2000 AD #276

This August 1982 prog from IPC's long-running British anthology delivers one of its more memorably offbeat covers, courtesy of Ian Gibson: a wild-eyed, red-haired feral child brandishes a weapon while simultaneously pinning down a battered, robot-looking figure on either side — a wide-eyed blue bird-bot to the left and a grimacing helmeted robot to the right. The cover copy — "Come on, ya tin creeps! I'll murder ya!" — perfectly captures the anarchic energy Gibson brings to the scene, and the banner reminding readers of Robo-Hunter inside ties the chaos neatly together. At 18p, Prog 276 is a fine snapshot of 2000 AD at its gleefully irreverent early-'80s best, and a free poster sweetens the deal further.