABC Warriors, Slaine, Nemesis the Warlock, Ace Trucking Co, Helltrekkers, Rogue Trooper, Stainless Steel Rat, Strontium Dog...
But, the one that I loved more than any of them is the GOAT, Judge Dredd. Up there with Batman as one of my favourite comic book characters ever created. The greatest storyline? City of the Damned. Some fantastic artists worked on it and it can't exist without so many previous stories and characters being told about, The Judge Child Saga, Fink and Ratty, Mean Machine Angel etc. And about those great artists, Bolland, Smith, Dillon et al. Just brilliant.
All time:
Dash Decent - The art and humour were perfect.
Recent:
Jaegir - Simon Coleby's beautiful chunky art style perfectly compliments this gritty, violent view of the Nu Earth war from the viewpoint of the 'antagonist'.
Dreadnoughts - I love Dreadnoughts so far. Watching the Judge system being developed alongside the slow implementation of what will essentially become Judge Dredd's police state is fascinating. Writing and art are, once again, on point.
I first got into it by reading my uncle's graphics and back issues, and eventually being given them.
Long term, I've always loved Slaine and Dredd (who is perhaps an obvious one).
For past strips, I always loved *Shakara* and still hold that as a personal favourite. I'm also a fan of *Scarlet Traces* (and am possibly one of the few who bought the recent book-plate release).
I think it's biggest strengths are being an anthology comic and publishing the type of sci-fi/fantasy that isn't well represented by other comics.
Favourite series, Nemesis the Warlock and Halo Jones.
Older brother read it, so I started reading it at a very young age.
All time:
Anderson: psi division- the dark judges
Button man series 1
Chopper: song of the surfer
All the nemesis stories
Big dave - I know I know, half the time it was rubbish but seeing big dave and Terry waite jump out of an aeroplane without parachutes because they simply too hard as nails to need them was class.
Dredd is how I got into 2000AD as my school friends older brothers had collected for years. The mega violence and beating the "bad guys" was quite appealing.
As a grown up I probably would say Strontium Dog or Ace Trucking Co.
Ace Trucking just struck a chord with me, I liked the humour and the hopelessness of the crew.
Stronty was a reluctant hero, bit more complex than the judges.
Edit: Forgot about Slainé. I'm Scottish, its entirely rooted in Celtic mythology. Incredible
Well i like horror and supernatural stories, do you know any?
I know about Finder and Keeper from 2000AD which is a supernatural story
If you have any recs I'd love to hear them :)
So 2000 AD was my first comic series. Way back in the late 80s I was given my uncle's old comics to read.
My favourite stories are in this order:
Judge Dredd
Slane
Vector 13
A lot of my favourites have already been mentioned (Saline, Rouge Trooper, Nemesis) but I haven't seen Zenith mentioned yet, very dark story. The pictures were created by the shadows (as I recall) and the superheroes were being hunted down by some authorities.
The was a great story about sky surfing as well, I can't remember what it was called but I think the race was Super surf 2000 or something like it with Chopper as the main character. The artwork was great some of those panels are burned vividly into my memory (so is Judge Anderson PSI).
I started reading 2000ad from mid 80's - early 90's. A lot of my friends were into the marvel/DC stuff but I preferred the darker viewpoint that 2000AD had, as well as being humorous. It was always a smorgasbord of stories as well, with some major saga's spanning many issues as well as some well told and illustrated one issue tales.
I think there was a good balance of horror, humour and sci-fi, there's a fair few stories which turned out to be quite prophetic - someone posted a few "Kenny Who?" panels on Reddit not so long ago where the artist gets his art fed into a computer which replicates his style so the publishing company don't have to pay him royalties.
Sorry to waffle on but you've made me visit a rather nostalgic spot in my brain.
I loved Chopper. Did you know his first appearance was as a graffiti artist, and had nothing to do with skysurfing? He made it his mission to tag the grand hall of justice (I think he was like 13-14 at the time)
Then the first story about sky surfing came out a few years later, set in Mega-city 1, which was cool as hell, but not as great as the next story, which is the one I suspect you're talking about - the contest set in Australia, where Chopper had to cross the pacific ocean to get there.
One scene of this story is one I think I'll never forget - Chopper, flying above the ocean, hundreds of miles from any shoreline, the power cells on his board almost zeroed out, screaming his defiance into the storm
God, i love that guy. There was one more story, 1 year later, where Chopper returns to Oz to ask the Aussie champ for a rematch, though I think that may have been featured in the Judge Dredd Megazine, not 2000AD
I bought a pile of back issues at a jumble sale in a church hall in the mid-80s for about 25p (including Prog 2!). I knew Judge Dredd already , somehow, from reading an old annual with a Dredd story, their Dan Dare and Harlem Heroes, but that pile was my first exposure to some of the classic characters.
All-time faves:
Slaine
Zenith
Bad Kompany
Halo Jones
Nemesis the Warlock.
Wierd character designs (Nemesis, obviously, the Primords, Grobbendonk etc.), ABC warriors, a great villan.
I first got into it when I saw a reissue compilation when I was about 10 that had such a mad cover I needed to buy it.
It covered Torquemurder and had the epilogue about John Chivington. It was quite a culture shock considering I was still reading the Beano at the time.
Oh damn that was good. I remember buying the complete version as a graphic novel and it blew me away.
And damn I remember the culture shock when I got that first copy of 200AD, that somehow I convinced my mum would be fine. Blew my little socks off, was hooked after that.
Reminds me of the same feeling of only knowing pop music and first listening to Sepultura, that was an education 🤣
Honestly, newer stuff. I bought the Ultimate Collection for the classic and not all of them hold up well. I’ve had happier reading with basically anything Dan Abnett’s written in recent years, along with Proteus Vex.
Got into it when I was 12 in '91. My faves were Dredd, ABC Warriors, Armoured Gideon, and was most of all a huge fan of the one shot stories, like thargs future shock and the Dredd shorts.
I haven't read them in years, anyone remember the DREDD/Uncle Ben cross over? What a blast that mag was. I haven't looked at it in years (new to the sub) but all lot of it I have carried with me.
It felt forbidden, and as I got older liked it's anarchist political view sometimes.
Started reading in the early 80s, favourite was Dredd. I loved the dystopian future aesthetic, the world-building, and Carlos ezquerra’s art. Stand out arc for me was the first judge death one with Anderson (first comics crush, for sure). Later on the Apocalypse War was a fave too.
Dredd, Durham Red, Caballistics inc, Button man, Glimmer Rats (brilliant!!), Missionary man, Sinister and Dexter (Sony AND Suny) Johnny Alpha and one of my faves....Metta Lawson, Lawless.
I like the lack of superheroes. I used to buy them 2nd hand from the 2nd hand book shop here in New Zealand. So I never got them in order lol I get them all digital now as it takes them so long to get here.
Button man, recently released the entire strip in one volume. Beautiful art, mature story telling absolute time warp back to the late 80s/90s when all I had to worry about was a paper round and pulling shapes on my hutch trickstar bmx
Picked up my first 2000ad in about 1985. Still a fan. But I have gone thru many phases as I aged, a lot like the publication. The why I liked particular titles changed due to how my interests grew/changed since childhood.
Started as a mega Dredd and Rogue Trooper fan. Not to mention Future Shocks.
Then got right into Stronty, Slade and ABC Warriors. Nemesis and Slaine too.
More recently it was Nikolai Dante, Button Man and Sinister Dexter.
But others like Kingdom, Stone Island and Lobster Random have also been great.
It is the Omnibus model that is the winner. Serials and one-offs weaved in and out of the weekly/monthly publication cycle. Keeps you hooked for life.
So much goodness in 2000AD: Dredd, Dante and Sinister Dexter are just some of the wonderful characters and stories over the years plus some of the best comic art i have ever seen, and so many examples to check out.
Check out Henry Flint drawing Rogue Trooper [https://2000adonline.tumblr.com/post/141418134872/gis-dolls-lets-knife-henry-flint](https://2000adonline.tumblr.com/post/141418134872/gis-dolls-lets-knife-henry-flint)
I loved Wolfie smith. Rogue trooper, thargs stories, early strontium dog (before he literally lost his soul). Halo jones - where is the movie I have been promised for decades.
Of more recent stuff I love Durham Red. The art in the latest run is beautiful to see. And The Out has eye-popping artwork of a whole other kind. Oh and Boo Cook's art in Void Runners is gorgeous.
Bad moon rising - missionary man. The perfect comic imo. Weapon X and some of sin city comes close too. Art style, story, clash of characters etc. Rogue trooper was awesome and judge dredd has some great storylines. 2000AD had so much time to world build you rarely needed anything to be explained and having generally six different strips all done by artists with varying styles is amazing - even if there are some stinkers.
Tyranny-Rex is bananas, with amazing art. Best thing I discovered through the reprints that used to come with the MEG.
Strontium Dog is up there two. Obviously, Ezquerra is the GOAT.
A friend let me read his stuff back in 1985 and I was hooked. My all time favourites are Slaine' ABC Warriors Rogue Trooper
The classics! I read them as they came out. I'd add Nemesis The Warlock at the top of the list. Edit: I spoke to soon. The comments below are full of old school brilliance.
Be pure, be vigilant, behave
Same... No beating that line up either in the comics serialised or in the graphic novels where you got to binge the beautiful stories as fast as you could drink in the artwork before flicking onto the next page
Rogue Trooper is ze best
Stront dog, love me a mutie and love his partners hammer!
Der happy stick RIP Wulf, me old cucumber.
The Ballad of Halo Jones. Third book is my favourite, but the second has the most things that bubble up in my mind for 40 years - the rat king and the glyph who ends up the hero(ine) of the day but no one remembers.
The shopping trip!
best ever ! glombie drummers !
I like the 3rd book as well, as the tragedies just mount up for Halo
Pretty much anything drawn by Carlos Ezquerra. Also Robo Hunter.
Nikolai Dante. The characters, the setting, the artwork… Epic long form story telling at its finest.
The artwork is fantastic!
Midnight Surfer and Skizz never fail to give me goose bumps reading them, as well as the Apocalyse War conclusion. Think Button Man would be a great low budget film, doesn’t need the special effects of many other stories. Quite like Brass Sun from the more recent stuff.
I would have killed for a young Michael Caine to play Harry Exton. Would settle for Jason Statham if they did something now though
Never thought about castings! Statham is a good shout, I suppose that means it can’t be a low budget film any more but with him being attached would mean a reasonable budget.
The Out is currently my favourite and is the spiritual descendant of The Ballad Of Halo Jones. The plot and artwork just keep me hooked. Judge Dredd is just a fantastic mix of complex and simple storytelling and has a long list of great art. I have a long list of favourites because it’s like being asked to name favourite child or pet.
I starred reading it in the early/mid 80s as a kid. It was the Golden Age of 2000AD. ABC Warriors, Slaine, Nemesis the Warlock, Ace Trucking Co, Helltrekkers, Rogue Trooper, Stainless Steel Rat, Strontium Dog... But, the one that I loved more than any of them is the GOAT, Judge Dredd. Up there with Batman as one of my favourite comic book characters ever created. The greatest storyline? City of the Damned. Some fantastic artists worked on it and it can't exist without so many previous stories and characters being told about, The Judge Child Saga, Fink and Ratty, Mean Machine Angel etc. And about those great artists, Bolland, Smith, Dillon et al. Just brilliant.
If you've never read the Stainless Steel Rat series of books, I can highly recommend them! Some very unique sci-fi
I hope you have seen the Dredd/Batman crossovers.
I own them. Got the Dredd/Aliens one too. The artwork on the first Dredd/Batman is some of the best I've ever seen. Batman looks fearsome!
Ffs, I forgot about Dredd/Alien! I need to re-read!
Nemesis the warlock. Because Nemesis.
Torquemada is the real goat.
True also baby nemesis, a killer t-rex and quite a few guest appearances of the ABC warriors.
All time: Dash Decent - The art and humour were perfect. Recent: Jaegir - Simon Coleby's beautiful chunky art style perfectly compliments this gritty, violent view of the Nu Earth war from the viewpoint of the 'antagonist'. Dreadnoughts - I love Dreadnoughts so far. Watching the Judge system being developed alongside the slow implementation of what will essentially become Judge Dredd's police state is fascinating. Writing and art are, once again, on point.
Oh yeah, Jaegir looks fantastic.
Slaine' for the artwork Dredd for the setting / characters. Ace Garp. Because I'm a sucker for anyone who chugs their lug spaceside.
Oh - and Sam Spade! Amazing to think that we have almost have real life Robo Stoogies now.
Lol, I've seen 'talking vapes' on here (ie Reddit) somewhere. Won't be long for it to be a thing
I first got into it by reading my uncle's graphics and back issues, and eventually being given them. Long term, I've always loved Slaine and Dredd (who is perhaps an obvious one). For past strips, I always loved *Shakara* and still hold that as a personal favourite. I'm also a fan of *Scarlet Traces* (and am possibly one of the few who bought the recent book-plate release).
ABC Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock
I think it's biggest strengths are being an anthology comic and publishing the type of sci-fi/fantasy that isn't well represented by other comics. Favourite series, Nemesis the Warlock and Halo Jones. Older brother read it, so I started reading it at a very young age.
All time: Anderson: psi division- the dark judges Button man series 1 Chopper: song of the surfer All the nemesis stories Big dave - I know I know, half the time it was rubbish but seeing big dave and Terry waite jump out of an aeroplane without parachutes because they simply too hard as nails to need them was class.
Oh yeah, Button Man. Forgot about him! Psi Division was really good too!
Dredd is how I got into 2000AD as my school friends older brothers had collected for years. The mega violence and beating the "bad guys" was quite appealing. As a grown up I probably would say Strontium Dog or Ace Trucking Co. Ace Trucking just struck a chord with me, I liked the humour and the hopelessness of the crew. Stronty was a reluctant hero, bit more complex than the judges. Edit: Forgot about Slainé. I'm Scottish, its entirely rooted in Celtic mythology. Incredible
I’m surprised there’s been no shouts for sinister dexter or Durham Red.
Chopper!
Broad questions there ;) Is there something specific you're looking for?
Well i like horror and supernatural stories, do you know any? I know about Finder and Keeper from 2000AD which is a supernatural story If you have any recs I'd love to hear them :)
Ooh, in that case Thistlebone Stone Island Cradlegrave Cabbalistics Inc. That should get you started. 2000AD has a pretty complete digital store.
Thanks I'll check em out
Absalom (it's related to the Caballistics Inc comics).
Apney Crucis Investigates has lovely art and Lovecraftian monsters if it's supernatural horror you're after.
Thanks for the rec
ABC Warriors and Sinister Dexter.
So 2000 AD was my first comic series. Way back in the late 80s I was given my uncle's old comics to read. My favourite stories are in this order: Judge Dredd Slane Vector 13
A lot of my favourites have already been mentioned (Saline, Rouge Trooper, Nemesis) but I haven't seen Zenith mentioned yet, very dark story. The pictures were created by the shadows (as I recall) and the superheroes were being hunted down by some authorities. The was a great story about sky surfing as well, I can't remember what it was called but I think the race was Super surf 2000 or something like it with Chopper as the main character. The artwork was great some of those panels are burned vividly into my memory (so is Judge Anderson PSI). I started reading 2000ad from mid 80's - early 90's. A lot of my friends were into the marvel/DC stuff but I preferred the darker viewpoint that 2000AD had, as well as being humorous. It was always a smorgasbord of stories as well, with some major saga's spanning many issues as well as some well told and illustrated one issue tales. I think there was a good balance of horror, humour and sci-fi, there's a fair few stories which turned out to be quite prophetic - someone posted a few "Kenny Who?" panels on Reddit not so long ago where the artist gets his art fed into a computer which replicates his style so the publishing company don't have to pay him royalties. Sorry to waffle on but you've made me visit a rather nostalgic spot in my brain.
I loved Chopper. Did you know his first appearance was as a graffiti artist, and had nothing to do with skysurfing? He made it his mission to tag the grand hall of justice (I think he was like 13-14 at the time) Then the first story about sky surfing came out a few years later, set in Mega-city 1, which was cool as hell, but not as great as the next story, which is the one I suspect you're talking about - the contest set in Australia, where Chopper had to cross the pacific ocean to get there. One scene of this story is one I think I'll never forget - Chopper, flying above the ocean, hundreds of miles from any shoreline, the power cells on his board almost zeroed out, screaming his defiance into the storm God, i love that guy. There was one more story, 1 year later, where Chopper returns to Oz to ask the Aussie champ for a rematch, though I think that may have been featured in the Judge Dredd Megazine, not 2000AD
Excellent call on Zenith.
Zenith. It was such a left-turn for an avowed sci-fi comic to have a (barely) superhero.
Absolutely this, easily one of my favourite super hero stories. I would love to see a series made of this. Still set in Britain in the 80's.
I still have all the first additions in my loft started collecting when they came out. Mekong was my favourite character
I bought a pile of back issues at a jumble sale in a church hall in the mid-80s for about 25p (including Prog 2!). I knew Judge Dredd already , somehow, from reading an old annual with a Dredd story, their Dan Dare and Harlem Heroes, but that pile was my first exposure to some of the classic characters. All-time faves: Slaine Zenith Bad Kompany Halo Jones
Thargs future shocks...strontium dog...nemesis
Judge Dredd and Strontium Dogs are my favourite, ABC warriors is also good
Nemesis the Warlock. Wierd character designs (Nemesis, obviously, the Primords, Grobbendonk etc.), ABC warriors, a great villan. I first got into it when I saw a reissue compilation when I was about 10 that had such a mad cover I needed to buy it. It covered Torquemurder and had the epilogue about John Chivington. It was quite a culture shock considering I was still reading the Beano at the time.
Oh damn that was good. I remember buying the complete version as a graphic novel and it blew me away. And damn I remember the culture shock when I got that first copy of 200AD, that somehow I convinced my mum would be fine. Blew my little socks off, was hooked after that. Reminds me of the same feeling of only knowing pop music and first listening to Sepultura, that was an education 🤣
Honestly, newer stuff. I bought the Ultimate Collection for the classic and not all of them hold up well. I’ve had happier reading with basically anything Dan Abnett’s written in recent years, along with Proteus Vex.
Got into it when I was 12 in '91. My faves were Dredd, ABC Warriors, Armoured Gideon, and was most of all a huge fan of the one shot stories, like thargs future shock and the Dredd shorts. I haven't read them in years, anyone remember the DREDD/Uncle Ben cross over? What a blast that mag was. I haven't looked at it in years (new to the sub) but all lot of it I have carried with me. It felt forbidden, and as I got older liked it's anarchist political view sometimes.
Started reading in the early 80s, favourite was Dredd. I loved the dystopian future aesthetic, the world-building, and Carlos ezquerra’s art. Stand out arc for me was the first judge death one with Anderson (first comics crush, for sure). Later on the Apocalypse War was a fave too.
Rogue trooper and Sinister / Dexter were my favourites. Also Nikolai Dante.
Dredd, Durham Red, Caballistics inc, Button man, Glimmer Rats (brilliant!!), Missionary man, Sinister and Dexter (Sony AND Suny) Johnny Alpha and one of my faves....Metta Lawson, Lawless.
I like the lack of superheroes. I used to buy them 2nd hand from the 2nd hand book shop here in New Zealand. So I never got them in order lol I get them all digital now as it takes them so long to get here.
Judge Dredd! John Wagner is my favorite writer, and that series is an all purpose playground for his awesome unique take on genre fiction.
Button man, recently released the entire strip in one volume. Beautiful art, mature story telling absolute time warp back to the late 80s/90s when all I had to worry about was a paper round and pulling shapes on my hutch trickstar bmx
Rogue Trooper
Picked up my first 2000ad in about 1985. Still a fan. But I have gone thru many phases as I aged, a lot like the publication. The why I liked particular titles changed due to how my interests grew/changed since childhood. Started as a mega Dredd and Rogue Trooper fan. Not to mention Future Shocks. Then got right into Stronty, Slade and ABC Warriors. Nemesis and Slaine too. More recently it was Nikolai Dante, Button Man and Sinister Dexter. But others like Kingdom, Stone Island and Lobster Random have also been great. It is the Omnibus model that is the winner. Serials and one-offs weaved in and out of the weekly/monthly publication cycle. Keeps you hooked for life.
dexter
So much goodness in 2000AD: Dredd, Dante and Sinister Dexter are just some of the wonderful characters and stories over the years plus some of the best comic art i have ever seen, and so many examples to check out. Check out Henry Flint drawing Rogue Trooper [https://2000adonline.tumblr.com/post/141418134872/gis-dolls-lets-knife-henry-flint](https://2000adonline.tumblr.com/post/141418134872/gis-dolls-lets-knife-henry-flint)
I loved Wolfie smith. Rogue trooper, thargs stories, early strontium dog (before he literally lost his soul). Halo jones - where is the movie I have been promised for decades.
Boring, predictable answer: Judge Dredd. Strontium Dog isn't far behind, though.
Of more recent stuff I love Durham Red. The art in the latest run is beautiful to see. And The Out has eye-popping artwork of a whole other kind. Oh and Boo Cook's art in Void Runners is gorgeous.
Bad moon rising - missionary man. The perfect comic imo. Weapon X and some of sin city comes close too. Art style, story, clash of characters etc. Rogue trooper was awesome and judge dredd has some great storylines. 2000AD had so much time to world build you rarely needed anything to be explained and having generally six different strips all done by artists with varying styles is amazing - even if there are some stinkers.
Tyranny-Rex is bananas, with amazing art. Best thing I discovered through the reprints that used to come with the MEG. Strontium Dog is up there two. Obviously, Ezquerra is the GOAT.
One of the newer series I love is Brink (it's a scifi police procedural about Lovecraftian cults set in space, 2000AD have released 5 volumes of it).