2000 AD Summer Special #[nn]
Published in June/July 1977 — just months after 2000 AD launched — this 64-page paperback 'supercomic' is the very first summer special ever issued under the 2000 AD banner, and the only one to carry the 'Summer Special' name before the series was rebranded as the Sci-Fi Special from 1978 onward. It presented original stories for all six strips that had debuted in Prog 1 (Harlem Heroes, Judge Dredd, Invasion!, Dan Dare, M.A.C.H. 1, and Flesh), confirming the editorial confidence that every founding franchise had enough audience momentum to sustain extended, standalone material within the same calendar year they launched. The Judge Dredd story — 'The Judge's Graveyard,' drawn by Kevin O'Neill — is particularly notable as one of the earliest Dredd tales to appear outside the weekly prog, giving the character his first special-format outing and featuring Chief Judge Goodman in a supporting role, deepening the nascent Mega-City One mythology.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The special was published by IPC Magazines and released on 30 June 1977, timed to capitalise on the summer holiday reading market — a standard IPC strategy for its anthology titles. Kevin O'Neill served as cover artist, with Jan Shepheard presumed as designer; the writer of the Dredd story 'The Judge's Graveyard' remains unconfirmed in published records. The issue also included a preview feature on the then-forthcoming Star Wars film, reflecting IPC's awareness that the science-fiction boom of 1977 was a commercial opportunity. Its success directly led to the annual 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special series that ran from 1978 through 1996 and was revived again in 2014.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published 30 June 1977 by IPC Magazines; 64 pages, largely black-and-white, in a magazine-sized paperback 'supercomic' format priced at 30p.
- The sole issue ever titled '2000 AD Summer Special' — all subsequent annual summer specials were retitled '2000 AD Sci-Fi Special' starting in 1978.
- Contained original stories for all six strips that originated in Prog 1: Harlem Heroes ('Seattle Sluggers'), Judge Dredd ('The Judge's Graveyard'), Invasion! ('Carchester'), Dan Dare ('Anti-Universe'), M.A.C.H. 1 ('Kraal'), and Flesh ('Carrion').
- The Judge Dredd story 'The Judge's Graveyard' (6 pages) was drawn by Kevin O'Neill — one of the very earliest Dredd strips not illustrated by series-launch artist Mike McMahon — and features Chief Judge Goodman in a supporting role.
- Also included The Phantom Patrol: 'The Trojan War,' a reprint strip originally published in the earlier IPC children's title Swift, making it the only non-original material in the issue.
- Characters indexed across the issue include Joe Dredd, Chief Judge Goodman (Clarence Goodman), Bill Savage (Invasion!), and Earl Reagan (Flesh) — assembling virtually the entire cast of the founding 2000 AD universe in one publication.
- A colour preview feature on the Star Wars film — not yet released in the UK at the time of publication — appeared alongside science and puzzle articles, reflecting IPC's push to position 2000 AD within the wider 1977 sci-fi cultural moment.
- 'The Judge's Graveyard' was later reprinted in Rebellion's trade paperback Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files Vol. 1, giving it renewed availability for modern readers.
Cast · 5 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Savage and Silk break Brigadier Pearson out of the Roman fortress at Carchester after he gets captured by the Volgans.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).