Best Prog ever? The contenders...

The contenders so far: Prog 2000, which I deem to be best overall, combining a decent package of thrills with epic levels of creator, character and overall specialness.

And Prog 2212, which has 100 pages of seriously awesome thrill-density, and a high level of specialness too!

Surely there's no other 100-page collection of better 2000ADness than these? But what if bigger isn't better? What then might one judge to be the single best Prog of all time? As mentioned way back at the beginning of the Blog, it might just be "whatever your first Prog was"...

For me, that's the unassumingly numbered Prog 439, which still gives me the chills to look at, with its achingly grown-up sci-fi feels. The actual strips inside aren't bad, either. Nobody's favourite Nemesis or Robohunter story, but still top tier of both; it has one of those Dredds where he's unambiguously the bad guy, with Carlos art to boot, there's an OK Future Shock, and, top thrill for me, is a cracking episode of the gonzo first series of Mean Team.

Art by Ian Gibson

Speaking objectively, I'd rate it 4/5 on the thrillometer. Is there a 5/5 Prog out there? I’ve already cast aside the Annuals and Yearbooks, and by similar logic I’m also ignoring any and all Sci-Fi Specials, even the generally superior Winter Specials. What does that leave? Well, before Prog 2000, there were some proto ‘special Progs’. And these are worth considering because that special factor sure can up a score...

We starr, of course, with Prog 1, itself the first issue for so many people still reading today. Great free gift, but as a direct result, a terrible cover. No dud stories, but I'd argue only a couple are all-time crackers. 4/5

Art by... lots of people? That's definintely a Belardinelli alien on Prog 2.

Prog 2 has a claim, containing the first episode of Judge Dredd, and arguably the best free gift any comic has ever had, and a neat if ungainly cover to match. Again, no dud stories but what we have is only as good as, if not a touch less good, than Prog 1. 4/5

Prog 86, which saw the merger with StarLord, is noteworthy (certainly in a way that Prog 128’s merger with Tornado was not), not least for bringing Strontium Dog and Ro-Busters to the Prog, two of the best-loved thrills of all time. It’s also a rare Prog in which each story is a part 1, although none of them are all-new thrills. It's let down overall by a cobbled-together montage cover, and, of all things, Strontium Dog, which isn't bad but nowhere near the heights one expects from the strip. 4/5

(Most comics – in America, at least – put some effort into their round-number issues. Prog 100 of 2000AD claimed to be special on the cover, but in fact the insides, apart from one story, all feature middle-episodes of longer stories. Good ones, yes, but still. Indeed, very few ‘50’ or ‘100’ numbered Progs have much to say for themselves, with a few exceptions…)

...Prog 500 being the most notable! The cover itself was a Special occasion, with its floating heads drawn by a roster of beloved artists. The contents covers the now-classic mix of old favourites, one all-new thrill, and an unclassifiable experiment in getting artists to vent their spleens. The new thrill is excellent, the classics are good to great, but the inside-joke nature of that spleen venting is unsatisfying, sadly. Not a perfect Prog, but I'm giving it 4.5/5.

The ultimate test of 'how well can you regcognise an artist's style'.

Prog 520, the 10^th anniversary, came just a few months later. Perhaps as a result of promximity, it's not quite as 'special' as Prog 500, but it does have arguably a better line-up of thrills - although none are 'best of' territory for their respective characters. 4/5

I'll also pick out Prog 589, when 2000AD started being prinited with a shiny cover and featured full-colour art on one story. The Dredd makes great use of this trick, Bisley suits a shiny cover delightfully, and the line-up here is VERY strong, although there's a Future Shock and Nemesis Book IX has already got super confusing in episode 3... 4/5

It actually does have more thrill power... than other progs from 1988.
Art by Simon Bisley

Prog 650 was another jump in printing quality, so that multiple stories could now enjoy colour pages. Tharg took full advantage, as the line-up of thrills at this point is legendary - if also legendary for having those thrills constantly interrupted by artists missing deadlines. Superb Dredd, outstanding reboot of Rogue Trooper, mid-epic but top tier Slaine and Zenith, and one all-new thrill (wink, wink). However, taken on its own, I'd argue Prog 650 is a perfect 5/5 Prog. Could anything be better..?

Dig that crazy John Higgins colour palette

Let's consider Prog 723, when the Prog jumped to full-colour for ALL the stories. As fate would have it, this ends up a contender for WORST ever Prog. Even the Dredd is only OK. 1/5.

Skipping over the nadir of the early-90s to Prog 1000, we see Tharg trying again to make a single Prog special. There's an all-new thrill (sadly not the hit Tharg had hoped), and new stories starting for a selection of much-loved characters, one of them described in the cover as a 'babe', because 1996. The Prog as a whole is let down not by the line-up of characters and creators, but by all of them not being on good form. 3/5

Art by Jason Brashill

Half a year later, 2000AD hit its 20th anniversary, marked with a series of 'special' Progs, of which the best is Prog 1034, the one that came with a delightful in idea if not execution issue of 3000AD, a very 1997 parody of Prog 1. The thrills in the Prog proper are merely average. 3.5/5 (with the .5 for specialness)

Prog 1124, the Xmas-Prog from 1998/1999, was double-sized, a fairly explicit warm-up to the first 100-page monster that was Prog 2000. Instead of loading the issue with extra stories, Tharg opts to go for 4 double-length stories. They're decent stories, but don't leave a lasting impression. 3/5

Even after the fabled Prog 2000, Tharg couldn’t ignore a few other milestones:

Prog 1280, the 25^th Anniversary Prog, explicitly harks back to Prog 500, with a new version of 'Tharg's Head Revisited'. It's a little less obsessed with behind-the-scenes shenanigans, but still perhaps more indulgent thahn enjoyable. Worse, it's one of only three strips in the Prog. 3/5

The next unmisable milestone is Prog 1500, which, I reckon, IS another perfect Prog, with a line-up of thrills that maybe aren't quite as fondly remembered as the Prog 650 line-up, but are all, at first anyway, ridiculously strong: Dredd has the prologue to Origins, Dante is getting great again, and there are two (wink, wink) great new stories. Plus, what a cover! If you have a maginfying glass, it's one to pore over. 5/5

Book Cook at his Book Cookiest. More background characters than you might think...

Hot on its heels is Prog 1526, which marked the 30^th anniversary and saw Tharg back to his 'let's put myself into a strip' mode. Surrounded by good stories, including one proper blast from the past, it's a solid and special-feeling Prog. 4/5

But after that point there was nothing deliberately intended to be special, that I can see, until nu2000 - the actual 2000^th Prog to see print. Which was followed, rather quickly, by a non-Prog special issue to mark the 40th Anniversary. 

Surprise return of Nikolai Dante!
Art (on the cover) by Carlos Ezquerra

It's by far the best of any 2000AD publication with the word 'Special' in the title. But, as a collection of one-off stories, all tied to the theme 'ruby red', it's never going to be as essential to read as any given Prog, really. Still, a good effort. 4/5 

So, have we found the BEST PROG EVER? Is it Prog 650, or perhaps Prog 1500? I mean, they're great, but with fewer thrills and less of that 'special' factor, I woudn't take them to a desert island over the best of the Bumper Xmas Progs.

But the hunt isn't over! 

What of the humble (or not so humble) weekly Progs? Progs that were simply part of the weekly grind, with no particular effort from Tharg to either make them especially memorable, let alone to advertise them up front as ‘best ever’? Some Progs, perhaps by luck more than judgement, just ended up with some outstanding line-ups. Here’s a list of contenders, which I've culled from suggestions by long-term fans over on various 2000AD Forum topics. With my own 'objective' scoring applied...

Prog 85 - has finales for Ant Wars, the 'Star Trek + genocide' era of Dan Dare, and The Cursed Earth, behind an all-timer cover... but also two Future Shocks and a Walter the Wobot that bring it down to 4/5

Art by Mike McMahon

Prog 178 - one of the first and greatest 'jumping on' Progs, with line-up of new stories, except for Judge Dredd which is into its final (and best) epsiodes of the Judge Child saga. Judged purely on its own, it's a perfect 5/5 mix, although some might question if Mean Arena and Meltdown Man are legit all-time top thrills, and there's a LOT of side-eye for Dash Decent. For many, this is the exact point where 2000AD reached it's first Golden Age, one that continued for the next 5 years or so. There are several stand-out Progs from this era, but most are hampered by sub-par Future Shocks and long-running stories that run out of steam in their second halves (looking at you, Mean Arena, RoboHunter, Ace Trucking and Rogue Trooper)

Prog 196 is more or less the same line-up, but has swapped out Mean Arean for Return to Armageddon, has one of the best ever Strontium Dog serials, and has a decent Robo-Tale. It's another 5/5 effort.

Prog 206 is the third in a hot streak of perfect Progs, with an even better Strontium Dog, particularly good epsiodes of both Return to Armageddon and Meltdown Man, and of course the introduction of Chopper to the pages of Dredd. 

Prog 217 almost qualifies, but it happens to be the episode of Return to Armageddon where the twist is revealed, one which doesn't do the story overall any favours, and the Mega-Rackets in Dredd is good but not great. 4/5

Art by Mike McMahon

Prog 227 is another 4/5, that has swapped out Armageddon for Nemesis, has Dredd vs the Dark Judges, and has the final, good enough, episode of Meltdown Man, ut is let down by its episode of Mean Arena...

Unlike Prog 228, which has a pretty great epsiode of Mean Arena, a continuation of other top thrills, and of course the introduction of one Rogue Trooper. 5/5

Prog 232 is the introudction of Ace Trucking Co, not quite as good as Rogue but still delightful, and although John Cooper Dredd is not Bolland Dredd, I'd say this one scrapes its way to full marks. 5/5

Prog 310 has an all-timer Time Twister, a Tharg story that isn't terrible thanks to Belardinelli madness, a super-fun Dredd and of course Skizz. Final score depends quite a bit on your reaction to Rigue Trooper: Fort Neuro. A stroy that definitely outstayed its welcome, but this is the final epsiode, so maybe that's a relief? 4.5/5 for me.

Art by Mike McMahon again. He's good, isn't he.

Prog 335 gets a LOT of votes as best-ever, with a 2000AD Mt Rushmore line-up of Dredd by Wagner/Grant and Smith, Strontium Dog by Wagner/Grant and Ezquerra, Nemesis by Mills and O'Neill, Slaine by Mills and McMahon, Rogue Trooper by Finley-Day and Ewins. It's also a jumping-on Prog, and features the introduction of lasting favourite character Venus Bluegenes. If anything lets it down, it's the split-screen cover. Still, 5/5 with bells on.

Prog 342 has a cracking cover and one of my favourite Dredd one-offs, but The Rogue Trooper is only OK, and the Moses Incident is not my favourite Strontium Dog. 4/5

Prog 358, by contrast, has the official best-ever Strontium Dog story (the Killing), the first episode of an intriguing (if ultimately not great) Rogue Trooper min-epic, alongside classic Dredd, Slaine and DR&Qunich epsiodes. That's a 5/5 Prog.

Prog 424 gets off to flying start, with a wraparound Chopper on the cover, alongside classic Judge Anderson, Slaine and Strontium Dog... but there's a deeply average Future Shock and the Horst era of Rogue Trooper, which, lovely art aside, drags down every Prog its in to a 4/5 at best.

Art by Cam Kennedy

Prog 451 has the start of the final and best Halo Jones... but it also has that racist Dredd mini-epic. Not to mention an era of both Slaine and Ace Trucking that I like very much but many readers don't. Hard to push it above a 4/5.

Prog 510 is better than Prog 500, swapping out an OK Dredd for an amazing one, and swapping the weirdness of 'Tharg's Head Revisited' for the opening, super-awesome epsiode of The Dead. But a poor, if short Future Shock and a merely OK Strontium Dog hold it back to 4.5/5.

Art by Brett Ewins

Prog 548, for my money, is the next time the stars line up, with a 3-prog streak of greatness: Strontium Dog is on form, Dredd is having fun in Oz, Bad Company and Nemesis are doing their thing, and the first pahse of Zenith is wrapping up. 5/5 all round - take your pick of preference for the covers of 548, 549 and 550 I guess.

Prog 555, very soon after, also hits 5/5, and has an added 'special' factor, what with its super-memorable cover, and of course the explosive opening episode of the Bisley-era ABC Warriors - although there's only room for 4 stories inside. Future Shcoks and the divisive Bradley keep surrounding Progs from hitting top marks.

There's another sustained run of perfect Progs beginning in Prog 650. I'll single out Prog 654, which swaps out 'the War Machine for Chopper. It's especially notable as it's the Prog that had the highest total of ‘average votes per thrill’ on the original version of Barney. (One it was ported over to its new host, all those ratings, and the ability to rate, has disappeared). That perfect streak holds out all the way to Prog 659, the longest stretch yet.

Progs from the '90s and beyond get a lot less love. Sometimes because they just weren’t as good, but perhaps mostly because we all remember the media most fondly from the time when we ourselves were aged 8-12 or so, and had a) never seen anything like it before, and b) had the time to read, re-read, fall in love with and re-re-read our favourite comics. But, you know, 2000AD has had more than one Golden Age, and fans have attempted to identify the purple patches in more recent history. Some contenders…

Art by Simon Davis

 Progs 1443-1448 could be 5/5 if you rate 'Judge Dredd: Blood Trails', which I don't. But when that's the weakest link alongside Atavar III, Caballistics, Inc, Shakara and the start of the really good run of Sinister Dexter, you know you're in for a great time. Still, 4.5/5 isn't bad, and to my mind it's right around here that the second Glden Age starts to ramp up.

I've already singled out Prog 1500, and in fact that heralded another storming run all the way to 1507 (begging the pardon of anyone who's not into Stone Island). I'd single out Prog 1506 as the pick of the crop, which is the final episode of Malone.

It's 4/5 stuff all the way udring the 1500s, pretty much, hitting another perfect alignment of thrills at 1631. Dredd is getting into Tour of Duty, Low Life is off the charts beatiful, Dante is Dante, and new Thrill Necrophim hasn't got tired yet. Yes, there's a one-off in here, but it's a Past Imperfect tale that introduces Dandridge. 5/5

Top marks keep coming til Prog 1639, during which time we get Zombo, Cradlegrave, Savage and one of the funny Clint Langley Slaines. Some Future Shocks get in the way after that, but Prog 1644 is also a 5/5 Prog for me, with one of Al Ewing's best Dredds, the mighty Defoe, one of the good shorter, interlude series of Red Seas, and Sinister Dexter getting towards the end of it's time of greatness.

Progs 1679-1685 or thereabouts flirt with 5/5 territory, depending on how much you like Damnation Station and the seconds series of Zombo, which run alongside Tour of Duty in Dredd, The first Ichabod Azrael and ever-high quality Dante.

Art by Henry Flint

Again, we stay in 4/5 territory for another sustained period, taking us to the wraparound Dino mayhem cover of Prog 1774, which contains the best Flesh series, Dante, early Grey Area, in its stride Age of the Wolf, and of course Day of Chaos. 5/5 Prog 1775 swaps out Grey Area for the Zaucer of Zilk, more 5/5 stuff carrying on to Prog 1779.

And then there's Prog 1807, which might not sound anything speical, but this is the Prog where Judge Dredd crashed through a door at the end of his own comic and into the Simping Detective, forevere cementing Trifecta as an epic for the ages. Alongside the first series of Brass Sun that's top class stuff, although some might consider that ABC Warriors: Reutrn to Earth drags thing down again. That one Prog merits a 5/5 for serious specialness, though.

Prog 1874 is that rare jumping-on Prog outside of the Xmas Progs where Tharg, whether by luck or design, put together a top class line-up. Brand new thrills Jaegir and Outlier provide intriguing openings (which sadly Outlier wouldn't recapture until the end of its final series), Slaine is given a new lease of life under Simon Davis, Sinster Dexter are still fun, and it's a John Wagner Dredd, in an era when you'd only get that a couple of times a year. 5/5

The Prog hits another time period when there's an air of specialness about everything at Prog 1977, when the Prog numbers overlap with each year of 2000AD's life for a spell. 1977 itself has a lovely cover, but it's Prog 1978 that hits the full 5/5, with the introduction of Brink, running alongside decent outings for Aquila and Survival Geeks, the first and perhaps still best opening series of Fall of Deadworld, and that brief time in Judge Dredd when some of us genuinely thought that the old bastard might actual, for real this time, be dead - during the 'Every Empire Falls' arc.

Art by Stweart Kenneth Moore

With increasingly dubious runs of Slaine and the ubiquitous Skip Tracer, it's hard to find perfection, but how about Progs 2150-2157? Wagner provides a send off for Hershey in the pages of Judge Dredd (wink wink), there's more delicious darkness in Deadworld, Brink and the super dark Hope book 2 - leaving only that most divisive strip, the Divisor, aka that time Defoe went to the Moon. Even as a fan of SK Moore's art, the weirdness keeps it down to 4/5, although argably the early episodes make more sense, allowing for Prog 2151 to hit 5/5. (Prog 2050 was a double-sized Prog, which both gives points for specialness, and takes points away if not ALL strips are top notch).

So there you have it. Is there a single definitive, Best Prog Ever? Clearly not. Nostalgia fiends I'm sure will hold to Progs 178, 335 and 650 (or 654). I've got a foot in that camp for sure, but I'm also partial to Progs 1500, 1775 and 1874. But the best Prog ever...?

...Well, it's always "Next Week's Prog", isn't it? 😆

Merry Christmas! And please, write in to the comments section with YOUR favourite ever Prog.