ABC Warriors
Encyclopedia
ABC Warriors is a long-running 2000 AD
comic strip written by Pat Mills
, which first appeared in prog 119 in 1979
and continues to run today. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill
, Mike McMahon
, Brett Ewins
, and Brendan McCarthy
- who between them designed the original seven members of the team. Since then they have been illustrated primarily, though not exclusively, by Bryan Talbot
, Simon Bisley
, SMS
, Kevin Walker
, Henry Flint
and Clint Langley
.
The A.B.C. Warriors are a team of war robots designed to withstand 'Atomic
', 'Bacterial
' and 'Chemical
' warfare. They were built to take part in the long-running Volgan War
, which Pat Mills had described in several previous 2000 AD strips, including Invasion!
and Ro-Busters
. Each robot has a distinctive personality - often one programmed by its human creators - but each is more or less able to act with free will.
, was already well known to 2000 A.D. readers through the story Ro-Busters (which had come to 2000 A.D. via the comic Starlord
). The story of the creation of robotic warriors to be used in the Volgan War had been introduced in the Ro-Busters story 'Hammerstein's War Memoirs'. Hammerstein is the only ABC Warrior to appear in film, making a cameo appearance in the Judge Dredd movie.
The initial run of stories from progs 119-128 follows Hammerstein towards the end of the Volgan War as he recruits six robots to join him for a special mission - to tame Mars
, which had become a futuristic wild west. In further adventures set much later in time, the warriors teamed up with Nemesis the Warlock
in his fight against the Termight Empire and to prevent a destabilised Black Hole bypass at the Earth's core destroying the world.
Many of these early stories pursue the theme of humans using robots to do jobs that they do not wish to do themselves (following the same theme as Ro-Busters), and the cruel treatment of soldier robots by their human officers. The Warriors often find themselves at odds with humans who are exploiting the land and the beings that live on it - typical storylines see the Warriors identifying such evil and delivering poetic justice to the perpetrators. Later stories also explore ideas of 'khaos,' and the concept of programmed robots being able to discover their true identities.
Some of the most famous artists working in British comics have illustrated The ABC Warriors, including Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins
, Brendan McCarthy, Carlos Ezquerra
, Dave Gibbons
, Simon Bisley
, Kev Walker
and Henry Flint
, among others.
and reform his body if it is damaged or destroyed, and he holds the sword X-Caliber, a weapon that allows him to drain the souls of the living to use as psychic 'nourishment'. He is able to call demons and the undead to his aid. For a time Deadlock led the team in place of Hammerstein, being the only other member ever to do so.
Deadlock was the Grand Wizard of the Knights Martial, a group of highly intelligent robots who had developed psychic
and magical
abilities and observed the war from the 'Watch Tower' space station. They were given special authority to try and execute Volgan war criminals during the conflict, as well as war criminals from their own side, in direct defiance of the First Law of Robotics. Deadlock occasionally led his Knights into active combat, such as to take down & reprogram Volgan robot general Volkhan so he could no longer create robots outside of human control.
The Watch Tower was brought to earth by Volgan artillery during the war, just before Hammerstein recruited Deadlock for the Mars mission. On his eventual return, Deadlock discovered that in his absence the Knights - no longer kept chaste and pure by their former isolation far above the earth's surface - had been tainted and turned to frivolous pursuits, ignoring the old values of meditation, purity and discipline which Deadlock cherished. A disgusted Deadlock turned his back on the order and went into isolation, meditating and studying ancient manuscripts in an attempt to reach the highest level of the astral plane, and join with his master Khaos. When he was ready, it was Nemesis himself who came for him, and they became one.
Centuries passed with no word of his whereabouts, though at some point he established a Kollege of Khaos on the comet Tiamat. He finally reappeared in the bowels of Terra, to assist older versions of his former comrades, sent back from the future Termight by Nemesis the Warlock, to save the planet from destruction. Although his motives were unclear at first, he assisted The Warriors in their battles with the Monad, a creature from the end of time, only to betray them when they finally reached their goal. It turned out he had been sent by his master Khaos to ensure the destruction of Termight so Khaos might spread throughout the galaxy. With the assistance of Blackblood and Mek-Quake, Deadlock launched a fearsome attack on his comrades in a bid to stop them from repairing the damage done to the Time Wastes; he was forced to betray his master and save Termight so the Monad would not use the planet's destruction to turn Khaos into an evil force.
Escaping the Time Wastes, Deadlock assumed leadership of The Warriors and led them to Nemesis' home planet, Gandarva, to settle a score. The repair of the Time Wastes had restored Order to the galaxy and thus Deadlock and Nemesis had both betrayed Khaos. The two of them fought literally to the death, only to be re-born, purged of their guilt. Deadlock then took the Warriors to the planet Hekate, inducting them (both willingly and forcibly) into the ways of Khaos; he led them in collecting the heads of seven symbols of order, which could be used in a ritual to spread Khaos throughout the galaxy. After succeeding, the other Warriors denounced his command, proving themselves true Khaos warriors.
Following this, he returned to his Kollege with Ro-Jaws, who understood the twisting tides of Khaos even better than he did. They worked to indoctrinate students into the ways of Khaos - often via the bar - while also hunting down teachers throughout the galaxy and flying back to the Kollege to be endlessly tortured. Ten years after the Hekate mission he initiated the reformation of the Warriors in order to battle the Terran weapon Hellbringer.
Subsequently they returned to Mars, once under the command of Hammerstein, where Deadlock was instrumental in bringing about an end to the war between the human colonists and the planetary consciousness, Medusa. Deadlock helped broker a peace and he stayed on to help the Warriors in the resulting Martian civil war. It was Deadlock who discovered that the Confederacy of Martian Industries was assembling the mercenary Shadow Warriors team to destroy the Warriors, who learned the identities of its members and whose chaos rituals turned the tide in the final battle against them.
Joe's talents saw him sent into Volgograd to assassinate Volgan general Volkhan, and afterwards assigned to the Mars mission; he forcibly recruited General Blackblood by shooting the butcher through the heart, beginning a long-standing feud between the two. After Mars, Pineapples wound up working as a police instructor in London and once had to neutralise a rampaging Hammerstein who thought he was still fighting the Volgan War. Joe's career with various police forces continued in some form for centuries, and by the time Earth had become Termight he was on the free robot planet of Mekka working as an undercover officer. At some point he developed a hatred of humans ("meatheads") and was eventually put on the black list for pursuing human criminals with too much zeal. Pineapples also began taking up transvestism, apparently jaded with re-building himself time and time again and wanting to experience something new. Blackblood was able to obtain photo negatives of this.
At the request of Nemesis the Warlock, Joe left the police to rejoin the ABC Warriors in the battle to defend the Gothic Empire. Following the battle against Termight, the Warriors followed Nemesis into the Time Wastes of Termight to find the Warlock's offspring Thoth and repair the damage Thoth was doing to time itself, and save the galaxy. When Deadlock tried to sabotage the mission, Blackblood and Joe fought each other. For Pineapples it was a chance to get the negatives back, and for Blackblood it was a chance to finally discover what Joe had been hiding in his chest locker for the entire journey. As it turned out, the mystery item was a human heart: Joe was carrying it in a desperate bid to feel, so he could enjoy killing again.
After escaping to the planet Hekate, Pineapples helped collect the seven heads needed for the ritual that would spread Khaos through the galaxy, but suffered a breakdown as the 'Night of the Blood Moon' approached. Deadlock took it upon himself to perform an unnecessary operation on Joe, to give him a much more Khaotic outlook on life - and unlock his repressed desires for more exotic crossdressing. After Hekate, the Warriors went their separate ways, and Pineapples, sick of being on the dole for Khaos, signed up with the Terran Empire as a professional hit droid. He gained riches and status as a result, and had to be forcibly recruited into the Warriors when they banded together to take on the Terran super-ship Hellbringer.
He joined the Warriors in returning to Mars to help increase the peace between Medusa, the planetary consciousness, and her human settlers. When civil war broke out in the aftermath and the mercenary Shadow Warriors were sent after them, Joe developed a severe rivalry with mercenary and highwayman Dog-Tag - caused when Joe foiled one of Dog-Tag's heists, wiped out his gang and caused severe damage to him. Dog-Tag got revenge when he shot Joe through the head, buried him and removed his trigger finger. Due to techniques learned from Deadlock, Joe survived the attack - having shut down his brain to near-death levels - and was able to kill his rival.
The 2011 Savage story Secret City would retcon
that Blackblood was originally a whole series of Volgan robots, a counterpart to the Allied Hammersteins. The Blackblood Mark Ones came online in 2009 and were only crudely sentient; they were programmed to dismember and behead their enemies, to ensure Allied robots would be fully disabled (and without any reprogramming when they were sent against humans), and with no ability to distinguish friend from foe. Bill Savage
discovered their field trials in the Midlands' Zone of Alienation.
Decades later, the Volgan scientist Dr Zakaroff sought to create a robot warrior capable of treachery but initially failed to do so with Blackblood. In desperation, Zakaroff turned to the occult, and used a mixture of black magic and science to harness the betrayal of two lovers he forced to torture each other. Blackblood went on to prove his newly discovered treachery by killing Zakaroff, having one of his eyes shot at in the process. He left the socket empty as a reminder of his greatest act of betrayal.
During the Volgan War he led the Straw Dogs, experts in jungle warfare and terror tactics, and was rumoured to drink the oil of dead ABC Warriors. He was also responsible for trying to stop Joe Pineapples and Zippo after a failed hit on General Volkhan, causing the remote self-destruction of hundreds of foreign robots in the attempt. He would also root out internal enemies, such as robot designers Mikhail and Marina Zhigunov; he viciously tortured one of their subordinates to uncover the truth, shot the Zhigunovs dead, and attempted to kill their daughter Lara before being temporarily deactivated by partisans. Later on, assisting Volklhan, he used the Zhigunov's virus to infect Steelhorn and cause the Warrior to begin murdering civilians and allies. He also developed an obsession with discovering the secret enemy officer "General Public", due to a misunderstanding.
Realising his skills in guerrilla warfare would be a valuable asset, Colonel Lash ordered Hammerstein to hunt down Blackblood and forcibly recruit him; Joe Pineapples took him down by shooting him through the heart, and his worst excesses were then removed by brain surgery. He was then sent on the Mars mission.
After Mars, little is known of Blackblood's activities. He eventually turned up on the free robot planet of Mekka, where he plied a trade as a 'business man' under the name Bunyon Snipe, selling addictive software to robots; he married an exotic dancer, Ruby Yum Yum Gluck, and still drank the oil of other robots. He also came into possession of certain negatives of Joe Pineapples at a party and was using them for blackmail purposes. He would eventually be forcibly recruited by Nemesis the Warlock into the newly re-formed ABC Warriors, fighting against the Terminators before heading into the Time Wastes.
He and the other Warriors went on to repair the damage done to the Time Waste's Black Hole Control Room and save Terra from destruction. During the mission, Blackblood yet again proved his treachery knew no bounds as he betrayed the Warriors to the Eternal Soldiers of Agartha, and then assisted Deadlock in a sabotage attempt to stop The Warriors completing their task. It was during this foray into the Time Wastes that Blackblood lost his leg; he killed a road crew and took their road drill as a substitute. Following this, he and the rest of the Warriors briefly helped Deadlock attempt to spread Khaos throughout the galaxy; Blackblood loved this job due to the bloodshed involved, and the influence of Khaos on the Warriors allowed him to be more murderous and sadistic.
Leaving the Warriors again after tiring of Deadlock's command (due to the Khaos influence), Blackblood set up an arms dealership and even took on a pet dog, while torturing a trapped Hammerstein for five years (he happily sent photos of it to every other Warrior). When Hammerstein got free and reformed the Warriors again, Blackblood was forced to sign up on threat of death.
He returned to Mars to help keep the peace between the human colonists and the planetary consciousness, Medusa - though he stated he had his own reason for doing so, which he did not want to disclose.
In the battle against the Shadow Warriors (who he respected for their brutality), Blackblood faced off against the Rev, head of the Church of Judas, and killed him in a vicious battle but not before he was turned inside out in a teleporter accident. He was also revealed to possess Holocusts, a banned weapon that indiscriminately eats any metal.
In the most recent storyline, The Volgan War, Blackblood deliberately informed Mek-Quake that the ABCs were replacing him, and permanently alienated Mongrol after it was revealed that he tried to kill his beloved Lara during the war. He then defected from the ABC warriors and revealed he had been working for Volkhan all along. Volkhan and Blackblood attempted to destroy the ABC Warriors but failed.
. Only his head remained undamaged and remained on the battlefield. A scavenger named Lara, daughter of executed robot manufacturers, salvaged his head and built him a new body with other robot parts as an act of defiance against the Volgans. She was caught and executed, and Mongrol was tortured by electricity for information - this inadvertently activated his body and he broke free of his captors.
The torture and Lara's death reduced him to near animal-like behaviour ("Mongrol smush!"), and he was regarded as a threat by both sides. He was recruited when Hammerstein earned his respect by beating him in hand to hand combat. Mongrol's belief that he would go to heaven and meet his beloved Lara once more became the driving force of the metal ape. After being told by Deadlock that only good robots go to heaven, he became determined to live a hero's life and see his beloved again.
After the Mars mission, he found work with P.T. Bar-Num's 'Death Circus' on the free robot planet Mekka. He played the part of The Gawk, a giant metal monster that would be defeated by the heroic Spar-Tekus in every show. So long had he been playing that role, even he sometimes forgot who he really was. He was found by Nemesis the Warlock and brought back into the ranks of The ABC Warriors to help save the Gothic Empire from a Terminator invasion. He was then dispatched with the other Warriors into the Time Wastes of Termight to repair the damage done to it. During their journey, Blackblood broke the news to Mongrol that robots simply go to the smelter rather than heaven, so he would never see Lara again. As a result, Mongrol turned to his 'father' - a screwdriver.
After saving Terra from destruction, Mongrol followed the others to the planet Hekate, to collect the seven heads needed for the ritual that would spread Khaos throughout the Terran Empire. Mongrol was freed of the power of speech, but as compensation was bestowed with the instant reactions and speed of a natural born beast. After completing their mission on Hekate, Mongrol left for the Temple of the Night Maras with Morrigun, and became nothing more than her mindless (and overly protective) pet. Both he and his 'mistress' joined The ABC Warriors again to take on the Terran super weapon Hellbringer.
On the return to Mars, Mongrol's body was destroyed, forcing him to relocate his positronic brain into his new body. As a result, he regained his original intelligence and taste for cigars. He is still suffering from deep-seated issues over Lara, and when her memory was mocked by the Shadow Warrior Warmonger, Mongrol ripped him to pieces.
Following Blackblood's recounting of his Volgan War experiences and the revelation that he tried to kill Lara, Mongrol went berserk and stated that, at the end of that mission, either Blackblood leaves the Warriors or he will. However, Blackblood had already set things up so Mek-Quake would free Volkhan from Broadband Asylum, and he would go on to abandon the ABC Warriors mid-battle and rejoin Volkhan's army, gleefully slaughtering civilians once more and trying to kill the ABC Warriors. He is currently at large, an enemy of the Warriors once more.
Steelhorn eventually ended the Volgan War by killing the Volgan Marshall Following the war, he went to a demob camp to be reprogrammed for civilian life, believing he would become a fireman and save lives, only to find himself falling into a fusion furnace - which were being used to kill the ABC Warriors now victory was over. With his dying breaths, Steelhorn cursed humans for their treachery.
He survived the furnace but his body was reduced to a bubbling mess. Consumed with hatred, the Mess slaughtered the human responsible before escaping. Hammerstein, realising it was actually Steelhorn, saved the Mess and had him poured into a vacuum flask that would be carried by Mongrol. The metal ape was the only one who could understand what the Mess was trying to say. The Mess would be taken on the Mars mission.
On Mars, the Warriors encountered a giant robot called George, one of the original Garganteks - giant robots who had originally helped terraform Mars for human colonization. Because of his size, each of George's limb was controlled by a separate brain, with a master brain supposedly in charge. The Mess ended up inside George, using its liquid state to connect George's brains and turn him into a fearsome fighting machine. When the Mars mission was complete, George and the Mess remained behind.
Centuries later, continued terraforming awoke Medusa, the planetary consciousness, and caused her to try to wipe out humanity. She destroyed George for the crime of terraforming her and discovered the Mess as a result; finding it shared her hatred of humans, she rebuilt it into a new incarnation of Steelhorn. He now possessed certain psychic powers allowing him to control Martian wildlife. He became Medusa's voice, organising the attacks on the human settlements and personally leading the slaughter at Viking City, which saw almost the entire population massacred by a Martian born virus. The ABC Warriors fought the new Steelhorn and eventually struck a deal with him and Medusa, agreeing to peaceful coexistence if human President Cobb was transformed into a Martian.
Steelhorn re-joined the ranks of The ABC Warriors in place of the deceased Morrigun, in a bid to increase the peace on Mars after civil war broke out. Travelling with them to New Sidona to fend off Confederacy soldiers, Steelhorn was taken out by the rival Shadow Warriors, melted to a sludge once more. Due to occult activities by Deadlock, he was reborn again in a diamond form and brought about the ABC Warriors' victory.
He has two horns, one which when played incites wildlife to rebel. He has not said what the other will do, but it is to be played in the event of a Confederate victory and the consequences would presumably be devastating.
His original body was that of a very large bulldozer, seen throughout the run of Ro-Busters. When he reappeared in Book III of Nemesis the Warlock
, fighting for the evil Termight empire, his (tiny) brain was now housed in a colossal siege robot with a head vaguely resembling a cat's. Despite his enormous destructive power, his stupidity ultimately ended up making the situation even worse for the Terminators. In Book IV of Nemesis, he returned to his original body; he later switched between this and a vaguely humanoid body stolen from a defeated opponent, depending on the requirements of each mission.
Despite initially fighting against them, Mek-Quake was recruited to the Warriors by Nemesis, who realised that his insatiable appetite for mayhem and near-indestructibility made him a useful asset - as well as the fact that his limited intelligence and considerable survival instinct meant he had no loyalties except to whichever side would give him the most opportunity to destroy things.
For 'Black Hole', Mek-Quake's bulldozer body was redesigned as a heavily armed 'killdozer', with a prehensile neck and a 'face' with a permanent angry scowl. The killdozer body was blown up in 'The Clone Cowboys', leaving him in humanoid form. Depending on the artist, this - the current - version of Mek-Quake has ranged from five to fifteen feet tall, though generally he is drawn as the largest of the Warriors.
What Mek-Quake lacks in intelligence (which is a lot) he makes up for in cruelty and destructive force. However, he is also something of a coward, preferring softer targets that he can inflict more pain upon while chanting his catchphrase: "Big jobs!" He has no compunctions about massacring humans, evidenced in The Third Element when he is annoyed about having missed most of a battle because of the time it took to remove all the "human gristle" clogging his caterpillar tracks. In his early stories he openly loathed Hammerstein and Ro-Jaws (as a result of their time in Ro-Busters
), but later this hatred was toned down to a general dislike of everything and everybody except videos of chainsaw torture. Despite this Mek-Quake is eager to show his intelligence and importance, and in Kronicles of Khaos he kept trying to join in at the end of Deadlock's statements so he could seem like he was already versed in Khaos.
He continued to be part of the Warriors in their return to Mars as they tried to keep the peace during a civil war. Mek-Quake had developed an interest in conspiracy theories.
In the first episode of 'The Volgan War' (2006-7), Mek-Quake is checked into a robot asylum by Hammerstein, as the rest of the Warriors now consider him a liability due to his growing insanity. While Hammerstein actually seems sad to see his former enemy depart, the others appear more than eager to meet his replacement, Zippo. Mek-Quake was assigned to clean the cell of former Volgan General Volkhan - but when Blackblood called up solely to tell him he was going to be replaced, he switched sides. He freed Volkan and his associates and killed the asylum staff. He then joined with Volkhan and Blackblood in an attempt to destroy the rest of the ABC Warriors, as well as Marinus City. When that went wrong, he ran away to the other side in the Martian civil war and became a celebrity for the destruction of the Marinus Red House
.
He first met Hammerstein when they were both "Second Hand Bargains" at a robot shop, and the two were bought by the Ro-Busters
disaster agency. The two clashed repeatedly due to their differing personalities but would develop a strong sense of friendship. In one incident, they went undercover to investigate murders on a space station, and Ro-Jaws discovered it was the work of robots who were planning a rebellion; Ro-Jaws found the uprising was being secretly directed by humans, and noted he'd have joined the uprising if it had been run by robots. Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein were eventually forced to go on the run when they were nearly killed for the insurance money, and helped a number of robots escape Earth to the robot free world Saturn Six; they threw away the chance to make it to Saturn Six themselves by staying behind to cover the escape. They then went underground with new identity papers, singing together as they went off they'd always be "walking along side by side".
Many centuries in the future, Ro-Jaws was working in a hotel in the Gothic Empire and ended up as a valet for Nemesis the Warlock. Ro-Jaws swiftly became a trusted aide and was reunited with Hammerstein in the process, encouraging Nemesis to save his old friend from execution. His brief turn as an official ABC warrior occurred when Nemesis despatched the warriors into the Time Wastes to repair the damage done by his son Thoth; when Terri was inducted into the warriors early into the subsequent Black Hole mission, Ro-Jaws cheerfully gave up this position, although continued to be a hanger-on for some time. He remained for the Hekate mission and quickly got to grips with Khaos. Following the mission, he left the team with Deadlock to work at the Kollege of Khaos - Deadlock considers Ro-Jaws to understand the nature of Khaos even better than he does.
He views Hammerstein as a good friend, despite their wildly different personalities, and has several times ensured the soldier's life was saved. In a flashback to the Ro-Busters days, it was him who ensured a temporarily rampaging Hammerstein was taken down non-lethally before Mek-Quake reached and killed him; he worked to convince Nemesis to prevent his execution in The Gothic Empire; and in Khronicles of Khaos he asked Deadlock if he could turn Hammerstein into a more khaotic person, believing it would be beneficial to him. However, in a contradictory moment in Hellbringer, Ro-Jaws (like everyone else) was shown to have known Hammerstein was being tortured by Blackblood but had no interest in helping him.
In 2010 he returned in The Volgan War Book 4, revealed to have been hiding out on Mars (as a public toilet cleaner) under the alias "U-Fox" and helping Zippo in his resistance activities. As U-Fox, he'd racked up a reputation as an outlaw graffiti artist. He assisted the Warriors against Volkhan and his armies, distracting Mek-Quake with a series of 'your mother' jokes and leading the bulldozer away from the larger battle. Following this, he rejoined the Warriors alongside Zippo.
Ro-Jaws also served as the "host" for a series of short one-off strips, under the title Ro-Jaws Robot Tales. In 2006, he was a central figure in a tribute poster to deceased letterer Tom Frame
, sharing a drink with the robot representing Frame.
She was made the seventh ABC Warrior by Deadlock and developed a strong romantic relationship with Hammerstein, who she believed was the father of her child. The two of them planned to settle down and retire after the Black Hole mission, but she was randomly killed during the battle against the Monad.
She was killed on Mars while trying to save the native Trimorphs from a pogrom, being crushed beyond repair by a tank.
After the war, he eventually ended in Marineris City ("Mekana") on Mars. Friends of his were killed in anti-robot riots. He ended up becoming an outlaw, mentored as a graffiti artist by the insane "tagger" Kroll; he left messages and occasionally took out police officers in order to eventually provoke an uprising. He was eventually captured by the G-Men, a specialist police unit under Detektiv Sturn, while his mentor Kroll was killed. While awaiting execution, the ABC Warriors planned to rescue him and make him the new seventh member (to replace Mek-Quake). However by the time they saved him, Blackblood had deserted from the team and so Zippo became the new sixth member.
Introduces Joe Pineapples and Happy Shrapnel. The Warriors are sent by a human officer (safely miles behind the lines, and observing the battlefield via telepresence
) to attack a Volgan position. The battle is won, but at a huge cost of robot lives. Hammerstein, furious at the pointless waste, secretly sabotages the 'pain barrier' of a dying robot, which causes the officer to feel the robot's 'death', the shock killing him. Although Hammerstein thinks he's got away with this, his actions have been noted by the mysterious Colonel Lash.
Retreat From Volgow (1 episode, Brendan McCarthy)
The Volgans send a unit of war robots to attack the Warriors - a unit so brutal they were deactivated by their own side for fear of the damage they could cause. Led by 'Old Horney', the first Volgan war robot and their counterpart to Hammerstein, they attack just as Lash withdraws the tanks supporting the ABC Warriors in order to test them in a one-sided battle. Outnumbered, the Warriors nevertheless defeat their attackers, Hammerstein himself killing Old Horney even with one arm removed for repairs. Lash then reveals part of his mission: he wants Hammerstein and his unit to recruit a number of other robots for a classified mission, beginning with the fearsome Mongrol.
Hammerstein, Joe and Happy track the renegade robot Mongrol to a weapons dump, which he has been raiding in order to kit himself out with extra guns. After Mongrol defeats the military police trying to bring him in, Hammerstein realises the only thing Mongrol respects is strength - he has to defeat him in combat. This proves easier said than done, but when Volgan forces attack, Mongrol's thirst for revenge against those who killed Lara, his creator, overpowers his urge to fight Hammerstein. The two join forces to defeat the attackers, then, when Hammerstein saves Mongrol from almost certain destruction, the simple-minded behemoth pledges to follow his new master.
The Order Of The Knights Martial (2 episodes, Kevin O'Neill and Brett Ewins)
Hammerstein's next recruit is Deadlock - but the Watchtower, the space station from which the sinister Knights Martial observe the war, is shot out of orbit and crash-lands in the battlezone. The Knights defend themselves from the Volgan forces as the Warriors provide backup, defeating their foe. Deadlock reveals that he knows why Hammerstein has come - he has foreseen it in his Tarot
cards. If Hammerstein can defeat him in combat, he will join him - but if he fails, Deadlock will claim his life. The Knights secretly sabotage the other Warriors, but Mongrol is able to resist. Deadlock uses his psychic powers and black magic to trick Hammerstein in their duel, almost destroying him, but the Warrior is able to turn the tables on the overconfident Deadlock at the last moment, his comrades showing up just in time to enforce the result. Defeated, Deadlock reluctantly agrees to join the ABC Warriors.
The Bougainville Massacre (2 episodes, Mike McMahon)
The Warriors travel to the remote island of Bougainville to locate and capture ruthless Volgan war robot General Blackblood, but instead find that the island has been devastated and its human inhabitants murdered by Blackblood and his jungle robots, the Straw Dogs. The Warriors take on the Straw Dogs, crippling their leader's war machine before he can escape. However, Blackblood has taken a child hostage, forcing Joe Pineapples to take the most difficult shot of his career to date: he has to hit Blackblood's 'heart' precisely while not harming the boy. Joe is successful, and Blackblood is captured, a disgusted Hammerstein left wondering what mission could be so important that a butcher like Blackblood has to become part of his team.
Steelhorn (2 episodes, Brendan McCarthy)
The Volgan War is over, the robot Steelhorn - made from almost indestructible materials - having broken through the 'flame barrier' protecting Marshal Volgow's position and killing the enemy leader. Hammerstein tries to recruit Steelhorn, but the robot has now become a pacifist, wanting to help humans rather than fight them. However, when Steelhorn reports for decommissioning, he is betrayed - by his own side. With the war over, the robot soldiers are no longer needed, and Steelhorn is dropped into a fusion furnace that even he cannot withstand. But instead of vaporising, he becomes 'The Mess' - an intelligence made from molten metal that is consumed with the desire for revenge against his betrayers. As the Mess kills the humans running the demob camp, Hammerstein discovers their duplicity and helps it escape. The Mess is stored in a flask (kept by Mongrol) that lets it stay molten, and the seventh ABC Warrior has been recruited, albeit in an unusual form.
Colonel Lash reveals the Warriors' secret mission - to travel to the colonised and terraformed planet Mars
, where rival corporations are at war over resources, the civilians caught in the middle. They are to bring peace to the planet, by any means necessary. Approaching landing, their ship is caught in a sandstorm and crash-lands miles from the nearest settlement. In the thin atmosphere the passengers seem doomed, and things get worse when the 'Humpies' - early settlers genetically engineered to store air in sacs on their faces and backs - attack the new arrivals. Hammerstein forces both sides to declare a truce, and the Humpies lead the passengers to safety.
Cyboons (2 episodes, Dave Gibbons)
Soya ranchers are driving the Cyboons - intelligent genetically altered apes used in the early days of terraforming - off their reservation to take over the land. The Warriors try to offer the apes assistance, but their leader Bedlam refuses their help. But when Bedlam's son is murdered by the ranchers, he leads his tribe into an attack. Since the ranchers are armed, it seems like a slaughter - but Deadlock and Blackblood had secretly infiltrated the ranchers' camp, disarming their guns. Without their weapons, the ranchers are helpless against the ferocity of the Cyboon attack, and after suffering heavy losses are quick to surrender and leave the Cyboons in peace.
The Red Death (2 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Called to deal with a ruthless biker gang terrorising Viking City, the Warriors seem to have an easy victory - until the frightened, fleeing bikers die almost instantly from a hideous flesh-rotting disease. The disease is native to Mars, and triggered by fear. Tracking the disease to its source, the Warriors find a young boy near a car containing the rotting corpses of his parents. Hammerstein is afraid that the boy will see their bodies, become frightened and die himself - and the disease begins to affect even his metal body. Deadlock reveals that the 'boy' actually is a manifestation of the Red Death, Mars itself trying to drive away the human settlers. Hammerstein kills the fake child, and the menace is over - for now.
Golgotha (3 episodes, Carlos Ezquerra)
A popular pastime among the ultra-rich youth of Mars is hunting - but instead of animals, they hunt people, while riding on the backs of genetically recreated Tyrannosaurs. The most feared of the dinosaurs is Golgotha, son of Satanus (the monstrous T-Rex that appeared during the 'Cursed Earth' storyline of Judge Dredd
, who himself was the son of 'Old One Eye' from another 2000AD series, Flesh
), and his sheer bloodlust allows him to overcome the control device meant to keep him in check and escape from the compound, leaving carnage in his wake. The Warriors arrive to hunt down the rogue dinosaur - and also to administer justice on Golgotha's owner. For his part in multiple murders, the sentence is death, which is duly carried out. However, the youth's father swears revenge on Hammerstein, and pays Blackblood to betray him. Tracking Golgotha to the city, Hammerstein prepares to kill the dinosaur, but his guns fail to fire and he is attacked. The robot is not defenceless, however, and uses his combat hammer to smash the dinosaur's skull. Mortally wounded, Golgotha plummets from a flyover and is impaled on a spire below. Hammerstein has no proof that Blackblood sabotaged his guns - but delivers a beating as a warning that if he ever suspects treachery again, he will kill him.
Mad George (3 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Features George, a giant, clumsy robot with five brains which disagree with each other. The end of the story features The Mess combining with George to create a 'nervous system' that creates a more cohesive robot.
Red Planet Blues (special, Steve Dillon
and John Higgins (colours))
Written by Alan Moore
, his only ABC Warriors story.
The ABC Warriors then vanished from 2000 AD for several years, returning as supporting characters in Nemesis the Warlock
until they returned to starring status in 1988.
)
At the start of the story, the lineup of ABC Warriors is Hammerstein, Joe Pineapples, Blackblood, Mongrol, Mek-Quake and Ro-Jaws.
Sent by Nemesis to stabilise the artificial black and white holes that allow interstellar travel (and also enabled the Terran Empire to conquer the galaxy) before they collide and destroy Earth, the Warriors pick up a new member - Terri. Although human, she has been raised by the robots and androids guarding the black hole complex - the Mekaniks - and considers herself to be a robot, and Hammerstein to be her true love. Deadlock also returns to join the Warriors again, though Hammerstein is suspicious of his motives - the follower of Khaos has more to gain from Earth's destruction than its salvation.
As well as the Mekaniks, the Warriors must also face the soldiers of the Empire of this time period, led by the robot-hating Major Savard, as well as the ultimate evil - the Monad (which originally appeared in Nemesis the Warlock
), a psychic monster formed from the distillation of all human evil that is able to take on any form.
The Warriors eventually fight their way to the control room, deep inside the tomb of Emperor Zallin, where Deadlock, Blackblood and Mek-Quake come under attack from automated defence systems. Hammerstein realises the truth - the defence systems scan robots to ensure that they are there to protect the tomb, and the three robots have been working to sabotage the mission and ensure Earth is destroyed. Hammerstein, Joe, Mongrol and Terri take on the renegades, but an unwilling truce is forced when Savard's troops - and the Monad, disguised in the form of an alien bounty hunter - attack. Deadlock uses his dark powers to reach the control room and stabilise the black and white holes, but not before the destruction wrought by the impending collision causes the death of Terri.
Deadlock then draws upon the centuries of horror and bloodshed the Warriors have experienced to create a psychic warrior powerful enough to defeat - but not destroy - the Monad. The Warriors then escape by stealing Zallin's tombship, taking the blame for the devastation and now the most wanted robots in the galaxy.
)
The Enigmass Variations (7 episodes, Carl Critchlow)
Khronicles Of Khaos (17 episodes, Kevin Walker)
On a mission to infect the Terran Empire with Khaos, Deadlock leads the ABC Warriors to the planet Hekate; here, they will kill seven figures of Order and harvest their heads as part of a ritual. As well as recruiting a new seventh member in Morrigun, the existing Warriors were altered by such close exposure to Khaos magick. Blackblood was able to become more vicious again, Joe was operated on to embrace cross-dressing, Mongrol became a true beast and even Hammerstein was influenced.
The Warriors undertook six assassinations in the run up to the lunar alignment known as the Night of the Blood Moon, as well as encountering the bizarre alien lifeforms on this world - the primal and khaotic Night Mara, the Froyds who wander around at night acting out their brutal dreams, and the Phookas who vomit on people as a compliment. In the final battle went up against the Terran Imperial Rottweilers battalion and the reanimated Emperor Zalin. They succeeded in the end, bringing Khaos to the world (and a month-long party) and causing it to spread throughout the Empire. Due to its influence, the Warriors refused to follow Deadlock's orders - fully embracing Khaos in the process - and Deadlock returned to his Kollege with Ro-Jaws.
Hellbringer (17 episodes, Kevin Walker)
Roadkill (1 episode, Kevin Walker)
A short one-off 'bridge' story in the special 'Prog 2000' issue, designed to re-introduce the Warriors for the new century. Zombie bikers are terrorising the Martian highways; the Warriors fight them off easily, until Hammerstein is possessed by the spirit of their leader. Realising that the spirit fears the pain of death, Hammerstein stands in the path of an oncoming juggernaut. The spirit flees to the next plane of existence rather than suffer again, and Hammerstein destroys the juggernaut and the last remaining zombies aboard it.
The Third Element (3 episodes, Henry Flint)
Morrigun is destroyed in combat.
The Clone Cowboys (3 episodes, Liam McCormack-Sharpe)
The Warriors arrive at the Martian town of Redemption to investigate the apparent disappearance of its inhabitants. They are ambushed by cloned copies of the humans, which turn into hideous mutants as they strike. Deadlock realises the clones have been created by Medusa, the Martian planetary consciousness, as a means to fight back against the planet's terraforming. An army of clones emerges from the town's church, using its bell to create massive sonic vibrations that threaten to destroy the Warriors' brains and literally shake their bodies apart. However, Mek-Quake is immune (thanks to the small size of his brain) and loads up his killdozer body with explosives, ploughing into the church and blowing it - and the clones - to pieces just after he bails out in his secondary body. Victorious, the Warriors depart - but are watched by a mysterious horned figure from a hilltop...
The Tripods (3 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Re-introduces Steelhorn, over 20 years after his last appearance.
The Zero Option (3 episodes, Boo Cook)
Assault On The Red House (3 episodes, Henry Flint)
The series then rested for a couple of years before returning with the first part of an ongoing storyline, The Shadow Warriors.
Following the conclusion of the 'Return To Mars' arc, civil war has broken out on the Red Planet. The human population has divided into the Union and the Confederacy. Recognising the threat the ABC Warriors pose to their plans for global domination, the leaders of the Confederacy hire Conflict Management - a company of 'privatised peacekeepers' - to recruit the Shadow Warriors, a team of robots chosen specifically for their abilities to overcome each member of the Warriors.
The first members of the Shadow Warriors to be revealed are Bootleg, a robotic bounty hunter; Dog-Tag, a charming yet ruthless 'pirate' of the trans-Martian highways; The Rev, a minister in the sinister robot religion of the Church of Judas
, which Blackblood now follows; and Deus Ex Machina, an artificial intelligence - long thought mythical - capable of taking control of other machines and turning them to its will.
The story opens with Joe severely damaging Dog-Tag and wiping out his gang destroys his followers (although their leader escapes). The ABC Warriors discover the plot against them and engage Confederacy Behemeks alongside Union forces at Getty City. While Deus Ex Machina sabotages Union gun positions, the Rev attempts to assassinate Deadlock. The ABC Warriors head for New Sidona.
The Shadow Warriors, Book II (6 episodes, Henry Flint)
The Warriors reach New Sidona, where anarchy is breaking out as people wonder whether the Union or Confederacy will get there first. The robots drive off looting Cyboons before encountering a Talk Cone - a low-level robot agent of the Total Information Awareness agency that enforces the 'no talking' rule the government requires in order to monitor the populace for thoughts of terrorism. However, the cone has been booby-trapped with a bomb by Deux Ex, so the Warriors have to act quickly to save a loud group of teenagers from the explosion.
Taking the teenagers and fending off more Cyboons, the Warriors encounter the next Shadow Warrior - Doctor Maniacus, a rogue paramedic droid who feeds off the pain of his human 'patients' as he tortures and kills them. The psychotic medic unleashes the pain he has absorbed to overload the emotional circuits of the Warriors - however, Deadlock, having witnessed horrors beyond imagination in the service of Khaos, is immune. Doc Maniacus is able to fight off the Grand Wizard in single combat, but Deadlock plants a 'nanobat' - a microscopic bug - on him before he escapes. Meanwhile, sixth Shadow Warrior is revealed to be the sadistic and manipulative Mr Lovebomb, attacks New Sidona with his army of mind-shattered military clones (which undergo psychological torments to produce the adrenaline for military drug Neuropeptide-A).
The Warriors reach Terrasand Square, causing Mayor/Sheriff/TIA Chief Terrasand to hurriedly switch his allegiance from the Confederacy to the Union. It turns out the Square is a trap as the Warriors are attacked from all sides by Lovebomb's clones and Deus Ex' cone-bombs. The Warriors try to protect the humans and fight off the clones, while their Shadow counterparts - joined by their final member, the state-of-the-art killing machine Warmonger - prepare their attack...
The Shadow Warriors, Book III (10 episodes, Henry Flint)
The Shadows attack with state-of-the-art weaponry that is far superior to anything the ABC Warriors have in their arsenal. Steelhorn is the first to fall, reduced to molten slag by Doc Maniacus's 'sledgehammer' shells and trickling into a drain. Mek-Quake's already limited mind is affected by Mr Lovebomb's 'heartbreakers', making him increasingly deranged. Realising they are outmatched, the Warriors and the humans they are protecting take shelter in the police precinct. Joe Pineapples attempts to snipe the Shadows but is caught unawares, shot in the head and buried by Dog-Tag.
The Shadows then play on Hammerstein's programming by capturing a Trimorph and torturing him to death. Forced to protect the innocent Martian, Hammerstein goes into the open to rescue him and is taken down by a burst of gunfire in the back. While Maniacus implants the ABC leader with metallic snakes that eat robot brains, the ABC Warriors discover Deux X is using an invisibility cloak to spy on them from the inside. Mek-Quake detects him and shoots him dead. Meanwhile, Hammerstein is released back to his friends, so he will be forced to let the snakes kill him or have them eat his friend's brains.
Disturbed by the loss of Deus X, the other Shadows decide to press the attack by sending in Mr Lovebomb's remaining clones. Lovebomb tries to send them into battle as suicide troops - but Deadlock has used his psychic powers to overcome the clones' mental conditioning, turning them against their master. Enraged at what he has done to them, the clones rip Lovebomb to pieces before departing the battlefield. Deadlock then performs a mysterious and sinister ritual on a captured Confederate, refusing to be disturbed. Hammerstein is thus unable to get his help containing the snakes.
Confederate tanks shell the precinct, forcing the Warriors into the open to face their Shadow adversaries. Hammerstein is able to decapitate Maniacus and the snakes, hating the scientist as much as he does, leave his body to eat the doctor's brains instead. Blackblood, meanwhile, is ambushed by the Rev and turned inside out by a teleportational booth, but still manages to kill him. Mongrol takes on Warmonger and tears him apart in a rage when Warmonger makes the mistake of disparaging Lara. Dog Tag is hit and fatally wounded by his own bullets as it is revealed Joe Pineapples only faked his electronic death, allowing him to loot the Shadows' arsenal.
Just as it seems the ABC Warriors have prevailed, Bootleg leads the Confederate behemeks in demolishing buildings and crushing the ABCs into the ground. However, Steelhorn - reformed by Medusa due to Deadlock's ritual - appears and in his new diamond-bodied form destroys Bootleg. The other ABCs emerge from the soil into which they had been squashed and join in the attack with the aid of newly arrived Union forces. The Confederate troops are destroyed and the battered ABC Warriors are victorious.
The Warriors arrive at Broadband Asylum on Mars, a mental hospital for robots, to check in Mek-Quake for treatment. He hopefully asks that his place in the team be kept open for him, but after they leave him the other Warriors make it clear they have no intention of taking him back. Only Hammerstein is bothered by the betrayal, while Blackblood positively revels in it.
Travelling to Marineris City to recruit a new member, the robots reminisce about their experiences in the Volgan War. Hammerstein tells of a battle against the fearsome Stalins, colossal war robots. Mongrol describes how his existence as a robo-paratrooper was ended by a faulty parachute, and his rebuilding by Lara - before she was murdered by Volgan forces for harbouring him. Joe, meanwhile, recalls an assassination mission where he was sent undercover to Moscow to destroy the 'Ikon', leader of the Volgan robotic forces: the fearsome Volkhan.
As the stories progress, it is revealed that all of the Warriors encountered Volkhan in their battles - as well as a Special Forces ABC robot called Zippo, who it becomes clear is going to become the latest member of the Warriors.
Back at Broadband Asylum, Mek-Quake makes an unexpected discovery - one of the other inmates is none other than Volkhan himself...
The Volgan War, Volume II (10 episodes, Clint Langley)
Volkhan tries to convince Mek-Quake to help him escape, but he refuses. That is, until he receives a call from Blackblood, who gloatingly informs him - "as a friend" - that his position in the ABC Warriors has been taken over by Zippo. Dismayed and enraged, Mek-Quake makes a fateful decision...
Still travelling, the other Warriors continue their war memoirs. Blackblood takes glee in describing how he was the one responsible for the murder of Lara's parents, which prompts a furious Mongrol to issue an ultimatum - when the mission is completed, either Blackblood leaves the Warriors, or he does. Next, Deadlock relates his encounter with Volkhan - the Volgan droid created a 'son' called Kalevala, violating international laws that forbid robots to reproduce themselves. Deadlock destroys Kalevala in battle, then captures Volkhan. Knowing that killing or imprisoning the Ikon will turn him into a martyr, Deadlock instead 'operates' on him to prevent him from creating any more offspring - essentially castrating him. Volkhan vows revenge.
As the Warriors arrive at Marineris to find and rescue Zippo, at Broadband Asylum Mek-Quake kills the guards and frees Volkhan and his comrades. As a reward, Volkhan promises the former demolition droid the chance to carry out "the biggest job on Mars."
The Volgan War, Volume III (10 episodes, Clint Langley)
The Volgan War, Volume IV (12 episodes, Clint Langley)
) as backstory and considered to be World War 3 in the ABC timeline. This retcon
s out the Judge Dredd
strip Hammerstein, which placed the ABC Warriors in Dredd's universe and showed Hammerstein involved in 2071's Battle of Armaggedon after the Volgan War and the Mars mission.
The adventures of the ABC Warriors in Nemesis Books 3 and 4 take place "thousands" of years in the future, with Earth renamed Termight, a quasi-mediaeval future society where the knowledge for making robots belongs to the Lost Age of Science. All robots who have lived thus far have become antiquated relics, forced to salvage spare parts from fallen colleagues to survive. Book 5 sees them travel forward billions of years in time to the end of the earth, where they first encounter the Monad. When the Warriors part company with Nemesis in Book 6, they travel back to a period slightly prior to Termight - the Terran Empire, a much more technologically orientated society - for their remaining post-Nemesis adventures.
(This does raise the question of a time paradox: technically, there are two versions of Hammerstein, Joe, Blackblood and Mongrol in existence from 'Black Hole' onwards - the original versions and their later counterparts who travelled back in time from the Termight era. It seems extremely unlikely that this paradox will ever be addressed.)
The Mars stories from Roadkill onwards seem to be set a couple of generations on from the original Mars stories - the Biol corporation is still a major player and Mars' civilisation is largely the same, though enough time has passed for some Martian races, such as the Humpies and Cyboons, to degenerate to a lower state of being. The ABC warriors' original Mars mission has passed into near-legendary status, with most believing the warriors to be long since dead before their return.
has published a number of novels based on the characters:
" Award for Favorite Team of Characters in 1990.
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
comic strip written by Pat Mills
Pat Mills
Pat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
, which first appeared in prog 119 in 1979
1979 in comics
-Year overall:* The "Demon in a Bottle" storyline, by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, and John Romita, Jr., runs through Iron Man ....
and continues to run today. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill
Kevin O'Neill (comics)
Kevin O'Neill is an English comic book illustrator best known as the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .-Early career:...
, Mike McMahon
Mike McMahon (comics)
Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American....
, Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the weekly comic book 2000 AD.-Biography:...
, and Brendan McCarthy
Brendan McCarthy
Brendan McCarthy is a British artist and designer best known for his work in comic books, film and television.- Biography :Brendan McCarthy, of Irish descent, was born in London. Brendan soon began painting and drawing his own home-made comics....
- who between them designed the original seven members of the team. Since then they have been illustrated primarily, though not exclusively, by Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot
Bryan Talbot is a British comic book artist and writer, born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1952. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire.-Career:...
, Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley is a British comics artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. His style, reliant on paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Egon Schiele, and Richard Corben...
, SMS
SMS (comics)
SMS is a Lancashire-based artist known for his award-winning covers for science-fiction magazine, Interzone, and for his work for British anthology magazine 2000 AD.-Biography:...
, Kevin Walker
Kev Walker
Kevin "Kev" Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering...
, Henry Flint
Henry Flint
Henry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000AD.-Biography:Flint has established a cult following for his hyper-detailed and wildly inventive work on series such as Judge Dredd, Zombo,,ABC Warriors, Shakara, Low Life and Aliens.A recent project was...
and Clint Langley
Clint Langley
Clint Langley is a British comic book artist best known for his work on series with Pat Mills at 2000 AD and as the cover artist for Marvel Comics' Guardians of the Galaxy....
.
The A.B.C. Warriors are a team of war robots designed to withstand 'Atomic
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
', 'Bacterial
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
' and 'Chemical
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
' warfare. They were built to take part in the long-running Volgan War
Volgans
The Volgans are a fictional fascist Russian government appearing in 2000 AD in the stories of Bill Savage and the ABC Warriors. The Volgans in both series are in the same fictional universe - this was explicitly shown shown with ABC Warriors: The Volgan War Book 1 referring to a specific event ...
, which Pat Mills had described in several previous 2000 AD strips, including Invasion!
Invasion! (2000 AD)
Invasion! was a series created by Pat Mills and mostly written by Gerry Finley-Day that appeared in the first 51 editions of the weekly comic 2000 AD....
and Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters is a British comic story that formed part of the original line-up of Starlord. Similar in premise to that of the Thunderbirds television series, it was created by writer Pat Mills and was drawn by Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy initially, before Starlord's merger with 2000 AD...
. Each robot has a distinctive personality - often one programmed by its human creators - but each is more or less able to act with free will.
Overview
One of the main characters, HammersteinHammerstein (robot)
Hammerstein is a fictional robot created by Pat Mills who first appeared in 1978 as a member of Ro-Busters in the British comic Starlord but is best known as the leader of the ABC Warriors in 2000AD.-Physical description:...
, was already well known to 2000 A.D. readers through the story Ro-Busters (which had come to 2000 A.D. via the comic Starlord
Starlord
Starlord was a short-lived weekly British science fiction comic published by IPC in 1978 as a sister title to 2000 AD, which had been launched the previous year in anticipation of a science fiction boom surrounding Star Wars....
). The story of the creation of robotic warriors to be used in the Volgan War had been introduced in the Ro-Busters story 'Hammerstein's War Memoirs'. Hammerstein is the only ABC Warrior to appear in film, making a cameo appearance in the Judge Dredd movie.
The initial run of stories from progs 119-128 follows Hammerstein towards the end of the Volgan War as he recruits six robots to join him for a special mission - to tame Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, which had become a futuristic wild west. In further adventures set much later in time, the warriors teamed up with Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
in his fight against the Termight Empire and to prevent a destabilised Black Hole bypass at the Earth's core destroying the world.
Many of these early stories pursue the theme of humans using robots to do jobs that they do not wish to do themselves (following the same theme as Ro-Busters), and the cruel treatment of soldier robots by their human officers. The Warriors often find themselves at odds with humans who are exploiting the land and the beings that live on it - typical storylines see the Warriors identifying such evil and delivering poetic justice to the perpetrators. Later stories also explore ideas of 'khaos,' and the concept of programmed robots being able to discover their true identities.
Some of the most famous artists working in British comics have illustrated The ABC Warriors, including Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon, Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins
Brett Ewins is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the weekly comic book 2000 AD.-Biography:...
, Brendan McCarthy, Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Ezquerra
Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
, Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons
Dave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley
Simon Bisley is a British comics artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. His style, reliant on paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Egon Schiele, and Richard Corben...
, Kev Walker
Kev Walker
Kevin "Kev" Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering...
and Henry Flint
Henry Flint
Henry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000AD.-Biography:Flint has established a cult following for his hyper-detailed and wildly inventive work on series such as Judge Dredd, Zombo,,ABC Warriors, Shakara, Low Life and Aliens.A recent project was...
, among others.
Characters
The members of the Warriors have changed over the years. Here are the most long-serving members:Hammerstein
Hammerstein has been the leader of the Warriors for most of the comic's run, although after the death of Terri (at the end of 'Black Hole') he surrendered the position to Deadlock for a number of stories. He was the first successful war robot built, the success due to giving him both emotions and a conscience which allowed him to distinguish between combatants and civilians. He was recruited during the Volgan Wars by the mysterious Colonel Lash to lead the ABC Warriors on Lash's post war project. Overall humanoid in form, his right 'hand' is the combat hammer that gives him his name.Deadlock
Deadlock is a follower of the Khaos religion, and as such is often at odds with the order and duty-fixated Hammerstein, which in the story 'Black Hole' ultimately led him to betray and attempt to kill Hammerstein. Deadlock's powers allow him to astrally projectAstral projection
Astral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
and reform his body if it is damaged or destroyed, and he holds the sword X-Caliber, a weapon that allows him to drain the souls of the living to use as psychic 'nourishment'. He is able to call demons and the undead to his aid. For a time Deadlock led the team in place of Hammerstein, being the only other member ever to do so.
Deadlock was the Grand Wizard of the Knights Martial, a group of highly intelligent robots who had developed psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
and magical
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
abilities and observed the war from the 'Watch Tower' space station. They were given special authority to try and execute Volgan war criminals during the conflict, as well as war criminals from their own side, in direct defiance of the First Law of Robotics. Deadlock occasionally led his Knights into active combat, such as to take down & reprogram Volgan robot general Volkhan so he could no longer create robots outside of human control.
The Watch Tower was brought to earth by Volgan artillery during the war, just before Hammerstein recruited Deadlock for the Mars mission. On his eventual return, Deadlock discovered that in his absence the Knights - no longer kept chaste and pure by their former isolation far above the earth's surface - had been tainted and turned to frivolous pursuits, ignoring the old values of meditation, purity and discipline which Deadlock cherished. A disgusted Deadlock turned his back on the order and went into isolation, meditating and studying ancient manuscripts in an attempt to reach the highest level of the astral plane, and join with his master Khaos. When he was ready, it was Nemesis himself who came for him, and they became one.
Centuries passed with no word of his whereabouts, though at some point he established a Kollege of Khaos on the comet Tiamat. He finally reappeared in the bowels of Terra, to assist older versions of his former comrades, sent back from the future Termight by Nemesis the Warlock, to save the planet from destruction. Although his motives were unclear at first, he assisted The Warriors in their battles with the Monad, a creature from the end of time, only to betray them when they finally reached their goal. It turned out he had been sent by his master Khaos to ensure the destruction of Termight so Khaos might spread throughout the galaxy. With the assistance of Blackblood and Mek-Quake, Deadlock launched a fearsome attack on his comrades in a bid to stop them from repairing the damage done to the Time Wastes; he was forced to betray his master and save Termight so the Monad would not use the planet's destruction to turn Khaos into an evil force.
Escaping the Time Wastes, Deadlock assumed leadership of The Warriors and led them to Nemesis' home planet, Gandarva, to settle a score. The repair of the Time Wastes had restored Order to the galaxy and thus Deadlock and Nemesis had both betrayed Khaos. The two of them fought literally to the death, only to be re-born, purged of their guilt. Deadlock then took the Warriors to the planet Hekate, inducting them (both willingly and forcibly) into the ways of Khaos; he led them in collecting the heads of seven symbols of order, which could be used in a ritual to spread Khaos throughout the galaxy. After succeeding, the other Warriors denounced his command, proving themselves true Khaos warriors.
Following this, he returned to his Kollege with Ro-Jaws, who understood the twisting tides of Khaos even better than he did. They worked to indoctrinate students into the ways of Khaos - often via the bar - while also hunting down teachers throughout the galaxy and flying back to the Kollege to be endlessly tortured. Ten years after the Hekate mission he initiated the reformation of the Warriors in order to battle the Terran weapon Hellbringer.
Subsequently they returned to Mars, once under the command of Hammerstein, where Deadlock was instrumental in bringing about an end to the war between the human colonists and the planetary consciousness, Medusa. Deadlock helped broker a peace and he stayed on to help the Warriors in the resulting Martian civil war. It was Deadlock who discovered that the Confederacy of Martian Industries was assembling the mercenary Shadow Warriors team to destroy the Warriors, who learned the identities of its members and whose chaos rituals turned the tide in the final battle against them.
Joe Pineapples
Joe Pineapples is the closest thing Hammerstein has to a friend, being his longest-serving comrade. Joe was built as an assassin, a former member of the elite X-Terminators (he was fired for an unspecified incident involving an officer's wife), and is a sniper without equal. Joe has rebuilt himself many times to give himself new looks over the years, but one thing that has been consistent is his narcissism - the one thing he truly loves in the universe is himself. With an outward image of ice cold professionalism and a habit of seducing women, he has a secret fetish for wearing women's underwear.Joe's talents saw him sent into Volgograd to assassinate Volgan general Volkhan, and afterwards assigned to the Mars mission; he forcibly recruited General Blackblood by shooting the butcher through the heart, beginning a long-standing feud between the two. After Mars, Pineapples wound up working as a police instructor in London and once had to neutralise a rampaging Hammerstein who thought he was still fighting the Volgan War. Joe's career with various police forces continued in some form for centuries, and by the time Earth had become Termight he was on the free robot planet of Mekka working as an undercover officer. At some point he developed a hatred of humans ("meatheads") and was eventually put on the black list for pursuing human criminals with too much zeal. Pineapples also began taking up transvestism, apparently jaded with re-building himself time and time again and wanting to experience something new. Blackblood was able to obtain photo negatives of this.
At the request of Nemesis the Warlock, Joe left the police to rejoin the ABC Warriors in the battle to defend the Gothic Empire. Following the battle against Termight, the Warriors followed Nemesis into the Time Wastes of Termight to find the Warlock's offspring Thoth and repair the damage Thoth was doing to time itself, and save the galaxy. When Deadlock tried to sabotage the mission, Blackblood and Joe fought each other. For Pineapples it was a chance to get the negatives back, and for Blackblood it was a chance to finally discover what Joe had been hiding in his chest locker for the entire journey. As it turned out, the mystery item was a human heart: Joe was carrying it in a desperate bid to feel, so he could enjoy killing again.
After escaping to the planet Hekate, Pineapples helped collect the seven heads needed for the ritual that would spread Khaos through the galaxy, but suffered a breakdown as the 'Night of the Blood Moon' approached. Deadlock took it upon himself to perform an unnecessary operation on Joe, to give him a much more Khaotic outlook on life - and unlock his repressed desires for more exotic crossdressing. After Hekate, the Warriors went their separate ways, and Pineapples, sick of being on the dole for Khaos, signed up with the Terran Empire as a professional hit droid. He gained riches and status as a result, and had to be forcibly recruited into the Warriors when they banded together to take on the Terran super-ship Hellbringer.
He joined the Warriors in returning to Mars to help increase the peace between Medusa, the planetary consciousness, and her human settlers. When civil war broke out in the aftermath and the mercenary Shadow Warriors were sent after them, Joe developed a severe rivalry with mercenary and highwayman Dog-Tag - caused when Joe foiled one of Dog-Tag's heists, wiped out his gang and caused severe damage to him. Dog-Tag got revenge when he shot Joe through the head, buried him and removed his trigger finger. Due to techniques learned from Deadlock, Joe survived the attack - having shut down his brain to near-death levels - and was able to kill his rival.
Blackblood
Blackblood is a former Volgan war robot forcibly recruited into the Warriors. A master tactician and interrogator, his skills also extend to treachery and betrayal, two things at which he is highly adept. He dislikes Hammerstein intensely, but this is nothing compared to his hatred of Joe Pineapples - the robot responsible for his capture. His constant undermining of Hammerstein's leadership has led to many confrontations between the two, and a healthy disrespect that has spanned the centuries. He is currently a member of the Church of Judas, a religion for robots who have betrayed their masters and pray to Judas to take away the guilt.The 2011 Savage story Secret City would retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
that Blackblood was originally a whole series of Volgan robots, a counterpart to the Allied Hammersteins. The Blackblood Mark Ones came online in 2009 and were only crudely sentient; they were programmed to dismember and behead their enemies, to ensure Allied robots would be fully disabled (and without any reprogramming when they were sent against humans), and with no ability to distinguish friend from foe. Bill Savage
Bill Savage
Bill Savage is a fictional character in 2000 AD. He first appeared in the story Invasion! in progs 1-51. He is a resistance fighter in the Free European Army against the Volgans, who invaded and conquered Britain in 1999 during the Eight Hour War...
discovered their field trials in the Midlands' Zone of Alienation.
Decades later, the Volgan scientist Dr Zakaroff sought to create a robot warrior capable of treachery but initially failed to do so with Blackblood. In desperation, Zakaroff turned to the occult, and used a mixture of black magic and science to harness the betrayal of two lovers he forced to torture each other. Blackblood went on to prove his newly discovered treachery by killing Zakaroff, having one of his eyes shot at in the process. He left the socket empty as a reminder of his greatest act of betrayal.
During the Volgan War he led the Straw Dogs, experts in jungle warfare and terror tactics, and was rumoured to drink the oil of dead ABC Warriors. He was also responsible for trying to stop Joe Pineapples and Zippo after a failed hit on General Volkhan, causing the remote self-destruction of hundreds of foreign robots in the attempt. He would also root out internal enemies, such as robot designers Mikhail and Marina Zhigunov; he viciously tortured one of their subordinates to uncover the truth, shot the Zhigunovs dead, and attempted to kill their daughter Lara before being temporarily deactivated by partisans. Later on, assisting Volklhan, he used the Zhigunov's virus to infect Steelhorn and cause the Warrior to begin murdering civilians and allies. He also developed an obsession with discovering the secret enemy officer "General Public", due to a misunderstanding.
Realising his skills in guerrilla warfare would be a valuable asset, Colonel Lash ordered Hammerstein to hunt down Blackblood and forcibly recruit him; Joe Pineapples took him down by shooting him through the heart, and his worst excesses were then removed by brain surgery. He was then sent on the Mars mission.
After Mars, little is known of Blackblood's activities. He eventually turned up on the free robot planet of Mekka, where he plied a trade as a 'business man' under the name Bunyon Snipe, selling addictive software to robots; he married an exotic dancer, Ruby Yum Yum Gluck, and still drank the oil of other robots. He also came into possession of certain negatives of Joe Pineapples at a party and was using them for blackmail purposes. He would eventually be forcibly recruited by Nemesis the Warlock into the newly re-formed ABC Warriors, fighting against the Terminators before heading into the Time Wastes.
He and the other Warriors went on to repair the damage done to the Time Waste's Black Hole Control Room and save Terra from destruction. During the mission, Blackblood yet again proved his treachery knew no bounds as he betrayed the Warriors to the Eternal Soldiers of Agartha, and then assisted Deadlock in a sabotage attempt to stop The Warriors completing their task. It was during this foray into the Time Wastes that Blackblood lost his leg; he killed a road crew and took their road drill as a substitute. Following this, he and the rest of the Warriors briefly helped Deadlock attempt to spread Khaos throughout the galaxy; Blackblood loved this job due to the bloodshed involved, and the influence of Khaos on the Warriors allowed him to be more murderous and sadistic.
Leaving the Warriors again after tiring of Deadlock's command (due to the Khaos influence), Blackblood set up an arms dealership and even took on a pet dog, while torturing a trapped Hammerstein for five years (he happily sent photos of it to every other Warrior). When Hammerstein got free and reformed the Warriors again, Blackblood was forced to sign up on threat of death.
He returned to Mars to help keep the peace between the human colonists and the planetary consciousness, Medusa - though he stated he had his own reason for doing so, which he did not want to disclose.
In the battle against the Shadow Warriors (who he respected for their brutality), Blackblood faced off against the Rev, head of the Church of Judas, and killed him in a vicious battle but not before he was turned inside out in a teleporter accident. He was also revealed to possess Holocusts, a banned weapon that indiscriminately eats any metal.
In the most recent storyline, The Volgan War, Blackblood deliberately informed Mek-Quake that the ABCs were replacing him, and permanently alienated Mongrol after it was revealed that he tried to kill his beloved Lara during the war. He then defected from the ABC warriors and revealed he had been working for Volkhan all along. Volkhan and Blackblood attempted to destroy the ABC Warriors but failed.
Mongrol
The immensely strong Mongrol was originally commander of an ABC paratrooper platoon, and the only survivor (save Zippo) of the disastrous drop into Volgan territory at Vilnus - so disastrous it was nicknamed Zarnhem after ArnhemArnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
. Only his head remained undamaged and remained on the battlefield. A scavenger named Lara, daughter of executed robot manufacturers, salvaged his head and built him a new body with other robot parts as an act of defiance against the Volgans. She was caught and executed, and Mongrol was tortured by electricity for information - this inadvertently activated his body and he broke free of his captors.
The torture and Lara's death reduced him to near animal-like behaviour ("Mongrol smush!"), and he was regarded as a threat by both sides. He was recruited when Hammerstein earned his respect by beating him in hand to hand combat. Mongrol's belief that he would go to heaven and meet his beloved Lara once more became the driving force of the metal ape. After being told by Deadlock that only good robots go to heaven, he became determined to live a hero's life and see his beloved again.
After the Mars mission, he found work with P.T. Bar-Num's 'Death Circus' on the free robot planet Mekka. He played the part of The Gawk, a giant metal monster that would be defeated by the heroic Spar-Tekus in every show. So long had he been playing that role, even he sometimes forgot who he really was. He was found by Nemesis the Warlock and brought back into the ranks of The ABC Warriors to help save the Gothic Empire from a Terminator invasion. He was then dispatched with the other Warriors into the Time Wastes of Termight to repair the damage done to it. During their journey, Blackblood broke the news to Mongrol that robots simply go to the smelter rather than heaven, so he would never see Lara again. As a result, Mongrol turned to his 'father' - a screwdriver.
After saving Terra from destruction, Mongrol followed the others to the planet Hekate, to collect the seven heads needed for the ritual that would spread Khaos throughout the Terran Empire. Mongrol was freed of the power of speech, but as compensation was bestowed with the instant reactions and speed of a natural born beast. After completing their mission on Hekate, Mongrol left for the Temple of the Night Maras with Morrigun, and became nothing more than her mindless (and overly protective) pet. Both he and his 'mistress' joined The ABC Warriors again to take on the Terran super weapon Hellbringer.
On the return to Mars, Mongrol's body was destroyed, forcing him to relocate his positronic brain into his new body. As a result, he regained his original intelligence and taste for cigars. He is still suffering from deep-seated issues over Lara, and when her memory was mocked by the Shadow Warrior Warmonger, Mongrol ripped him to pieces.
Following Blackblood's recounting of his Volgan War experiences and the revelation that he tried to kill Lara, Mongrol went berserk and stated that, at the end of that mission, either Blackblood leaves the Warriors or he will. However, Blackblood had already set things up so Mek-Quake would free Volkhan from Broadband Asylum, and he would go on to abandon the ABC Warriors mid-battle and rejoin Volkhan's army, gleefully slaughtering civilians once more and trying to kill the ABC Warriors. He is currently at large, an enemy of the Warriors once more.
Steelhorn / The Mess
An elite droid built from indestructible alloys, Steelhorn was proclaimed as a hero to the West and seen as one by Volgan civilians whom he liberated, even possessing a secret underground base. Due to his Vortex Hammer weapon, the Volgans viewed him as a war criminal, and so Volkhan and Blackblood infected him with a computer virus that caused him to start massacring civilians and fellow Warriors. Zippo eventually stopped Steelhorn and the virus was deleted, and the massacres were covered up by the military - but he was left traumatised and disillusioned by what he'd done.Steelhorn eventually ended the Volgan War by killing the Volgan Marshall Following the war, he went to a demob camp to be reprogrammed for civilian life, believing he would become a fireman and save lives, only to find himself falling into a fusion furnace - which were being used to kill the ABC Warriors now victory was over. With his dying breaths, Steelhorn cursed humans for their treachery.
He survived the furnace but his body was reduced to a bubbling mess. Consumed with hatred, the Mess slaughtered the human responsible before escaping. Hammerstein, realising it was actually Steelhorn, saved the Mess and had him poured into a vacuum flask that would be carried by Mongrol. The metal ape was the only one who could understand what the Mess was trying to say. The Mess would be taken on the Mars mission.
On Mars, the Warriors encountered a giant robot called George, one of the original Garganteks - giant robots who had originally helped terraform Mars for human colonization. Because of his size, each of George's limb was controlled by a separate brain, with a master brain supposedly in charge. The Mess ended up inside George, using its liquid state to connect George's brains and turn him into a fearsome fighting machine. When the Mars mission was complete, George and the Mess remained behind.
Centuries later, continued terraforming awoke Medusa, the planetary consciousness, and caused her to try to wipe out humanity. She destroyed George for the crime of terraforming her and discovered the Mess as a result; finding it shared her hatred of humans, she rebuilt it into a new incarnation of Steelhorn. He now possessed certain psychic powers allowing him to control Martian wildlife. He became Medusa's voice, organising the attacks on the human settlements and personally leading the slaughter at Viking City, which saw almost the entire population massacred by a Martian born virus. The ABC Warriors fought the new Steelhorn and eventually struck a deal with him and Medusa, agreeing to peaceful coexistence if human President Cobb was transformed into a Martian.
Steelhorn re-joined the ranks of The ABC Warriors in place of the deceased Morrigun, in a bid to increase the peace on Mars after civil war broke out. Travelling with them to New Sidona to fend off Confederacy soldiers, Steelhorn was taken out by the rival Shadow Warriors, melted to a sludge once more. Due to occult activities by Deadlock, he was reborn again in a diamond form and brought about the ABC Warriors' victory.
He has two horns, one which when played incites wildlife to rebel. He has not said what the other will do, but it is to be played in the event of a Confederate victory and the consequences would presumably be devastating.
Mek-Quake
Mek-Quake is a dim-witted and sadistic former demolition droid. Serving mainly as comic relief, he was originally a member of Ro-Busters, used for internal discipline within the rescue squad (mainly by destroying troublemakers), and did not join the Warriors until their later phase. In the 2010 Savage Book VI: Crims story, Mek-Quake has a cameo appearance destroying compromised Hammersteins in 2009 (which makes him both the oldest Warrior and the oldest AI robot).His original body was that of a very large bulldozer, seen throughout the run of Ro-Busters. When he reappeared in Book III of Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
, fighting for the evil Termight empire, his (tiny) brain was now housed in a colossal siege robot with a head vaguely resembling a cat's. Despite his enormous destructive power, his stupidity ultimately ended up making the situation even worse for the Terminators. In Book IV of Nemesis, he returned to his original body; he later switched between this and a vaguely humanoid body stolen from a defeated opponent, depending on the requirements of each mission.
Despite initially fighting against them, Mek-Quake was recruited to the Warriors by Nemesis, who realised that his insatiable appetite for mayhem and near-indestructibility made him a useful asset - as well as the fact that his limited intelligence and considerable survival instinct meant he had no loyalties except to whichever side would give him the most opportunity to destroy things.
For 'Black Hole', Mek-Quake's bulldozer body was redesigned as a heavily armed 'killdozer', with a prehensile neck and a 'face' with a permanent angry scowl. The killdozer body was blown up in 'The Clone Cowboys', leaving him in humanoid form. Depending on the artist, this - the current - version of Mek-Quake has ranged from five to fifteen feet tall, though generally he is drawn as the largest of the Warriors.
What Mek-Quake lacks in intelligence (which is a lot) he makes up for in cruelty and destructive force. However, he is also something of a coward, preferring softer targets that he can inflict more pain upon while chanting his catchphrase: "Big jobs!" He has no compunctions about massacring humans, evidenced in The Third Element when he is annoyed about having missed most of a battle because of the time it took to remove all the "human gristle" clogging his caterpillar tracks. In his early stories he openly loathed Hammerstein and Ro-Jaws (as a result of their time in Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters is a British comic story that formed part of the original line-up of Starlord. Similar in premise to that of the Thunderbirds television series, it was created by writer Pat Mills and was drawn by Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy initially, before Starlord's merger with 2000 AD...
), but later this hatred was toned down to a general dislike of everything and everybody except videos of chainsaw torture. Despite this Mek-Quake is eager to show his intelligence and importance, and in Kronicles of Khaos he kept trying to join in at the end of Deadlock's statements so he could seem like he was already versed in Khaos.
He continued to be part of the Warriors in their return to Mars as they tried to keep the peace during a civil war. Mek-Quake had developed an interest in conspiracy theories.
In the first episode of 'The Volgan War' (2006-7), Mek-Quake is checked into a robot asylum by Hammerstein, as the rest of the Warriors now consider him a liability due to his growing insanity. While Hammerstein actually seems sad to see his former enemy depart, the others appear more than eager to meet his replacement, Zippo. Mek-Quake was assigned to clean the cell of former Volgan General Volkhan - but when Blackblood called up solely to tell him he was going to be replaced, he switched sides. He freed Volkan and his associates and killed the asylum staff. He then joined with Volkhan and Blackblood in an attempt to destroy the rest of the ABC Warriors, as well as Marinus City. When that went wrong, he ran away to the other side in the Martian civil war and became a celebrity for the destruction of the Marinus Red House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Ro-Jaws
Ro-Jaws was involved in a number of the ABCs adventures, acting largely as comic relief. A working-class sewer droid with filthy habits and a love of refuse, he was originally a law-abiding robot until he was thrown in jail for taking a sick homeless man into a Cabinet minister's house (believing the minister to be a friend). The abuses in robot prison, as well as mixing with criminal robots, caused Ro-Jaws to develop a crude, disrespectful and anarchic attitude, gaining an interest in robot rebellion. (He assisted robot resistance agents but was considered too silly-looking) He was briefly owned by a rich family as a companion for their daughter Annabel; the two became great friends, and it is unknown how that ended. It is known from the first Ro-Busters that he hit his master (unknown if this was Annabel's father), putting him in the hospital, and that was why he was thrown away.He first met Hammerstein when they were both "Second Hand Bargains" at a robot shop, and the two were bought by the Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters
Ro-Busters is a British comic story that formed part of the original line-up of Starlord. Similar in premise to that of the Thunderbirds television series, it was created by writer Pat Mills and was drawn by Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy initially, before Starlord's merger with 2000 AD...
disaster agency. The two clashed repeatedly due to their differing personalities but would develop a strong sense of friendship. In one incident, they went undercover to investigate murders on a space station, and Ro-Jaws discovered it was the work of robots who were planning a rebellion; Ro-Jaws found the uprising was being secretly directed by humans, and noted he'd have joined the uprising if it had been run by robots. Ro-Jaws and Hammerstein were eventually forced to go on the run when they were nearly killed for the insurance money, and helped a number of robots escape Earth to the robot free world Saturn Six; they threw away the chance to make it to Saturn Six themselves by staying behind to cover the escape. They then went underground with new identity papers, singing together as they went off they'd always be "walking along side by side".
Many centuries in the future, Ro-Jaws was working in a hotel in the Gothic Empire and ended up as a valet for Nemesis the Warlock. Ro-Jaws swiftly became a trusted aide and was reunited with Hammerstein in the process, encouraging Nemesis to save his old friend from execution. His brief turn as an official ABC warrior occurred when Nemesis despatched the warriors into the Time Wastes to repair the damage done by his son Thoth; when Terri was inducted into the warriors early into the subsequent Black Hole mission, Ro-Jaws cheerfully gave up this position, although continued to be a hanger-on for some time. He remained for the Hekate mission and quickly got to grips with Khaos. Following the mission, he left the team with Deadlock to work at the Kollege of Khaos - Deadlock considers Ro-Jaws to understand the nature of Khaos even better than he does.
He views Hammerstein as a good friend, despite their wildly different personalities, and has several times ensured the soldier's life was saved. In a flashback to the Ro-Busters days, it was him who ensured a temporarily rampaging Hammerstein was taken down non-lethally before Mek-Quake reached and killed him; he worked to convince Nemesis to prevent his execution in The Gothic Empire; and in Khronicles of Khaos he asked Deadlock if he could turn Hammerstein into a more khaotic person, believing it would be beneficial to him. However, in a contradictory moment in Hellbringer, Ro-Jaws (like everyone else) was shown to have known Hammerstein was being tortured by Blackblood but had no interest in helping him.
In 2010 he returned in The Volgan War Book 4, revealed to have been hiding out on Mars (as a public toilet cleaner) under the alias "U-Fox" and helping Zippo in his resistance activities. As U-Fox, he'd racked up a reputation as an outlaw graffiti artist. He assisted the Warriors against Volkhan and his armies, distracting Mek-Quake with a series of 'your mother' jokes and leading the bulldozer away from the larger battle. Following this, he rejoined the Warriors alongside Zippo.
Ro-Jaws also served as the "host" for a series of short one-off strips, under the title Ro-Jaws Robot Tales. In 2006, he was a central figure in a tribute poster to deceased letterer Tom Frame
Tom Frame
Tom Frame was a British comics letterer. He created dialogue for the majority of the Judge Dredd strips, as well as other stories including over 300 stories in 2000 AD and Transformers....
, sharing a drink with the robot representing Frame.
Other members
Hammerstein, Deadlock, Joe Pineapples, Mongrol, and Blackblood have always been members of the ABC Warriors (until Blackblood's departure in 2010), with the others occupying the sixth and seventh positions as they became vacant. The two other original members were Steelhorn and Happy Shrapnel. Steelhorn is the only ex-member to return. Every other member bar Ro-Jaws and Mek-Quake have been killed in action. In Prog 1500, Mek-Quake stated "the new ABC Warriors never stay!".Happy Shrapnel
A crusty and cantankerous veteran with a malfunctioning voicebox that punctuated his sentences with buzzes, he wielded Kolt 45s stolen from a dead Volgan general and wore clothing taken from dead humans - sometimes with parts of the corpses still in them. He was killed in a bar brawl after the Mars mission.Hitaki
Programmed to act like ancient samurai by a Japanese secret society, Hitaki was a comrade of Hammerstein and Mad Ronn in the Terminators. After being thwarted in a suicide mission against the Goth Queen by Nemesis, he was inducted into the newly reformed ABC Warriors. He was killed by the Monad at the end of the world.Mad Ronn
A bomb-disposal robot during the Volgan Wars, he possessed highly sensitive electronic sensors. He was a Terminator alongside Hammerstein and Hitaki and was sent on the suicide mission against the Gothic Empire, and joined the new ABC Warriors. Ronn died while trying to defuse a Terminator bomb before it killed alien refugees.Terri
One of the organic slaves (a "Terr-1") of the Mekaniks, the single-minded robot guardians of the Black Hole and the Tomb of Emperor Zallin, she grew up believing herself to be a robot, albeit a low-caste one due to being made of flesh. She has attempted to make her mind & body just like her masters, possessing incredible strength and the ability to absorb pain unflinchingly, and believes in logic and recycling. When the Mekaniks murdered her infant son, she turned on them, believing this proved them illogical.She was made the seventh ABC Warrior by Deadlock and developed a strong romantic relationship with Hammerstein, who she believed was the father of her child. The two of them planned to settle down and retire after the Black Hole mission, but she was randomly killed during the battle against the Monad.
Morrigun
Originally a bar waitress on Hekate before she was drafted, she was an expert at the martial art Nekra Chi and wielded both Moon Flails and Pentangs - metal throwing stars powered by Khaos. As a field test, she personally retrieved one of the seven heads for the Khaos ritual. During the mission, she took Mongrol as a pet and left with him afterwards to study with the Khaos priestesses called the Night Maras. She rejoined the Warriors for the Hellbringer mission.She was killed on Mars while trying to save the native Trimorphs from a pogrom, being crushed beyond repair by a tank.
Zippo
Zippo AKA Agent Orange is a flamethrower unit ("a Zippo") who formerly served in special forces against the Volgans and reported directly to Colonel Lash. His agenda during the war was enigmatic; sometimes it was to assist the ABC Warriors, whereas in the "Zarnhem" massacre (a battle deliberately lost by Western officers for propaganda purposes) it was to ensure there were no survivors. He has a habit of inscribing mottoes and messages on the weapons and cigarette lighters of his comrades. He has history with all of the surviving original ABC Warriors, and inscribed messages on most of their weapons.After the war, he eventually ended in Marineris City ("Mekana") on Mars. Friends of his were killed in anti-robot riots. He ended up becoming an outlaw, mentored as a graffiti artist by the insane "tagger" Kroll; he left messages and occasionally took out police officers in order to eventually provoke an uprising. He was eventually captured by the G-Men, a specialist police unit under Detektiv Sturn, while his mentor Kroll was killed. While awaiting execution, the ABC Warriors planned to rescue him and make him the new seventh member (to replace Mek-Quake). However by the time they saved him, Blackblood had deserted from the team and so Zippo became the new sixth member.
Current members
As of 2010, the current ABC Warriors are Hammerstein, Deadlock, Joe Pineapples, Mongrol, Steelhorn, Zippo and Ro-Jaws.Stories
The first series of ABC Warriors appeared in 2000 AD from Prog 119–139. The second series began 2000 AD Prog 555 and is still running, albeit intermittently, to this day.The Volgan War
The ABC Warriors (story untitled, 1 episode, art by Kevin O'Neill)Introduces Joe Pineapples and Happy Shrapnel. The Warriors are sent by a human officer (safely miles behind the lines, and observing the battlefield via telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
) to attack a Volgan position. The battle is won, but at a huge cost of robot lives. Hammerstein, furious at the pointless waste, secretly sabotages the 'pain barrier' of a dying robot, which causes the officer to feel the robot's 'death', the shock killing him. Although Hammerstein thinks he's got away with this, his actions have been noted by the mysterious Colonel Lash.
Retreat From Volgow (1 episode, Brendan McCarthy)
The Volgans send a unit of war robots to attack the Warriors - a unit so brutal they were deactivated by their own side for fear of the damage they could cause. Led by 'Old Horney', the first Volgan war robot and their counterpart to Hammerstein, they attack just as Lash withdraws the tanks supporting the ABC Warriors in order to test them in a one-sided battle. Outnumbered, the Warriors nevertheless defeat their attackers, Hammerstein himself killing Old Horney even with one arm removed for repairs. Lash then reveals part of his mission: he wants Hammerstein and his unit to recruit a number of other robots for a classified mission, beginning with the fearsome Mongrol.
Recruiting the Warriors
Mongrol (2 episodes, Mike McMahon)Hammerstein, Joe and Happy track the renegade robot Mongrol to a weapons dump, which he has been raiding in order to kit himself out with extra guns. After Mongrol defeats the military police trying to bring him in, Hammerstein realises the only thing Mongrol respects is strength - he has to defeat him in combat. This proves easier said than done, but when Volgan forces attack, Mongrol's thirst for revenge against those who killed Lara, his creator, overpowers his urge to fight Hammerstein. The two join forces to defeat the attackers, then, when Hammerstein saves Mongrol from almost certain destruction, the simple-minded behemoth pledges to follow his new master.
The Order Of The Knights Martial (2 episodes, Kevin O'Neill and Brett Ewins)
Hammerstein's next recruit is Deadlock - but the Watchtower, the space station from which the sinister Knights Martial observe the war, is shot out of orbit and crash-lands in the battlezone. The Knights defend themselves from the Volgan forces as the Warriors provide backup, defeating their foe. Deadlock reveals that he knows why Hammerstein has come - he has foreseen it in his Tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
cards. If Hammerstein can defeat him in combat, he will join him - but if he fails, Deadlock will claim his life. The Knights secretly sabotage the other Warriors, but Mongrol is able to resist. Deadlock uses his psychic powers and black magic to trick Hammerstein in their duel, almost destroying him, but the Warrior is able to turn the tables on the overconfident Deadlock at the last moment, his comrades showing up just in time to enforce the result. Defeated, Deadlock reluctantly agrees to join the ABC Warriors.
The Bougainville Massacre (2 episodes, Mike McMahon)
The Warriors travel to the remote island of Bougainville to locate and capture ruthless Volgan war robot General Blackblood, but instead find that the island has been devastated and its human inhabitants murdered by Blackblood and his jungle robots, the Straw Dogs. The Warriors take on the Straw Dogs, crippling their leader's war machine before he can escape. However, Blackblood has taken a child hostage, forcing Joe Pineapples to take the most difficult shot of his career to date: he has to hit Blackblood's 'heart' precisely while not harming the boy. Joe is successful, and Blackblood is captured, a disgusted Hammerstein left wondering what mission could be so important that a butcher like Blackblood has to become part of his team.
Steelhorn (2 episodes, Brendan McCarthy)
The Volgan War is over, the robot Steelhorn - made from almost indestructible materials - having broken through the 'flame barrier' protecting Marshal Volgow's position and killing the enemy leader. Hammerstein tries to recruit Steelhorn, but the robot has now become a pacifist, wanting to help humans rather than fight them. However, when Steelhorn reports for decommissioning, he is betrayed - by his own side. With the war over, the robot soldiers are no longer needed, and Steelhorn is dropped into a fusion furnace that even he cannot withstand. But instead of vaporising, he becomes 'The Mess' - an intelligence made from molten metal that is consumed with the desire for revenge against his betrayers. As the Mess kills the humans running the demob camp, Hammerstein discovers their duplicity and helps it escape. The Mess is stored in a flask (kept by Mongrol) that lets it stay molten, and the seventh ABC Warrior has been recruited, albeit in an unusual form.
Mars
Mars, The Devil Planet (1 episode, Mike McMahon)Colonel Lash reveals the Warriors' secret mission - to travel to the colonised and terraformed planet Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, where rival corporations are at war over resources, the civilians caught in the middle. They are to bring peace to the planet, by any means necessary. Approaching landing, their ship is caught in a sandstorm and crash-lands miles from the nearest settlement. In the thin atmosphere the passengers seem doomed, and things get worse when the 'Humpies' - early settlers genetically engineered to store air in sacs on their faces and backs - attack the new arrivals. Hammerstein forces both sides to declare a truce, and the Humpies lead the passengers to safety.
Cyboons (2 episodes, Dave Gibbons)
Soya ranchers are driving the Cyboons - intelligent genetically altered apes used in the early days of terraforming - off their reservation to take over the land. The Warriors try to offer the apes assistance, but their leader Bedlam refuses their help. But when Bedlam's son is murdered by the ranchers, he leads his tribe into an attack. Since the ranchers are armed, it seems like a slaughter - but Deadlock and Blackblood had secretly infiltrated the ranchers' camp, disarming their guns. Without their weapons, the ranchers are helpless against the ferocity of the Cyboon attack, and after suffering heavy losses are quick to surrender and leave the Cyboons in peace.
The Red Death (2 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Called to deal with a ruthless biker gang terrorising Viking City, the Warriors seem to have an easy victory - until the frightened, fleeing bikers die almost instantly from a hideous flesh-rotting disease. The disease is native to Mars, and triggered by fear. Tracking the disease to its source, the Warriors find a young boy near a car containing the rotting corpses of his parents. Hammerstein is afraid that the boy will see their bodies, become frightened and die himself - and the disease begins to affect even his metal body. Deadlock reveals that the 'boy' actually is a manifestation of the Red Death, Mars itself trying to drive away the human settlers. Hammerstein kills the fake child, and the menace is over - for now.
Golgotha (3 episodes, Carlos Ezquerra)
A popular pastime among the ultra-rich youth of Mars is hunting - but instead of animals, they hunt people, while riding on the backs of genetically recreated Tyrannosaurs. The most feared of the dinosaurs is Golgotha, son of Satanus (the monstrous T-Rex that appeared during the 'Cursed Earth' storyline of Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
, who himself was the son of 'Old One Eye' from another 2000AD series, Flesh
Flesh
In vertebrate animals, flesh is the colloquial for biological tissue which consists of skeletal muscles and fat as opposed to bones, viscera and integuments. Flesh may be used as food, in which case it is called meat....
), and his sheer bloodlust allows him to overcome the control device meant to keep him in check and escape from the compound, leaving carnage in his wake. The Warriors arrive to hunt down the rogue dinosaur - and also to administer justice on Golgotha's owner. For his part in multiple murders, the sentence is death, which is duly carried out. However, the youth's father swears revenge on Hammerstein, and pays Blackblood to betray him. Tracking Golgotha to the city, Hammerstein prepares to kill the dinosaur, but his guns fail to fire and he is attacked. The robot is not defenceless, however, and uses his combat hammer to smash the dinosaur's skull. Mortally wounded, Golgotha plummets from a flyover and is impaled on a spire below. Hammerstein has no proof that Blackblood sabotaged his guns - but delivers a beating as a warning that if he ever suspects treachery again, he will kill him.
Mad George (3 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Features George, a giant, clumsy robot with five brains which disagree with each other. The end of the story features The Mess combining with George to create a 'nervous system' that creates a more cohesive robot.
Red Planet Blues (special, Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon
Steve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...
and John Higgins (colours))
Written by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
, his only ABC Warriors story.
The ABC Warriors then vanished from 2000 AD for several years, returning as supporting characters in Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
until they returned to starring status in 1988.
The Black Hole
Black Hole (compilation title: original printing titled The End of Time!, 21 episodes, Simon Bisley and SMSSMS (comics)
SMS is a Lancashire-based artist known for his award-winning covers for science-fiction magazine, Interzone, and for his work for British anthology magazine 2000 AD.-Biography:...
)
At the start of the story, the lineup of ABC Warriors is Hammerstein, Joe Pineapples, Blackblood, Mongrol, Mek-Quake and Ro-Jaws.
Sent by Nemesis to stabilise the artificial black and white holes that allow interstellar travel (and also enabled the Terran Empire to conquer the galaxy) before they collide and destroy Earth, the Warriors pick up a new member - Terri. Although human, she has been raised by the robots and androids guarding the black hole complex - the Mekaniks - and considers herself to be a robot, and Hammerstein to be her true love. Deadlock also returns to join the Warriors again, though Hammerstein is suspicious of his motives - the follower of Khaos has more to gain from Earth's destruction than its salvation.
As well as the Mekaniks, the Warriors must also face the soldiers of the Empire of this time period, led by the robot-hating Major Savard, as well as the ultimate evil - the Monad (which originally appeared in Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock
Nemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
), a psychic monster formed from the distillation of all human evil that is able to take on any form.
The Warriors eventually fight their way to the control room, deep inside the tomb of Emperor Zallin, where Deadlock, Blackblood and Mek-Quake come under attack from automated defence systems. Hammerstein realises the truth - the defence systems scan robots to ensure that they are there to protect the tomb, and the three robots have been working to sabotage the mission and ensure Earth is destroyed. Hammerstein, Joe, Mongrol and Terri take on the renegades, but an unwilling truce is forced when Savard's troops - and the Monad, disguised in the form of an alien bounty hunter - attack. Deadlock uses his dark powers to reach the control room and stabilise the black and white holes, but not before the destruction wrought by the impending collision causes the death of Terri.
Deadlock then draws upon the centuries of horror and bloodshed the Warriors have experienced to create a psychic warrior powerful enough to defeat - but not destroy - the Monad. The Warriors then escape by stealing Zallin's tombship, taking the blame for the devastation and now the most wanted robots in the galaxy.
Khronicles of Khaos
Warlocks And Wizards (1 episode, Carl CritchlowCarl Critchlow
Carl Critchlow is a British fantasy and science fiction comic illustrator. He is perhaps best known for his character Thrud the Barbarian, which originally appeared in White Dwarf magazine, and for his work for the Lobster Random comics....
)
The Enigmass Variations (7 episodes, Carl Critchlow)
Khronicles Of Khaos (17 episodes, Kevin Walker)
On a mission to infect the Terran Empire with Khaos, Deadlock leads the ABC Warriors to the planet Hekate; here, they will kill seven figures of Order and harvest their heads as part of a ritual. As well as recruiting a new seventh member in Morrigun, the existing Warriors were altered by such close exposure to Khaos magick. Blackblood was able to become more vicious again, Joe was operated on to embrace cross-dressing, Mongrol became a true beast and even Hammerstein was influenced.
The Warriors undertook six assassinations in the run up to the lunar alignment known as the Night of the Blood Moon, as well as encountering the bizarre alien lifeforms on this world - the primal and khaotic Night Mara, the Froyds who wander around at night acting out their brutal dreams, and the Phookas who vomit on people as a compliment. In the final battle went up against the Terran Imperial Rottweilers battalion and the reanimated Emperor Zalin. They succeeded in the end, bringing Khaos to the world (and a month-long party) and causing it to spread throughout the Empire. Due to its influence, the Warriors refused to follow Deadlock's orders - fully embracing Khaos in the process - and Deadlock returned to his Kollege with Ro-Jaws.
Hellbringer (17 episodes, Kevin Walker)
Return to Mars
The Warriors next returned in the 'Return To Mars' saga, an ongoing story arc made up of five three-part stories.Roadkill (1 episode, Kevin Walker)
A short one-off 'bridge' story in the special 'Prog 2000' issue, designed to re-introduce the Warriors for the new century. Zombie bikers are terrorising the Martian highways; the Warriors fight them off easily, until Hammerstein is possessed by the spirit of their leader. Realising that the spirit fears the pain of death, Hammerstein stands in the path of an oncoming juggernaut. The spirit flees to the next plane of existence rather than suffer again, and Hammerstein destroys the juggernaut and the last remaining zombies aboard it.
The Third Element (3 episodes, Henry Flint)
Morrigun is destroyed in combat.
The Clone Cowboys (3 episodes, Liam McCormack-Sharpe)
The Warriors arrive at the Martian town of Redemption to investigate the apparent disappearance of its inhabitants. They are ambushed by cloned copies of the humans, which turn into hideous mutants as they strike. Deadlock realises the clones have been created by Medusa, the Martian planetary consciousness, as a means to fight back against the planet's terraforming. An army of clones emerges from the town's church, using its bell to create massive sonic vibrations that threaten to destroy the Warriors' brains and literally shake their bodies apart. However, Mek-Quake is immune (thanks to the small size of his brain) and loads up his killdozer body with explosives, ploughing into the church and blowing it - and the clones - to pieces just after he bails out in his secondary body. Victorious, the Warriors depart - but are watched by a mysterious horned figure from a hilltop...
The Tripods (3 episodes, Mike McMahon)
Re-introduces Steelhorn, over 20 years after his last appearance.
The Zero Option (3 episodes, Boo Cook)
Assault On The Red House (3 episodes, Henry Flint)
The series then rested for a couple of years before returning with the first part of an ongoing storyline, The Shadow Warriors.
The Shadow Warriors
The Shadow Warriors, Book I (6 episodes, Carlos Ezquerra)Following the conclusion of the 'Return To Mars' arc, civil war has broken out on the Red Planet. The human population has divided into the Union and the Confederacy. Recognising the threat the ABC Warriors pose to their plans for global domination, the leaders of the Confederacy hire Conflict Management - a company of 'privatised peacekeepers' - to recruit the Shadow Warriors, a team of robots chosen specifically for their abilities to overcome each member of the Warriors.
The first members of the Shadow Warriors to be revealed are Bootleg, a robotic bounty hunter; Dog-Tag, a charming yet ruthless 'pirate' of the trans-Martian highways; The Rev, a minister in the sinister robot religion of the Church of Judas
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
, which Blackblood now follows; and Deus Ex Machina, an artificial intelligence - long thought mythical - capable of taking control of other machines and turning them to its will.
The story opens with Joe severely damaging Dog-Tag and wiping out his gang destroys his followers (although their leader escapes). The ABC Warriors discover the plot against them and engage Confederacy Behemeks alongside Union forces at Getty City. While Deus Ex Machina sabotages Union gun positions, the Rev attempts to assassinate Deadlock. The ABC Warriors head for New Sidona.
The Shadow Warriors, Book II (6 episodes, Henry Flint)
The Warriors reach New Sidona, where anarchy is breaking out as people wonder whether the Union or Confederacy will get there first. The robots drive off looting Cyboons before encountering a Talk Cone - a low-level robot agent of the Total Information Awareness agency that enforces the 'no talking' rule the government requires in order to monitor the populace for thoughts of terrorism. However, the cone has been booby-trapped with a bomb by Deux Ex, so the Warriors have to act quickly to save a loud group of teenagers from the explosion.
Taking the teenagers and fending off more Cyboons, the Warriors encounter the next Shadow Warrior - Doctor Maniacus, a rogue paramedic droid who feeds off the pain of his human 'patients' as he tortures and kills them. The psychotic medic unleashes the pain he has absorbed to overload the emotional circuits of the Warriors - however, Deadlock, having witnessed horrors beyond imagination in the service of Khaos, is immune. Doc Maniacus is able to fight off the Grand Wizard in single combat, but Deadlock plants a 'nanobat' - a microscopic bug - on him before he escapes. Meanwhile, sixth Shadow Warrior is revealed to be the sadistic and manipulative Mr Lovebomb, attacks New Sidona with his army of mind-shattered military clones (which undergo psychological torments to produce the adrenaline for military drug Neuropeptide-A).
The Warriors reach Terrasand Square, causing Mayor/Sheriff/TIA Chief Terrasand to hurriedly switch his allegiance from the Confederacy to the Union. It turns out the Square is a trap as the Warriors are attacked from all sides by Lovebomb's clones and Deus Ex' cone-bombs. The Warriors try to protect the humans and fight off the clones, while their Shadow counterparts - joined by their final member, the state-of-the-art killing machine Warmonger - prepare their attack...
The Shadow Warriors, Book III (10 episodes, Henry Flint)
The Shadows attack with state-of-the-art weaponry that is far superior to anything the ABC Warriors have in their arsenal. Steelhorn is the first to fall, reduced to molten slag by Doc Maniacus's 'sledgehammer' shells and trickling into a drain. Mek-Quake's already limited mind is affected by Mr Lovebomb's 'heartbreakers', making him increasingly deranged. Realising they are outmatched, the Warriors and the humans they are protecting take shelter in the police precinct. Joe Pineapples attempts to snipe the Shadows but is caught unawares, shot in the head and buried by Dog-Tag.
The Shadows then play on Hammerstein's programming by capturing a Trimorph and torturing him to death. Forced to protect the innocent Martian, Hammerstein goes into the open to rescue him and is taken down by a burst of gunfire in the back. While Maniacus implants the ABC leader with metallic snakes that eat robot brains, the ABC Warriors discover Deux X is using an invisibility cloak to spy on them from the inside. Mek-Quake detects him and shoots him dead. Meanwhile, Hammerstein is released back to his friends, so he will be forced to let the snakes kill him or have them eat his friend's brains.
Disturbed by the loss of Deus X, the other Shadows decide to press the attack by sending in Mr Lovebomb's remaining clones. Lovebomb tries to send them into battle as suicide troops - but Deadlock has used his psychic powers to overcome the clones' mental conditioning, turning them against their master. Enraged at what he has done to them, the clones rip Lovebomb to pieces before departing the battlefield. Deadlock then performs a mysterious and sinister ritual on a captured Confederate, refusing to be disturbed. Hammerstein is thus unable to get his help containing the snakes.
Confederate tanks shell the precinct, forcing the Warriors into the open to face their Shadow adversaries. Hammerstein is able to decapitate Maniacus and the snakes, hating the scientist as much as he does, leave his body to eat the doctor's brains instead. Blackblood, meanwhile, is ambushed by the Rev and turned inside out by a teleportational booth, but still manages to kill him. Mongrol takes on Warmonger and tears him apart in a rage when Warmonger makes the mistake of disparaging Lara. Dog Tag is hit and fatally wounded by his own bullets as it is revealed Joe Pineapples only faked his electronic death, allowing him to loot the Shadows' arsenal.
Just as it seems the ABC Warriors have prevailed, Bootleg leads the Confederate behemeks in demolishing buildings and crushing the ABCs into the ground. However, Steelhorn - reformed by Medusa due to Deadlock's ritual - appears and in his new diamond-bodied form destroys Bootleg. The other ABCs emerge from the soil into which they had been squashed and join in the attack with the aid of newly arrived Union forces. The Confederate troops are destroyed and the battered ABC Warriors are victorious.
The Volgan War
The Volgan War, Volume I (9 episodes, Clint Langley)The Warriors arrive at Broadband Asylum on Mars, a mental hospital for robots, to check in Mek-Quake for treatment. He hopefully asks that his place in the team be kept open for him, but after they leave him the other Warriors make it clear they have no intention of taking him back. Only Hammerstein is bothered by the betrayal, while Blackblood positively revels in it.
Travelling to Marineris City to recruit a new member, the robots reminisce about their experiences in the Volgan War. Hammerstein tells of a battle against the fearsome Stalins, colossal war robots. Mongrol describes how his existence as a robo-paratrooper was ended by a faulty parachute, and his rebuilding by Lara - before she was murdered by Volgan forces for harbouring him. Joe, meanwhile, recalls an assassination mission where he was sent undercover to Moscow to destroy the 'Ikon', leader of the Volgan robotic forces: the fearsome Volkhan.
As the stories progress, it is revealed that all of the Warriors encountered Volkhan in their battles - as well as a Special Forces ABC robot called Zippo, who it becomes clear is going to become the latest member of the Warriors.
Back at Broadband Asylum, Mek-Quake makes an unexpected discovery - one of the other inmates is none other than Volkhan himself...
The Volgan War, Volume II (10 episodes, Clint Langley)
Volkhan tries to convince Mek-Quake to help him escape, but he refuses. That is, until he receives a call from Blackblood, who gloatingly informs him - "as a friend" - that his position in the ABC Warriors has been taken over by Zippo. Dismayed and enraged, Mek-Quake makes a fateful decision...
Still travelling, the other Warriors continue their war memoirs. Blackblood takes glee in describing how he was the one responsible for the murder of Lara's parents, which prompts a furious Mongrol to issue an ultimatum - when the mission is completed, either Blackblood leaves the Warriors, or he does. Next, Deadlock relates his encounter with Volkhan - the Volgan droid created a 'son' called Kalevala, violating international laws that forbid robots to reproduce themselves. Deadlock destroys Kalevala in battle, then captures Volkhan. Knowing that killing or imprisoning the Ikon will turn him into a martyr, Deadlock instead 'operates' on him to prevent him from creating any more offspring - essentially castrating him. Volkhan vows revenge.
As the Warriors arrive at Marineris to find and rescue Zippo, at Broadband Asylum Mek-Quake kills the guards and frees Volkhan and his comrades. As a reward, Volkhan promises the former demolition droid the chance to carry out "the biggest job on Mars."
The Volgan War, Volume III (10 episodes, Clint Langley)
The Volgan War, Volume IV (12 episodes, Clint Langley)
Chronology
Although no dates were specified at the time, the 2006-7 series The Volgan War explicitly places that conflict in 2082-4, with the invasion of Western Europe in 1999 (from Invasion!Invasion! (2000 AD)
Invasion! was a series created by Pat Mills and mostly written by Gerry Finley-Day that appeared in the first 51 editions of the weekly comic 2000 AD....
) as backstory and considered to be World War 3 in the ABC timeline. This retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
s out the Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
strip Hammerstein, which placed the ABC Warriors in Dredd's universe and showed Hammerstein involved in 2071's Battle of Armaggedon after the Volgan War and the Mars mission.
The adventures of the ABC Warriors in Nemesis Books 3 and 4 take place "thousands" of years in the future, with Earth renamed Termight, a quasi-mediaeval future society where the knowledge for making robots belongs to the Lost Age of Science. All robots who have lived thus far have become antiquated relics, forced to salvage spare parts from fallen colleagues to survive. Book 5 sees them travel forward billions of years in time to the end of the earth, where they first encounter the Monad. When the Warriors part company with Nemesis in Book 6, they travel back to a period slightly prior to Termight - the Terran Empire, a much more technologically orientated society - for their remaining post-Nemesis adventures.
(This does raise the question of a time paradox: technically, there are two versions of Hammerstein, Joe, Blackblood and Mongrol in existence from 'Black Hole' onwards - the original versions and their later counterparts who travelled back in time from the Termight era. It seems extremely unlikely that this paradox will ever be addressed.)
The Mars stories from Roadkill onwards seem to be set a couple of generations on from the original Mars stories - the Biol corporation is still a major player and Mars' civilisation is largely the same, though enough time has passed for some Martian races, such as the Humpies and Cyboons, to degenerate to a lower state of being. The ABC warriors' original Mars mission has passed into near-legendary status, with most believing the warriors to be long since dead before their return.
Publication history
- The Meknificent Seven (176 pages, Simon and Schuster, 2010, ISBN 978-1906735906)
- "ABC Warriors" (with Kevin O'NeillKevin O'Neill (comics)Kevin O'Neill is an English comic book illustrator best known as the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law , and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen .-Early career:...
, in 2000 AD #119, 1979) - "The Retreat from Volgow" (with Kevin O'Neill, in 2000 AD #120, 1979)
- "Mongrol" (with Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #121-122, 1979)
- "The Order of Knights Martial" (with Kevin O'Neill (1) and Brett EwinsBrett EwinsBrett Ewins is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the weekly comic book 2000 AD.-Biography:...
(2), in 2000 AD #123-124, 1979) - "The Bougainville Massacre" (with Mike McMahonMike McMahon (comics)Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American....
, in 2000 AD #125-126, 1979) - "Steelhorn" (with Brendan McCarthyBrendan McCarthyBrendan McCarthy is a British artist and designer best known for his work in comic books, film and television.- Biography :Brendan McCarthy, of Irish descent, was born in London. Brendan soon began painting and drawing his own home-made comics....
, in 2000 AD #127-128, 1979) - "Mars, the Devil Planet" (with Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #129, 1979)
- “Cyboons” (with Dave GibbonsDave GibbonsDave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, in 2000 AD #130-131, 1979) - "The Red Death" (with Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #132-133, 1979)
- "Golgatha" (with Carlos EzquerraCarlos EzquerraCarlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
, in 2000 AD #134-136, 1979) - "Mad George" (with Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #137-139, 1979)
- "Red Planet Blues" (short story, written by Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
, with art by Steve DillonSteve DillonSteve Dillon is a British comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, Preacher and The Punisher.-Biography:...
, in 2000AD Annual 1985, 1984)
- "ABC Warriors" (with Kevin O'Neill
- The Black Hole (144 pages, Simon and Schuster, 2011, ISBN 978-1907519925)
- "The Black Hole" (with Simon BisleySimon BisleySimon Bisley is a British comics artist best known for his 1990s work on ABC Warriors, Lobo and Sláine. His style, reliant on paints, acrylics, inks and multiple-mediums, is strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dalí, Egon Schiele, and Richard Corben...
(1-4, 9-12, 17-21) and SMSSMS (comics)SMS is a Lancashire-based artist known for his award-winning covers for science-fiction magazine, Interzone, and for his work for British anthology magazine 2000 AD.-Biography:...
(5-8, 13-16), in 2000 AD #555-566 & 573-581, 1988) - "Volgow the Ultimate Death Machine" (with Steve Dillon, 2000AD Diceman #2)
- "The Black Hole" (with Simon Bisley
- Khronicles of Khaos (112 pages, RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, April 2007, ISBN 1-904265-49-9)- "Khronicles of Khaos" (with co-author Tony SkinnerTony SkinnerTony Skinner is a British comic book writer who collaborated with comics legend Pat Mills in the 1990s. Together they worked on scripts for ABC Warriors, Finn and Flesh for 2000AD and Sex Warrior, The Fear Teachers, Psycho Killer and Accident Man for Toxic!.-Bibliography:*Accident Man :** "Accident...
, and art by Kev WalkerKev WalkerKevin "Kev" Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering...
, in 2000 AD #750-757, 780-84 & 787-790, 1991 and 1992)
- "Khronicles of Khaos" (with co-author Tony Skinner
- Hellbringer (112 pages, RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, February 2008, ISBN 1-905437-56-0)- "Hellbringer" (with co-author Tony SkinnerTony SkinnerTony Skinner is a British comic book writer who collaborated with comics legend Pat Mills in the 1990s. Together they worked on scripts for ABC Warriors, Finn and Flesh for 2000AD and Sex Warrior, The Fear Teachers, Psycho Killer and Accident Man for Toxic!.-Bibliography:*Accident Man :** "Accident...
, and art by Kev Walker, in 2000 AD #904-911, 964-971, 1994 and 1995)
- "Hellbringer" (with co-author Tony Skinner
- The Third Element ( RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2008, ISBN 978-1-905437-80-1)- "Roadkill" (with Kev Walker, in 2000 AD prog 2000, 1999)
- "The Third Element " (with Henry FlintHenry FlintHenry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000AD.-Biography:Flint has established a cult following for his hyper-detailed and wildly inventive work on series such as Judge Dredd, Zombo,,ABC Warriors, Shakara, Low Life and Aliens.A recent project was...
, in 2000 AD #1234-1236, 2001) - "The Clone Cowboys" (with Liam SharpLiam SharpLiam Roger Sharp is a British comic book artist, writer and publisher.-Early life:Liam Sharp was born in Derby at St. Mary's Hospital to parents Roger and Linda Sharp. He has a younger sister, Kerry, and younger brother, Rien. He went to School at Brackensdale Junior then infants school, before...
, in 2000 AD #1237-1239, 2001) - "The Tripods" (with Mike McMahon, in 2000 AD #1240-1242, 2001)
- "The Zero Option" (with Boo CookBoo CookBoo Cook is a British comic artist, whose work mainly features in the comic 2000 AD.-Career:Cook's art has appeared in the ABC Warriors and Judge Dredd, as Asylum and Dead Men Walking .In 2005, Cook graduated to regular work on the flagship story on 2000 AD, Judge Dredd, mostly to scripts by...
, in 2000 AD #1243-1245, 2001) - "Assault on the Red House" (with Henry Flint, in 2000 AD #1236-1248, 2001)
- The Shadow Warriors (RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2009, ISBN 978-1-905437-94-8)- "The Shadow Warriors Book I" (with Carlos EzquerraCarlos EzquerraCarlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
, in 2000 AD #1336-1341, 2003) - "The Shadow Warriors Book II" (with Henry Flint, in 2000 AD #1400-1405, 2004)
- "The Shadow Warriors Book III" (with Henry FlintHenry FlintHenry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000AD.-Biography:Flint has established a cult following for his hyper-detailed and wildly inventive work on series such as Judge Dredd, Zombo,,ABC Warriors, Shakara, Low Life and Aliens.A recent project was...
, in 2000 AD #1476-1485, 2006)
- "The Shadow Warriors Book I" (with Carlos Ezquerra
- The Volgan War Volume 1 (RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2009, ISBN 978-1-906735-02-9)- "The Volgan War Vol. 1" (with Clint LangleyClint LangleyClint Langley is a British comic book artist best known for his work on series with Pat Mills at 2000 AD and as the cover artist for Marvel Comics' Guardians of the Galaxy....
, in 2000 AD #1518-1525, 2007)
- "The Volgan War Vol. 1" (with Clint Langley
- The Volgan War Volume 2 (RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2010, ISBN 978-1-906735-23-4)- "The Volgan War Vol. 2" (with Clint Langley, in 2000 AD #1550-1559, 2007)
- The Volgan War Vol. 3 (RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2010, ISBN 978-1906735456)- "The Volgan War Vol. 3" (with Clint Langley, in 2000 AD #1601-1606, 1611–1616, 2008)
- The Volgan War Vol. 4 (RebellionRebellion DevelopmentsRebellion is a British computer games company, based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens vs. Predator computer game. It has published comic books since 2000 and launched its own book imprint, Abaddon Books, in 2006.-History:...
, 2011, ISBN 978-1907992193)- "The Volgan War Vol. 4" (with Clint Langley, in 2000 AD #1666-1677, 2010)
- Nemesis the WarlockNemesis the WarlockNemesis the Warlock is a story created by writer Pat Mills and artist Kevin O'Neill which appeared in the pages of the weekly comics anthology 2000 AD. The title character, a fire-breathing demonic alien, fights against the fanatical Torquemada, Grand Master of the Terran Empire in Earth's distant...
(by Pat MillsPat MillsPat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
and Bryan TalbotBryan TalbotBryan Talbot is a British comic book artist and writer, born in Wigan, Lancashire, in 1952. He is best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire.-Career:...
):- "The Gothic Empire" (Book IV) (in 2000 AD #387-406, 1984–1985)
- "The Vengeance of Thoth" (Book V) (in 2000 AD #435-445, 1985)
- "Torquemurder" (Book VI) (in 2000 AD #482-487, 500-504, 1986–1987)
- Nemesis and Deadlock
- "Warlocks & Wizards" (in 2000 AD #700, 1990)
- "The Enigmass Varioation" (in 2000 AD #723-729, 1990)
- Uncollected special appearances:
- "Joe Pineapples - His Greatest Hits" (with Tom Carney, in 2000 AD 1996 Sci-Fi Special)
- "Dishonourable Discharge" (with Kev WalkerKev WalkerKevin "Kev" Walker is a British comics artist and illustrator, based in Leeds, who worked mainly on 2000 AD and Warhammer comics and the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering...
, in 2000 AD Winter Special #4, 1992)
- Judge DreddJudge DreddJudge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
: "HammersteinHammerstein (robot)Hammerstein is a fictional robot created by Pat Mills who first appeared in 1978 as a member of Ro-Busters in the British comic Starlord but is best known as the leader of the ABC Warriors in 2000AD.-Physical description:...
" (by Pat MillsPat MillsPat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
and Jason BrashillJason Brashill-Biography:He has worked for 2000 AD, mainly on cover work and the lead strip Judge Dredd, as well as some British small press comics, like The End Is Nigh....
, in 2000 AD #960-963, 1995)
Novels
Black FlameBlack Flame
Black Flame was an imprint of BL Publishing, the publishing arm of Games Workshop and a sister imprint to the Black Library and Solaris Books. Black Flame was devoted to publishing cult fiction in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror...
has published a number of novels based on the characters:
- The Medusa War (Pat MillsPat MillsPat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
/Alan MitchellAlan Mitchell (comics)-Biography:In 1988 Mitchell began writing in partnership with Pat Mills, who met the writer while Mitchell was working as a shop manager for Acme Comics in Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, South London. Mills was looking for a black writer to help him create a nightmare urban world based in the UK...
, April 2004 ISBN 1-84416-109-9) - Rage Against the Machines (Mike Wild, June 2005 ISBN 1-84416-178-1)
Awards
These characters were nominated for the Rec.arts.Com "SquiddySquiddy Awards
The Squiddy Awards, also known as The Squiddies, were the annual awards given by the participants in the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.comics through 2004. The awards are named after the humorous typo "Suicide Squid"...
" Award for Favorite Team of Characters in 1990.