Review by Luke Williams
You may have heard of Alan Moore. He’s a very talented writer, who has achieved some success in the UK on strips for Marvel UK, Warrior and 2000AD. He was then courted by DC and became quite famous for his work on the other side of the Atlantic and his influence on English language comics as whole, with some low key works such as Batman: The Killing Joke, Swamp Thing and a 12 issue maxi series called Watchmen. No? Then perhaps you’ve been in suspended animation for the past 40 years.
More seriously, Moore and his collaborators have had an enormous impact on English language comics. But everyone has to start their career somewhere. For Moore, it was on strips for local newspapers and the music press, before moving onto work on Captain Britain, Doctor Who “monster strips”, Marvelman, V For Vendetta and, of course, 2000AD. Famously, Alan Grant, the now sadly departed writer was the 2000AD sub editor who fished out Moore’s first submission from the 2000AD slush pile, and saw the young writer’s potential.
First off, this isn’t really the complete Alan Moore in 2000AD, it’s just “Volume One”. Rebellion haven’t included “The Ballad of Halo Jones”, the E.T by way of Alan Bleasdale that was “Skizz”, or “D.R & Quinch”. They have their own collections (and new editions will be included in this “Complete” series in future”). What we have here is a lovely collection of some of the best one offs ever published by 2000AD. This includes a collection of stories under the titles of “Future Shocks”, “Time Twisters” (except the first “D.R. & Quinch” story), “Ro Jaws Robo Tales”, various one offs, “Tharg The Mighty” strips, dabbling with characters you wouldn’t think to associate with Moore (unless you are as old as me), and the odd short series – “Abelard Snazz”, I’m looking at you.
For the most part, 2000AD’s one offs like “Future Shocks” and “Time Twisters” are the means of trying out new talent. Indeed, that is the prize for the 2000AD writers and artists search at Thought Bubble every year. They are also used as “filler”, a means of filling a gap in an issue before the a new serial starts in the next issue. However, they have often they transcended this purpose and have been a veritable hotbed of horror, pathos and humour (sometimes all at once), and one of the greatest exponents of this inventiveness was Alan Moore.
You can see Moore’s development as a writer from his first relatively unsophisticated “Future Shock”, “A Holiday In Hell” to the later, complex classics and everything in between. Some of the strips are no more than a setup and a punchline, such as “An American Werewolf in Space”, “Return Of The Thing”, and “Skirmish”. But other strips, such as “Chronocops”, where Moore and artist Dave Gibbons playfully, cleverly and hilariously self reference within the strip, and the moving and thought provoking “The Time Machine”. Each are remarkably sophisticated for five-page one offs in a comic aimed at early teen aged boys.
Moore also has a wicked sense of humour: “The Last Rumble Of The Platinum Horde” is depressingly hilarious, whereas the “Wages of Sin” is just plain hilarious.
Moore has a stab at Rogue Trooper with two stories; both with a strong anti-war theme, one a touching (although possibly continuity demolishing) tale about the first GIs, the second dealing with psychological effects of war on young soldiers. Three “Ro Buster” strips are included in this collection, two on the whackier end of the scale, including a Thunderbirds parody, the second guest starring Joe Pineapples from the ABC Warriors and a third, far grimmer strip about a stalker.
There are jewels in here that no Squaxx, or come to that, any comic fan, should be ignorant of. But the one that requires special mention is ABC Warrriors “Red Planet Blues”, which is one of the greatest ABC Warriors stories published, with beautiful artwork from Steve Dillon and John Higgins. It’s amazing to think to it was published in an annual amongst puzzles and reprint material.
Speaking of the art, a strip can’t exist on the writing alone, and here Moore has a stellar cohort of artistic collaborators. Contributions include Dave Gibbons, John Higgins, Garry Leach, John Cooper, Paul Neary, Bryan Talbot, Steve Dillon, Eric Bradbury, Jesus Redondo, and the underrated Mike White.
In short, a classic collection of strips which show what can be done within the discipline of five to six pages.
Luke Williams
• The Complete 2000AD Volume One by Alan Moore is on sale in all good Local Comic Shops and Bookshops and one on a planet orbiting Betelgeuse* from 23rd April 2026 | ISBN: 978-1837866762 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link | Forbidden Planet Affiliate Link|
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Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.
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