Carlos Ezquerra was convinced to illustrate Strontium Dog for Starlord, as his relationship with 2000AD had been soured by the use of Mike McMahon's artwork on Judge Dredd before his own. Starlord and 2000AD were both edited by Kelvin Gosnell, though due to the pressure of work Nick Landau did most of the day to day running of 2000AD. . The first issue was dated 6th May 1978.