Hibernia Comics are back with the fifth in its Fleetway Files collection, TimeQuake, written by Chris Lowder, available to order now.
Long before the agents of Indigo Prime and Loki’s Time Variance Authority there was TimeQuake! Time-Control patrol the timelines to keep reality safe from time-quakes: devastating changes to the structure of time caused by threats ranging from alien incursions to Nazi meddling and techno-Aztec attacks.
Time-Control recruit unsuspecting 1970s hard man, James Blocker, to join their fight against the murderous alien Droon and Blocker’s no-nonsense East End attitude soon makes him an indispensable, albeit reluctant, member of the Time-Control team.
Together with 32nd Century princess Suzi Cho, the Aztec Quexalcholmec and Time-Control chief Harl Vinda, Blocker must help keep the timelines safe and on the right track!
Written by Chris Lowder (Adam Eterno, Victor Drago) and boasting the artistic talents of Ian Kennedy, John Cooper, Carlos Alberto Magallanes, Alberto Salinas and Jesús Redondo, this time-bending tale is one of the highlights of sadly short-lived 2000AD stablemate, Starlord.
Presenting all of the weekly adventures of this classic from the pages of Starlord and 2000AD, the artwork has been restored to match its original publication, and this is the first time “TimeQuake” has been collected in any format, in a limited print run of just 300 copies.
Recalling the strip’s origins for a special feature about the strip included in the collection, former Starlord editor Kelvin Gosnell recalls of the story’s inception, “Time travel stories are a particular favourite of mine. Having seen the very first Doctor Who live when first transmitted in November 1963, I was hooked. So that’s where the desire to do one came from. Idea appealed to Chris [Lowder], so he undertook the writing thereof.”
Up to writing “TimeQuake” for Starlord, Chris Lowder (writing the story under the pseudonym Jack Adrian) had written “Future Shocks” and a handful of episodes of “Dan Dare for 2000AD. He began working at IPC as a sub-editor on Lion in the late 1960s. He was a prolific writer for Lion and Valiant with stories like “Adam Eterno” and “Spellbinder”, and also wrote for Battle, Action, and Dez Skinn’s House of Hammer.
Gosnell remembers there being a resistance to Lowder being used until he took charge: “Never really understood why. Probably because he was thought to be Old School. i.e., of the [Managing Editor] Jack LeGrand regime. Never thought of him like that and pleased to get the chance to use him properly. Also knew that he was an enthusiast for the same type of science fiction that I liked. We understood each other, got on really well.”
Don’t find yourself stuck in the past, jump onboard with TimeQuake now!
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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