By Ben Bussey
We’ve had no shortage of documentaries covering the cultural shifts of the 1970s and 1980s. In the US, American Nightmare charts how horror cinema was revitalised from the late 60s onwards by the likes of George Romero, Wes Craven and Tobe Hooper, whilst Going To Pieces chronicles the slasher movie boom which came in the wake of this; in the UK meanwhile, Jake West and Marc Morris brought us the excellent Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, and its sequel Video Nasties: Draconian Days, which relay the Great British brouhaha over the so-called nasties and the broader political ramifications of that panic. But of course, film was not the only medium to undergo changes, reflect contemporary anxieties and prompt controversy (often deliberately so) during that time period. Comic books also went through quite the transformative process, the mid-80s seeing the rise of the graphic novel with Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, paving the way for a new wave of mature readers-oriented comic lines which liberally piled on the tits, gore, naughty words and provocative subject matter almost to the point of self-parody in the 1990s. However, whilst plenty of the most fondly-remembered comics of this era were published in the US, a great many of them were the work of British writers and artists – and most if not all of these talented individuals had reached the top of their trade as part of a now-legendary British weekly comic whose role in the rejuvenation of the medium cannot be overlooked.
That British comic, of course, was Whizzer and Chips.
Alright, not really, it was 2000AD.
It’s actually kind of hard to believe that no one else beat director Paul Goodwin to the punch bowl on this years ago. 2000AD has long, long since been one of those iconic brands that’s instantly recognised, even by those who’ve never read it (case in point: myself). But as it turns out, Goodwin and his cohorts at Deviant Films are indeed the first to produce a feature length documentary chronicling the history and impact of what I doubt many would dispute is Britain’s most important comic. And happily, Goodwin and co have done a damn fine job of it. A documentary on comics is always going to face a significant challenge that one on movies or music doesn’t: i.e., the fact that you’re not going to have much to bring up between the talking heads except for static images. Nonetheless, through smart editing and judicious use of animated flourishes, sound effects and music, Future Shock! proves every bit as energetic and entertaining as either of Jake West’s Video Nasties films, or anything Mark Hartley’s done. It doesn’t hurt that many of the people behind 2000AD – co-creator Pat Mills in particular – are almost as outlandish and colourful as any of their creations.
Born from the ashes of an earlier controversy-baiting boy’s weekly called Action, that comic’s creator Pat Mills was charged by publisher IPC with putting together a new sci-fi title in the hopes of cashing in on the anticipated boom in the genre with Star Wars on its way to cinemas. Mills got cracking in conjunction with John Waggner, and the comic was given the name 2000AD as that sounded futuristic and, on its launch in 1977, no one imagined it would be staying in print that long. Little did they know. Mills remarks the publishers had most likely expected something nice and middle class, which isn’t quite how it turned out. Taking the anarchic, anti-establishment attitude and taste for ultra-violence which wound up getting Action banned, but filtering these through a science fiction context which distanced things from the real world just enough to get away with it, 2000AD proved an instant hit, and all through its early years would present a radically different type of comic which really challenged its readers, young and old alike, and saw among its staff many of the biggest names in comics to this day, the two most notable to be interviewed here being Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman.
However, one rather notable absentee in Future Shock is arguably the most revered figure ever to come out of 2000AD: Alan Moore, whose breakthrough work The Ballad of Halo Jones was published in the pages of the comic – but never completed, when Moore quit over clashes with the publisher, who retained all copyright to the characters created for the comic. Still, if Moore declined to participate over concerns that the documentary might paint 2000AD as one big happy family, his fears were misplaced. All interviewees acknowledge the negative aspects of working for the comic, the draconian contracts and small-mindedness of the higher-ups being the most frequently cited problem. The creative highs and lows of the comic are also charted frankly, with misguided attempts to covet a ‘new lad’ readership in the mid-1990s proving a particular nadir. But through it all many key players remain on board, most notably Pat Mills, whose irrepressible outspokenness and penchant for profanity provide many of Future Shock!’s most striking, memorable and often piss-funny moments.
Charting the comic’s broader impact, how it influenced the US and became (much to the annoyance of Mills) a training ground for writers and artists who would go on to work for the American labels, and naturally with particular emphasis given to its best-known creation Judge Dredd, Future Shock! would seem as good a primer in 2000AD as anyone could hope for. Given my own limited knowledge of the subject, I obviously couldn’t say for sure whether or not this will tell seasoned fans much that they don’t already know, but I can say that it makes for a hugely entertaining hour and 45 minutes, and is liable to have long-time 2000AD readers digging out their old issues, whilst sending 2000AD newbies off to their nearest comic shop on the double.
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD is out on Region 2 DVD on 7th December, from Metrodome.