AKA... Only a Face a Mother Could Love!

Not to steal Mikelutes thunder, but I was meaning to post this for sometime now, so his journal posting seemed liked the perfect segue......I have been a fan of Judge Dredd, ever since I first read the Eagle Comics reprint of the mini-series: The Judge Child Quest. Inspired by the release of Dredd 3-D (which was pretty good considering it was filmed on a low budget; Karl Urban rocks as Dredd!), I went on my own quest to find and purchase a high grade copy of JD's first appearance... which debuted in the weekly UK newsprint comic: 2000 AD, Prog 2 (published in March, 1977, which included a set of Biotronic Man stickers).For its FMV (Fair Market Value), I consulted Overstreet, ComicsPriceGuide.com and ComicBookRealm.com, but none of these price guides list the title 2000 AD. However, I did consult The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain, which lists a VF/NM copy of Prog 2 at 250 Pounds (about $405 USD). Just an FYI: In order to view prices and valuations CBPGGB, one must pay for an annual subscription service, which is currently $16.95 USD.Armed with the knowledge of its FMV, I trolled on eBay... both the U.S. and British sites, and found a few raw ungraded copies available... but in poor shape or as part of collected sets and lots listed at high BIN's. I also tried my two favorite comic book auction sites (ComicConnect.com and Comiclink.com), but alas, 2000 AD's were nowhere to be found.Then I did a Google search of British Comics Specialty Stores, and visited several online stores and even contacted a few, but came up empty.Frustrated, I eventually abandoned my search, partly because I couldn't get what I wanted, and partly because no third party graders (CGC or PGX) currently grade 2000 AD's oversized formats. However, during my search, I did come across a stateside comic specialty internet store, mycomicshop.com, and although they didn't have 2000AD, Prog 2 in stock, I did find several back issues available, including two keys which I purchased:The first key I bought was the first and only time Judge Dredd ever removed his helmet (not including Sylvester Stallone's 1995 notorious movie take). This golden nugget can be found in the pages of 2000 AD, Prog 8 (April 16, 1977). Check out the pic below to see what Dredd looks like. Not what you were expecting... I know, it's a jip... but that's life! But it makes me wonder... what the hell does Dredd really look like to illicit such a response from those three car thieves? It reminds me of Roger Corman's '75 cult classic, Death Race 2000, when the late David Carradine revealed the surgically reconstructed face of his character, Frankenstein... Ugh! Incidentally, Pat Mills wrote a comic book sequel to DR2, called Death Race 2020. Who? Don't worry... his name will pop up a few times... trust me. The second key features John Wagner's very first published work on the character in 2000 AD, Prog 9 (April 23, 1977). Scottish writer John Wagner (who was actually born in the US but moved to Scotland with his Mother at a very early age), along with Spanish artist Carlos Esguerra, co-created Judge Dredd. Over a dispute about creator conditions with the publisher, IPC, John Wagner balked, and the first seven issues of Dredd's initial appearances were written by freelance writers. Prog 9 marks Wagner's return to the character and his first published Dredd story. It also features the first appearance of a Heavy Metal Kid Robot in a story that pre-sages the "Robot Wars", sparked by the Call Me Kenneth rogue robot, who lead a deadly and bloody robot revolt against Mega City One and its populace. This revolt is serialized in the following five issues (Prog 10 -- 14). Just an FYI: Wagner's first JD story was reprinted in Eagle Comics' Judge Dredd: The Early Cases No. 1, along with the "Robot Wars". Aside from Dredd, there are five other serialized stories which include: Invasion, Flesh, Harlem Heroes, Dan Dare, and Mach 1. Of the five, and due to a morbid and disturbing curiosity, only Flesh, Harlem Heroes, and Mach 1 are worth eliciting discussion...Flesh (created by Pat Mills: British Writer notable for Charley's War, ABC Warriors, Sláine, and Nemesis the Warlock): 23rd Century Man has developed time travel, and for whatever unknown reasons, future Cowboys (like they're still likely to exist) elect to travel back in time to harvest the meat of dinosaurs... yes, you read that correctly... Dinosaurs! What's in that Big Mac? And on top of that, our future generations also throw caution to the wind and offer first class vacations, as we discover a group of tourists on holiday in a sightseeing train ride through dinosaur country. Predictably, a nasty T-Rex nick-named "One-Eye" (don't laugh you anal loving jokesters), goes nuts, and starts munching on the dumb f*cks... predating Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel by thirteen years and the movie adaptation by sixteen... although I say, the whole convoluted mess seems rather inspired by the late sci-fi master Ray Bradbury, in his 1954 classic: "A Sound of Thunder". Harlem Heroes (another Pat Mills creation): Really only worth mentioning due to the art by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame. This one's about a futuristic sport known as Aeroball...perhaps an inspired amalgam of the Harlem Globetrotters and Norman Jewison's'75 flick Rollerball (an adaptation of William Harrison's short story "Rollerball Murder). In this particular episode, the villain looks a lot like Marvel Comic's favorite cyborg: Deathlok. Check him out on the lower left corner in the pic I provided. You tell me... Deathlok knock-off? M.A.C.H. 1 (and yet another Pat Mills creation... damn the man's prolific): British secret agent John Probe (an answer to 70's TV show the Six Million Dollar Man and is drawn to look a lot like actor Lee Majors), is the lucky recipient of a miniature supercomputer chip surgically embedded into his brain, which gives him superpowers through Man Activated Compu-Puncture Hyperpower (M.A.C.H.): a computerized form of acupuncture... a process by which inserting thousands of electro-needles into Probe's body, his energy will increase until he has the strength of 50 men! Can you believe? I say... insert that many needles into me and charge me with so much energy I'll probably f*cking burst... much less bleed to death!Well... that about wraps things up. If anyone out there owns any 2000 AD's... come out and share your favorite keys and stories... no matter how silly. Anyway... I'll let all you lucky survivors of the 2012 Apocalypse get back to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Comics! Happy Collecting!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.