Happy Birthday, 2000AD! From art droid Richard Elson

Name: Richard Elson

Blog or web site: n/a

Currently working on: Journey Into Mystery and my own stuff.

First memory of 2000AD?

The first issue of 2000AD that I actually bought was prog 549. I had seen it around from the earliest days but I was going through a stage where I had little to no interest in comics so didn't really take a lot of notice.

I remember being amazed by Brendan McCarthy's art on the Judge Dredd strip in 549. Having gone back and read many of the great/groundbreaking early progs (and seen most of what came after) McCarthy is still my all time favourite Dredd artist.

Favourite Character or Story?

Kano/Bad Company. A mash-up of Frankenstein and Apocalypse Now! Two of my favourite things. Honourable mention for Cannon Fodder, Big Dave and Gene the Hackman (my favourite character to draw).

What do you like most about 2000AD?

All of the punching :)

2000AD is unique. A lot of talented creators have had the opportunity to do a lot of work that couldn't really have found a home anywhere else in comics. On a personal level, getting to work with writers like Dan Abnett, Robbie Morrison, Pete Milligan and Si Spurrier amongst many others.

What would you most like to see in 2000AD as it heads to its Forties?

More warped, shocking, iconoclastic characters, designs and story ideas. Bucketloads of sickening violence, humour and excess. But, no magic.

If you worked on 2000AD, do you have an anecdote you'd like to share about your experience of Tharg and his minions?

I think I may, inadvertently, have been responsible for the revival of Harlem Heroes in the eighties. I mentioned them (desperately trying to drag up something from the early days of 2000 so as not to display my, then, ignorance of early progs) when meeting with Pete Milligan and Richard Burton in the late eighties and remember seeing something that I can only describe as a glow of nostalgia spread across Richard's face. He proceeded to talk fondly about the strip for several minutes and a few months later they were back in the prog.

I owe my career to 2000AD. The editorial team of Richard Burton and Alan McKenzie gave me my break in comics. Thank you.

• This post is one in a series of tributes to 2000AD to mark its 35th birthday on 26th February 2012. More about 2000AD at www.2000adonline.com  

2000AD © Rebellion