Rebellion Releases (2000AD)

This week's releases from Rebellion includes the latest release from The Treasury of British Comics. The Complete Johnny Future gathers together the full run of one of UK comics' lost gems from the pages of Fantastic!. Heavily influenced by that paper's reprinting of Marvel superheroes, Johnny's adventures began under the title 'The Missing Link', sparsely and strikingly drawn by Luis Bermejo.

This was one of the strips I planned to publish under the Bear Alley Books banner back in 2009, but it was not to be. Eleven years later, I'm pleased that everyone will at last get a chance to see why I wanted to bring Johnny back into the spotlight. I did have a little involvement in the new version, writing the introduction. Here's a little taste of what I wrote:

In many ways, ‘The Missing Link’ lives  up to its title as a now-forgotten bridge between old-style British comics and the American comic book. Written by Alf Wallace, the managing editor of the Odhams group of titles known as the Power Comics, the story was a child of its time and circumstances. Wallace’s influences are obvious: King Kong meets The Incredible Hulk with a big dose of Marvel Comics’ patented Superhero Angst. The villains, however, and the way Johnny Future deals with them, are far more in the British style—the limited weekly space allowance ruled out page after page of costumed punch-ups; instead, a more science-fiction approach was required, where conflicts are between heroes and villains of considerable (and, frankly, sometimes impossible) intelligence. 

2000AD Prog 2179
Cover: Stewart K. Moore

JUDGE DREDD: CHIMPSKY'S LAW by Kenneth Niemand (w) PJ Holden (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
SURVIVAL GEEKS: CRISIS OF INFINITE NERDS by Emma Beeby, Gordon Rennie (w) Neil Googe (a) Gary Caldwell (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
SKIP TRACER: NIMROD by James Peaty (w) Paul Marshall (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
AQUILA: THE BURNING FIELDS by Gordon Rennie (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Pippa Bowland (c) Jim Campbell (l)
HERSHEY: DISEASE by Rob Williams (w) Simon Fraser (c) Simon Bowland (l)

The Complete Johnny Future by Alf Wallace & Luis Bermejo
Rebellion ISBN 9781781087589, 30 Apr 2020, 208pp, £19.99 / US $24.99. Available via Amazon.

One of the most memorable comic strips of the 1960s, which asks the question “What if King Kong became Superman”? This is the complete hardcover collection of breathtaking Pulp adventure comics – beloved by fans and the creators it inspired – Alan Moore among them! ‘The Missing Link’ – a creature of limitless strength, is drawn to Britain in pursuit of an expedition party he encountered in his homeland. The man-ape causes havoc until he accidentally stumbles into an experimental nuclear research facility and is bombarded by radiation. Instead of killing him, the creature evolves into an advanced human. Now possessing a genius mind, super-strength, enhanced senses and the ability to fly, as Johnny Future he protects mankind from such sinister beings as The Master, Disastro, Animal Man and the Secret Society of Scientists. Perfect for fans of Rebellion’s only other superhero property – ‘Zenith’, the first superhero saga penned by comics legend, Grant Morrison!