| Warrior | |
 Warrior #1 (March 1982), featuring an image of Axel Pressbutton by Steve Dillon. Axel Pressbutton is a Comics character who first appeared in the strip "Three-Eyes McGurk and his Death Planet Commandos" in the British Rock music Steve Dillon is a British Comic book artist He is particularly known for his run on DC Comics Hellblazer and Preacher |
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| Publisher | Quality Communications |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Publication date | March 1982 to January 1985 |
| Number of issues | 26 |
| Main character(s) | Marvelman, V, Axel Pressbutton |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Alan Moore, Steve Moore |
| Artist(s) | Steve Dillon, Garry Leach |
| Creator(s) | Dez Skinn |
Warrior was a British anthology comic that ran for 26 issues between March 1982 and January 1985. Quality Communications is the company formed by Dez Skinn in 1982 to publish Warrior, an anthology Comic book title Events Year overall Steve Gerber sues Marvel over rights to his character Howard the Duck, and brings out his own Destroyer Duck Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by V is a Fictional character from the Comic book series V for Vendetta, created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. Axel Pressbutton is a Comics character who first appeared in the strip "Three-Eyes McGurk and his Death Planet Commandos" in the British Rock music Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed Steve Moore (born 11 June 1949 is a prolific British Comics writer Steve Dillon is a British Comic book artist He is particularly known for his run on DC Comics Hellblazer and Preacher Garry Leach is a British Comics artist and publisher Biography Leach studied Graphic Design at St Derek "Dez" Skinn is a British Comic book and Magazine editor and author of number of books on comics The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Comics anthologies collect works in the medium of Comics that are too short for standalone publication Events Year overall Steve Gerber sues Marvel over rights to his character Howard the Duck, and brings out his own Destroyer Duck It was edited by Dez Skinn and published by his company Quality Communications, and was notable for publishing early work by noted comics writer Alan Moore, including V for Vendetta and Marvelman. Derek "Dez" Skinn is a British Comic book and Magazine editor and author of number of books on comics Quality Communications is the company formed by Dez Skinn in 1982 to publish Warrior, an anthology Comic book title Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by
Rivalling 2000AD, Warrior won 17 Eagle Awards during its short run. Because of thorough distribution and its format, it was one of the comic books in the British market that relied little upon distribution through then format-driven specialist shops and expensive subscriptions for its sales base. A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative
Contents |
History
Skinn, former editorial director of Marvel UK, launched Warrior in an effort to create a similar mix of stories to the one he had previously put together for Marvel's Hulk Weekly, but with greater creative freedom and a measure of creator ownership. Marvel UK was an Imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market though Hulk Comic (later The Incredible Hulk Weekly) was a black-and-white Marvel UK Comics anthology published under the editorship of He recruited many of the writers and artists he had previously worked with at Marvel, including Steve Moore, John Bolton, Steve Parkhouse and David Lloyd, adding established creators like Brian Bolland and Dave Gibbons, and emerging young talent such as Alan Moore, Garry Leach, Alan Davis and Steve Dillon. Steve Moore (born 11 June 1949 is a prolific British Comics writer Steve Parkhouse is a Writer, Artist and Letterer who has worked for a lot of British comics, especially 2000 AD and David Lloyd (born 1950 is a British Comics artist best known as the Illustrator of the Graphic novel V for Vendetta, written by Brian Bolland (born 1951 is a British Comics Artist, known for his meticulous detailed linework and eye-catching compositions Dave Gibbons (born April 14, 1949) is a British Comic book Artist, writer and sometime letterer Alan Moore (born November 18 1953 in Northampton) is an English Writer most famous for his influential work in Comics, including the acclaimed Garry Leach is a British Comics artist and publisher Biography Leach studied Graphic Design at St Alan Davis (born 1956 is a British writer and artist of Comic books Biography UK work Alan Davis was born on June 18, 1956 Steve Dillon is a British Comic book artist He is particularly known for his run on DC Comics Hellblazer and Preacher
As a nod to American comics fans, Skinn intended to include Marvelman, an obscure British superhero from the 1950s with a massive backlog of available pages. Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Having seen the advantage of mixing old and new material at Marvel UK, he knew if he could reestablish the character for an '80s audience, he could later answer the by-then demand for a reprint of the original work. While original Marvelman packager Mick Anglo (co wrote many of the stories and lettered them all) was not terribly impressed with the eventual reworking, he saw the sense in it leading to reprints which he would then receive payment for. Skinn offered the scripting to his regular team, who he'd worked alongside since 1970 at IPC/Fleetway. First Parkhouse who had earlier worked for Marvel, then Steve Moore, who had worked on the pre-Marvel UK US-reprint line Power Comics. Neither felt comfortable with the idea of writing superheroes, and Moore suggested a friend Alan Moore (no relation) who had said in a fanzine that he had an ambition to revive the character. A fanzine (see also Zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre for the pleasure Alan Moore was offered the first script on spec and Skinn was impressed enough to give him the assignment. Artist David Lloyd had been asked to create a mystery strip in the vein of his Marvel UK hit Night Raven, and independently suggested Moore, with whom he had worked on Doctor Who and Star Wars stories at Marvel UK, as the writer; their collaboration became V for Vendetta. Night Raven is a fictional Superhero appearing primarily in Marvel UK Comics a division of Marvel Comics. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Marvel UK was an Imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US produced stories for the British weekly comic market though V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book
Another strip with an Alan Moore connection was Laser Eraser and Pressbutton. A science fiction strip about a pair of assassins, it featured Axel Pressbutton, a violent cyborg who had previously appeared in underground strips written by "Pedro Henry" (a pseudonym for Steve Moore) and drawn by "Curt Vile" (Alan Moore). Axel Pressbutton is a Comics character who first appeared in the strip "Three-Eyes McGurk and his Death Planet Commandos" in the British Rock music At Skinn's insistence, Laser Eraser and Pressbutton featured a female partner, Mysta Mystralis, and was written by Pedro Henry and drawn by Steve Dillon. Under his own name, Steve Moore also wrote the occult adventure Father Shandor, Demon Stalker (continuing the stories from Skinn's House of Hammer magazine), among others. Steve Parkhouse, who had written the Arthurian-themed superhero strip Black Knight for Hulk Weekly, wrote and drew a fantasy adventure called The Spiral Path. The Matter of Britain is a name given collectively to the Legends that concern the Celtic and legendary History of Great Britain, especially those The Black Knight is the alias of several fictional Comic-book characters that appear in the Marvel Comics universe. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting
Using the same magazine format Skinn had employed for his earlier House of Hammer and Starburst to reach an older audience, Warrior was distributed nationally through newsagents and was launched to strong sales.
Issue 4 was billed as a Summer Special. Its main feature was a Marvelman story set in the future of the character which revealed plot points and new characters which would not have been seen in Warrior for several years. Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by The cover includes 'Big Ben' even though he does not feature in the issue and would not appear in the title for some months. After a few issues Garry Leach bowed out as Marvelman's artist, giving way to Alan Davis. Leach became the magazine's art director, and later drew the Marvelman spin-off Warpsmith as well as Zirk, a lecherous egg-shaped alien spun off from Pressbutton, some of whose stories were drawn by Brian Bolland. The Warpsmiths are fictional aliens in several Science fiction Comics by Alan Moore and Garry Leach. After the completion of The Spiral Path, Parkhouse teamed with Alan Moore to create the macabre comedy The Bojeffries Saga, a kind of British working-class Addams Family owing much to Henry Kuttner's Hogben Family. The Bojeffries Saga was a series of comics stories written by Alan Moore and drawn by Steve Parkhouse which have been published by a number of different The Addams Family are a group of fictional characters created by American Cartoonist Charles Addams. Dez Skinn himself wrote Big Ben, a spin off character from Marvelman, drawn by Will Simpson. Big Ben is the name of a Comic book character who first appeared during Alan Moore's run on Marvelman in Warrior and then went on Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by William ("Will" Simpson is a Northern Irish Comic artist who started off in British comics like Warrior and 2000 AD Mick Austin contributed some striking painted covers. Michael J "Mick" Austin is a fine artist who lives and works in the UK
Skinn wanted each strip to form part of a Warrior Universe and connect with each other. This never really happened as Skinn intended, although there were some crossover strips: Big Ben and Warpsmith tied into Marvelman; Grant Morrison's The Liberators was also part of this universe, set in the future of Big Ben's timeline and featuring alien characters in common. Grant Morrison (born January 31 1960 is a Scottish Comic book writer and artist The Liberators was a Comic book series created by Dez Skinn for the British Anthology title Warrior in 1985 More oddly and never mentioned to Skinn, it was apparently intended early on that the character of V in V for Vendetta would be revealed to be Marvelman: there are some early hints of this in V for Vendetta but Moore soon abandoned the idea.
Despite a strong launch and critical acclaim, sales were not strong and for much of its run the magazine was subsidised from the profits of Skinn's comic shop, Quality Comics. Offered to newsagents on a "sale or return" basis, it suffered a high rate of returns. The high level of creator control also led to problems: the second series of Laser Eraser and Pressbutton was never completed because artist Steve Dillon went AWOL, and issues began to turn up late when contributors missed deadlines and fill-in artists could not be commissioned, as the originating artists owned the work. The title had also managed to appeal to a female audience unlike 2000AD thanks to the inclusion of strong women characters but as later issues became dominated by more sexist material that readership declined. The final nail in its coffin would turn out to be its most popular character.
Marvelman controversy
Marvelman last appeared in Warrior in issue 21. Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by This was ostensibly because, after Quality published a spin-off Marvelman Special featuring stories from the character's original run, Marvel Comics objected to the publication of a comic with "Marvel" in the title. Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Although Marvelman had been copyrighted before Marvel began publishing under that name, the dispute was not over copyright but trademark. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for A trademark or trade mark, represented by the symbols ™ and ®, or mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual Marvel had been happy for Warrior to publish Marvelman as part of an anthology, but felt that a comic called "Marvelman" was "passing off" as connected to the better known Marvel brand name.
Skinn ran a series of legal letters in the magazine, but this was a smokescreen disguising the fact that Alan Davis and Alan Moore had fallen out over a proposed deal to reprint Captain Britain material for the American market. Moore opposed the deal, Davis wanted the royalties. DC and Marvel were unable to licence the property; editorial director Dick Giordano at DC told Skinn he had enough problems with Captain Marvel while Marvel's Jim Shooter said publishing a character with Marvel in his name meant the story would have to be a flagship for the company, not a skewed look at superheroics. Through Mike Friedrich's Star*Reach agency, Skinn signed all the Warrior work (except V for Vendetta) to Pacific Comics. They folded within months, and another American independent publisher Eclipse Comics picked them up. Eclipse Comics was an American Comic book Publisher, one of several influential independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s where it was reprinted and continued, its name changed to Miracleman. The legal ownership of the character appears to be murky (see the Miracleman article for a fuller treatment of this issue). Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by
Creative dispute problems also affected other strips with only V for Vendetta not suffering any gaps in publication. Many of the title's top creators were being offered work from U.S. publishing companies causing problems in finding new talent, although in its last few issues it printed material from a new generation of creators such as Grant Morrison. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Grant Morrison (born January 31 1960 is a Scottish Comic book writer and artist
Warrior ended its run with issue 26 in 1985. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) A final "Spring Special" flipbook issue was published in #76 of Comics International in 1996. Comics International is a monthly news and reviews magazine about Comic books which was published by Quality Communications from Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar)
"It did its job. Despite the inevitable disagreements such leads to, it showed what could be done with comics when creators are given ownership of properties," Skinn commented when interviewed about the title.
Uncompleted stories such as Marvelman and V for Vendetta were completed elsewhere. Miracleman, originally known as Marvelman in his native United Kingdom, is a fictional Comic book Superhero created in 1954 by V for Vendetta is a ten-issue Comic book
Influence
Warrior engaged British comic fans like no other title since 2000 AD but its influence could be said to be much larger. DC Comics editor Len Wein was one regular reader and it was thanks to Warrior that he hired Alan Moore to write Swamp Thing, beginning the "British invasion" of American comics during the 1980s. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Len Wein (born June 12, 1948) is an American Comic book Writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics The Swamp Thing is a Fictional character created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson for DC Comics and featured in a long-running horror-fantasy The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Its influence was also felt on UK titles like 2000 AD, which absorbed much of the new talent Warrior had found, and began to feature more mature material and launch titles for the specialist market. Many leading comic creators from the UK, including Warren Ellis, had fan letters published in Warrior and refer to it as their inspiration to work in the medium. Warren Ellis (born February 16, 1968) is a British author of Comics Novels and Television, well known for sociocultural
Stories
Stories that featured in Warrior include:
- Axel Pressbutton ("Pedro Henry" and Steve Dillon)
- Big Ben (Dez Skinn and Will Simpson)
- Bogey (Antonio Segura, Dez Skinn and Leopoldo Sanchez)
- The Bojeffries Saga (Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse)
- The Black Currant (Carl Critchlow)
- Ektryn ("Pedro Henry" and Cam Kennedy)
- Father Shandor (Steve Moore, John Bolton, David Jackson and John Stokes)
- The Legend of Prester John (Steve Parkhouse and John Ridgway)
- The Liberators (Grant Morrison and John Ridgway)
- The Madman (Paul Neary and Mick Austin)
- Marvelman (Alan Moore, Garry Leach and Alan Davis)
- The Spiral Path (Steve Parkhouse, John Ridgway, David Jackson and John Bolton)
- Twilight World (Steve Moore and Jim Baikie)
- V for Vendetta (Alan Moore and David Lloyd)
- Warpsmith (Alan Moore and Garry Leach)
- Zirk (Brian Bolland, "Pedro Henry" and Garry Leach)
References
- Khoury, George (2003), The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore, TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 1-893905-24-1
- Khoury, George (2001), Kimota! The Miracleman Companion, TwoMorrows Publishing
External links
- Quality Communications Warrior page
- 4ColorHeroes Alan Moore in Warrior
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