Wildcat,Warrior and Future Tense?

Captain Storm · Post by **Captain Storm** » 27 Jul 2006, 21:17

Does anybody have any info on these 3 comics which I discovered whilst googling recently.I seem to remember buying at least one issue of each in the past and then foolishly discarding them

To think I had a full set of Starlord,Tornado,1st and 2nd Issues of 2000ad,numerous Buddy,Crunch,Hotspur,Victor,Battle,Action...

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 27 Jul 2006, 23:56

Warrior was the brainchild of Dez Skinn, ex-IPC and UK Mad editor and currently editor/ publisher of Comics International. Briefly, it was the anthology monthly comic which introduced such renowned strips as the Marvelman revival and V for Vendetta, therefore showcasing some of Alan Moore's early professional work as a writer. At the time it was published, Warrior was alone on the shelves as a monthly comic but although it didn't have a massively long run (27 issues or so?) it's still fondly remembered and highly regarded in the comics industry.

Wildcat was a short lived Fleetway adventure comic that looked like it was based on a toy/ tv line but wasn't. I didn't really follow this as the scripts seemed failrly bland. It had a short run.

Future Tense, if I remember correctly, was a Marvel UK comic repackaging US Marvel superhero strips that had a sci-fi slant.

Lew

colcool007 · Post by **colcool007** » 27 Jul 2006, 23:59

Future Tense was one of the Marvel comics where they serialised stories such as Star Trek and other such oddities that they could not place anywhere else.

Wildcat was a spin-off from the 2000AD library that was aimed more at the pre-teen market with some really awesome artwork. On my hit-list for buying when I have the cash! It was very late 80's/early 90's and barely lasted a year.

Have no info on Warrior except that the intended Summer Special was eventually released as part of an Expo programme. Have a scan somewhere..

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 28 Jul 2006, 01:47

colcool007 wrote: Wildcat was a spin-off from the 2000AD library...

Are you sure about that? Apart from having the same publisher I didn't think Wildcat had anything to do with 2000 AD.

For more info on Warrior, a quick search on Google found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior_(comic)

Lew

Shaqui · Post by **Shaqui** » 28 Jul 2006, 06:12

Lew Stringer wrote:
colcool007 wrote: Wildcat was a spin-off from the 2000AD library...
Are you sure about that? Apart from having the same publisher I didn't think Wildcat had anything to do with 2000 AD.

I thought it was more to do with the 80s/90s 'Eagle' - I was looking to see if I had that issue from 1991 someone was asking about in the 'Buy/Sell' section, and the Wildcat strips seem to be in that.

chrissmillie · Post by **chrissmillie** » 28 Jul 2006, 11:23

Wildcat did merge with Eagle. Loner was the big strip in it. The US sized Eagle comics released the collected edition.

And Warrior is possibly Britain's greatest comic. Thoroughly recommended!

Chris

Captain Storm · Post by **Captain Storm** » 28 Jul 2006, 18:44

Thanks for the info folks.Pity something along the same lines couldn't be released today.A real shame that DC Thomson couldn't publish one or two comics in the vein of the 70's/80's adventure comics but with a modern feel to appeal to todays generation(AKA "US!")

colcool007 · Post by **colcool007** » 28 Jul 2006, 18:45

Shaqui wrote:
Lew Stringer wrote:
colcool007 wrote: Wildcat was a spin-off from the 2000AD library...
Are you sure about that? Apart from having the same publisher I didn't think Wildcat had anything to do with 2000 AD.
I thought it was more to do with the 80s/90s 'Eagle' - I was looking to see if I had that issue from 1991 someone was asking about in the 'Buy/Sell' section, and the Wildcat strips seem to be in that.

2000AD had one of the Wildcat minis that was an idea of try before you buy and to encourage people to buy it. Loved the art in it. Still got it. Around about the 600/700's issues if anyone else has it.

Earl · Post by **Earl** » 28 Jul 2006, 20:44

I have a few Wildcats, all the weekly Future Tense's and a couple of Starlords - still have my original issue 1 from when it first came out.

I liked Starlord and Future Tense. Not so fond memories of Wildcat. I think I was more into the DC Superhero titles like the Byrne Superman relaunch by the time Wildcat came out.

Earl.

Richard S. · Post by **Richard S.** » 29 Jul 2006, 08:23

Wildcat ran for 12 issues (plus a preview issue) fortnightly in the Winter of 1988/89. Issue #1 was 22nd Oct-4th Nov. Despite only asting 12 issues it still managed to find time to have a holiday special as well. It then merged with the new Eagle. Artists used included Ian Kennedy, Jos? Ortiz, Ron Smith and David Pugh. The most successful strip was Loner, it ran in the new Eagle long after the other strips had bitten the dust. Some of these strips were reprinted in a 7 part US-sized comic series, look here for picture/ordering details...

http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/b ... &snumber=1

One of the other strips was alos reprinted as 'Turbo Jones - Pathfinder', look here for a picture/ordering details...

http://www.milehighcomics.com/comicinde ... omics.html

Some issues of Wildcat for sale here...
http://www.thirtiethcentury.free-online ... /index.htm

The UKCAC (United Kingdom Comic Art Convention) programme book for 1989 has a Loner pin-up in c/o artist David Pugh.

Was it any good? Well it wasn't anything revolutionary that's for sure, the artwork was probably better than the stories. Not sure why it was fortnightly, I tend to think that's a bad idea as people don't get into the habit of picking up the comic every week as they can never remember if it's out that week or not. The last boys adventure weekly to be launched in this country I guess, its passing marked the end of an era.

Richard S.

paulvonscott · Post by **paulvonscott** » 29 Jul 2006, 09:49

That preview widlcat comic was given away with a few comics at the time, it had no official connection to 2000AD and spiritually it was more like Eagle, a bit old fashioned and conservative.

I'm fond of it for several reasons, though didn't get it first time round, as I was just too old (I'm younger now). It had wonderful art by people like Pugh and Ron Smith, and at the centre of it was a terrific concept, with the strips all linked to the ship as the crew went off to explore the planet.

But sadly for this and adventure comics as a whole, there were no new Mills or Wagner figures to come in and breath new life into these things. The potential was certainly there.

My favourite bit comes from a Loner story in an Eagle annual. When he is attacking some baddies, he fires his gun, selecting the 'disintegrate wood' shell to cause the building they are in to collapse. Mental.

Lew Stringer · Post by **Lew Stringer** » 29 Jul 2006, 11:47

Richard S. wrote: Not sure why it was fortnightly, I tend to think that's a bad idea as people don't get into the habit of picking up the comic every week as they can never remember if it's out that week or not.

That is a danger but these days it's more economical for publishers to avoid a weekly frequency. A fortnightly means a longer shelf life, so in theory means more people get the chance to buy that issue than if it was a weekly. Comics now have frequencies such as every three weeks or every four weeks and they still seem to sell so it appears to work okay.

Lew

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