All things considered: 2000 A.D. the longest running Bronze Age title & Judge Dredd 0

[bronze johnny]

Am I correct in giving kudos to the British for having the longest running Bronze Age created title. 2000 A.D. has been going now for more than 45 years. It’s cover date precedes Heavy Metal Magazine’s by one month. This would be an incredible achievement that started with Prog 1 (first issue) and had a new interpretation of Dan Dare along with a detachable free “Space Spinner” on the cover. Interestingly, it appears that 2000 A.D. and Heavy Metal Magazine have outlasted all of the original Marvel and DC titles initiating during the Bronze Age. Not bad for the anthology format if this is correct. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by bronze johnny

[bronze johnny]

(Cover scan taken from “2000aopedia”)

[Chaykin Stevens]

Is it known how far in advance of its April 1977 cover date Heavy Metal #1 would have been released?

Edited August 16, 2022 by Chaykin Stevens

[OtherEric]

I can't find any hard data on the Heavy Metal #1, but my guess would be late February or very early March on the stands.  At least initially, it would presumably roughly match National Lampoon, which published a preview in their March 1977 issue.  And National Lampoon occasionally had themed issues tied to the month, most frequently December, which you wouldn't want coming out too far in advance of the relevant month.  So I'm going to assume it followed the normal non-comic dating pattern of the cover date being when it should go off sale, rather than the traditional several months ahead of comics in the 70's.

[bronze johnny]

Someone got a great deal on 2000 A.D. Prog 2:

Considering what this sold for:

And where this one is now:

 

[bronze johnny]

Becoming clear that 2000 A.D. Prog 2 is a major Bronze Age key. Fascinating that a British created character has a first appearance that might very well become a top 5 Bronze Age book. (I don’t own a copy!)

[bronze johnny]

For those that aren’t aware, 2000 A.D. Prog 1 has Judge Dredd making his first ever appearance to the world in this advertisement:

My guess is Prog 1 will be viewed as the equivalent of the TMNT’s appearance in Gobbledygook 1. Great history for the Bronze Age!

[bronze johnny]

Next year’s Overstreet Price Guide will  need to add these classic Bronze Age keys.

[shadroch]

Has Overstreet ever listed foreign books? I see no reason to start now.

Which is the 2000AD with the Dredd Badge?  I have to dig my 2000ADs out, i packed them seven years ago and haven't opened the box since.

[MisterX]

Huh, I didn't know CGC started slabbing progs. When did that happen?

I can't read the label -- does it note if the free stickers are present or missing? Raw copies with stickers go for more, which is obvious, I guess.

I had the impression for a long time that British collectors of British comics weren't as invested in the whole "first appearance" mentality that's become so popular in the past 30 years or so in America.  I could be wrong, though.

2000 AD has so many great characters, it would probably give Spider-Man, Batman and the Fantastic Four a run for their money on key books. 

[JTLarsen]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:01 PM, shadroch said:

Has Overstreet ever listed foreign books? I see no reason to start now.

Which is the 2000AD with the Dredd Badge?  I have to dig my 2000ADs out, i packed them seven years ago and haven't opened the box since.

They do. They list a handful of UK books, possibly all Marvel UK.

[bronze johnny]

On 9/1/2022 at 12:44 PM, MisterX said:

Huh, I didn't know CGC started slabbing progs. When did that happen?

I can't read the label -- does it note if the free stickers are present or missing? Raw copies with stickers go for more, which is obvious, I guess.

I had the impression for a long time that British collectors of British comics weren't as invested in the whole "first appearance" mentality that's become so popular in the past 30 years or so in America.  I could be wrong, though.

2000 AD has so many great characters, it would probably give Spider-Man, Batman and the Fantastic Four a run for their money on key books. 

Biometric stickers are included. The spinner that came with Prog 1 in the C-Link auction. That’s impossible to find so it must be sought after because I would have played with the spinner as a kid and probably broke it. Can’t imagine there are many out there unless it’s made of durable plastic, which I doubt it is.

[bronze johnny]

Big number for this BA key. Great to see a British classic take off. Also a great example of another successful Bronze Age creation that’s still with us: