How do I find an issue of 2000AD with pretty much no information?

March 15, 2006 10:55 PM

This is what I know: About oh, 4 or more years ago, my letter was published in an issue of 2000AD comic magazine.

This is what I don't know: The exact date, the issue, or...well, anything else.

At the time, I wasn't a subscriber, and I had no place to buy the magazine. The only reason I know this it was published is because some random guy from England searched for my name on icq and found me and said "Hey, you're the girl from 2000AD". He gave me the issue number, but I promptly lost it and lost touch with him.

I do remember that it was a pretty stupid adolescent fan girl letter, and I'll probably cringe if I ever find it, but oh well.

So, is finding that magazine an impossibility? Is there some sort of library in or around Vancouver BC or Halifax NS where I could spend an afternoon looking through a few years worth of back issues?

I'll be in England in May, is there a library with back issues somewhere over the pond?

posted by stray to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Did you try contacting the mag directly? Maybe they could do the legwork for you. Their website has some contact emails.
posted by apple scruff at 12:14 AM on March 16, 2006

I work in a comic store.
We don't have a lot of recent back issues of 2000AD, but we might have something like you want.
It would really, really help if you could nail it down to an issue or a particular range of issues (month, year? - bear in mind 2000AD is weekly, so if you say "2002" someone's going to have to trawl 52 issues!), but today I'll go check out the stock and see what we've got in the 200-issues-ago age.

Please do feel free to email me (address in my profile) if you have any more info - maybe we can dig something up.
Failing that, the publisher might be of more help, though I'm not sure what their back-issues service is like - 2000AD is sold to retailers on the same basis as daily news, i.e. "sale or return" (what we don't sell goes back to the wholesaler and is pulped), so it can be hard to find even at specialist stores.
Also, if you get really desperate, grab a copy of Comics International from your local comic store, there are plenty of places you could try listed in the back, mostly in the UK.

As for libraries... I doubt it, but you never know.
posted by Incharitable Dog at 12:46 AM on March 16, 2006

If you do narrow it down to a year and mebbe season, might be worth trying out the 2000AD Message Board: http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=fan&page=messageindex. Four year old back issues of 2000AD are also dirt cheap if you do ever want to buy a copy.
posted by Hartster at 1:53 AM on March 16, 2006

I have about 200 copies in my garage from about 20 years ago......
posted by gergtreble at 1:21 PM on March 16, 2006

Response by poster: Heh, me too, gergtreble. Bit too old, alas.

I've e-mailed PR at 2000AD HQ, maybe they'll get back to me.

More information isn't forthcoming, I'm afraid! I just can't remember! *sigh*

Thanks all!
posted by stray at 1:54 PM on March 16, 2006

Best answer: I checked the "archive" at work. It seems most likely that your letter would be somewhere in the #1200 range, but alas, we have almost none from that period. Some in the 1100s, some in the 1300s (current issue is, I think, 1475 or thereabouts).
The chances of me finding the correct issue are, therefore, pretty slim. However, if the Powers That Be keep a file of correspondence and know which issue it was in (hell, digital typesetting - perhaps they can do the equivalent of Googling your name on the letters page!), I might be able to point you in the right direction should you wish to acquire one.

To mail-order such a recent issue would probably cost cover price + s&h, or a little more if the retailer routinely marks up older stock. I'd expect to pay US$10 or less in total.
posted by Incharitable Dog at 4:04 PM on March 16, 2006