Picking up the pieces
Picking up the pieces |
|
Page 11 of 38  Page from 'Slaine' (1983), about a Celtic 'sword and sorcery' hero. Art: M Belardinelli. Script: Pat Mills. The success of 2000AD meant it soon spawned competitors. It had shown a possible way out of the industry's nosedive, and other comics followed in a similar science fiction vein. DC Thomson attempted to compete with Starblazer (1979), which featured present and future 2000AD creators (Mike McMahon, Grant Morrison and Cam Kennedy), and which appealed to an early teen market. A much smaller publisher, Quality Comics, produced the more ambitious Warrior (1982), a magazine-format title, which again used 2000AD stars (Alan Moore, Alan Davis, Dave Gibbons and Jim Baikie): it is best remembered for two strips: 'Laser Eraser and Pressbutton', a lively romp about a partnership between a gun-wielding female and a psychotic cyborg, and 'V for Vendetta' by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, a technically brilliant dystopian adventure, with an anarchist hero ('V') who disguises himself as Guy Fawkes to carry out subversive activity. Then there were the science fiction comics that originated from a more underground source (not really 'competitors' to 2000AD because mainstream distribution was often a problem). They included Graphixus (Graphic Eye, 1977), which included work by Brian Bolland; Near Myths (Galaxy Media, 1978), which featured 'Gideon Stargrave' by Grant Morrison, plus the innovative 'Luther Arkwright' by Bryan Talbot, a complex, Michael Moorcock-inspired story about a war waged across parallel worlds; and Pssst! (Never-Artpool, 1982), a lavishly produced magazine much influenced by European comics, which continued the 'Luther Arkwright' story and featured colour painted artwork from artists such as Angus McKie. (Its tendency towards strips with a high quotient of naked female flesh landed it in hot water with feminists.)  Panels from 'Nemesis', featuring evil alien despot Torquemada. Art: Kevin O'Neill. Script: Pat Mills. |