2000 AD #570
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeProg 570 is the concluding chapter of the Judge Dredd mega-epic 'Oz' (Progs 545–570), one of the longest sustained Dredd narratives since 'The Apocalypse War' in 1982, which resolved the Judda clone-army storyline and cemented Chopper's status as one of the strip's most beloved supporting characters. The same issue appeared in the same weekly that was serialising the first major Durham Red storyline in Strontium Dog — a character who would grow into one of 2000 AD's most enduring and independently significant leads. As the closing chapter of 'Oz,' it also marks the quiet end of the John Wagner/Alan Grant co-writing partnership on the weekly prog, a creative split that reshaped the entire editorial direction of the anthology for the decade that followed.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Prog 570 landed in early 1988 under the newly installed Fleetway Publications banner, after IPC's comics division was sold to Robert Maxwell in 1987 and 2000 AD was revamped with an enlarged format and full-colour covers and centrespreads under editor Richard Burton. The 'Oz' storyline that concludes here was a rotating-artist production scripted by Wagner and Grant, with contributions from Brendan McCarthy, Will Simpson, Steve Dillon, Barry Kitson, and John Higgins across its 26 episodes — an unusually large creative roster reflecting both the story's epic scope and the scheduling pressures of a weekly anthology.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Prog 570 is the **final episode of 'Oz'** (Progs 545–570), the Judge Dredd epic written by John Wagner and Alan Grant in which Dredd destroys Morton Judd's Judda clone army at Uluru using a nuclear device.
- The 'Oz' arc introduced **Morton Judd** and **Judge Bruce** to continuity, and included a flashback first appearance of **Chief Judge Fargo** (Prog 559) — canonical lore-building that underpins much of the Dredd mythos.
- Chopper — the skysurfer and folk hero — is a central protagonist of 'Oz': he escapes custody, crosses the Cursed Earth and Pacific Ocean, and competes in the now-legalised Supersurf 10 race in the Sydney-Melbourne Conurb.
- Prog 570 effectively closes the **Wagner/Grant co-writing partnership** on the 2000 AD weekly strip; the two disagreed over whether Dredd should kill Chopper at story's end, with Wagner prevailing and Grant subsequently moving to other strips including Strontium Dog and Anderson: Psi Division.
- The concurrent **Strontium Dog** strip in this period was the 'Bitch' storyline (or its immediate successors), featuring **Durham Red** — a vampiric mutant bounty hunter created by Wagner, Grant, and Carlos Ezquerra who had debuted in Prog 505 (January 1987) and was appearing regularly alongside **Johnny Alpha** and **Middenface McNulty**.
- Durham Red was conceived as a sidekick for Johnny Alpha following the death of his longtime partner Wulf Sternhammer; writers Wagner and Grant chose her name over the rejected alternative 'Chelsea Blue.'
- The issue was published by **Fleetway Publications**, the successor imprint after IPC's comics division was acquired by Robert Maxwell in 1987; the new publisher had expanded 2000 AD's page size and introduced full-colour centrespreads.
- The 'Oz' story was later collected in trade paperback by Titan Books, bringing the complete arc — including Prog 570's conclusion — to a wider audience.
Cast · 9 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Axel F. #5 (1988), Time Twisters #18 (1989), Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #11 (2008)
Key issues in 2000 AD
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.