Tharg the Mighty

Tharg the Mighty — known to devotees of British comics simply as "The Mighty One" — is the fictional extraterrestrial editor of *2000 AD*, the landmark British science fiction anthology that launched in 1977. Tharg made his debut on the cover of that very first issue and has since appeared in nearly every edition of the comic, a distinction shared only with Judge Dredd. Rather than serving purely as a mascot, Tharg occasionally steps into full narrative strips of his own, with scripts contributed over the years by some of the medium's most respected writers, including Alan Moore, Alan Grant, and John Wagner — though such work is typically credited simply to "TMO," the in-universe shorthand for The Mighty One.

According to catalog records, Tharg has carried a writing credit across more than 300 issues, with activity spanning 1987 through 2025. His most prominent credited titles include *2000 AD* itself, alongside special publications such as the *2000 AD Free Comic Book Day* edition, the *2000 AD 40th Anniversary Special*, and the *2000 AD Christmas Annual*. Whether one reads the byline literally or as an elaborate editorial tradition, Tharg remains one of the most enduring and recognizable figures in British comics history, embodying the irreverent, reader-engaged personality that has long defined *2000 AD*'s identity.