Thrill-Power Countdown #18: 2000ad Annual 1982

We're in the period of great Bolland covers - and this is another fine effort - with the artist also producing some rare inside pages, and obviously enjoying his opportunity to draw some extremely goofy alien monsters, as Dredd deals with carnage at an alien zoo (even going down the throat of one of them to get his man).

It's also the period of Alan Moore doing all sorts of odd things for 2000ad, including a bunch of small short stories. His Ro-Busters story in this edition is obviously Moore - a little sad, a little whimsical, a little edgy - and has some wonderful art by Steve Dillon (more on the tragedy that there weren't more Moore/Dillon collaborations in a later annual).

The memory banks of 2000ad are raided for some Mach One, which only shows how much the comic has evolved in the few short years; the seemingly obligatory Flesh; and some groovy early Dredd. There's still too much filler, and way more Tharg than anybody needs, and the Strontium Dog story again shows how weak it can be when Carlos Ezquerra isn't involved. At least the always welcome Colin Wilson produces some fine line artwork in a short story.

There is not much else to say about the 1982 effort -  the 2000ad annuals are getting better every year, and still not near the heights they will reach in a couple of years, but they are in sight.