New Fan Looking for Publication History

[mattp9989]

Hi Everyone.
So I am new to the 2000ad world and being in the states doesn't make it any easier!
With the many books and reprints sometimes its hard to keep track of everything and so I wondered if there was some way to see an "in order of publication" type of database/spreadsheet or some such. 
Ive used the "Barney" site which has been of great help but I still can find exactly what I am looking for....such as when the annuals or specials were printed (after which prog etc).  I feel like this way I could make sure I was grabbing all the magazines that I wanted/needed and not buy any additional reprints that I don't want/need.  Hope that makes sense!  Thanks for any info
Matt

[Frank]

Hi, matt. All the annuals were printed in the November or December of the year before they're dated (i.e. the 1990 2000ad Annual was released in time for Christmas 1989) and the specials were almost all designated as Summer Specials (and a couple of Winters), which should let you know roughly when they saw print.

I'm not aware of anywhere the information you're after is presented in spreadsheet form, but if you're talking about Dredd stuff then all the prog and Megazine material is reprinted in the Case Files in exactly the order in which it saw print, and the Restricted Files does the same for the special and annual material. If you've got any specific questions about gaps in your collection you need to fill and where that stuff's reprinted, just ask.

[blixab]

The end of year specials are as follows:

Prog 2000 - between 1173 &1174
prog 2001 - 1222 - 1223
Prog 2002 - 1272 - 1273
Prog 2003 - 1321 - 1322
Prog 2004 - 1370 - 1371
Prog 2005 - 1419 - 1420
Prog 2006 - 1468 - 1469
Prog 2007 - 1517 - 1518
Prog 2008 - 1566 - 1567
Prog 2009 - 1616 - 1617
Prog 2010 - 1665 - 1666
Prog 2011 - 1714 - 1715
Prog 2012 - 1763 - 1764
Prog 2013 - 1812 - 1813

Hope that helps?

[mattp9989]

Hey thanks for quick responses.
That info does help.
I should probably clarify too that I started my collection with The Complete Judge Dredd and Classic Judge Dredd and then with 2000 AD at number 520 (basically where Classic leaves off I sort of thought this was a generally good starting point).  Right now I am filling in some gaps and have up to about issue 1400 and most of the megazines for volumes 1 - 4(well actually I need most of the first volume!).  While Im hunting around I noticed the annuals and specials, etc and wondered if they were something I should also be getting to get all of the story.

[Frank]

The annuals and specials are mostly ephemera and apocrypha as far as Dredd is concerned, few of them are in continuity and they don't need to be read in order, but those end of year progs blixab listed are something different entirely. If you can pick up one of those old annuals cheaply enough I'd recommend buying one just to understand the bizarre nature of the format - I'm not sure anything like them exists in US comic publishing.

They're bound between two thick sheets of board and were the only time 2000ad readers would have seen their favourite strips in painted colour until prog 520 and the move into that format. The stories are a mixture of stuff which was too gonzo for the weekly comic (that McCarthy story where Dredd ends up tripping), rubbish text stories, features on the strips and characters (sometimes the creators, sometimes films), and rainy day puzzles.

Annuals were the kind of thing parents would buy as filler presents at Christmas, so you would end up with annual editions of comics you'd never actually read before and which were just awful - I've got some which I've only ever used as sturdy little drawing boards.