Picking up the pieces
Picking up the pieces |
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Page 12 of 38  Panel from 'Strontium Dog' (1986), about a mutant galactic crimefighter. Art: Carlos Ezquerra. Script: Alan Grant. None of these newcomers succeeded: Starblazer was never a big seller, while Warrior crashed after twenty-six episodes due to financial pressures; Graphixus, Near Myths and Pssst! lasted for six, five and ten issues respectively. In short, none was able to build up the same solid following that 2000AD had achieved: the galaxy just was not ready for more than one science fiction hit. Their failure left 2000AD able to capitalize on its advantage into the late 1980s and 1990s. But first, a couple of pressing problems had to be addressed. The most difficult was that creators were consistently leaving the comic to go and work for American companies, where conditions and pay were better. Mills, Moore, Bolland, Gibbons and others had already taken this path. Fleetway should have learned its lesson, but instead of adapting, it continued to offer substantially the same contracts as before, and to compensate for resignations by making extra efforts to find fresh blood. This worked in the short run, and 2000AD had a second wind thanks to the talents of relatively unknown names such as writers Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan and Garth Ennis, and artists like Simon Bisley, Glenn Fabry and Brendan McCarthy (many of whom had been avid readers of the comic as youngsters). Of course, as these creators became famous in their own right, they too would leave in the long run.  'V for Vendetta' (1982), a remarkable drama about a masked anarchist avenger. Art: David Lloyd. Script: Alan Moore. |