Dark & Golden Books have published the first ever collection of Mutomaniac by Pat Mills and Mick McMahon, originally published in the pages of the short-lived anthology title, Toxic!, but not completed.
The strip centres on Edward Ross, a mutomaniac: a rebel who could influence events via his luck altering powers, compelled to disobey and resistant to reform.
The collection makes its debut at Thought Bubble this weekend, and will be available online from the Dark & Golden Books webshop from Monday evening.
Featuring a new afterword from Pat Mills, an introduction by director Ben Wheatley, and an essay on the long history of Mutomaniac and Toxic! by Dark & Golden’s Douglas Noble, the collection offers an incredible look at what could have been. It features all published episodes, as well as previously unseen pages, scanned from the original artwork.
“Dark & Golden Books are pleased to return this lost milestone to print,” says co-publisher Douglas Noble.
As downthetubes regulars will know, the sadly shortlived TOXIC!, launched in 1991, published by Apocalypse Ltd., was the idea of Pat Mills, Kevin O’Neill, Mike McMahon, John Wagner and Alan Grant, who wanted to create a title that enabled them to retain the rights and control of their work.
Strips from the title, such as Accident Man by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner, Marshal Law by Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill, and The Bogie Man, have all been released in collection. Millsverse, run by Pat, previously published Psycho Killer by Pat Mills, Tony Skinner and Dave Kendall in 2017, and David Leach has just published a collection of his humour strip, The Dinner Ladies From Hell, reviewed here by Luke Williams.
Dark & Golden Books are dedicated to charting a less travelled course through the history of British comics, finding and celebrating mislaid and forgotten classics for the audience of today in new high-quality editions.
• Check out the Dark and Golden Webshop
• The Artists’ Debt Collection Party
An account of how the Toxic! artists, led by Pat Mills, did recover their unfairly withheld wages from the Publisher. This true story short, written with Pat’s trademark acerbic wit, is a companion piece to Pat’s Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! history of 2000AD, but it can definitely be enjoyed on its own. Available for free from Millsverse
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
Get ready for Glory Knight – Time Travel Courier, collection available now! 
Sneak Peek: Thunderchild heads to SHIFT 
Bear Alley collects classic Sexton Blake comic strips 
Coming Soon: Corpse Talk: Dead, Famous and Very Chatty
Leave a Reply