Wagner asked Grant to write a strip for "Starlord", a "2000 AD" spin off, which eventually got Grant noticed within IPC. On a trip to London, Grant was introduced to Kelvin Gosnell, then editor of "2000 AD", who offered Grant an editorial position on the comic. One of Grant's first jobs was to oversee the merger of "2000 AD" and "Tornado", an unsuccessful boys adventure comic. Grant featured as a character in the comic in the form of ALN-1, Tharg's Scottish Robot assistant. Grant found himself in conflict with IPC and resigned to become a freelance writer, writing the occasional issue of "Future Shock" and "Blackhawk".