McMahon, Mick - 2000 AD, Prog 180, cover (Oct 1980)

A striking original cover by Mick McMahon for 2000 AD Prog 180, dated 4 October 1980, featuring Judge Dredd astride his Lawmaster bike and accompanied by the cover blurb "The Law Is The Word!" There's a lot going on here visually at a great value to the comic reader of those days - as noted, this issue was only 14 pence in 'Earth money' when it was releasd!

McMahon's image of Dredd explodes off the cover with a low, head-on perspective that thrusts the Lawmaster's headlight and front grill right into the reader's face, with Dredd looming above gripping the handlebars. McMahon's recognisable style is on full display — the chunky rendering of armour and machinery, the heavy blacks and bold contour lines, and the slightly exaggerated, brutalist proportions that helped define early Dredd. The Mega-City One cityscape is suggested with characteristic economy in the surrounding background.

The artwork is rendered in ink on board at original art size, with the published logo, price box, cover dates, and cover-line stats laid down as paste-ups in traditional production manner. The 2 text blocks at the bottom - "The Law is the Word" and "In this Prog: Part 2 of your Zarjaz" were originally missing and artist Robin Smith, who was the 2000AD art director at the time and oversaw many of these very covers, re-created the missing text for presentation purposes. The cover is signed by Mick McMahon in red at the lower margin.

An amazing cover from a key period in McMahon's run on one of British comics' most iconic titles.