SCIENCE FICTION 557
explored more safely through the veneer of a science fi ction metaphor, and began to
conceptualize what became 2000 AD. Th e comic has transformed from a newsprint
paper to a glossy format, in addition to embracing current technologies; it is available
for downloading through the Internet, and can be viewed through iPhone and iPod
touch versions.
Editors have assumed the role of Th arg the Mighty, a green-skinned alien, who says
that the strips are produced by a group of robots; they intentionally resemble the actual
comic creators employed by 2000 AD. While its initial point of interest was a revamped
Dan Dare, the comic soon became best known for the character of Judge Dredd, a future
law-enforcement offi cer who performed the role of judge, jury, and executioner in Mega
City One, the future eastern United States. Th e character gained his own monthly U.K.
title in 1990, the Judge Dredd Megazine, still published at the time of this writing. Other
science fi ction strips for which 2000 AD has become known include: “Rogue Trooper,”
a GI (genetic infantryman) with blue skin and three partners, Gunnar, Bagman, and
Helm, which have been downloaded onto biochips located on his rifl e, backpack and hel-
met respectively; “Robo Hunter,” a series about Sam Slade, a bounty hunter who hunts
robots; and “Th e Ballad of Halo Jones,” an atypical sf story that eschewed 2000 AD’s
characteristic violence by focusing on the life of a young woman in the 50th century.
Th e anthology has also had a signifi cant impact in providing U.K.-based comics cre-
ators with a training ground to hone their talents for the American and international
markets, including Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Grant Morrison and
others. Th e downside of this trend is that once American and international markets
open up to creators, the majority tend not to return to the magazine, although this has
also been benefi cial in allowing new creative opportunities for rising stars in the fi eld to
gain a public platform for their work.
Another signifi cant work of science fi ction in U.S. comics was American Flagg, a
dystopian science fi ction series published by First Comics (cover date October 1983).
Th e year is 2031 and Reuben Flagg is an actor who has been sent from Mars to take on
the responsibility of enforcing government law in Chicago, accompanied by a talking
cat called Raul. His visual appearance is very much a modern, 1980’s twist on previous
patriot-heroes, such as Captain America and Th e Shield, in that all take the American
Flag as inspiration, but Flagg is not a typical hero of this type and the series is very
much a science fi ction work of social satire.
American Flagg was created by Howard Chaykin, its principal artist and writer. It
has also been scripted by Alan Moore and J. M. DeMatteis, and it has been penciled
by Mike Vosburg and inked by Richard Ory. Distinctive lettering by Ken Bruzenak
added to the eff ectiveness of the comic in creating and refl ecting the future society
in which the series is set. Th e series is an early example of work that dealt with more
adult concerns and themes in comics, a rarity in 1983, but an approach that would
bloom more fully as the decade progressed. Along these lines, it is notable that post-
apocalyptic narratives (such as Y: Th e Last Man, Ex Machina, V for Vendetta, and
Tank Girl) have been among the most popular science fi ction comics in recent years.
