As Part of Thrill-Power Thursday on Hypergeek, I shall be writing profiles on characters which have appeared in 2000 AD over the years, as well as script and art droids that have worked on the comic. This might not be weekly, but part of a rotating list of features gathered together under the Thrill-Power Thursday banner. Today’s article is running a little late, as it is the first one, but I did begin composing it on Thursday evening, and finished it in the wee hours of Friday, so I think that still counts (remember that I am located on the west coast of Canada, so that is GMT -8:00)

Please read on for today’s character profile on 2000 AD’s illustrious leader and editor, Tharg!

When people think of 2000 AD the first thing that comes to mind is likely to be Judge Dredd. This is for obvious reasons really, Dredd has appeared in 2000 AD in every single prog since #2, he has his only monthly spin-off title, the Judge Dredd Megazine, and he’s even had a Hollywood movie based on him (which I will be addressing in a later article). However, there is another character that has been appearing in the progs almost as long as Dredd himself, well I say character, but he is of course, a completely real person… I’m talking of course about Tharg the Mighty

Constant Readers will no doubt know everything there is to know about The Mighty One, but I figure that new readers may find the concept of Tharg a little, erm, confusing. I decided therefore that an introduction to Tharg was in order for all the Nonscots out there. If you don’t know what a Nonscrot is, then this article is for you!

The editor position at 2000 AD has been held by many different people throughout the years, but the actual individuals are never actually credited as being the comic’s editor, instead the editorial credits are always assigned to a fictional character known as Tharg. Tharg the Mighty is 2000 ADs editor, figurehead, and supreme overseer of all the script and art droids working at 2000 AD headquarters.

Tharg is an alien from the planet ‘Quaxxann’, a planet which orbits the star Betlegueuse in the Orion constellation. Tharg came to Earth in the mid 1970s and discovered that the poor people of our planet lead boring lives, and were deprived of what he calls ‘thrill-power’. He decided there and then to take up residence in the thrill-starved City of Oxford, England, where he began the publishing the comic anthology magazine that would come to be known as the galaxies greatest comic!

Tharg appears at the start of every issue of 2000 AD to give readers an introduction to the week’s prog, inform them of upcoming ‘thrills’, and sometimes dole out advice on how to make your life much more thrill-filled! Tharg is also responsible for answering reader’s letters, and sometimes hands out prizes to readers with something interesting to say; winners can choose how they would like to receive their prize money, either in pounds sterling or in “galactic groats”. Tharg says that his favourite food is polystyrene cups.

Tharg is often depicted as a tall, well dressed alien male, with green skin. In the middle of Tharg’s forehead is a bejeweled medallion called the ‘Rosette of Sirius’, which somewhat resembles an old fashioned phone dial. Tharg has a black goatee, large pointy ears, and his eyebrows are thick, black, and arranged in a permanent scowl. Tharg’s hair is a thick shock of bright white, which occupies the centre of his skull, almost like a mohawk, and cascades down the back of his head in long ponytail. I never really thought about it before, but I guess that Tharg has a mullet. Given his physical features, and similarities to the Marvel U’s Skrulls, I believe that from now on I shall refer to his hair style as… A SKRULLET!!!

Tharg speaks mostly talks in English, but uses some Betelgusian aphorisms, such as:

• “Borag Thungg, Earthlet” – Greetings, Human.
• “Zarjaz” – Excellent!
• “Grexnix” – A churlish person, or an ignoramus.
• “Nonscrot” – Someone who doesn’t read 2000 AD.
• “Quaequam Blag!” – An expression of surprise or outrage
• “Rigellian Hotshot” – A form of punishment (as in “I sent him a Rigellian Hotshot for suggesting this week’s Dredd strip was less than zarjaz.”)
• “Scrotnig” – Good or exciting.
• “Squaxx dek Thargo” – Friends of Tharg. Often used in reference to loyal readers.
• “Splundig Vur Thrigg” – So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu.

Other phrases he commonly uses include:

• Thrill-Power – The ability to excite and stimulate the senses
• Thrills – Generally refers to the individual stories, or strips, which appear in the comic
• Thrill-Merchant – Your comic shop owner/newsagent
• Art Droids – Artists who work on the comic for long hours, with little reward, and are summarily disintegrated should Tharg become displeased with them
• Script Droids – Writers who work on the comic (as above)
• The Galaxy’s Greatest – 2000 AD, of course, it being the Galaxy’s greatest comic
• The Mighty One – The title by which Tharg likes to be referred
• Prog – An issue of 2000 AD. Short for programme
• Meg – An issue of 2000 AD’s sister publication, the Judge Dredd Megazine. Also refered to as the Big Meg
• Terrans – People of Earth
• Cosmic Energy – See Thrill Power
• Pulse-pounding – See Thrill Power

Although the comic claims that Tharg is the true editor of 2000 AD. He is actually a fictional character created by Pat Mills for the first ever issue of 2000 AD. Over the years, many different editors have filled the role ‘The Might one’, such as:

• Pat Mills (1977)
• Kelvin Gosnell (1977–1978)
• Steve MacManus (1978–1987)
• Richard Burton (1987–1993)
• Alan McKenzie (1993–1994)
• John Tomlinson (1994–1996)
• David Bishop (1996–2000)
• Andy Diggle (2000–2002)
• Matt Smith (2002–present)

As well as being the comic’s editor, Tharg has appeared in several ‘thrills’ over the years, written by such comic industry luminaries as Alan Moore. The stories have shown us that Tharg has Superhuman intelligence, is able to fire energy beams, is able to fly, is telepathic, and is able to grow in size to gigantic proportions. Tharg’s known enemies include: Thrill Suckers, who are always trying to steal the comic’s thrill-power; and the Dictators of Zrag, who are the rulers of the dull cube-shaped planet Zrag. This trio of incompetent alien warlords hope to usurp Tharg’s position and use the comic’s powers to revitalise their planet. Tharg uses the Dictators as convenient scapegoats whom he can blame for printing errors and plot holes. Tharg’s only known relatives is his sister, Marg.

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