COMPETITION! FUTURESHOCK- The Story of 2000 AD

FUTURESHOCK- The Story of 2000 AD

Review by Richmond Clements, used with kind permission of the FPI Blog.

2000 AD has been a part of comic’s history since the far of days of 1977. This documentary, now available on DVD and on streaming services, tells of the birth, near death and renaissance of the title.

It does a fantastic job of setting up the historical context of 2000 AD, with news footage from the time. Strikes, riots, recession and punk rock. Nothing at all like today, of course.

From this cauldron of anger and frustration 2000 AD emerged, steered by the indefatigable Pat Mills. As the founder of the feast, Mills gets the lion’s share of screen time here, and he makes the most of it. It’s well known that Mills has had some shaky relationships with publishers and editors in the past, and true to form, he doesn’t hold back here. That is not to say that this is film a soapbox for Mills. I’m not going to go into details about these feuds here. I shall only say that all sides get to make their point.

The film makers have managed to get interviews from an impressive amount of creators. The only noticeable absence being a certain bearded resident of Northampton, but I suspect he has said all he needs to say about the comic many times over. The Halo Jones baton is taken up by Neil Gaiman (who has written a total of 10 pages for the comic, so he just about scrapes in as a script droid!). He recounts how Moore told him the rest of the saga, and that it would have been great – but I think we knew that already!

A vast amount of material was recorded for this – in a recent 2000 AD podcast, director Paul Goodwin said his first cut came in at something like five hours! And oh how I would love to see that version. As it is, there are a great many superb and entertaining stories told.

I have just realised I have barely mentioned the interviewees. Put it this way: think of an artist or writer who has worked for the comic. They’re probably in there. Everyone from those involved right at the beginning, Mills, Wagner, Bolland, Gibbons, to the very newest crop of droids, such as Emma Beeby, get a word in. We also get comments from some super fans – screenwriter Alex Garland and Scott (Not) Ian from Anthrax are amongst those featured. And these interview pieces are intercut with some terrific animations of iconic 2000AD moments.

I cannot praise this film enough. It is an important and amazingly constructed piece of work. This is absolutely required viewing for any comic fan.

Thanks to the kind folks at METRODOME we have 3 copies of the DVD to give away as well as a signed ‘Quad’ poster measuring (according to the internet) 30 inches by 40 inches! just like the one pictured Above.

To be in with a chance at either the poster AND a DVD or one of the other two DVD’s simply buy comics from FQP.

For all sales between now and the end of January 2016 we’ll send you a raffle ticket. Each comic bought is a single raffle ticket so the more you buy the more likely you will be to win. Also, the winners will have the costs of their purchases refunded.

To also help with this, all FutureQuake & Something Wicked apart from the latest issues (FutureQuake #28 & Something Wicked #11) are going to be priced at £1.50 for the duration. Simply get in touch with us here at FQP with an order (for the competition please do not use the shop) and we’ll even combine any postage too.

So, now is the time to fill the gaps in your collection, or even start a new one. All comics currently available are listed HERE.