After the success of last year’s Scream! and Misty Halloween Special (reviewed here at Broken Frontier), 2000 AD publisher Rebellion are raiding the vaults of their recently acquired back catalogue of British comics properties for another new take on some old faves this summer. The Vigilant will see a number of Fleetway/IPC adventure characters given a super-hero style spin following on from a prologue story in that aforementioned Scream/Misty one-shot.
Whether it be via the gorgeous reprints in their Treasury of British Comics range (including Scott Goodall and John Stokes’s Broken Frontier Award-winning Marney the Fox and the definitive edition of Charley’s War) or all-new takes on vintage strips, Rebellion have been doing a cracking job to date on bringing these characters to both new audiences and to nostalgists.
I had the pleasure of chairing two panels last Autumn focusing on these publications at both Gosh! Comics and Orbital Comics in London and chatted to IPC artist John Stokes, former Scream! editor Simon Furman, and Rebellion’s Ben Smith and Keith Richardson. The love and affection for these comics of yesteryear was tangible on both occasions and if The Vigilant sells out as quickly as the Scream! and Misty Special we can only hope that it leads to a more regular stream of new material featuring the IPC stars in future.
The full press release and cover is below…
Lost in the mists of time, home-grown British superheroes once entertained and enthralled millions of kids. Now, the likes of Adam Eterno, Blake Edmonds, Thunderbolt the Avenger, and The Leopard from Lime Street are coming back to make summer 2018 blazing hot!
The Vigilant will be a special one-shot title this August which resurrects classic heroes from the Fleetway/IPC comics of the 1970s – reborn and updated for a new generation to enjoy!
Written by Simon Furman (Transformers) with art by Simon Coleby (Jaegir, Judge Dredd) and other guest creators, when the evil forces of Von Hoffman and Dr Mesmer team up and pluck the immortal Adam Eterno from the winds of time, all of reality is under threat!
Only The Vigilant – a mighty team composed of super-beings, warlocks, warriors and monsters – stand between civilisation and total chaos! Join The Leopard from Lime Street, Steel Commando, Dr. Sin, Pete’s Pocket Army, Blake Edmonds, Yāo and Thunderbolt the Avenger on their premiere adventure!
Superheroes are something 2000 AD hasn’t really done in the past (with a couple of exceptions) – but this is the beginning of what we’re dubbing the ‘Rebellion-verse’, an interconnected world of superheroes but with a very British ethos and outlook.
Available from newsagents in the UK on 15th August, The Vigilant will also be available to order from comic book stores through Diamond Distribution in the April edition of Previews.
