Pat Mills

Patrick Eamon Mills, born in 1949 in England, is one of the most influential figures in British comics history. Working alongside John Wagner in the 1970s, he helped breathe new life into boys' comics at a time when the medium badly needed reinvention, and he has remained a significant presence in the industry ever since — earning the informal title "the godfather of British comics."

Mills is best known as a founding creator of 2000 AD, the weekly anthology that redefined what British comics could be, and he played a central role in shaping Judge Dredd, the lawman who became the publication's defining character. His work across titles such as Battle, Battle Action, and Battle Action Force demonstrates a consistent creative voice: visceral, politically charged, and deeply skeptical of authority. That anti-establishment streak runs through virtually everything he has written, giving his stories an edge that set them apart from more conventional genre fare.

Over a career spanning nearly five decades — with credits on roughly 699 issues between 1975 and 2022 — Mills also worked on titles including Crisis and Punisher 2099, demonstrating range beyond his British home base. His foundational contributions to 2000 AD in particular reshaped the landscape for subsequent generations of comics writers and artists on both sides of the Atlantic.