Welcome back one and all, to my continuing catharsis. I can’t imagine that any of you have no idea as to what this is. Anyone unsure is referred to previous episodes in the archive. Anyone who can’t be bothered to look should. Anyone expecting something about bikes will have to wait a bit. That comes later. Onward.
I must have been around twelve or thirteen when the U.K. was hit by a wave of adult oriented comics. I actually happened upon it by accident. This was undoubtedly brought about from the 1988 successes of works such as Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns. The high profiles of these comics in even (shock, horror!) the mainstream press, led to a number of companies trying to exploit the new market that had supposedly come out of nowhere. Of course, 2000AD had been going in this direction for many years and was now almost entirely unsuitable for kids of the age it was originally designed for. It was about the only title to survive this five-year boom. But strangely it wasn’t the comic that first introduced me to this niche of the industry.
Allow me to elaborate. At this time I was still reading Transformers quite religiously. By this point it had become quite apparent to me which strips were home grown and which were merely reprints of old American comics. This was most abundantly obvious by the fact that all of the British stories were written by one man (Simon Furman) and drawn by a core of three or four artists (Lee Sullivan, Andy Wildman and Geoff Senior being those who instantly spring to mind). By this time I was becoming quite familiar with various names in credit boxes, not to mention artists signatures in the humour titles I was still buying. I knew which creators I enjoyed and started to become intrigued about what else they maybe up too.
This became especially apparent in the case of Messrs Furman and Senior. Theirs, in my opinion at the time, were the most sublime Robots in Disguise stories that ran in the periodical. On top of that, they had also created a thoroughly enjoyable supporting character in Death’s Head. Introduced in one of the many convoluted time travel stories the magazine produced, Death’s Head was an intergalactic robotic bounty hunter, with the irritating tendency to say “yes?” at the end of every sentence. This habit was enough to pass for character to my tweeny mind at the time. I was sold, as were many other readers. So much so, that in spite of the Transformers being licensed characters, Marvel UK decided to spin the character off into their own universe. Thus a Death’s Head comic was launched. Drawn by Bryan Hitch (yes, THAT Bryan Hitch! Oh, you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about), the series lasted for ten issues before folding. Published in an American format (smaller sized, single story) it didn’t hold my interest particularly. I bought the first couple of issues, but then found that nowhere in the local area was stocking it any more. Non-plussed, I carried on about my business.
As I say, around this time the first boom in graphic novels (how I loathe the term) was beginning to gain momentum. I had sort of heard about these things, but only vaguely. The mainstream press articles completely passed me by, as I wasn’t reading anything in the mainstream press. The only part of a newspaper I was reading was the Sunday kid’s supplement in the daily mail (they don’t warrant capital letters, the fascist scum). I never even saw Alan Moore’s appearance on The Tube, due to my complete lack of interest in music and my parents general refusal to watch Channel 4, certainly when the news was on! Nevertheless, news had filtered down to me somehow that these new book sized stories were available out there somewhere. And then I happened upon the announcement.
It was probably on one of the introductory pages Transformers had in each issue. These would generally have very little to say of interest, more often than not plugging what was happening in the comic you had already bought or something that would be happening in a couple of weeks time. This time though it contained mention of a Death’s Head graphic novel. This was fascinating to me, but was something I initially considered entirely out of my price range. At the time, most of these were selling for well over a fiver or so, within my price range if I saved up, but at the same time I would have been able to buy at least half a dozen comics with the money. Why would I blow that amount on a single forty-eight page story when I could spend the same and get many more in my various anthologies? Then I noticed the mention of it’s serialisation in a new comic called Strip. I had heard of it, but had never seen an issue on the shelves. As far as I could make out, it didn’t contain any Marvel characters I knew the names of, or any licensed properties for that matter, so hadn’t really piqued my interest. But now that there was a reason to hunt it down and hunt I did.
Lo, it came to pass that I was out on one of my Sunday morning bike rides (ah, I’d forgotten about that. The bike thing had started, but not properly at this point. A more in depth analysis will follow, I promise) I arrived at one of Witney’s many newsagents. It’s name escapes me now, and it has long since closed, but I will always remember it as the one my parents didn’t like as they found the staff needlessly abrasive. There, sitting on the shelf was a copy of Strip issue nine. I had been out on the ride looking for something else, again I forget what (and again, the rides will be explained in detail at a later date) but my searching had been fruitless. Figuring I had nothing to lose and with the prospect of Furman and Senior (for they were the creative team) on a solo Death’s Head tale I went ahead and handed over my ninety-five pence. It may seem like a pittance now, but back then that was a hell of a lot to be paying for a single issue of anything – Transformers being barely fifty pee a shot for example. I rode home, slightly narked at being unable to find what I really wanted, but still quite pleased with my acquisition. Little did I know what new roads it would lead me down.
