It's that time again! Our top reviewers cast their eyes back over a years worth of thrill power and give their verdicts. Beware - spoilers within!

1. Best cover

1570 by Richard Elson
Martin Charlton: There were some odd covers this year, and I’d never vote for a stock Dredd pose or a generic dose of Cliff Robinson weirdness, so the Kingdom cover used for the trade gets my vote. A dynamic, exciting image from Richard Elson, one that sums up the strip perfectly, and if it doesn’t encourage folk to pick up the trade, I don’t know what will.

Richmond Clements: A superb image. It’s hanging on the wall above our PC. I also like Rufus’ Tank Girl cover for Meg 275, with a spectacularly good use of colour and lighting.

William Scotland: This was only my fifth Prog, and it was the first cover that really grabbed my attention. It’s just great – Big muscly hero type killing stuff? Check. Weird monsters? Check. Big blades and splashes of gore? Check. Everything you want from a cover.

1571 by Brendan McCarthy and Steve Cook
Hugh Platt: It’s not been a great year for covers, but there are two that really shine out for me – 1571, Shakara slicing a T-Rex in two, and 1593, Carl Critchlow’s Dredd on Lawmaster. The first because, well, it’s got cyborg dinosaurs on, and the second, because “stock pose” or no, it’s a cracking bit of Critchlow crispness.

Daniel Payne: Unfortunately there have been relatively few vintage covers this year. The revamped logo that debuted in Prog 2008 has been a part of the problem – with otherwise decent artwork having now to contend with a giant masthead that takes up almost a quarter of the page.

Nevertheless, McCarthy's image of Shakara in Prog 1571 still shone; the brilliant use of a limited palette, and the fine composition and draughtsmanship make it the best cover of the year. Greg Staples’ classic Dredd portrait from August also deserves an honourable mention.

Bobby Peru Pires: In the Prog there could only be one cover to challenge Staple’s stunning Dredd and that was the fabulous McCarthy & Cook Shakara goes graphic designer. Bold, cool and eye-catching. The best cover art (slightly hampered by lousy page layout) was McCrea’s lovely Dredd punch up for the Megazine (which had a series of stinker covers this year).

1611 by Clint Langley
Adam Crabtree:
It’s like when you’ve been going out with someone for a while, and the spark is beginning to vanish… then one night you come home and the candles are lit , the good silverware is out and your partner’s (actually wearing/not wearing) any pants.

One astounding cover can make up for months of ‘okay-ish’ ones, and Prog 1611’s Clint Langley cover is That Thing. A wraparound cityscape defaced by graffiti scrawling robots (the frontispiece is a mural of a Gestapo figure canoodling with an extra-terrestrial) from the man who will soon change his last name to ‘superlative’= win.

There's an honourable mention to Brendan McCarthy and Pete Cook’s 1571 effort wherein Shakara decapitates a gun-toting T-Rex.

Prog 1610 by Cliff Robinson
Stephen Watson: In what was a relatively poor year for covers I’ll go for Prog 1610 by Cliff Robinson. This is a real eye catcher that had cracking design and a real pull to the floating reader to check inside. Job done!

Prog 1592 by Simon Fraser
Gavin Hanly: Unlike some, I still quite like the new(ish) 2000AD logo, and think it can quite happily be used without detracting from striking covers.

A perfect example of this is Fraser's depiction of Dante's version of "Captain America" - a striking image that has the desired effect in the reader - "I want to read this story first" as well as garnering more than its fair share of attention ion the news-stand.

Simon Fraser's one of my favourite 2000AD artists, and of all the covers in 2008, this is the one that did it for me.

1601 by Carl Critchlow
Robert Cornell: It’s always nice to see another artist having a go at one of your favourite characters and making a really good job of it.

The message is simple this: “he’s back!” And I for one was excited by the prospect.

1585 by Lee Garbett

Alex Frith: I'm going to go with Prog 1585 by Lee Garbett. It's an unusual cover that captures a moment from the series in a very comics way. Molloy (or is it Harris?) from the 10 Seconders is plunging into oblivion, a look of despair and fear on his face, the depth of his drop represented by a large blocky '10 Seconders' logo. Will Eisner would approve.

1615 by Steve Cook
David Page: I am not a fan of photo covers but the fairly recent one of Jena from Nikolai dante was absolutely beautiful and I just have to hold it up as my cover of the year

1589 by Leigh Gallagher
Pete McCosh: 1589
I can't say it's been a particularly vintage year for covers. Brendan McCarthy's Shakara was nice, but it really only made me want to see him back in between the covers. Leigh Gallagher’s cover for the return of Defoe in prog 1589 was suitably dynamic, so that’s my selection.

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2. Best Collection

Button Man 2: The Confession of Harry Exton
Martin Charlton: Out of print for a long time, this arrived just in time to wash away the odd (but not entirely unpleasant) taste of Button Man 4. Roll on book 3…

Adam Crabtree: Wherein John Wagner and Arthur Ranson represent Blighty against our friends across the pond; the tradition of tough, manful and stunningly beautiful adventure stemming from Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese and Vance and Van Hamme’s XIII, while the twist of competitive killing is, well, the 2000AD influence I suppose…

Daniel Payne: The Confession of Harry Exton is only the third best story in the Button Man series, but it is nevertheless brilliant. Arthur Ranson professed to paying little attention to 2000AD’s episodic format while he was illustrating the character, so it is particularly good to see this story in collected form.

Moreover, Ranson’s sublime artwork makes this a pleasure to re-read multiple times, and therefore a great thing to own.

Slaine – The Horned God
Alex Frith: This is getting tougher every year, as Rebellion is doing such an excellent job with its choice and presentation of reprint collections. In the end, I'm not going with anything new, or anything with an exciting and surprising theme - I'm going with Slaine: the Horned God. It's still a fantastic story and the art still blows me away. This latest collection may be small in size, but the reprint quality is immaculate, and it's got a nifty set of extras.

Strontium Dog – The Final Solution
Richmond Clements: Oh, this one is hard! There have been some astonishing collections this year. Kingdom is one that springs to mind instantly. But I’d have to go for the Strontium Dog V4.

David Page: This is still one of the most shocking stories ever published in 2000ad mostly due to the art of Simon Harrison but hey lets ignore the art and just look at the story which is absolutely brilliant. Full of brilliant characters moments and of course that death…

William Scotland: Finding out Johnny Alpha died sucked, but not as much as not knowing how. Despite the dreadful art for well over half the book this was a fantastic read and one of the most upsetting comics I’ve ever read. You can’t understate the shock value of the cover either.

Shakara
Gavin Hanly: At the time it was serialised in the weekly, I was rather unimpressed by the second run of Shakara, as it didn't seem to be able to live up to the weirdness of its forebearer. However, this collection of the three "books" published so far has managed to completely turn me around.

The whole collection is a wonderful exercise in weirdness, providing the most bizarre group of aliens in the comic since such classics as Nemesis or Ace Garp. Book two now works perfectly in this context, providing some ridiculous action while still setting up the mythology of Shakara. Morrison and Flint tell us in the introduction that they'll both be around to finish this series off - and another few collections like this would be more than welcome.

Complete Ace Trucking Co Vol 1
Pete Mc Cosh: Another year over and another few pounds of Rebellion trades making my bookshelves sag. Along with the slightly reduced appearances of the Judge Dredd Case Files, we've had the conclusions of the classic Strontium Dog & Nemesis reprints and attractive packagings of newer series like Stickleback.

However, one volume stands head and shoulders above the rest for me and that's the Complete Ace Trucking. Incomprehensibly kept out of print until now, I hadn't read many of these stories and I was slightly wary that they may not measure up to expectations. Humorous strips always seem to be more divisive than the straight ones, and the dated premise of the series was another cause for concern. I needn't have worried. While not often laugh out load funny, the daftness of the setups and the characters generated a real goodwill that saw me through any low points.

Of course, the real reason that this is such a special book has very little to do with writing. There is an unexpected turn from Ian Gibson early on, but the immaculate reproduction of Massimo Belardinelli's fantastic artwork is a sight to behold.

Flicking through it of an evening, by turns amused by the caricatures, astonished by the detail and entranced by the mind that could come up with this never-ending stream of wacky aliens and environments, I wanted to simultaneously run out into the street to force passers by to admire it and nominate everyone involved for the Nobel Prize. As good a comic collection as you could buy. I shall be distributing festive copies to as many people as possible and instructing them to pay attention to Feek's ever-changing headgear.

Judge Dredd: America
Robert Cornell: I’ll never get tired of reading lines like these.

“Justice has a price. The price is Freedom.”

“When I finish you will despise me.”

“America is dead. Welcome to the real world.”

America is certainly the best story to feature in a collection this year but that doesn’t automatically make it the best collection. In isolation, Dying of the Light seemed like an unnecessary sequel; in a collection it forms a neat bridge between America and Judge Beenie. She’s introduced as a possible threat to Dredd but finally integrated into his “family.” Or is she? There’s just a hint that she’s up to something. Cadet is an interesting story in a completely different style from the other two.

Being collected brings out the best in America II and III while preserving the poetry of the original.

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files
Stephen Watson: Although I thought the change in spine design for Volume 11 was unnecessary you can’t argue with The Complete Case Files being the best. So many stories for under a tenner - just wish I hadn’t read them all first time around!

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3. Best Merchandise

Judge Dredd mug
Alex Frith: The new Bolland cover art Judge Dredd mug. It's the only merchandise item I bought this year.

Robert Cornell: Merchandise just isn’t my cup of tea. Except for the free subscribers’ mug; which is literally my cup of tea.

Ideally, Clickwheel
Hugh Platt: I want Clickwheel to work, I really do. While I thought I’d never want to give up the tactile feel of a comic in my hands, the format of Clickwheel has really sold me on it. I like the idea of reading my subscription on a train, and wasting countless monies on back issues. But the functionality isn’t there. At the time of writing this, the Clickwheel site doesn’t even let me download. It’s embarrassing.

Judge Dredd boxer shorts
Richmond Clements: The Judge Dredd pants are as close to genius as we’re ever going to get! Unless, of course, they take up my suggestion of an Old One Eye pair…

William Scotland: It’s gotta be the pants, I’m wearing them now.

Stephen Watson: Apart from the books I don’t really buy much so it’s have to be those ‘3 for £7’ Asda boxer shorts, even if the transfer made my thigh a bit sweaty.

Shakara T-Shirt
Martin Charlton: unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform unknown lifeform

Quinch’s Avatar Badges
Bobby Peru Pires: Mr Quinch deserves a medal for his happy churning out of these lovely badges so many members now display on this and other forums. A brilliant bit of guerilla-marketing that readers should get out on as many forums as possible. Use of mine on non-comic forums always gets a few ‘must check that out agains’. Hurrah for you sir!

Gavin Hanly: I'll go for the badges too - highly impressive creations, and if Rebellion has any sense, they'll work with Quinch to create an automated version of this for their website.

Kano fridge magnet
Daniel Payne: 2008 simply would not have been the same without the Kano fridge magnet.

Big Tam Mc Nutter T Shirt
Pete Mc Cosh: If we're excluding the trade line, then the only thing I've bought is my Big Tam McNutter T-shirt. I'd never heard of the character before I saw the shirt, but I knew I had to have one. The Yanks loved it.

(Editor's note - big spoilers on the next page, so if you don't read the weekly, skip ahead...)

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4. Best Moment

Dante attacking the Tsar
Gavin Hanly: Forget all the surprise endings or reveals we've had in 2000AD across the last two or three years, this was the one which made me almost drop my prog in shock. It was such a crucial moment, essentially marking the point where Dante starts taking direct action against the Tsar, and was carried off to perfection by Morrison and Fraser. Best moment of the past 5 years, let alone this one.

Hugh Platt: It’s a coin-toss between two moments in Nikolai Dante. At first I thought that the moment he stuck it to the Tsar with that gut stab at the climax of Amerika would easily take this, but the moment Konstantin takes off his helmet and reveals his true identity to Dante could top it. Either one would be a worthy winner, with both further cementing Dante’s place among the classic thrills of 2000AD.

Daniel Payne: For anyone who follows Nikolai Dante, the sight of him impaling Vladimir in Prog 1599 will probably have been one of the most startling things they’ve seen in 2000AD, and without doubt the best moment this year. It’s a huge credit to Morrison and Fraser that they have managed to create a group of character so compelling that readers can feel shocked by events like this.

Bobby Peru Pires: Dante stabs the Tzar, gets blasted to toast, ‘Jena to me’, ‘Deaths too good for Dante’ LIGHTS OUT. Fantastic story-telling: ripping up the script and giving a cliff-hanger to beat Montgomery Cliff balanced on a precipice as a legion of angry boutique workers approach.

Stephen Watson: I’ll go for Dante lashing out at the Tsar before getting fried himself. Although both survived the confrontation it was a genuine ‘wow’ moment that I hadn’t seen coming.

Stickleback's face-off against the dragon
Adam Crabtree: Stickleback’s second series was far easier to get a handle on the first; a genuinely black-hearted adventure romp with all the cowboy cannibals and Oriental vampires you could ask for. The year’s greatest “Am I Really Seeing This” moment comes during the final stir between Stickleback’s goons and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show (it’s a thing), when a gigantic dragon is summoned into being. The ensuing double splash page is one of D’Israeli’s finest hours.

Winwood & Cord return
Alex Frith: Well, it's been a year for twist endings and surprise revelations, hasn't it? Nikolai Dante alone has pulled out at least three standout moments this year, and the latest installment of ABC Warriors has been a visual treat an almost every page. For sheer impact and grin-inducingness, my moment of the year was the reveal that Winwood and Cord were pulling the strings behind Dead Eyes all along.

David Page: Where were you when you read 1588 and the final episode of John smith story Dead eyes? I can tell you exactly where I was, I was making my way home on the bus after purchasing my comics for the week. As usual with me I read my 2000AD first and read through it as usual then I got to Dead Eyes. At about page two, if I recall correctly, there were two shadowy fellows talking and the way they were talking... “Nah couldn’t be,” I thought to myself as I continued to read. Then each of the characters we met died one by one and then I was thinking “Is the Smith droid pulling a killing time again?” and then the second last page it hit me….

They were back! They survived the Corezone!

Winwood and Cord were back for the first time since 1991 and I shouted and whooped on the bus much to the dismay and bewilderment of the other passengers.

Yes, that was my moment of the year.

Nixon meets Dredd
Richmond Clements: The first thing that came to mind was the scene in Low Life where Amiee first met Dredd. It was a lovely moment, and Dredd was nailed perfectly by both Williams and Dayglo.

Dante's end fortold
Pete McCosh: Despite some stiff competition from Dante taking on the Tsar and a couple of quiet moments in Dredd, this one's been hanging onto a first place in this category since Prog 2008 last December.

Finally giving in to temptation, Dante has to ask the Tsar's oracle how he will die. The childish glee she takes in not really giving him an answer is echoed in the mind of the reader who can only hope the ultimate conclusion of the strip will live up to this prediction.

We really didn't need to see Nikolai's reaction; Odessa should have had the final word: “Spectacularly.”

Kingdom: The Promised Land – Part Eight
William Scotland: Kingdom was awesome, but this one Prog stands out above everything. Having found out the truth about the Promised Land Gene gets shown that EVERYONE even the little girl has a tick in their side. Then she shows him that he has one too?! Then he rips it off and nearly kills himself. The whole thing is thoroughly horrifying, even more so because of how bright and sunny it is and how blindingly obvious the twist was in hindsight. It was utterly brilliant and had me wishing it was next Wednesday before I’d even paid for the Prog.

Dante sees his old self
Robert Cornell: In a year of SURPRISE! frames, Dante had some of the best. The one that’s stuck in my memory was a small, subtle moment. Dante in a suicide bomber’s room, on the wall is a poster of her hero, the dashing young Dante we first met in Prog 1035. Some things make you impatient for the rest of the story. This one made me stop reading. Wow, just wow.

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5. Most Under-rated

The Ten Seconders
Daniel Payne: The Ten Seconders was not the best story in the comic this year, but it was far better than many commentators would lead you to believe.

The crux of many complaints about this story of alien invasion was that it was too difficult to follow. That is a subjective judgement, certainly, but it would be a great shame if every story in 2000AD must be told in a completely linear way, to ensure that every reader receives their instant fix. It did require perseverance, but the story had decent characters, offered action and mystery, and had some of the best artwork in the Prog this year; it would be no bad thing if stories like this came along more often.

Pete McCosh: Ten Seconders might have been a bit episodic, but it was a decent story with some absolutely fantastic art from Dom Reardon and Shaun Thomas. Looking forward to more soon please Tharg.

Robert Cornell: Had two big problems – possibly related – there was a loooooooong gap between books and the artists were chopped around. As a result it was undeniably difficult to follow but well worth the effort. The story was challenging, surprising and original, with some great characters.

Defoe
Bobby Peru Pires:
Maybe not underrated per-se but as there is so much negative comment on mills this fantastically bonkers romp seems to garner little praise. The scratchy art is lovely – exactly the sort of different artist 2000AD should house, the supporting characters are distinctive and entertaining and it bounds along with a high body-count and jaunty period references. Reek-tastic.

Adam Crabtree: Pat Mills, I think, can get away with much of the bilge he puts out, because he has such effective ways of accruing capital. Take Defoe for example. Defoe is AD distilled. Hugely exhilarating, brilliantly funny and utterly, breathtakingly mad. The hero is a 17th century leveller whose weapon of choice is a gigantic machine gun inscribed with the words “Very happy be he that avoideth me”.

LONG LIVE DEFOE.

Dead Eyes
David Page: Dead Eyes got a lot of flack off the boards during its run and I genuinely believe that it didn’t deserve all of it. Another set of series which got similar flack which was also undeserved is pretty much all of Pat Mills's output for this year. ABCs and Defoe had moments of pure genius in their separate stories

Dead Signal
Gavin Hanly: Al Ewing's first proper series for the comic was always going to get a good degree of attention, especially as he's been bigged up to such a huge level by the 2000AD messageboarders. It was going to be hard to live up to that level of expectation, and Dead Signal did struggle to get easy praise upon its publication.

But as a set-up strip, it promises a great deal, and is the one brand new strip brought out by Tharg this year that deserves revisiting, although Ewing may need to leave off so many plot twists next time around. Ewing's work on I, Zombie shows that he can be a spectacular writer at times, and if he really cuts loose on Dead Signal, it shuld be something to behold...

Alongside this, PJ Holden is up there as 2000AD's most underrated artist, in my opinion. Able to turn himself to almost any genre, he should be in consistent comic employ (when he's not tinkering around with the iphone...).

Bob Byrne is a close second. One slight dud aside, all his strips have been almost perfect examples of Future Shocks or Terror Tales in all by name. Perhaps not suited to a run of strips, but the sprinkling them throughout 2009 would be much appreciated.

Kingdom
Martin Charlton: I know people liked it, but it seemed that it didn’t have the lasting impact it should have, like a Leviathan or a Tale of the Dead Man, where people fondly remember it for years. Pity. It joins Glimmer Rats & Vanguard on my shelf of ‘2000AD stories I wish had more impact on the 2000AD landscape.

Nick Dyer
Richmond Clements: A brilliant new talent, with solid work that sits somewhere between Cam Kennedy and Mick MacMahon- and that’s not a bad place to be.

Also- Bob Byrne. Yes, it’s not to everyone’s taste, but life would be rubbish if everything was. Yes, the one with the insect things and the river or something was not good- but the rest of them- particularly the recent one with the rats, have been spot on. Like it or not- this is the sort of thing the, to me, 2000AD is all about.

Low Life: War Without Bloodshed
Alex Frith: I find it really hard to answer these over- and under-rated questions. My only real contact with how other people feel about 2000 AD is through this forum, and since everything that gets printed gets some serious scrutiny, right down to the letters pages, it's hard for anything to feel neglected or over-loved.

So with that In mind, I've chosen a story that I thought was really rather good, and was perhaps slightly less written about - Low Life.

Megazine Movie Reviews
Stephen Watson: Always a hard one to call as you have to take into account other people’s opinions, but I’ll go for the Megazine movie reviews. I do this because most people seem to hate them and I don’t mind them that much. I do disagree with many of the ratings but the reviews are well written and fairly argued.

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6. Most Over-rated

Tank Girl
Alex Frith: Trying to look away from this site, my pick for most over-rated is Tank Girl. Over-rated by the Megazine itself and society in general, that is. Sure, the character is iconic, and it's a great thing that she's appearing with all new strip in the Megazine (and hopefully bringing in more readers) - and it's a perfectly decent strip - it's just not my cup of eggs.

The 2000AD Online website
Gavin Hanly: Now, I'm biting the hand that feeds me slightly here as Rebellion kindly host this site for me, but the lengthy "under construction" of the main site has undermined it considerably. Considering it has won plenty of awards for the last few years and has been left in such a state, I think it deserves the "over-rated" award at least until the much promised revamp is complete.

Currently lacking a link to the excellent database (which is luckily still hosted here) the site is a shadow of its former self. The messageboard is an improvement, but announcing the Judge Dredd film on the messageboard as opposed to a news item on the main site itself is a little bizarre. Sort it out, Tharg!

Al Ewing
Martin Charlton: It’s not that he’s bad, it’s just that what he does often isn’t my cup of java, so when people rave about him I’m left sitting in the corner wondering what the fuss is. But then, all it’ll take is one really good strip (like how From Grace sold me forever on Simon Spurrier), and I’m sure I’ll come round. Hopefully that strip will come soon though.

Shakara
Richmond Clements: Sorry, but I just don’t get it. It’s a triumph of style over substance and leaves me cold.

Tempest
Hugh Platt: I didn’t particularly like any of the characters, and Jon Davis-Hunt’s blunt palate didn’t help matters when it came to ingesting the strip as a whole. Yet everyone seemed to go belly up apeshit over it. Meh.

The Vort
Daniel Payne: It wasn’t over-rated by everyone, as a lot of the reaction was quite critical. But some of the praise that The Vort received seems particularly misplaced, as the climax of the story is almost a replica of the trick Dan Abnett played with Malone only a year or so earlier, which itself was barely original.

Kingdom
Pete McCosh: This isn't a particularly nice category as you can easily give the impression that you really dislike something you actually don't mind as the real rubbish tends not to be too highly rated in the first place. So, it's with that proviso that I'll say that I can't understand why Kingdom is seen as such a classic by so many other readers. I certainly don't begrudge it a place in the Prog and I think that Elson's vibrant art certainly gives it a boost, but there are half a dozen series I'd rather see back before this one.

The gimmick that makes it stick in the mind - the limited, repetitive dialogue of the central character - is also precisely what turns me off. Unfortunately, it makes the whole thing rather dull and irritating.

Surprise Endings
Stephen Watson: Surprise endings. Worked for ‘The Dead Man’ but ‘The Vort’ and ‘Dead Eyes’ both proved that the law of diminishing returns holds true.

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7. Best Dredd Strip

The Edgar Case by John Wagner and Patrick Goddard
Martin Charlton: Not the strongest of years for Dredd, but this slow burn drama did remind us how best to write the character, as only Wagner can. Special mention here should be given to Gordon Rennie, whose absence is missed more than I expected.

Adam Crabtree: A very good year for the lawman, for all the lack of an epic. The throughlines of Mayor Maybe and mutants in MC-1 continue strong, providing powerhouse story after powerhouse story, such as the excellent ‘…Regrets’ (though both could use with a sizable development lest they stagnate).

The Edgar Case was a standout piece, perfectly seething with mystery and the weight of old recriminations. A million miles away the first part of Ownership promised much, five pages that introduced us to bandaged archaeologist Columbus Chilton and the type of freewheeling sci-fi adventure storytelling I so admire in Deadpool and Girl Genius; pity about the complete cop-out of the second part. Coming from a similar place of high invention and breezy (but not frivolous) narrative technique was Gordon Rennie’s Road Stop (something of a swansong for the departing Man Who Would Be Dredd?).

Daniel Payne: The plight of Mega-City One’s mutants has really brought some quality to Judge Dredd stories in the last twelve months or so, both by exposing the characters’ humanity, and adding another level of conflict to the strip. Those qualities were exemplified by The Edgar Case, which was a roller coaster of excitement and human weakness, swathed in a completely captivating plot. In short, it was everything that a Dredd story should be.

Road Stop by Gordon Rennie and Dave Taylor
Alex Frith: So much fun, so well drawn.

Hugh Platt: Gordon Rennie’s Road Stop just noses this one over Wagner’s gruesome Ratfink. While Ratfink introduced the redneck villain of its title – surely one of the most unpleasant foes Dredd’s ever had – Road Stop had a bit of everything. Serial killers, murderous assassins, Cursed Earth biker gangs, weird monsters living in cellars, and yet it was all over in just five short episodes. Add to that some Dave Taylor art so lovely it made me want to lick the pages of my prog, and you’ve got yourself a story-of-the-year contender.

William Scotland: Judge Dredd stranded with a bunch of cits, two killers, weird motel owners and a thing in the cellar. Oh, and weird cyborgs outside. What’s not to like? Rennie does a great job on the tension and somehow manages to keep up a ton of different plot threads going every week in just six pages. It was so good you could almost forget that you knew Dredd was going to win.

Mutie Block by John Wagner and Kev Walker
Gavin Hanly: Wagner and Walker have been one of the best double acts on the Mega City lawman over the years and this brief reuniting of the team earlier in the year was very welcome. The vox-pop aspect of the storyline was handled well by Wagner, and is certainly something I'd like to see him try again (and it was a nice touch that the only one who didn't "talk to the camera" was Dredd). But the main reason it's my favourite is that sometimes you need to see Dredd shooting the hell out of some perps, and blasting away at them from the balcony is one of my favourite Dredd moments this year.

Ratfink by John Wagner and Peter Doherty
Pete McCosh: Once again, we've seen some great Dredds. Starting with the great interplay between Hershey & Dredd in Prog 2008's Christmas tale and continuing with the further development of PJ Maybe and Judge Beeny in Emphatically Evil and on as Wagner advanced his plans for MC1 and the Dredds.

He wasn't the only one to make an impact: Gordon Rennie's swansong for the time being - Roadstop - was cracking story that could stand comparison to the likes of Shanty Town and Sunday Night Fever. Towards the end of the year we saw an excellent run of one and two-parters with Al Ewing in particular showing a deft touch with the world of Dredd.

Unusually, in my limited experience, it was the Megazine that had the pick of the bunch this year. Ratfink was the irredeemably nasty character in one of the bleakest Dredd thrillers in a long time. What really made this story stand out was that large stretches of it were all but wordless, relying entirely on Peter Doherty's talent for drawing stormy nights in the Cursed Earth to tell the story and build atmosphere. It was good to see a new villain (even if he is pretty similar to an old one) live to fight another day. I'm not sure how he'll stand up to future outings back in the Big Meg, but if the same team are behind it then I'm eager to find out.

Richmond Clements: Al Ewing’s ‘A Whole New Judge Dredd’ was brilliant. It was hilarious and action packed- an astonishingly self-assured debut Dredd script.

Best by far though, as the odious ‘Ratfink. This was Wagner at his best. We haven’t seen that much from him this year, and to be honest, some of his strips recently haven’t excited me all that much, but this one was magnificent. Ratfink is an amazingly grotesque creation- he makes me want to wash after reading the strip.

Bobby Peru Pires: Eeks – a massively tough call. Not many non-Wagners make the grade but Road Stop & Mutopia most certainly did. Obviously Mutie Block ended 10 weeks too soon but the real gem in the Dredd camp this year was over in the Megazine where Wagner & Doherty’s Ratfink gave us a nasty tale and the best new-old baddie in along time. That Doherty expressed such worries about his own talent is astounding: he’s fantastic.

Emphatically Evil by John Wagner and Colin MacNeil
David Page: If there was only one complaint, it was that Mayor Maybe didn’t really have much of a presence after this strip. But this one was absolute genius from start to finish, reminding us of how brilliant a character Philip Janet Maybe was. Let's hope for much more in 2009 of the killer turned mayor

Robert Cornell: It wasn’t the big man’s greatest year to be honest but right at the start we had something that was surprising, funny and horrifying. The two-strand plot genuinely merged two very different stories and although the mutant vote was pretty much a forgone conclusion the Mayor PJ storyline kept me guessing right up to the last panel. PJ is one of my all time favourite villains and it’s great to see Wagner still using him imaginatively after all these years.

And MacNeil can take an everyday event like a naked corpse encased in jelly and make it seem like somehow remarkable.

Stephen Watson: Although it started in January I don’t think the excellent ‘Emphatically Evil’ was topped. Making P.J. the mayor was a masterstroke by Wagner and this insight into his crimes and own problems was a real treat.

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8. Best Non-Dredd strip

Nikolai Dante: Amerika by Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser
Gavin Hanly: Regular appearances from Dante and a renewed purpose since the seafaring days have elevated this strip to the best by far in 2000AD. The Amerika strip in particular was a high point, with a string of memorable moments within. From the poster of Dante in his prime, through the revival of the White Army and the view of America as a downtrodden people, to that incredible ending - nothing came close this year.

David Page: In the tradition of Dante's longer stories, it started off as a fun piss-take of the country in question and then devolved into a much darker story involving the White Army Reavers and their attempt at taking over the empire. And then it devolved again at the very end when we realised that instead of being a fun adventure for Dante, we were suddenly seeing the seeds of the third act in Dante's saga…

Daniel Payne: The blistering climax of Amerika turned a pretty good Dante outing into a absolutely brilliant one, and indeed the best strip of the year.

Martin Charlton: When Nikolai Dante’s good, there’s nothing can touch it, and this year has been a very, very good year for Dante the strip, if not the character. We seem to have been saying ‘as the strip enters its endgame’ for a few years now, but if 2009 is to be the conclusion of the strip, I can’t think of a more promising set up.

Pete McCosh: Nikolai Dante - Amerika was clearly the biggest story for the Russian rogue this year, but everything that has gone into building Dante back up in the past couple of years must be applauded. It's easy to carp about characters who supposedly died coming back, but I'm certain this is only being done so they can really get killed in the most devastating way possible next year.

Richmond Clements: Well, duh! Dante, of course. Things are really ramping up in the strip at the moment, as we hurtle towards (we assume) the finish line. Dante is not just the best non-Dredd strip, it’s simply the best strip in the comic.

I'm looking forward to seeing this play out even more than Wagner's Dredd.

Robert Cornell: Dante had more memorable moments than all the other stories put together. Amerika edges out Prisoner of the Tsar because it was more fun. A gentle piss take of the super-hero genre, with some contemporary commentary, great art, a flying car chase and a stunning final episode. Funny, sad surprising and deeply human.

Lobster Random & The Vort by Simon Spurrier, D'israeli and Carl Critchlow
Adam Crabtree: Everybody’ll pick Dante… and not undeservedly, but it wasn’t the best, in my opinion. Red Seas was on spectacular form, and the primitive grace of Kingdom: The Promised Land was a continued coup for Dan Abnett. But it has to be Lobster Random for ’08. I’m including here The Vort also; if there was a category here for “Most Obvious Ruse” it’d be in there too, but it was a fantastically inventive little saga, facilitated by gorgeous art from the man Matt Brooker. When Lob himself lurched back into our lives, the worse for wear from Dead Man style debilitation and amnesia, it was with a greater depth than before, and that Spurrier/Critchlow combo is still a winner.

Hugh Platt: It’s a shame that that bad taste that Dead Eyes left in my mouth dampened the impact of the big reveal in The Vort, as coupled with Forget-Me-Knot, it would’ve been a killer year for Lobster Random. I just hope that those yanks don’t keep Si Spurrier too busy that he can’t spare the time to get the next series of Lobster on Tharg’s desk before the end of 2009.

Bobby Peru Pires: The Vort & Lobster Random: Lord knows why or how this whole twist on Lobster Random’s strip came about but what a ride. D’Isreali & Critchlow both know how to deliver the goods and the whole story goes through so much detail its no wonder Spurrier wrote so little else – his circuits must still be humming from overload. The genius balance of comedy, twist and scary in the final episode would have been the years best moment had Dante not got his s**t kicked in.

Defoe by Pat Mills and Leigh Gallagher
Alex Frith: Frankly, it's getting to the stage when we need a best 'Non Dante' category as well. For the sake of picking out a relative newcomer, I'll say Defoe. A solid second series, full of great characters, a neat setting, and some beautifully drawn carnage.

Kingdom by Dan Abnett and Richard Elson
William Scotland: Seems like I’m mentioning Kingdom a lot, but it really was fantastic. It gave me my best moment of the year, and from start to finish everything worked. I’d missed Kingdom 1, but Abnett wrote the opening well enough that I never even guessed it wasn’t a new Thrill. Gene the Hackman is a great protagonist, he’s massive and he kills things a lot. The fact he can’t speak properly gets used for humour, but you never quite laugh at him. The art too was immense; Richard Elson’s clean lines and strong colours really worked for this, and the fighting scenes were awesome. Easily the best.

The Red Seas by Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell
Stephen Watson: The Red Seas is being pushed by a revitalised Dante but for now it has all the wit and imagination that I look for in a 2000ad strip. Couple that with Yeowell’s flawless art and you get a cracking package.

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9. Best Writer

Robbie Morrison
Gavin Hanly: Many of 2000AD's writers turned in excellent work this year. Edginton continues to build his own universe, Spurrier made a welcome return to Random, Abnett brought Gene back for more (and promised much with Insurrection), Rennie's Dredd swansong was excellent and Wagner was again perfect, if understated, on Dredd. But Morrison gets the honours for Shakara and Dante - easily the best things (for me) this year. He also proved that he's good on Dredd as long as he concentrates on the citizens and not Dredd himself (see The Informant). Get him on more stuff like this Tharg, and steer him away from the Dredd action-fests.

Martin Charlton: Yes, he doesn’t ‘get’ Dredd. Yes, Shakara book 3 disappointed, but the skill and restraint he’s shown on Dante has been enough to elevate him above his peers, in my opinion. As mentioned on this site, when Dante is complete, it’s going to stand as a superb body of work for an author to claim as their own, much like Gaiman’s Sandman, Ennis’ Preacher, or Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man.

Alex Frith: No wishy-washing my way out of this one - Robbie Morrison. Not just for Dante; the latest series of Shakara was great, too.

Daniel Payne: This has been effectively a two horse race again, between John Wagner and Robbie Morrison – who between them produced a large majority of the above-par stories in 2000AD this year. Wagner remains on excellent form, with really first class Dredd stories and a good Strontium Dog tale. But Morrison clinches the accolade by a whisker, largely by excelling yet again with Dante, but also thanks to robust outings with Shakara and Dredd.

Richmond Clements: Despite what I said about Shakara- I’ll go for Robbie Morrison in this category. Dante is, quite simply, perfect.

Robert Cornell: Purely for his work on Dante. Recently, it has been a class above everything else including Dredd. Morrison is reaping the rewards of over a decade of character work. The strip now has genuine emotional depth and a satirical edge to go with the highly original setting. And yet Dante is still that loveable adventurer we met way back in the twentieth century. His sea-going excursions are all forgiven.

Ian Edginton
Adam Crabtree: This writer's on a roll. The cynic might say that with the sheer volume of his output the odds were always rather unfairly weighted, but this man brought the quality this year. Ampney Crucis Investigates, the turn of the century occult detective story, got off to a strong start, although the Edginton/Davis partnership still isn’t as smooth as we would like. Stickleback blossomed into a beautiful, face-kicking nightmare. Red Seas played up the camaraderie and gave one of its best showings because of it (get this series a worthy artist).

Bobby Peru Pires: The Red Seas did grumpy gods, Stickleback did bonkers-nasty and Ampney Crucis did spiffing bees and boobs. The man is a powerhouse of modern 2000AD: creating unique worlds far away from existing fare and delivering the goods with wit, humour and intelligence. May each of these series return in 2009.

Al Ewing
Hugh Platt: Okay, so I don’t strictly think he’s been The Best Writer in 2008, and I might not have thought the world of Tempest, but Al Ewing is certainly the writer that’s got my attention the most this year. His Dredd stories show he’s got a grasp on the character and the city that’s a lot firmer (and a lot closer to Wagner) than so many of his contemporaries. His own stories show also he’s got the ideas for big things of his own as well – I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next.

William Scotland: It’s got to be Ewing. Tempest was great, the only downside being the con-man dying (would’ve liked to see more from him. Maybe a prequel?). Dead Signal though was better. Everything in it was a massive cliché, and Kolnikhov even draws your attention to this more once, but the whole thing still felt fresh and exciting. Tales from the Black Museum was a good look into an aspect of MC1, and his Dredds were good too (It wasn’t 2000AD, but I, Zombie was great too).

Simply put: everything I’ve seen by Ewing has been fantastic, in my book he hasn’t put a foot (word?) wrong yet.

John Wagner
Pete McCosh:
We really needs to change this category next year to Best (non-Wagner) writer. Like last year, I've genuinely tried to think of a way I can justify giving this one to someone else. Robbie Morrison continues to knock each new Dante series for six, while the last Shakara story was thoroughly entertaining, but then he gets his hands on Dredd and he's out for a duck. Ian Edginton delivered with Red Seas and Stickleback, but his latest series wasn't too hot.

With his continued juggling of the Mayor Maybe & Mutant Rights/Fargo clan storylines he still finds time to go back and close off the Jura Edgar files (itself ending with a left-field shocker that we haven't yet seen followed up) then deliver an action packed romp that nerdily saw Dredd work his way through everything in his Lawgiver's magazine and come up with one of the nastiest villains to grace the pages of the comic. There might even have been a new Strontium Dog story in there somewhere.

If I had to make a criticism, it'd be that we haven't seen a new series from Wagner's mighty pen in a long time. However, ask any Squaxx whether they'd prefer to see Wagner continue playing with the pieces he's already got on the board or see anyone else come to the table and you're only going to get one answer.

Stephen Watson: After deferring to the Edginton camp for a while I have to return to John Wagner. When he’s not on Dredd it’s always clear without reference to the credit box. He may lack the multiple worlds and characters that other writers can boast of, but better to be master of one than a hack at many. Not that I’m saying 2000ad employs any hacks, but you get the idea.

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10. Best Artist

Dave Taylor
Gavin Hanly: I've liked Taylor since his run on Batman with Alan Grant, and it's great to see him as a 2000AD regular . Rivalled only by Henry Flint in the "bizarre alien/robot design" field, he's ideally suited to the comic, as particularly seen by his creations in Road Stop. Everything in his work is astonishingly good, from individual human characterisation (as seen in the end of year Megazine) to his design of Mega City One himself.

He's easily one of the best artists working in comics today, and we can only hope that he stays with 2000AD for some time.

Alex Frith: Best artist for me.

Bobby Peru Pires: 2000AD has a roster of artists all its readers want to see return time and time again: Walker, Flint, Ezquerra, Fraser, D’Isreali so instead of echoing their names I’ll plump for a man whose work has vastly improved and is really turning in the goods now: Dave Taylor. While Big Robots had some odd posing issues Road Stop and The Gift of Mercy are simply brilliantly executed pieces. The balance of action dynamic and character, the gritty claustrophobic nature of MC1 and a great old looking Dredd.

This man needs some major Wagner Dredds.

Simon Fraser
Martin Charlton: Again, for returning and bringing a variation to Burns’ work with him. Burns is a hell of an artist, and deserves as much of the praise for Dante as Fraser does, but Fraser’s return, bringing with him the dynamism he’s known for, was the artistic high point of the year for me.

Daniel Payne: A few years ago, 2000AD was inundated with fantastic artists. Siku and Kev Walker were making regular contributions alongside stalwarts like Ezquerra; and stars such as Simon Fraser, Frazer Irving, Henry Flint, and Jock were emerging with exciting work. Now most of these names seldom contribute to the comic, which is in a relatively calm phase in terms of its artists. So, in the absence of fresh prodigies, Simon Fraser remains the best artist producing regular work for 2000AD at the moment; his fine story-telling combined with evocative facial expressions is unmatched, and his work is generally a joy to look at.

D’Israeli
William Scotland: You know you’ve got good art when you find yourself wishing the textboxes were smaller. The Vort was a good story, but D’Israeli’s art on it was actually amazing. Stickleback was great too.

Robert Cornell: Art droid duties seemed to be shared around a lot more than usual this year so everyone had limited pages to impress but Disraeli’s work on Stickleback is extraordinarily detailed and imaginative. Anyone else should be prohibited by law from going near it. He also does a mean Lobster Random, as we saw from “The Vort.”

Peter Doherty
Hugh Platt: Doherty’s Cursed Earth in Ratfink wins this category for me. The dusty daytime, and sinister nights, and the inbred hillbilly meanness of Ratfink himself were all areas of the strip where Doherty’s art helped this thrill stand head and shoulders above so much else this year.

Henry Flint
Pete McCosh: Flint's the droid for me here. There are a couple of pages from the second Stickleback adventure that stand out as the most stunning images in the comic this year, but I don't feel I can vote for D'Israeli again. It may well have been the reproduction rather than the source art, but other parts of the same story too often appeared washed out and hard to decipher and his work on The Vort didn't stand out for me the same way.

Flint's work on the short Shakara series at the start of the year was typically stunning and, once again, saw him doing something slightly different. Coming so soon after his painterly work on The Gingerbread Man in the Meg, this really shows an artist at the top of his game and willing to try all sorts to tell stories.

Cliff Robinson
Stephen Watson: In the absence of Arthur Ranson I’ll go for Cliff Robinson who never fails to impress with his dynamism and detail.

Too many to pick
Richmond Clements: At the time of writing this, Carlos hasn’t made an appearance, though he will in Prog 2008.

Can I really pick just one..? Richard Elson’s work on Kingdom was extraordinary. Rufus Dayglo is doing some incredible work on Tank Girl with dynamic and fun layouts. Paul Marshall is quietly plugging away in the background, but is delivering sterling work.

Then there’s new kids Leigh Gallagher and Lee Carter…

In summary then - too many to choose from.

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11. Worst Thing

The "Best" Of 2000AD collection
Gavin Hanly: Something that could have easily fit in the over-rated section, but it'll do just as nicely here. The book itself was actually fine - a decent sized hardback, good quality reproduction and printed on good quality paper, it certainly felt like a sturdy collection. However, a quick glance at the contents inside and all hopes faded.

This wasn't the "best" by any stretch - merely a collection of stories from the very early years of 2000AD, featuring nothing from the last 20 years. Where was Dante, Sinister Dexter, The Red Seas or Shakara? All of these have one-off stories that would be ideal for reproduction in a collection like this. Why weren't there some meatier Dredds like "Letter from a Democrat" to show just what a Judge Dredd story can be?

In all, this was a huge missed opportunity.

Pat Mills
Martin Charlton: More than anything, my heart sinks when I see Mills’ name on a script. Greysuit & Defoe are classic examples of the current Pat Mills philosophy – everything has to be in ‘books’, never allowing strips to end properly, always teasing the possibility of one more thirteen part mess. His work on Dredd has been equally shoddy, suggesting that he doesn’t actually like the character. One of my favourite quotes about Mills this year came on this site’s forum, saying something like ‘if I contributed the script for this episode, it would never make it off the slush pile’. For me, Mills is very worst thing about 2000AD. (I also imagine I’ll be able to cut & paste this paragraph for next year’s round up.

Hugh Platt: I’m really, really, really, really worried that Dante is going to end in 2009. I’m also really worried that Pat Mills is going to continue his drive to get as much half-arsed nonsense published in the prog as possible. I’m all for weirdness, but when it’s used to cover up the fact that A) there’s next to no plot, B) what little plot there is makes no sense, and C) there’s another roll-call of new characters to introduce, then it really pisses me off. At least when he was preaching, Mills would remember to tell a story at the same time.

Gordon Rennie leaving comics
Alex Frith: Even worse than hearing how childishly evil some 'fans' can be, the news that Gordon Rennie has basically given up writing comics is very sad indeed. (I gather he's sticking around to finish of Caballistics, Inc, so there's some consolation)

Pete McCosh: It's always tempting just to pick your least favourite strip for this, but that doesn't seem to be terribly fair. Anyway, I'm sure Stalag 666 will get enough votes without my help.

The worst thing to happen to the comic in 2008 was the news that Gordon Rennie was leaving Tharg's merry band. With both Caballistics and The 86ers, Rennie displayed a real talent for developing intriguing multi-stranded stories and I, for one, always liked having his Dredd storylines developing alongside Wagner's and it's rather frustrating that we're not likely to see much happening with those dangling threads in the near future.

I hope we will still see the odd story appearing from him, particularly a continuation of Cabs, but it's a shame to see him go.

Sinister Dexter
David Page: Ah, Sinister Dexter where did you go so wrong? You promised us one hell of a year, with two rival Moses attempting to end each others existence and what did we get?!? Spotlights on Kal Cutter, one of the lamest characters of the series and more tangents which takes us further and further from all the cool stuff we were promised! Sort yourself out in 2009.

No Caballistics Inc.
Bobby Peru Pires: A certain thing called Caballistics Inc. disappeared without trace. Even its artist disappeared from the 10 Seconders in mysterious circumstances.

Surprise endings
Adam Crabtree: The “Surprise! Franchise!” factor, as seen in Dead Eyes and The Vort. It’s been done, guys. Also, Al Ewing’s Dead Signal and the (ridiculously) long-awaited return of the 10 Seconders weren’t as good as I thought they’d be. Elsewhere, Sinister Dexter’s complete return to mediocrity is cemented as they hoik up their granddad stretchpants and settle back into ‘job-of-the-week’ mode.

Tony Lee's hate mail
Richmond Clements: I bet a lot of people will be saying ‘Stalag 666’ in answer to this. I won’t though.
The worst thing this year was not this strip, but was connected with it. It was, of course, the horrendous hate mail that was sent to Tony Lee.

It was an absolutely disgusting act, and made me almost ashamed to be associated with 2000AD as a fan.
In fact, thinking on it, the entire response to this strip (of which I myself have been critical, but I hope always constructively) has not shown fandom in a good light. I know folks can have strong feelings about these things, but come on people!- it is just a comic!

Stalag 666
Robert Cornell: I would like to be ironic and clever and pick something else but this was just awful. It brought out the very worst in some people and reviewing it was like kicking a blind three-legged puppy. And I will never, ever mention it again. Unless there’s a sequel.

The Volgan Wars
Daniel Payne: The latest Volgan Wars instalment wasn’t the worst strip of the year in itself, but it was a sign of how far the mighty have fallen. The ABC Warriors used to be one of the comic’s best strips, but lately it has become a serious chore to follow. The choice of artist doesn’t help; some people seem to like Langley’s visual style, but his storytelling skills are lacking and his characters are quite lifeless.

Dead Eyes
William Scotland: The main problem with this was the lack of anything happening. Weeks and weeks pass with nothing but talking, then reality gets destroyed in one prog? And the whole thing was an intro for the return of a series I’d never heard of? Pardon me for feeling a bit cheated. Dead Eyes really felt like it went on forever. It reads a lot better all in one go, but that doesn’t count for much. The characters weren’t great, the story felt like it was constantly on the verge of going somewhere better it just didn’t. I think the worst part is when a whole panel gets used just for “Check it out! I look like a gay lumberjack!”

Bagged Megazines
Stephen Watson: It may sound petty but I hate the scruffy opened poly bags in my Megazine collection box. I also dislike that I have to unbag a Meg to see one strip before carefully rebagging it. Some extra filing solutions are needed methinks!

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12. Best Thing

Nikolai Dante
Martin Charlton: Like there’s any doubt. In a year when I’ve lost a lot of faith in the direction of 2000AD, Dante’s been there to remind me how good it can be. Well, Dante & Kingdom, but mostly Dante. I’ve given serious thought to only buying the prog when Dante’s included, so he’d better hurry back before I make up my mind.

David Page: Nikolai Dante's ongoing saga of this year was just full of brilliant terrifying and shocking moments so for me that series definitely gets the best thing for this year award from me. If indigo prime hadn’t shown up in Dead Eyes, the ending of Amerika would have been one of the best things of this entire year. DC's "Final Crisis" wished it had an story as half as awesome as Dante's entire run this year!

Daniel Payne: There have been various decent stories in 2000AD in the last year, but the burden has fallen again to Judge Dredd and Nikolai Dante to give the comic its edge and keep readers hooked. They have a calibre that other aspirants have not been able to match recently. On that basis, those two characters jointly deserve the award for best thing in the comic in 2008.

Alex Frith: The frequency with which we got new Nikolai Dante strips.

Dredd movie announcement
Gavin Hanly: Coming at the close of the year, this promises much for the comic in the next two to three years as 2000AD gets another chance to do it right. At the very least, the news should guarantee that the Judge Dredd Megazine will be around for a few years to come, and at least the movie features will be relevant!

Hugh Platt: Dredd movie announcement
The best thing has been the late-breaking announcement that there’s a new Dredd movie going into production next year. In this post-Dark Knight world of comic book movies, I’ve got my fingers crossed that finally, after years of enduring that Stallone aberration, we might get the worthy cinematic depiction of Dredd that we all know he can deliver. Just as long as they make sure Wagner is on board to make sure they get the script right.

Variety
Richmond Clements: The best thing about 2000AD is the fact that we can have strips like Bob Byrne’s tucked comfortably alongside stalwarts like Dredd and Dante with a dollop of Gene the Hackman thrown in. In no other comic IN THE WORLD could you possibly see line ups like we see every week in 2000AD. People bitch and moan about this and that (and I don’t exclude myself from that group) but when it comes down to it- we are the luckiest comic readers in the galaxy.

Quality
Pete McCosh: That is, having so many good ongoing series at the moment. Despite the frustration caused when your own favourites fail to appear, the fact that we've still got Dante, Stickleback, Red Seas, Lobster Random, Caballistics, Devlin Waugh and so forth is surely indicative of the strength of the comic.

2000AD itself
William Scotland: It feels a bit like cheating to say the best thing about 2000AD is that it is 2000AD, but there you go. This time last year I’d just bought my first Prog and it was a revelation. I’d given up on comics completely when I realized that understanding Spiderman or Batman would mean also reading just about every single Marvel and DC title every week. Then I happened upon Nikolai Dante at a library. After that I started picking up every Tooth trade I could get my hands on, and a couple of months later I was using terms like Tooth, Trade and Squaxx. Doesn’t really need saying, but 2000AD rocks. Even an average Prog beats most US titles hands down, just by being so different.

Rug Pulling
Robert Cornell: As well as Dante stabbing Vladimir, we had Windward and Cord in Dead Eyes, every other week in Dead Signal, Lobster Random turning up in The Vort. Some people seem to sulk when this happens. In my mind nothing beats a really good twist.

2000AD and Megazine still going strong
Stephen Watson: Easily the fact that both publications are still going strong and pumping out top notch content. Long may it continue.

90%
Bobby Peru Pires: There is no singular best thing about it – 90% of it is fantastic.

That's it for the 2008 review - thanks to all those who took part. Keep an eye out for the "What we'd like to see in 2009" feature - coming soon...