writers and artists. A fictional reason for Tharg to use mechanical assistance was given when the robots "went on strike" (reflecting real-life industrial action that occasionally halted IPC's comics production during the 1970s and 1980s). Tharg wrote and drew a whole issue himself, but when he ran it through the quality-control "Thrill-meter", the device melted down on extreme overload. The offending issue had to be taken away, by blindfolded security guards, to a lead-lined vault where there was no danger of anyone seeing it accidentally. The role of Tharg has been performed by the following editors: Pat Mills, #1–16 (1977) Kelvin Gosnell, #17–85 (1977–1978) Assistant editor Nick Landau largely edited the comic himself in 1978 while Gosnell was occupied with editing new sister title Starlord. Steve MacManus, #86–519 or #500 (1978–1987) Richard Burton, #520–872 or #501–872 (1987–1994) Alan McKenzie, #873–914 (1994) John Tomlinson, #915–977 (1994–1996) David Bishop, #978–1199 (1996–2000) Andy Diggle, #1200–1273 (2000–2002) Matt Smith, #1274–present (2002–present) Contributors Well-known contributors to 2000 AD include: Nick Abadzis Dan Abnett Massimo Belardinelli Simon Bisley Brian Bolland Philip Bond Chris Cunningham Alan Davis Steve Dillon D'Israeli Ian Edginton Garth Ennis Al Ewing Brett Ewins Carlos Ezquerra Gerry Finley-Day Michael Fleisher Henry Flint Tom Frame Neil Gaiman Dave Gibbons Ian Gibson Alan Grant Trevor Hairsine Jamie Hewlett John Hicklenton John Higgins David Hine Frazer Irving Jock Cam Kennedy Brendan McCarthy Maura McHugh Mike McMahon Mark Millar Peter Milligan Pat Mills Alan Moore Grant Morrison Robbie Morrison Kevin O'Neill Arthur Ranson Gordon Rennie John Ridgway John Smith Ron Smith Simon Spurrier Richard Starkings Bryan Talbot John Wagner Kev Walker Chris Weston Many of these have since moved on to work for American publishers such as DC Comics (especially the Vertigo and Wildstorm imprints) and Marvel Comics. Film and TV adaptations Hardware (1990) Judge Dredd (1995) Dredd (2012) Rogue Trooper (TBA)Judge Dredd: Mega-City One (TBA)Button Man: Get Harry Ex (TBA) Audio adaptations In 2021, Rebellion Publishing and Penguin Random House released five audio drama adaptations of classic 2000 AD stories:The Ballad of Halo JonesBrink: Volumes 1-3Judge Dredd: AmericaJudge Dredd: The PitSláine: The Horned God Video game adaptations 2000AD video games for 8-bit computers include games based on Strontium Dog by Quicksilva for the ZX Spectrum in 1984, Nemesis the Warlock and Sláine by Martech in 1987, Rogue Trooper written by Design Design / published by Piranha in 1986 and Judge Dredd by Virgin Games in 1990,