2000 AD - September 1977.

In September 1977, the real world went well and truly sci-fi as, from Copenhagen to Vladivostok, people witnessed the Petrozavodsk Phenomenon, a UFO event so big and baffling that it's beyond my comprehension and seemingly that of anyone else.

Given such perturbing occurrences, was there anywhere we could find refuge from our extra-terrestrial torment?

Why, yes there was. We could find it by burying ourselves in the pages of the galaxy's greatest comic.

It would seem that this is the issue in which Dave Gibbons took over from Massimo Bellardinelli on the Dan Dare strip.

But who was best? Gibbons or Bellardinelli?

That I cannot answer, as I love them both.

In the meantime, you can read my review of a Bellardinelli Dan Dare story, by clicking on this link.

It's another of those issues whose covers I recognise but whose contents somehow elude my memory.

My hawk-like senses do however detect that Trafalgar Square may be involved.

My extensive research tells me this is the issue in which, Rico - Judge Dredd's clone brother - first appears.

All of which instantly reminds me of Sylvester Stallone's Judge Dredd movie. It would seem that I'm the only person in the world who likes it. From this, I can only concludes that this makes me a special person with special tastes.

This is one of the 2000 AD covers I remember most strongly.

As always, that means I recall nothing at all of the issue's actual contents or of the story that this cover represents. You have to hand it to this blog, it's nothing if not unenlightening.