2000 AD and Starlord #116
Prog 116 is a landmark single issue because it contains the first appearance of Vienna Dredd — Judge Dredd's niece, daughter of his slain corrupt brother Rico — a character who would become one of the most enduring threads of emotional humanity woven through an otherwise relentlessly authoritarian strip. Her introduction by writer John Wagner injected genuine familial pathos into Judge Dredd's world and planted story seeds that writers have returned to across four decades. The issue also arrived at a pivotal moment in British comics history: the merged '2000 AD and Starlord' banner was still running, a direct consequence of IPC's decision to absorb the upstart Starlord into its sister title and in doing so transplant Strontium Dog — featuring Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer, and the Gronk — permanently into the 2000 AD ecosystem. Prog 116 thus represents an issue produced at the height of that merger's creative energy, when the strengthened line-up was proving its long-term viability.
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By June 1979, 2000 AD had been carrying the 'and Starlord' co-branding for roughly eight months, following IPC's decision to cancel Starlord after 22 issues and fold its most popular strips into 2000 AD — a move driven by Starlord's higher production costs despite its slightly stronger circulation figures at the time of cancellation. The redesigned masthead had already quietly de-emphasised 'Starlord' from prog 100 onward, but the dual title persisted until August 1979. Strontium Dog — created by John Wagner (under the house pseudonym T.B. Grover) and artist Carlos Ezquerra — had transferred from Starlord to 2000 AD at prog 86 and was by prog 116 firmly established as a fan favourite in its new home. The Vienna Dredd story in this issue was written by John Wagner and drawn by Ian Gibson, and represents Wagner expanding Dredd's personal mythology at a point when the strip was still relatively early in its run of building out Mega-City One's cast of recurring characters.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover-dated 9 June 1979; published by IPC Magazines as part of the post-merger 'Starlord' co-branded run of 2000 AD.
- First appearance of Vienna Dredd (also later known as Vienna Pasternak): Judge Dredd's niece, the daughter of his brother Rico Dredd, written by John Wagner with art by Ian Gibson in a six-page story.
- Vienna is established as having been orphaned by Dredd himself, who killed her father Rico in self-defence — a character fact that would power decades of subsequent storylines exploring Dredd's rare personal ties.
- Strontium Dog continues in this issue, featuring series regulars Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer, and the Gronk — all characters created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, originally debuted in Starlord in 1978 before transferring to 2000 AD at prog 86.
- The Gronk is a timid, metal-eating alien from the planet Blas in the Gallego system (the name a tribute to fantasy artist Blas Gallego), who serves as medic to Alpha and Sternhammer and was created by Wagner and Ezquerra.
- Prog 116 falls within the window (progs 116–154) whose Judge Dredd stories were all later collected by Rebellion in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 03.
- The Vienna story from this issue has been reprinted multiple times: in Prion Books' Judge Dredd: The Best of, Rebellion's The Complete Case Files 03, The Complete Judge Dredd #11, and Eagle's Judge Dredd's Crime Files #6.
- The 'Wailing Swamp' story title featured on the cover refers to the Strontium Dog episode in this issue, set in part on a hostile alien landscape — consistent with the strip's early 'bounty-hunter western in space' format.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Dredd must save Vienna, his niece, from a merciless killer.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).