2000 AD #210
2000 AD prog 210 (2 May 1981) is a double-barrelled key issue: it contains the first appearance of Archibald 'Middenface' McNulty, the Scottish mutant fighter who would become Johnny Alpha's most enduring partner in Strontium Dog and eventually headline his own spin-off series. The issue simultaneously carries the concluding chapter of 'The Body Sharks' — part of the interconnected Mega-Rackets cycle, one of the most structurally ambitious Judge Dredd runs of the early 1980s, presenting Mega-City One's organised crime as a serialised anthology of interlocking cases. Together, the two stories make this prog a snapshot of 2000 AD at the height of its early creative confidence, when both its flagship strip and its star anthology feature were pushing the boundaries of long-form storytelling in weekly British comics.
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Middenface McNulty debuted inside the 'Portrait of a Mutant' arc — the origin story of Johnny Alpha — scripted by John Wagner and Alan Grant writing under their shared house pseudonym T.B. Grover, with art by Carlos Ezquerra. The arc ran in two blocks across progs 200–206 and 210–221, meaning prog 210 marks both the resumption of the story and McNulty's on-page introduction as the leader of Scotland's mutant resistance army. The Judge Dredd strip in the same issue, 'The Body Sharks Part 2,' was also scripted by T.B. Grover (Wagner/Grant) and drawn by Colin Wilson, part of the larger Mega-Rackets sequence that ran continuously from prog 209 through 223.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Archibald 'Middenface' McNulty, Scottish mutant Search/Destroy agent and recurring partner of Johnny Alpha in Strontium Dog (confirmed: League of Comic Geeks, Wikipedia, Dread Alert).
- Published 2 May 1981 by IPC Magazines as part of the weekly anthology 2000 AD (prog 210).
- McNulty was created by writers John Wagner and Alan Grant alongside artist Carlos Ezquerra for the Strontium Dog strip.
- Wagner and Grant scripted both the Strontium Dog and Judge Dredd stories in this issue under their shared pseudonym T.B. Grover.
- The Strontium Dog story is Part 8 of 'Portrait of a Mutant,' Johnny Alpha's origin saga — widely regarded as the definitive Strontium Dog story — which ran across progs 200–206 and 210–221.
- The Judge Dredd story is 'The Mega-Rackets: The Body Sharks, Part 2,' drawn by Colin Wilson; it is part of the Mega-Rackets inter-connected crime cycle spanning progs 209–223.
- Other strips in this issue include Tharg's Future Shocks, Meltdown Man, Return to Armageddon, and a Mean Arena pin-up.
- The Mega-Rackets material (including the Body Sharks from prog 210) was later collected in The Best of 2000 AD #31, Judge Dredd's Crime Files #3, Judge Dredd Mega City Vice Book 1, and Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #05.