2000 AD #571
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free2000 AD Prog 571 (April 23, 1988) is the debut issue of 'The Journal of Luke Kirby,' a supernatural-schoolboy strip that predated the wave of boy-wizard fiction — arriving years before Timothy Hunter in DC/Vertigo's 'Books of Magic' and more than a decade before Harry Potter. It also carries a notable Carlos Ezquerra Durham Red futuregraph pin-up, cementing the vampiric bounty hunter's visual identity just after her introduction to the Strontium Dog cast, and opens the Dredd material that would eventually be collected in 'The Complete Case Files' vol. 12, making it a chapter-marker in that long-running series. Taken together, the issue showcases 2000 AD's remarkable depth of bench in 1988, launching a new franchise while simultaneously deepening two already-established ones.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
By April 1988, 2000 AD was operated by Fleetway Publications, the rebranded successor to IPC Magazines Ltd., which had published the weekly since its February 1977 launch. Alan Grant had just taken sole writing duties on Strontium Dog — Wagner departing the strip around this time — while editor-level decisions were pushing new anthology strips to fill creative gaps. 'The Journal of Luke Kirby' was written by Alan McKenzie with art by John Ridgway and was developed as a British occult-adventure serial aimed at 2000 AD's teenage readership. The cover art for prog 571 was produced by Steve Dillon, who would go on to co-create DC/Vertigo's Preacher, and the original board is known to survive.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released April 23, 1988 by Fleetway Publications as '2000 AD Prog 571'; 2000 AD labels its issues 'Progs' rather than numbered issues.
- First appearance of 'The Journal of Luke Kirby,' a supernatural boy-wizard serial written by Alan McKenzie with art by John Ridgway — a strip that predates DC/Vertigo's Timothy Hunter and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter as a young British magic-user protagonist.
- The issue contains a Carlos Ezquerra-drawn Durham Red futuregraph/pin-up, showcasing the vampiric Strontium Dog bounty hunter created in 1987 by John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Carlos Ezquerra.
- Durham Red — a mutant bounty hunter with a vampiric lust for blood — was co-created by John Wagner and Alan Grant and immediately proved popular from her introduction into the Strontium Dog strip.
- The cover was illustrated by Steve Dillon, later the co-creator and artist of DC/Vertigo's Preacher; the original art on Bristol board is a documented surviving piece.
- Judge Dredd material beginning with this prog (571–618) was later collected by Rebellion in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files vol. 12.
- Alan Grant was writing Strontium Dog as a solo scripter from 1988 onward, having previously co-written it with John Wagner; prog 571 falls at the opening of Grant's solo tenure on the strip.
- Summer Magic, the Strontium Dog story arc launching in this prog and running through prog 577, features Johnny Alpha, Durham Red, and Joe Pineapples together as part of the Strontium Dog supporting cast.
Cast · 6 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Judge Dredd #26 (1988), Slaine the King #22 (1989), Judge Dredd Megazine #215 (2004), Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files #12 (2009), A.B.C. Warriors: The Mek Files #1 (2014), Judge Dredd: The Mega Collection #30 (2015), Summer Magic: The Complete Journal of Luke Kirby #[nn] (2017)
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