News arrived last Thursday (21st July) of the death of Alan Grant, one of the main architects of 2000AD. He followed the route of many, working for DC Thomson before leaving for London, eventually being invited by Kelvin Gosnell to join the staff of 2000AD. As AALN-1, he notably encouraged the introduction of new talents, including Alan Moore. He was on staff for less than two years, leaving in 1980.
Having already penned the epic 'Black Hawk' (1979-80), he began collaborating with John Wagner, their first co-written stories including 'The Judge Child', 'Block War', and the introductions of Otto Sump and The Fink. They went on to co-write 'The Apocalypse War', 'A Question of Judgement', 'The Midnight Surfer', 'Oz' and dozens of other classics, before continuing to write solo from 1988.
Wagner/Grant creations included Strontium Dog, Ace Trucking Co., Doomlord, Sam Slade – Robo-Hunter, Invasion 1984!, Anderson Psi Division, The Thirteenth Floor, and often filling half the pages of 2000AD and Eagle with their stories under a multitude of pseudonyms.
They broke into American comics with Outcasts (1987-88) and took over the writing of Batman for a notable run with artist Norm Breyfogle. This led to work on characters as wide ranging as L.E.G.I.O.N., The Demon, RoboCop (based on the movie) and Lobo.
When I moved to Colchester in 1992, it was a hub of comic creativity, with Alan and his wife, Sue, living at The Church House, in nearby Frating (a couple of miles from where I'm now sitting), John Wagner in Bury St Edmonds and Pat Mills living in the same road as I did. Knowing Alan was nearby made him an obvious choice for an interview subject in the very first issue of Comic Collector.
Alan's career encompassed comics, novels, animation, publishing (Wasted, Berserker Comics, Rok of the Reds), convention organization (Moniave Comic Festival) and charity work (including Moniave Fights Back, published to raise money for those hit hard by Covid). You'll find tributes to his work at the 2000AD Website and at Down the Tubes. Here I'll just say that there's an awful lot of his work that I loved, not just in 2000AD, but in Eagle ('The House of Daemon') and independently (my favourite being The Bogie Man).
I'll leave you with two things. Firstly, the thoughts of his long-time collaborator, John Wagner, who said on Facebook, "Alan was a dear friend, a valued collaborator and a man I respected immensely. He was a far better supporter of comics and comic creators than I and always seemed to have time to help people that needed encouragement. In our own work together when my creative juices were flagging he added a new dimension to stories like Dredd and Strontium Dog and by his contributions made them so much better. His time on Batman with Norm Breyfogle will remain forever one of the highlights of the title and character. He was my co-conspirator on many stories that I hold dearest, especially The Bogie Man and more recently Rok of the Reds. He will be sorely missed by all who love comics and indeed, all who love the good guys of this world."
And, lastly, fans gave Grant a one minute standing ovation at this weekend's San Diego Comic Con International.
Here's an interview I did with Alan for Comic World back in 1993. There was a slight glitch on the first column of the second page, but it's readable. (The reference to humping desks was because we moved office the day before I did these interviews and we were literally carrying our desks up the road from East Hill to Castle House.)
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2000AD Prog 2292
Cover: Cliff Robinson / Dylan Teague (cols).
Judge Dredd: Special Relationship by Rob Williams (w) Patrick Goddard (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Skip Tracer: Valhalla by James Peaty (w) Paul Marshall (a) Dylan Teague (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Dexter - Bulletopia: Malice In Plunderland by Dan Abnett (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Brink: Mercury Retrograde by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)
Jaegir: Ferox by Gordon Rennie (w) Simon Coleby (a) Len O'Grady (c) Jim Campbell (l)
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