John Cooper
3 catalogued objects connected to John Cooper.
Biography
Person.
John Cooper was a British comics artist best known for action and war stories, whose long professional career connected the classic boys’ adventure comics of the 1960s and 1970s with the early years of 2000 AD. He drew strips including Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, Dredger and Johnny Red, taking over the latter from Joe Colquhoun and making its aerial warfare a major part of his reputation.
Cooper also became an early Judge Dredd artist: one of his commissioned Dredd episodes was held back before his published work appeared in Prog 19, and he went on to draw numerous further stories for the strip. His clean, forceful storytelling was well suited to weekly comics in which vehicles, uniforms and rapidly changing action had to remain instantly legible.
Reviewed 2026-08-19Selected sources
- 2000 AD / BARNEY — John Cooper creditsCooper’s documented Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD credits, including specific stories reprinted in the Complete Case Files.
- Comic Bits — John Cooper interviewCooper’s first-person account of his early Judge Dredd work and broader credits including Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Captain Scarlet, Johnny Red and other British strips.