A Brief History of Starlord

Stories were commissioned, and writers and artists were hired. Luckily for Gosnell, ill feeling generated over the launch and early days of 2000AD had caused a lot of good writers and artists to sever their association with the title. Gosnell managed to reel some of them in, a particular triumph being Carlos Ezquerra, who had refused to work for 2000AD ever again, after the editorial team decided to use a different artist on the first Dredd strip published. Ezquerra was incensed that his creation had been stolen from him, and that the artist on the first strip, the unknown Mike MacMahon, had simply imitated his style. Gosnell offered Ezquerra the chance to reunite with Dredd co-creator John Wagner on a brand new story. The first issue, which also featured work from Pat Mills, Jack Adrian, Horacio Lalia, Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy, hit the newsagents on 6^th May 1978.

Wagner and Ezquerra produced the comic’s top title, Strontium Dog, an iconic character that has surpassed its humble beginnings, survived the deaths of the two leading characters and found its place in British comics history, but it wasn’t always so rosy for Johnny Alpha. Strontium Dog’s presence in Starlord was hit and miss in the early days. The strip’s run was often interrupted, and on two occasions, a replacement artist was needed at short notice. Brendan McCarthy and Ian Gibson both had a good crack at the character, but their efforts weren’t right in look or feel, a criticism that can also be levelled at those who drew the strip in 2000AD. Luckily, Alpha's resurrection by the original creative team has put the strip firmly back on course.

Pat Mills came on board to write Ro-Busters, a series he created to take a dig at a member if the IPC management team, who had suggested a superhero strip, where clean cut heroes fought disasters. Mills' tale of degenerate, surly and expendable robots was the antithesis of the far more wholesome original concept. Indeed it can be seen as something of a class struggle, with the discarded working class sewer robot and ex-army robot facing the scrap heap unless they take on a suicidal job. Mills wrote the first twelve episodes before losing interest and handing over the reins of his creation. The characters were designed by Art Editor Kevin O'Neill, although his art would not grace the weekly series as his style was intensely disliked by the higher management.

Mills also contributed Planet of the Damned, a reject from 2000AD that was deemed unsuitable for The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic ^TM, who were already running Death Planet. Mills' script suffered from an all too familiar premise that had been done to death on television and in comics. A group of passengers survive their flight’s crash landing in the Bermuda Triangle, only to find themselves in a hostile and unforgiving environment where death is just a moment away. The characters were unengaging, guided from disaster to disaster by Tarzan/Conan outcast Jake Flint. Following Horacio Lalia’s first issue, the artist changed on a weekly basis, leaving the whole story lacking any cohesion or continuity. Mills had his name removed from the strip, which was credited to R.E. Wright. Planet of the Damned was drawn to a hasty conclusion after just ten episodes.

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