Early 2000AD art seems to be popping up on auction sites at an increase rate at the moment, with auctions for more “Ant Wars” pages and the “Flesh”-focused cover of Prog 14, drawn by Barrie Mitchell, among them.
While the early 2000AD cover art, for the Prog cover dated 28th May 1977, unfortunately doesn’t look to be in the best of condition, it is one of only two Barrie, better known for his work on Look-In and Roy of the Rovers, drew for 2000AD. (His first was Judge Dredd’s first cover appearance, on Prog 5, sold at auction in 2010).
Also on offer on eBay are three more pages of “Ant Wars” by Jose Luis Ferrer, originally featured in 2000AD Prog 72. These pages come to market hot on the heels of three others, reported here on downthetubes, which sold for £599, and along with the “Flesh” cover, are all being sold by the same seller, RTR Collectables.
They are also offering a number of unique 200AD “art stats”, original stat production artwork, one offs created in the production process of the publication.
One set includes a spread of episodes of “Harlem Heroes”, “Invasion” and “M.A.C.H.1.”, production art for 2000AD Prog 302 (1983), part of an ongoing free gift: a reproduction of Prog 1, to be collected over several issues to make the complete comic; the other, Page 62 from the 2000AD Annual 1988 featuring Judge Dredd.
Stat 1 for Prog 302 features: (a) The Harlem Heroes (Prog 1 page 28). Created by Pat Mills. Art by Dave Gibbons, Script by Tom Tully and Pat Mills. (b) Invasion (Prog 1 page 5). Created by Pat Mills. Art by Jesus Blasco. Letters by Bill Nutall. 
Stat 2 features: (a) Invasion (Prog 1 page 6). Created by Pat Mills. Art by Jesus Blasco. Letters by Bill Nutall. (b) M.A.C.H.1. (Prog 1 page 27). Script by Pat Mills. Art by Enio. Letters by Bill Nutall. 
Page 62 from the 2000 AD Annual 1988 featuring Judge Dredd. The stat art is stuck on a hard mounting board and the full board size is 43.6cm x 32cm approx
The seller is selling the works after owning them for some 25 years.
Bidding on all these items offered by RTR Collectables closes on 3rd October 2021.
• Ant Wars is available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | ISBN 978-1-78108-622-3
With thanks to Richard Sheaf
About Barrie Mitchell
Barrie’s first strip was a three-page costume drama for DC Thomson’s Bunty title. Before then, he had completed a four -year apprenticeship with Link Studios.
Although he became freelance in 1961, he stayed with Link until 1975.
His early works were for girls comics such as Bunty, Mandy, and Diana. He also worked on annuals of the Bonanza television series for Purnell, strips in Pow, Wham and Sparky, plus “Brian’s Brain” in Smash. A lifelong car enthusiast, In 1967, he rendered three motor-racing strips in Lion — “Tales From the Tracks”, “Lightning Storm” and “Drive For Your Life”.
His first football strip was “Paxton’s Powerhouse” for IPC’s Scorcher and he moved on to Score with “Jack & Jimmy”. He later returned to Scorcher with the second strip, until it finished in 1974.
After that, Barrie began to specialise in soccer/football strips with “Skipper Willie” and “Cast Iron Bull” in DC Thomson’s Wizard title, “Twisty” for Bullet and “Play Till You Drop’ for Action. Later strips went on to include “Kid Cox” in Bullet, “Guts To Be A Goalie”, “Pickford”, “Starf,’and “Superstar” in Scoop for DC Thomson, and “Marks Brothers” in Roy of the Rovers for IPC Magazines. His other strips include six weeks of “Day Of The Eagle” for Battle, “Harlem Heroes”, “Judge Dredd”, “Lawless Touch”, and “Flash Jordan” for IPC Magazines, “Fireball” and “Speed Kings” for DC Thomson.
In addition to football strips, Barrie also drew several strips for the Junior TV Times title Look-In, including “Knight Rider”, “Worzel Gummidge”, “The A-Team” and “Streethawk”.
Barrie claims that working with John Burns at the Link Studios influenced the early part of his career. He also admires Frank Bellamy and Jim Holdaway. He is currently impressed by the work of Richard Corben and Paul Gillon.
• Barrie Mitchell’s 2000AD Credits
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: 2000AD, Art and Illustration, Auctions, British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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