Judge Dredd Megazine To Serialise 2000AD Encyclopedia

The first instalment, covering A to B from Mike Carey and Andy Clarke's urban SF series TH1RT3EN from 2002, to John Wagner and Arthur Ranson's 90s' anti-hero Button Man, is published with Judge Dredd Megazine #424, which is on sale from Wednesday 16 September.

Matt Smith, editor of 2000 AD, said: "As 2000 AD approaches its 45th anniversary, the comic's assembled a formidable stable of characters and stories over the past four and a half decades. For anyone not equipped with a vast Betelgeusian brain, it may be intimidating trying to keep track of them all – but no more! The 2000 AD Encyclopedia is your new go-to resource for all the strips that have appeared in both the Prog and Meg, with a comprehensive rundown of creators, notable series, and where the stories have been collected for handy access. No Squaxx dek Thargo should be without it!"

Scott Montgomery said: "Having been a 2000 AD reader since the age of nine in 1981, I was delighted to accept when Matt (Smith, Tharg the Mighty's earthly 2000 AD editor droid) offered me the chance to write the 2000 AD Encyclopedia. This is a huge honour and the timing was perfect; coming right at the start of lockdown in March. I can't think of a better way to 'work from home' – engrossed in the minutiae of nearly 45 years-worth of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic and also celebrating 30 years of the Galaxy's Greatest Spin-Off – Judge Dredd Megazine. Encompassing major and minor characters, classic stories like Flesh from the earliest issue – through to future masterpieces like The Out in 2020 – I hope that fellow 2000 AD fans will enjoy this informative guide to the thrill-archive and beyond!"

Rebellion's Head of Publishing Ben Smith said, "2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine have made a profound cultural impact in the past half-century. Much of today's global popular culture would be unrecognisable without the work of the artists and writers who have contributed to these ground-breaking comics. Their influence can be felt across generations of  not just UK talent but internationally as the waves that this comic started ripple out through film, music, television, literature and beyond. Only now will the towering achievement of decades of stories, characters and prophetic visions be brought together and laid out for everyone to lose themselves in, finding much-loved favourites, hidden treasures and some shocking creations with each turn of the page."