On this day, 26 February 1977: 2000AD (Prog 1)
On this day, 26 February 1977 ... the future began here. I find it quite difficult to blog about 2000AD as so much has been written and documented already by people far more knowledgable and insightful about this hugely significant publication, so it seems as useful just to present some scans of the artwork - zarjaz from day one - and let it speak for itself.
All I would like to say as an additional observation is that one of the most remarkable aspects of 2000AD then and now, aside from the gorgeous art, superb writing, the action, horror, humour, satire and imagination, is its gift for astute prophecy. So much of the world in which we now live has been predicted or foreshadowed in some form or another by the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, usually in the pages of Judge Dredd. And here in Prog 1 we find oil wars, surgically-enhanced humans and televised sport transcending ethics for the sake of entertainment - sure, all of these things were happening to some extent already in February 1977, but a mark of the quality of the opening episodes of 'future shock' stories Invasion!, M.A.C.H.1 and Harlem Heroes is that we can read them in 2016 and just about believe in them as set today. We'll all be eating triceratops twizzlers before the end of the decade, I tell you.
Invasion!: Pat Mills (writer), Jesus Blasco (artist)
Invasion!: Pat Mills (writer), Jesus Blasco (artist)
Flesh: Pat Mills (writer), Boix (artist)
Flesh: Pat Mills (writer), Boix (artist)
Dan Dare: Pat Mills and Ken Armstrong (writers), Massimo Belardinelli (artist)
Dan Dare: Pat Mills and Ken Armstrong (writers), Massimo Belardinelli (artist)
M.A.C.H.1: Pat Mills (writer), Enio (artist)
M.A.C.H.1: Pat Mills (writer), Enio (artist)
Harlem Heroes: Tom Tully (writer), Dave Gibbons (artist)
Harlem Heroes: Tom Tully (writer), Dave Gibbons (artist)
