Matt Smith

I love Lake of Fire, by Matt Smith and Nathan Fairbairn. I mean, I really love it. It's an incredibly well told story from a formal point of view, and both Smith and Fairbairn bring a lot to that book. It wrapped up this past week, which means it's as good a time as any to take a look at one element it repeatedly uses throughout its final issue; center focus.

With 2000 AD hitting its monumental 2000th issue today, there's no better time to look back on the history of the title We reached out to the people who have shaped the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, from founding editor Pat Mills to current editor Matt Smith, and more, to find out not just how they came to 2000 AD, but the stories they think you should start with.

Dystopian futures have been a fixture of the sci-fi genre for as long as there's been a genre to have fixtures; cautionary tales about the crushing of the individual or the dangers of unchecked technology. In the second issue of 2000 AD, a British comic anthology that promised readers a weekly dose of thrillpower from the far-off future of the 21st century, John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra asked exactly the kind of question that great sci-fi is built around: What if there was a story about a dystopian future plagued by hyperviolent crime, ruled over by a totalitarian state, where things were so bad that even existing could drive a man insane from future shock... and the fascist cops were the good guys? The result was the stone-faced lawman who would become the UK's greatest comic book character: Judge Dredd, who made his first appearance on March 5th, 1977.

2012's Dredd was easily one of the best comic book movies of all time, and it's a testament to just how good it was that it left fans wanting more --- not just from Judge Dredd in general, but from that particular version of the character, portrayed by actor Karl Urban. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we're going to be getting another big-screen take soon, but the good news is that there are some pretty awesome stories set in the movie's universe. This week sees the release of Dredd: Urban Warfare, the cleverly named collection of three movie-verse stories that originally ran in the pages of Judge Dredd Megazine. To mark the occasion, we spoke to writer Arthur Wyatt about his work with Henry Flint and Paul Davidson, how they nudged the movie's take a little closer to sci-fi, and the interesting timing of a story about crooked police provoking riots.

Since they acquired the license for Judge Dredd, IDW has been doing some pretty fantastic stuff with it. Between Duane Swiercynski and Nelson Daniel's ongoing Judge Dredd and miniseries projects like Douglas Wolk and Ulises Farinas's Mega-City Two, they've put out some incredibly entertaining stories, bringing Dredd to a new audience that may not be familiar with his roots in the pages of 2000 AD. Now they're expanding the line beyond Dredd himself. IDW announced this week that they're launching Anderson: Psi Division, a new series set before the events of the ongoing series that will focus on Judge Cassandra Anderson, written by 2000 AD editor Matt Smith with art by long-time 2000 AD artist Carl Critchlow.

Fans who are now accustomed to reading their Judge Dredd in color, thanks to IDW's new series by writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Nelson Daniel, can breathe easy. Starting with a Free Comic Book Day issue May 4, the publisher is reprinting an array of classic Dredd stories with colors by Charlie Kirchoff, who also is the colorist of the current series...

A ComicsAlliance favorite for his super inky, wildly expressive style in Dark Horse books like Abe Sapien: The Devil Does Not Jest, B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth, and Conan the Barbarian, James Harren is going to make his 2000 AD debut next month in a story starring Judge Dredd...

Art: Flavorwire collects celebrity paper dolls, including Voltron Lady Gaga. Locomotion: A Doraemon train in Japan run by Odakyu Electric Railway unintentionally broke the law by effectively advertising for the anime character and will remove the decorations in October...

Matt Smith, the current (and youngest) actor to star as the Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who, recently took to the stage in Los Angeles while dressed as Batman for a play called Gotham Autopsy, part of the 24 Hour Plays that were inspired by Scott McCloud's 24 Hour Comics (...

Toys: Between McFarlane Toys and MTV, you can get a solid look at six upcoming The Walking Dead TV/Comic action figures including Officer Rick Grimes, Michonne, Zombie Lurker, Zombie Roamer, Daryl Dixon and Zombie Walker. Movies: The Michael Bay/Brad Fuller/Andrew Form-helmed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie reboot now has writers in the form of Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol's Josh Appe