An actual issue of 2000 AD (Prog 449, December 1985)

An actual issue of 2000 AD
Prog 449, December 21, 1985

I've been reading and collecting content from 2000 AD and its sister titles since 1984, but always these were, and are, reprints of material packaged for US distribution. I never held an actual copy of 2000 AD in my hands.

I discovered that my local comic book shop recently had acquired a bunch of actual, vintage 2000 AD comics.......some adventurous American collector must have imported these comics from the UK back in the 1980s.

I picked up Prog 449, issued on December 21, 1985. Below is a photo showing how it compares in dimension to American comics from the same era (more or less):

One thing that is immediately apparent is that 2000 AD was printed on pretty flimsy paper stock. I mean, it's newsprint..........in its margins, you can see the little holes punched out by the apparatus responsible for folding the paper......... 

The newsprint used by publisher IPC for 2000 AD makes the production values of coeval U.S. comic magazines like Monsters Unleashed, Eerie, and The Rook look upscale. 

Considering the use of newsprint, the resolution of the artwork in the pages of 2000 AD is really quite good.

The resolution of text is less reader-friendly. Maybe it was clear to youthful eyes back in '85, but for me today, as someone over 60, it is hard to make out.

Times have changed considerably since 1985, and in the UK and the US attitudes towards comic books and their production values have been greatly altered, with the advent of newer printing technologies making for much more presentable appearance for the medium. 

And it's also true that the inflation-adjusted pricing for modern-day comic books in both countries is quite high (some might say too high), and back in '85, 24 pence was affordable for UK kids who were collecting 2000 AD on a weekly basis.

In that era, an increase in price in order to increase quality might well have been counterproductive...........but perhaps a UK reader can offer some perspective on what 24 pence meant as purchasing power in 1985 ?

Anyways, below I've posted 'I Am the Lurker', the Judge Dredd story from this prog. 

I've enhanced the contrast in my scans to minimize bleedthrough from the opposite side of each page. However you modify it, at its core, Ron Smith's artwork compares very well to anything being printed nowadays in any US comic books.............