Last updated 20 August 07. The latest version of this document can always be found at www.enjolrasworld.com. See last page for legal & © information.

Additions? Corrections? Contact Richard J. Arndt: rarndt39@hotmail.com.

Warrior

1. cover: Steve Dillon/frontis: Garry Leach (Mar. 1982)

1) Freedom’s Road [Dez Skinn] 1p [text article]

2) Marvelman: …A Dream Of Flying [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 8p

3) Marvelman, Mightiest Man In The Universe [Dez Skinn/Mike Angelo Studios] 3½p [text

article]

4) Next Issue Ad [Paul Neary] ½p

5) The Spiral Path: Prologue [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

6) A True Story? [Steve Moore/Dave Gibbons] 2p

7) The Legend Of Prester John [Steve Moore/John Bolton] 7p

8) V For Vendetta: The Villain [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

9) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Spawn From Hell’s Pit! [Steve Moore/John Bolton] 6p

reprinted from House Of Hammer #8 (Apr. 1977)

10) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 6p [Moore’s story credited to

Pedro Henry]

11) Warriors All!: John Bolton, Steve Dillon, Dave Gibbons, Garry Leach, David Lloyd, Alan

Moore, Steve Moore, Steve Parkhouse & Dez Skinn Profiles [various] 2p [text articles

w/photos, last page on inside back cover]

12) Forbidden Planet Ad [Brian Bolland] 1p [on back cover]

Notes: Publishers: Graham Marsh & Dez Skinn. Editor: Dez Skinn. 50p or $2.00 for 48 pages. Alex Pressbutton & Mysta Mystalis {the Laser Eraser} are cover featured while Mysta was also featured on the frontispiece. Warrior occupied the same position in the UK as Mike Friedrich’s Star*Reach did in the 1970s in the US. It provided a place for established pros & up ‘n’ comers to display their work in a manner unfettered by the constraints of the more commercial British comic companies. It was also one of the first British magazines easily available in the US {I bought all my own copies in Idaho, so it had to have been well distributed}. If that was all that this magazine accomplished, it would still have been an important addition to the Web Of Horror, Seaboard & the rest page, but, again, like Star*Reach, it also provided the groundwork for what much of the comics field would look like in the latter part of the 1980s & early 1990s. It launched Alan Moore’s career in the US, giving him a platform to step over to Swamp Thing, whose stories gave birth to the Vertigo line as well as the tone to Miller’s original Dark Knight series. Moore wasn’t alone, of course. Warrior also gave at least a half dozen British artists worldwide exposure, largely creating the British Invasion of comics, not only for veterans of Warrior, but for an apparent host of British writers & artists, who, to this day, are the major driving force behind mainstream comics. As for this issue, it featured the debuts of Moore’s early serials ‘Marvelman’ & ‘V For Vendetta’, along with Steve Parkhouse’s serial ‘The Spiral Path’ and the respective returns of two Steve Moore’s serials: ‘Laser Eraser And Pressbutton’ and the excellent ‘Father Shandor’. I distinctly remember reading Moore’s version of ‘Marvelman’ for the first time in 1982 and feeling a sharp tang of electricity shoot through my mind. ‘Marvelman’ had all the familiar superhero trappings but there was something new and strange there as well. It was more than the startling fact that this character had apparently a long and successful career in the UK, yet was totally unknown in the US. It was, I suspect, the sneaky feeling I had that, as a reader, I was in on the ground floor of something big, something really new in comics. Moore’s tight script and Leach’s masterful artwork were bold and striking, quite unlike the stuck-in-a-rut American comics of the time. For one thing, the printing was clear and bold, whereas most American comics appeared to have been printed on toilet paper, with the artwork looking like a muddy, garish mess. The Marvelman content seemed adult in nature, yet it appeared without the blatant sexuality or violence that often passes for adult in comics. There was a feeling, with this first story, that the reader was in the same situation as Mike Moran, caught just between the uttering of the “magic’ transformation word and the actual transformation itself. Then, improbably, Moore’s second story, ‘V For Vendetta’, was even better. Moore’s script of a mysterious Guy Fawkes look-alike was as creepy as you could ask for. Lloyd’s artwork was even more than one could ask for. Excellent as Leach’s work was on ‘Marvelman’, his work was somewhat familiar, since I’d seen thousands of pages of superhero art by 1982. Lloyd’s artwork was much different, quite unlike anything being produced at the time. His use of heavy blacks and the charcoal sooty appearance of the characters meshed perfectly with Moore’s script and seemed tailor-made for B&W reproduction. At the time, it seemed impossible that this style of artwork could ever be colored adequately {although DC & Lloyd proved me wrong in 1988}. Good as ‘Marvelman’ was, ‘V For Vendetta’ was simply better. Even today, the collected work stands as one of Moore’s best graphic novels. This in no way slights the other excellent work that appeared in this first issue. Parkhouse’s ‘Spiral Path’ is a moody evocation of druid days while the Moore/Bolton ‘Legend Of Prester John’ story is an excellent stand-alone tale with great artwork. The ‘Father Shandor’ strip would be reprints for its first three appearances here, before appearing with new episodes {and a new artist} in #4, but over time it developed into an excellent graphic novel, with intriguing, often grisly twists and a real feel for the horror genre. The revival of the Axel Pressbutton character {originally an underground comix, written by Steve Moore as Pedro Henry, illustrated by Alan Moore as Curt Vile and published in Sounds magazine} with a new partner, Mysta Mystalis, seemed somewhat commonplace only because it was in such stellar company. It actually was a pretty decent little SF thriller, with lively twists, good to great supporting characters {especially Zirk!} and colorful settings. An excellent start to an excellent magazine.

2. cover: Garry Leach/frontis: Jim Baikie (Apr. 1982)

1) Marvelman [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 6p

2) Comics Showcase Ad [Marshall Rogers] 1p [The Joker is featured.]

3) The Life, Death & Earlier Days Of Axel Pressbutton, Esquire [Dez Skinn/Steve Dillon & Alan

Moore] 4½p [text article, Moore’s art credited to Curt Vile]

4) V For Vendetta: The Voice [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: River Of Corpses…Tower Of Death [Steve Moore/John

Bolton] 6p reprinted from Halls Of Horror #21 (June 1978)

6) Madman [Paul Neary] 6p

7) The Spiral Path: The Lord Of Death! [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 2 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 9p [Moore’s story credited

to Pedro Henry]

8) Dispatches [Dez Skinn/David Lloyd] 2p [text article, Lloyd’s artwork is a sample from a

comic strip that adapts a movie called Roar.]

Notes: Marvelman is cover featured with a standard superhero-style cover. Paul Neary’s odd little ‘Madman’ strip debuts. Otherwise all of the stories that debuted the issue before continue, with ‘V For Vendetta’ having a particularly strong outing. Kid Marvelman makes his debut in the ‘Marvelman’ strip with a one panel cameo.

3. cover: Paul Neary (July 1982)

1) Marvelman: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home…” [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 6p

2) The Spiral Path: The Birth Of A Warrior! [Steve Parkhouse/Steve Parkhouse & Geoff Senior]

3) Madman, part 2 [Paul Neary] 6p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Devil’s Dark Destiny [Steve Moore & Dez Skinn/John

Bolton] 6p reprinted from ?

5) Zirk, Silver Sweater Of The Spaceways [Steve Moore/Brian Bolland] 4p [Moore’s story

credited to Pedro Henry]

6) V For Vendetta: Victims [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 3 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 8p

Notes: The letters’ page debuts while Madman is cover featured. The back cover is a preview of #4’s cover. Laser Eraser & Pressbutton’s weird little pig-like, slime covered, football shaped alien, Zirk, gets his own fun {and often near-pornographic} strip, beautifully illustrated by Brian Bolland. The ‘Marvelman’ strip is an excellent example of how to build mounting tension in a comic strip.

4. cover: Steve Dillon (Aug. 1982)

1) Marvelman: The Yesterday Gambit [Alan Moore/Steve Dillon, Paul Neary & Alan Davis] 10p

2) The Spiral Path: The Dark Dreamer! [Steve Parkhouse] 4p

3) V For Vendetta: Vaudeville [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 7p

4) Madman, part 3 [Paul Neary] 6p

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: City Of The Tombs [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

6) Golden Amazon [David Lloyd] 7p from the stories by John Russell Fearn

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 5p [last page on inside back

cover]

Notes: The cover serves as a showcase both for current and future strips, featuring Marvelman, V, Caed from ‘The Spiral Path’, Warpsmith, Big Ben, Laser Eraser, Pressbutton & a samurai warrior. Much of the contents of this issue were originally intended for a Warrior Summer Special {including the cover}, where the intent was to present the characters from the regular Warrior series in one-off stories while their serials continued in Warrior. That idea was abandoned at the last minute and the one-off stories were spread out over a period of time in the regular issues. The title page still lists this as the Summer Special 1982 although it should be considered the Aug. issue. The ‘Marvelman’ story was not a part of the ongoing serial {at least not yet} but a summer special story designed as a tryout for potential artists to replace Garry Leach. Dillon didn’t seem really comfortable with the superhero format, Neary’s art was a bit cartoony and perhaps gave Marvelman too much of the Uber-Man appearance, while Davis’ art seemed a bit more on target {although it’s rather crude by Davis’ later standards}. The Warpsmiths debut in this time travel story that previewed future Marvelman developments. The story itself has never been reprinted, making this issue one of the more valuable of the Warrior run. Both the ‘Golden Amazon’ adaptation and the tale of Axel Pressbutton’s first meeting with Mysta Mystralis were originally intended for the summer special as well. Future comic writer Warren Ellis sends in a letter complementing both Alan & Steve Moore’s efforts in #1.

5. cover: photo cover by Dez Skinn (Sept. 1982)

1) Marvelman: Dragons [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 6p

2) V For Vendetta: Versions [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

3) All Change [Dez Skinn/Jim Baike, Steve Parkhouse, Alan Davis] 2p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Empire Of Sin [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 5p

5) Madman: Mk1 [Paul Neary/Mick Austin] 2p

6) The Spiral Path: The Drowning Woman [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 4 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 8p [Moore’s story credited to

Pedro Henry]

8) V For Vendetta: Vertigo [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 5p

Notes: V is featured on a unique and nicely done photo cover. Alan Moore’s script for this installment of ‘Marvelman’ is terrifying while the ‘V For Vendetta’ script gives a first glimpse into the mysterious V’s obsessions. Both are brilliantly done. The ‘All Change’ segment gives a preview of Marvelman’s new artist’s, Alan Davis, pencils as well as previews of two new series—‘Twilight World’ and ‘The Bojeffries Saga’. This issue’s segment of Father Shandor’s continuing saga has the title only on the title page. It does not appear on the story. The ‘Madman’ and ‘Spiral Path’ segments as well as the extra ‘V For Vendetta’ stories were originally intended for the summer special and were not part of the ongoing serials. Alan Moore’s ‘Vertigo’ story employs a literary device in which V forces a man to walk around a skyscraper on a ledge, hundreds of feet off the ground. The same basic story idea was used by Stephen King in ‘The Ledge’ and by Joe Lansdale in ‘Steel Valentine’. Probably used by a lot of other writers as well. Skinn begins using a part of the letters’ page for mini-editorials.

6. cover: Steve Parkhouse (Oct. 1982)

1) Marvelman: Fallen Angels, Forgotten Thunder [Alan Moore/Alan Davis & Garry Leach] 7p

2) The Spiral Path: The Valley Of The Shadow [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

3) Madman, part 4 [Paul Neary/Mick Austin] 4p

4) Van Helsing’s Terror Tales: Mrs. Murphy’s Murders [Steve Moore/Dave Gibbons] 4p

reprinted from

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

6) V For Vendetta: The Vision [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 5: Oasis [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 7p [Moore’s story

credited to Pedro Henry]

Notes: Davis debuts as the new Marvelman artist, helped in the transition by Leach’s inks on his first two episodes. Caed & ‘The Spiral Path’ are cover featured. Strong stories from everyone involved.

7. cover: Mick Austin (Nov. 1982)

1) Marvelman: Secret Identity [Alan Moore/Alan Davis/Garry Leach] 8p

2) The Spiral Path: The Oracle Speaks [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

3) Madman, part 5 [Paul Neary/Mick Austin] 4p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Hordes Of Hell [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta: Virtue Victorious [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 6 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 7p

Notes: Austin provides an iconic image for his first Marvelman cover. It is repeated sans copy on the back cover. It’s a truly beautiful cover. If Marvel does ever get around to reprinting the Marvelman stories, this would make a great first trade paperback cover. Is letter writer Bambos Georgiou the same guy as the artist Bambos? Although the Madman episode promised a conclusion for the next issue, it never appeared, apparently due to Neary’s busy schedule, and the strip was dropped.

8. cover: David Jackson (Dec. 1982)

1) Marvelman: Blue Murder [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 7p

2) The Spiral Path: [Steve Parkhouse] 5p

3) Stir Crazy [Hunt Emerson] 5p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Hand Of Glory [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta: The Valley [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 7 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 4p [Moore’s story credited

to Pedro Henry]

Notes: With this issue, editor Dez Skinn began writing a mini-editorial that ran on the letters’ page. Future ACG publisher Roger Broughton sends in a letter, with a good third of the letters’ page given over to letters from the US or Canada. ‘Stir Crazy’ was apparently a last minute substitute for the missing ‘Madman’ segment. Father Shandor was cover featured {and it was quite a nice illustration, too!}. With Davis assuming full art chores on Marvelman, while also illustrating the Alan Moore written Captain Britain for Marvel, this brought up the rather unique situation of the same writer/artist team doing the best two superhero sagas in Great Britain {and probably the US as well} at one and the same time.

9. cover: Mick Austin (Jan. 1983)

1) Marvelman: Out Of The Dark [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 7p

2) The Spiral Path [Steve Parkhouse/Steve Parkhouse & John Ridgway] 6p

3) Warpsmith: Cold War, Cold Warrior [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 4p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Angel Of Death [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta: Violence [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 8 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 5p [Moore’s story credited

to Pedro Henry]

Notes: Axel Pressbutton was cover featured and, like Austin’s previous Marvelman cover, this portrait is again reprinted sans copy on the back cover. Big Ben makes his debut in the Marvelman strip. The Warpsmiths also debut in the first of a two-part story. Supposedly this story was considerably longer in the original script. Leach’s company Atomika is reportedly going to {someday!} print the complete version. ‘Father Shandor’ concludes his first serial in fine fashion. This was a superior horror strip and deserves to be collected into a graphic novel someday. Bambos Georgiou sends in another letter.

10. cover: Garry Leach (Apr.-May 1983)

1) Marvelman: Inside Story [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 7p

2) V For Vendetta: Venom [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

3) Camelot 3000 Ad [Brian Bolland] 1p

4) Warpsmith: Cold War, Cold Warrior, part 2 [Alan Moore/Garry Leach] 6p

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Quick And The Dead [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

6) The Spiral Path [Steve Parkhouse/Steve Parkhouse & John Ridgway] 5p

7) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 9 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 6p

Notes: With this issue, Warrior becomes a bi-monthly. Although Skinn tries to put a good face on it, the reality is that slowing your publication rate is usually a sign of trouble. He does promise to be monthly again with #12. He also mentions ongoing negotiations to turn the British strips into color comics for the US. Americomics publisher Bill Black sends in a letter. Warpsmith is cover featured with the cover repeated sans copy on the back cover. The US price for the magazine remains the same but the British price goes to 60p.

11. cover: Garry Leach (July 1983)

1) Marvelman: Zarathustra [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 8p

2) Marvelman Special Ad [Mike Angelo Studios?] ½p

3) The Spiral Path: Dark Dreamer, White Giant! [Steve Parkhouse/Steve Parkhouse & John

Ridgway] 5p

4) The Legend Of Prester John [Steve Moore/John Stokes & John Bolton] 10p [Bolton’s art

reprinted from Warrior #1 (Mar. 1982)

5) V For Vendetta: The Vortex [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

6) Jeremy Brood Ad [Richard Corben] 1p

7) Comic Tales Ad [Angus McKie] 1p

8) Creepshow Ad [Jack Kamen] 1p

9) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, part 10 [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 5p [Moore’s story credited

to Pedro Henry]

10) Halls Of Horror Ad [Garry Leach] 1p [on back cover]

Notes: V is cover featured. Three serials, ‘Marvelman’, ‘V For Vendetta’ & ‘Laser Eraser And Pressbutton’ finish off their first story arcs. All on a high note. ‘The Legend Of Prester John’ sequel features two pages that rehash the first story, using reworked Bolton art for illustrations. The actual story segment is only eight pages long. The Marvelman Special advertised featured four pages of new Moore/Davis Marvelman linking work along with classic stories from the Mick Angelo Studios, as well as a new cover by Mick Austin of the Marvelman family. Its publication {in Great Britain, I don’t believe it was ever distributed here in the states} caused Mighty Marvel to lean legally on little Quality Communications, eventually resulting in the Marvelman strip being pulled from Warrior and Marvelman’s name being changed to Miracleman. Ironically, the first mention of “Miracleman” occurred in Marvel’s own Captain Britain strip, also done by Moore & Davis, when Marvel/Miracleman cameoed in an unauthorized intercompany crossover. Alan Moore personally answers a reader’s complaint about the amount of profane language in ‘Marvelman’ and ‘V For Vendetta’. Warrior resumes a monthly schedule.

12. cover: Steve Parkhouse (Aug. 1983)

1) The Bojeffries Saga: The Rentman Cometh [Alan Moore/Steve Parkhouse] 8p

2) The Spiral Path: Black Phoenix [Steve Parkhouse/Steve Parkhouse & John Ridgway] 5p

3) The Legend Of Prester John, part 2 [Steve Moore/John Stokes] 7p

4) V For Vendetta: This Vicious Cabaret [Alan Moore & David Jay/David Lloyd] 5p [song]

5) Young Marvelman [Alan Moore/John Ridgway] 5p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton [Steve Moore/Mick Austin] 4p

Notes: The Moore/Parkhouse laughfest ‘The Bojeffries Saga’ makes its debut. ‘The Spiral Path’ concludes its run. There’s a brief note at the end that a sequel, ‘The Silver Circle’ may appear at some point but I don’t believe it ever did. All three of the serials that finished their first story arcs in the previous issue take a breather from their regular ongoing storylines and serve up one-shot appearances. The ‘V For Vendetta’ story is a adaptation of an Alan Moore-David Jay song that serves as a prologue to the second ‘V For Vendetta’ story arc. ‘Young Marvelman’ is a charming wordless strip that plays out like a 1950s romance comic. Ridgway’s artwork appears heavily influenced by John Severin’s work. David Lloyd replies to a reader’s request for more Golden Amazon stories. Dez Skinn mentions that former Star*Reach publisher Mike Friedrich was acting as the US syndication agent for Warrior strips. 24 Quality badges were advertised on the back cover, with images from the Marvelman, V For Vendetta, Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, Bojeffries Saga and Zirk strips.

13. cover: Garry Leach (Sept. 1983)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: Catgames [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Twilight World Preview [Steve Moore/Jim Baikie] 4p [text article]

3) The Bojeffries Saga: One Of Our Rentmen Is Missing [Alan Moore/Steve Parkhouse] 6p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Lords Of The Abyss [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) The Shroud, The Spire And The Stars [Steve Parkhouse/John Ridgway] 4p

6) V For Vendetta, Book Two: The Vanishing [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 7p

7) Judge Dredd Ad [Brian Bolland] 1p

8) Zirk: The All-Girl Amazon Attack Battalion [Steve Moore/Garry Leach] 5p [Moore’s story

credited to Pedro Henry]

Notes: Leach’s cover, featuring Zirk, is reprinted sans copy on the back cover. A new title logo was tried out. Both ‘Marvelman’ and ‘V For Vendetta’ begin their new story arcs. ‘Father Shandor’, missing in action since #10, returns. I’m not certain if the Zirk story has the word battalion misspelled in the title or not. Perhaps they spell it differently in England. It sticks out like a sore thumb, though. Bambos Georgiou sends in another letter. Dez Skinn’s mini-editorial mentions that Warrior sells better in the US and Canada than it does in Great Britain. He also makes an interesting observation that the comics industry had gone through a radical sea change in previous couple of years over the types of magazines available. From the 1940s through the early 1980s, comics were aimed at the general public. Those comics most favored by the rabid comic fan were generally failures because they tended to be too edgy or not friendly entry level enough for the mainstream buying public, i.e. teen-age boys. With the advent of the then relatively new and more profitable direct market, fan titles were thriving and comics aimed at the ever-shrinking newsstand market were becoming steadily unprofitable. Skinn warns that such instant-cash, higher priced comics, that could often be understood only by fans who immersed themselves in comic trivia, may wreck the market for comics as a whole. Sound familiar? He also mentions pressure to convert Warrior into a traditional American 32 page color comic, which would theoretically increase sales five fold or more in the states.

14. cover: Jim Baikie & Garry Leach (Oct. 1983)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: One Of Those Quiet Moments [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Dreams Of Empire, Nightmares Of Pressbutton [Dez Skinn & Steve Moore/Jim Baikie, Steve

Dillon & Cam Kennedy] 4p [text article]

3) Twilight World [Steve Moore/Jim Baikie] 6p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: How Hard The Heart… [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta, Book Two: The Veil [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Ektryn [Steve Moore/Cam Kennedy] 5p

Notes: One of Marvelman’s best segments appears as the superhero meets a young rough London lad. The text article ties together the histories of Laser Eraser, Pressbutton, Ektryn & Twilight World into one Quality universe. ‘Twilight World’ is cover featured.

15. cover: Mick Austin (Nov. 1983)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: Nightmares [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Sweatshop Talk [Steve Moore/David Jackson, Jim Baikie & John Bolton] 9p [text article,

most of the art reprinted from previous stories]

3) Twilight World, part 2 [Steve Moore/Jim Baikie] 6p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Ordeal By Fire [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta: Video [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton, Book Two [Steve Moore/Steve Dillon] 6p [Moore’s story

credited to Pedro Henry]

Notes: Laser Eraser and Pressbutton are cover featured. Austin’s cover is again reprinted sans copy on the back cover. The ‘Laser Eraser And Pressbutton’ strip begun this issue would disappear following its appearance here and would not be finished until late 1985 when the complete story finally appeared in Axel Pressbutton #6 (Dec. 1985). In the new text feature ‘Sweat Shop Talk’, Pedro Henry, Steve Moore’s pseudonym, interviews Steve Moore! Garry Leach fills in as editor while Dez Skinn goes to the US for the San Diego Comics Con.

16. cover: Mick Austin (Dec. 1983)

1) Zirk: Sweat Dreams Are Made Of This [Garry Leach] 1p [Christmas card greeting]

2) Marvelman, Book Two: The Approaching Light [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

3) Sweatshop Talk II: ‘Ey Up [Steve Moore & Dez Skinn/John Bolton, Bill Titcombe, Angus

McKie, Steve Dillon & more] 8p [text article]

4) Twilight World, part 3 [Steve Moore/Jim Baikie] 6p

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Depths [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

6) V For Vendetta, Book Two: A Vocational Viewpoint [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

7) Axel Pressbutton: Christmas On Depravity [Steve Moore/Alan Moore] 8p [Steve Moore’s

story credited to Pedro Henry, Alan Moore’s art credited to Curt Vile, one panel reprints

Steve Dillon’s cover art from #1] reprinted from Sounds (Dec. 26, 1981)

Notes: Marvelman is cover featured, graced with a sparkly Paul Newman head. It is reprinted sans copy on the back cover. Skinn’s editorial gloomily notes the changeover by former B&W magazines’ Bizarre Adventures, Nexus & Eclipse to regular comic books, while further noting that the Warren magazines, Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella & 1994, which did not convert over to the more commercial format, had gone out of business. Steve Parkhouse sends in a letter dealing with, well, letters. Skinn makes mention of Alan Moore assuming the writing reins on Saga Of The Swamp Thing. The ‘Axel Pressbutton’ reprint is printed sideways.

17. cover: David Jackson (Mar. 1984)

1) Marvelman Family: The Red King Syndrome [Alan Moore/John Ridgway] 12p

2) Sweatshop Talk III: Behind The Painted Smile [Steve Moore & Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 8p

[text article]

3) Jaramsheela [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p [Story credited to both Moore and his alter-ego,

Pedro Henry.]

4) Twilight World, part 4 [Steve Moore/Jim Baikie] 6p

5) Home Is The Sailor [Steve Parkhouse/John Ridgway] 5p

Notes: Jaramsheela, the popular villainess in the Father Shandor strip, is cover featured with the cover reprinted sans copy on the back cover. She also gets a stand-alone strip of her own. Marvelman’s regular strip takes a vacation while a new Marvelman Family story, which has major implications for the Marvelman saga, appears. Both ‘V For Vendetta’ and ‘Father Shandor’ also go on vacation. As in the previous winter, Warrior has reverted to a bi-monthly schedule. Segments of Lloyd’s artwork on the Nightraven strip accompany the very informative ‘V For Vendetta’ interview with Alan Moore. ‘Twilight World’ ends rather abruptly. The Parkhouse/Ridgway ‘Home Is The Sailor’ is an excellent tale. The letters’ page skips letters for this issue in favor of announcing Warrior’s big wins at the annual Eagle awards. Many photos are included, featuring Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Steve Moore, Garry Leach, Dez Skinn, Dave Gibbons, Mick Austin & David Lloyd.

18. cover: Steve Parkhouse (Apr. 1984)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: “I Heard Woodrow Wilson’s Guns…” [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Sweatshop Talk IV: Garry Leach On Line Art Techniques [Steve Moore & Garry Leach/Garry

Leach] 7p [text article]

3) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: A Day In The Life…A Day In The Death [Steve Moore/David

Jackson] 6p

4) V For Vendetta, Book Two: The Vacation [Alan Moore/David Lloyd & Tony Weare] 6p

5) The Demon At The Gates Of Dawn [Steve Parkhouse] 4p reprinted from House Of Hammer

#12 (Sept. 1977) under the title ‘Terror At The Gates Of Dawn’

6) Zee-Zee’s Terror Zone: One Man’s Meat [Martin Asbury] 5p reprinted from House Of

Hammer #5 (Aug. 1977)

Notes: The title logo previewed in #13 begins alternating every other issue with the original logo. ‘Zee-Zee’s Terror Zone’ reprinted stories from the 1970s version of House Of Hammer. The former host, a drawing of Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, was removed and replaced by Garry Leach’s Zee-Zee. Parkhouse’s samurai story {also cover featured} had evidently been intended to be reprinted in the aborted Warrior Summer Special in 1983, as the main character appears on the cover there. Somewhere around this point, Skinn entered into an agreement for the independent American comic publisher, Pacific Comics, to publish both ‘Marvelman’ & ‘Laser Eraser And Pressbutton’ as regular color comics. Other Warrior serials, such as ‘Ektryn’, ‘Twilight World’, ‘Zirk’ and various stand-alone stories would also be included as backup features. Pacific went under before that could happen but Eclipse picked up the rights and would begin both titles {under the new titles Miracleman & Axel Pressbutton} in 1985. Warrior’s price for Brit customers goes up to 70p, US price stays the same.

19. cover: Garry Leach/back cover: Mick Austin (June 1984) back cover reprinted from Warrior #7

(Nov. 1982)

1) The Bojeffries Saga: Raoul’s Night Out [Alan Moore/Steve Parkhouse] 6p

2) Sweatshop Talk V: From Axes To Axel [Dez Skinn & Mick Austin/Mick Austin] 5p [text

article]

3) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Dealing With Devils [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

4) V For Vendetta. Book Two: Variety [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

5) Dracula Comics Special Ad [Paul Neary & John Bolton] 1p

6) Marvelman Special Ad [Mick Austin] 1p [B&W repro of #1’s cover]

7) Big Ben, The Man With No Time For Crime [Garry Leach & Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 7p

8) Judgement Of The Trinity [Alan Booth/David Jackson] 6p

Notes: The Dracula comics ad featured 1970s era artwork from Neary & Bolton. Big Ben finally gets his own strip—except the strip is set entirely within his doctored mind! ‘V For Vendetta’ is cover featured. The Marvelman Special mentioned in earlier notes was published in June 1984.

20. cover: Garry Leach & photos (July 1984)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: A Little Piece Of Heaven [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Sweatshop Talk VI: Getting In On The Act—Hints And Tips On Starting Out [Steve

Parkhouse, Steve Moore, John Bolton, Hunt Emerson, Dave Gibbons, Bryan Talbot,

Brian Bolland, David Lloyd, Dez Skinn/ various] 5p [text article, all art from previous

Warrior issues]

3) The Bojeffries Saga: Raoul’s Night Out, part 2 [Alan Moore/Steve Parkhouse] 6p

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Revelations [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta: Vincent [Alan Moore & David Lloyd/Tony Weare] 4p

6) Big Ben, part 2 [Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 7p

Notes: Leach’s cover features Big Ben and is backed by a college of various British TV spies including Patrick McGoohan’s Prisoner, the men from U.N.C.L.E., Sean Connery’s James Bond and Diana Rigg & Patrick McNee’s Avengers. The cover is reprinted on the back cover sans copy. This issue’s installment of ‘Sweatshop Talk’ consisted of pros giving their advice or history on how to break into the comics business. The ‘V For Vendetta’ segment was a stand-alone segment and not part of Book Two’s continuity. Skinn mentions the proposed Alan Moore/Bryon Talbot ‘Nightjar’ strip on the letters’ page. Also mentions that it’s not going to be coming out any time soon.

21. cover: Mick Austin/back cover: Garry Leach (Aug. 1984) back cover reprinted from Warrior #20

(July 1984)

1) Marvelman, Book Two: …And Every Dog Its Day [Alan Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

2) Terror Zone: The Mirror [E. Sanchez Abuli & Garry Leach/John Boix] 6p

3) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Kingdom Of The Mad [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

4) Big Ben vs The Gnomes Of General Zurich [Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta, Book Two: Visitors [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton: Brides Of The Sluzzgeep [Steve Moore/Alan Davis] 6p

[Moore’s story credited to Pedro Henry]

Notes: This was the last Marvelman strip to appear in Warrior. See the notes for #25 as to why. Axel Pressbutton was cover featured.

22. cover: Geoff Senior (Sept. 1984)

1) The Liberators: Death Run [Dez Skinn/John Ridgway] 5p

2) The Frank Bellamy Interview [Dez Skinn, Dave Gibbons & Frank Bellamy/Frank Bellamy] 6p

[text article]

3) Bogey: Only You [Antonio Segura & Dez Skinn/Leopold Sanchez] 14p

4) V For Vendetta, Book Two: Vengeance [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

5) Big Ben: Dai The Death! [Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 5p

6) A Mystery Uncovered [Dixie] 1p [on letters’ page, fan art]

Notes: Two new series debut, one {‘The Liberators’} set in the Quality universe while the other was an import from Spain. Leopold Sanchez was a Warren Comics veteran. The Liberators were cover featured, while the cover itself was reprinted sans copy on the back cover. ‘Bogey’ was a pretty good detective yarn.

23. cover: Jim Baikie & Garry Leach (Oct. 1984)

1) Editorial [Dez Skinn/Steve Dillon & Brian Bolland] 1p [text article] Dillon’s art reprinted

from Warrior #1 (Mar. 1982)

2) Bogey: For Old Times Sake [Antonis Segura & Dez Skinn/Leopold Sanchez] 9p

3) Sweatshop Talk VIII: The Life Of Brian [Dez Skinn & Brian Bolland/Brian Bolland] 10p [text

article]

4) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: The Triumph Of The Goat [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

5) V For Vendetta, Book Two: Vicissitude [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Big Ben [Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 7p

Notes: Bogey is cover featured. Skinn’s editorial shows the cover for the first Axel Pressbutton issue, at that time to be published by Pacific Comics.

24. cover: John Bolton (Nov. 1984)

1) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton: One Of Those Days In Downtown Delta Five [Steve

Moore/Alan Davis] 7p [Moore’s story credited to Pedro Henry]

2) Much More Red Than Dredd: Axel Slashes Out! [Dez Skinn/Brian Bolland] 2p [text article]

3) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker: Queen Of Sin [Steve Moore/David Jackson] 6p

4) Sweatshop Talk IX: John Bolton’s Heroes & Horrors [Dez Skinn & John Bolton/John Bolton]

10p [text article]

5) V For Vendetta, Book Two: Vermin [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

6) Big Ben: The Reality [Dez Skinn/William Simpson] 5p

7) Cold Warrior, Cold Storage [Mike Poole] 1p [on letters’ page, fan art]

8) How To Make A Zirk [Terry Jones & Steve Moore/Garry Leach] 1p [color text article, on

back cover]

Notes: Great Bolton cover. The Axel Pressbutton text article discusses the American color comic, which, due to Pacific Comics’ collapse, ended up not being published for over a year. ‘Father Shandor’ concluded his second and last story arc. The fallout between Dez Skinn & Alan Moore has apparently taken place as Skinn mentions that Moore will no longer be producing ‘Bojeffries Saga’ stories for Warrior. Marv Wolfman sends in a letter. Skinn also gives a rather vague explanation of Marvelman’s absence from Warrior’s pages as having to do with the “uncertain syndication side”.

25. cover: Garry Leach (Dec. 1984)

1) Editorial [Dez Skinn] 1p [text article]

2) Walls Of Warrior?/By Any Other Name/Viva/And On The Third Day/Quality Expansion/Is It

A Bird…?/Eagle Awards Ballot [Dez Skinn & David Reeder/various] 5p [text articles]

3) Ektryn: The Poet And The Flowers [Steve Moore/Cam Kennedy] 6p [Moore’s story credited

to Pedro Henry]

4) Laser Eraser And Pressbutton: One Of Those Days In Downtown Delta Five, part 2 [Steve

Moore/Alan Davis] 8p [Moore’s story credited to Pedro Henry]

5) Father Shandor, Demon Stalker [Steve Moore/John Stokes & John Bolton] 10p [first two

pages are rehashed & reprinted pages from the first Father Shandor story from 1977]

6) Sweatshop Talk X: From Comics To Cannibals [Dave Reeder] 3p [text article, art from EC

Comics stories]

7) The Many Worlds Of Cyril Tompkins, Chartered Accountant [Carlos Trillo/Horacio Altuna] 5p

8) V For Vendetta, Book Two: Valerie [Alan Moore/David Lloyd & Tony Weare] 6p

9) Big Ben [Dez Skinn/William Simpson & Dave Hine] 8p

Notes: 90p for 64 pages. No US price listed but presumably $2.50. Ektryn is cover featured with the cover reprinted sans copy on the back cover. The brief text article ‘By Any Other Name’ prints Marvel’s legal department’s letter threat to sue if Warrior & Quality Publications do not cease publication of any Marvelman titles or stories, based on copyright infringement. That it is a nonsense bully-tactic suit is clear. Marvel Comics didn’t even come into existence until six years after the first publication of Marvelman in 1955. Nonetheless, Skinn also prints his reply, stating that Marvelman had been pulled from Warrior, as of #21 and his hope that the matter can be settled amicably. Father Shandor had been pretty effectively dealt with in the final episode in the previous issue. This story, done in 1982, takes place directly after the very first Shandor story from 1977 and ties in with the Hammer Film, ‘Dracula, Prince Of Darkness’. Peter Cushing’ image as Van Helsing from the film is used in the story. One of Alan Moore’s best chapters of ‘V For Vendetta’, ‘Valerie’ is a moving, poetic chronicle of hope in the face of near over-whelming odds. Beautifully done.

26. cover: Steve Moore & Garry Leach (Feb. 1985) [Wraparound story cover]

1) Zirk: Devo Of The Future [Steve Moore/Garry Leach] 2p [color, on cover & back cover]

2) Editorial/Zirk Makes Penthouse/Taste What?/Who & Crew/Eagle Comics/By Any Other Name:

Part The Second/Colonel Canuck?/Britain Strikes Back! [Dez Skinn/Dave Gibbons,

Richard Starkings, Brian Bolland & Alan Davis] 6p [text articles]

3) Worrier [Kev F.] ½p [comic strip run along the bottom of the text articles]

4) The Liberators: Night Moves [Dez Skinn/John Ridgway] 5p [story never concluded]

5) Bogey: The Money Go Round [Antonio Segura & Dez Skinn/Leopold Sanchez] 12p

6) Sweatshop Talk XI: Tainted Meat: The Horror Comic [Dave Reeder/Berni Wrightson] 4p [text

article, additional art from EC Comics]

7) The Many Worlds Of Cyril Tompkins, Chartered Accountant [Carlos Trillo/Horacio Altuna] 5p

8) V For Vendetta, Book Two: The Verdict [Alan Moore/David Lloyd] 6p

9) The Black Currant [Carl Critchlow] 4p

10) Big Ben [Dez Skinn/William Simpson & Dave Hine] 9p [story never concluded]

Notes: Final issue. The text article ‘By Any Other Name’ carries more legal letters between Marvel & Warrior. Skinn acknowledges that much of the reasons for the recent reprints & Euro artists/stories is because many of the original Warrior writers & artists have been snatched up by American comic publishers. He also notes that #22’s cover was a good seller while the covers for #15 & #19 were not. New installments of ‘Laser Eraser And Pressbutton’ and ‘Twilight World’ were promised but, of course, this being the final issue, never appeared. The Pressbutton story promised did appear in the final issue of ‘Axel Pressbutton’. Grant Morrison was to have taken over scripting ‘The Liberators’. There would be a gap of 3½+ years between this ‘V For Vendetta’ episode and the next to appear—published by DC in the V For Vendetta mini-series. Damn fine anthology.

A 2007 Interview With Dez Skinn!

RA: First off, Can you give us some of your background before starting Warrior?

DS: A failed research chemist sought solace in journalism circa 1969. Spent the evenings producing early British comics fanzines (Eureka, Oracle, Derinn Comicollector...) and daytimes on the Doncaster Evening Post. I ventured down to London in search of a more comics-related career and ended up at the world's biggest commercial publisher, IPC Magazines, as a trainee sub-editor on humour weeklies. Spent my daytimes on Whizzer & Chips, Cor!! and Buster and evenings producing not-so-early British comics fanzines (Fantasy Advertiser, Just Imagine...). My first big break was five l-o-n-g years later, being head-hunted to take over editing the British MAD, along with Tarzan and Laurel & Hardy (for Williams/Warner Bros).

Eureka #3 from 1971

While there I created House of Hammer (with various Hammer Films told in comic strip format) bought the title then left to launch UK's first SF screen magazine, Starburst. Then I was head-hunted by Stan Lee (who bought Starburst along with me) to revitalize the ailing Marvel UK. While there I launched Doctor Who Weekly, brought back Captain Britain, and rapidly expanded the company's title base. Later, I left to set up London west end design company, working mainly for the film and fashion industries. While there I dreamed up the idea of Warrior.

RA: Can you tell us something about the earlier, fanzine version of Warrior.

DS: While at IPC working on kids' humour weeklies, I got to know the syndication folks and cut a deal to reprint the classic fantasy strips from the company's past. With Romans, Spartans, King Arthur and Vikings among the content, Warrior seemed a perfect name!

RA: I know you worked at Marvel UK, so what led to your putting together the independent Warrior?

DS: Because my "Marvel Revolution" turned the company around quite well, the accountants wanted more, more, more. I felt we were sacrificing quality for quantity and that would ultimately damage the balance sheets and put them back where they'd been pre-1979, in a slump. So, after leaving I set up Quality Communications, determined never to forget Quality over Quantity. After a couple of years of running a service company producing advertising work, I felt the urge to get back into periodical publishing, where you have a stronger control over your destiny. A lot of the team of writers and artists I'd gathered at House of Hammer, Starburst and then Marvel UK had stayed with me and worked on our advertising projects, so I looked to them to contribute to Warrior, which I considered to be a new approach to comics, being a creator owned venture where I only bought first rights (for two-thirds of the world rights going rate).

RA: Who was or is Graham Marsh?

DS: Graham was my design partner at Studio System, during the period between Marvel UK and Warrior.

Dez Skinn (circa 1982)

RA: How did your revival of Marvelman come about? Was Mick Angelo involved in any way?

DS: Captain Britain had been a popular revival at Marvel UK, where we'd taken a somewhat creaky and trite concept and revamped it with top rate UK creative talent. As Warrior was in many ways a creator-owned retread of what we'd achieved at Marvel, it seemed sensible to have a superhero in the mix so I went looking for another somewhat creaky and trite concept. After a few phone calls, Mick came up to our offices a few times. He wasn't crazy about our revamp, but he really didn't care either way. Mick was an old school editorial packager. Whatever you needed, he'd turn his hand to it. After the Army he found a decent living in putting together comics material for the small printers-turned-publishers of the 1950s, but by the 1960s he was equally at home packaging titles like Look and Cook.

RA: What can you tell us of the young Alan Moore?

DS: He'd known me a lot longer than I'd known him! A few years younger than me, he'd apparently been a reader of my old fanzines, buying them through the post as I discovered when an old book of mail order details turned up a few years ago. His first work for me was a pretty dire two page humour strip for Marvel UK, winning him an entry in my address book as an underground cartoonist. I tended to add descriptive notes to the address book, so I'd remember who the more obscure entries were.

When I decided to revive Marvelman, I put the idea to a couple of my regular writers and the second one mentioned a would-be writer friend of his who would apparently kill to write it. Not wanting to risk being stuck with somebody who didn't work out, I agreed with the proviso that the first episode was written on spec, so if I didn't like it, there'd be no obligation or kill fee.

It was unbelievably overwritten, creaking under the absurd minutiae he crammed in. But despite this it was absolutely brilliant. I remember rereading the script several times while riding on a double-decker bus over to my girl friend's. But finding an artist wasn't easy. My close associates all turned it down and I ended up offering it to another relative newcomer named Garry Leach.

Like new artists who, if lacking confidence, overwork their finishing, I expected Alan Moore to streamline as he progressed. But, if anything, his work became denser. Brilliant, but not very artist friendly!

RA: I've always thought that V For Vendetta was the best strip you ran in Warrior. What led to its creation?

DS: Night-Raven, a character we used at Marvel UK. with Steve Parkhouse and David Lloyd as writer and artist. I'd concocted this prohibition period Chicago based enigmatic hero (Stan Lee hated him, but the readers loved him!). So when we were looking at doing a retake of the Marvel UK success, but for ourselves rather than for accountants, as well as a superhero, a science fiction looney (Axel Pressbutton replacing Doctor Who's Abslom Daak) and Steve Parkhouse's Celtic spin on Conan-type legends, I wanted an enigmatic mystery man. I knew we couldn't get away with Prohibition twice, so I asked David Lloyd to come up with a futuristic version. He'd worked with Alan Moore on some back-up Doctor Who strips after I'd left Marvel and suggested him as the writer. So Alan Moore ended up with two strips in Warrior because of friends promoting him to me. Alan had Ace of Shades as a working title, but I thought that was bloody awful. I was chatting it over with Graham Marsh while we were putting together a Liberty's of Regent Street catalogue and I came up with the word Vendetta. Not very British, but I felt it had a dynamic ring to it. I called Alan and he liked it. Then, over lunch with Graham, still not feeling the name was quite right I was chewing it over at the same time as my pizza and I came up with a spin on Churchill's World War II slogan of V for Victory and phoned Alan suggesting V for Vendetta.

But it almost didn't happen. The distributor adored the dummy of the first issue we put together for the news trade, but absolutely hated David Lloyd's harsh brush stroke approach on V. He was adamant I should drop the strip in favour of another Steve Dillon/John Bolton/Garry Leach strip with their more palatable styles. Of course I didn't. But I think that's the beauty of anthologies. You can launch a title off the back of the more in-your-face instant appeal strips, while others grow on you over time. It's like albums, sometimes the more sophisticated tracks take a while to be appreciated and it's the "singles contenders" which get you to buy it.

I could never understand why the States dropped such a perfect format in favour of expensively cold-launching each and every new idea in their own titles. Insane.

RA: Why was Paul Neary's Madman strip never completed?

DS: Paul went off the radar for a year or so, when he went down to the West Country. He got his pal Mick Austin to draw it for him at first but then his scripts just dried up completely. That's one of the downsides of creator control, the editor/publisher can't call in substitute writers when deadlines start to be missed. Also, relying on the original creators to all get their work in on time means if one misses and can't be substituted, the on sale date is set back and then everybody suffers with "on publication" payment terms also set back.

RA: What happened to the advertised but never published 1982 Summer Special issue?

DS: Well, I got a bit carried away with a heady mix of keen enthusiasm and altruism. I temporarily forgot my IPC training! So I asked the team to come up with standalone stories for the regular characters to put in a traditional UK Summer Special. Then, before it was completed, the newsagent sales on #1 came in and I realised I'd be overextending myself so it quickly transformed into issue four of the regular title.

RA: Was Big Ben your creation or a Moore/Davis effort that you continued?

DS: Big Ben predated Warrior by about seven years. It was a previously unused leftover from the days of House of Hammer. So, with my Yorkshire trait of not wasting nowt, I asked Alan to publicly launch him in the Marvelman strip. Course, being Alan Moore, he changed the whole idea around, so it wasn't quite the springboard I was looking for, with him leaving me with a demented gorilla of a character. It hardly segued into the original Ian Gibson strip that I eventually ran in the Marvelman Special and I spent the next year trying to explain it all away.

RA: What problems did the intended publication of a mostly reprint Marvelman Annual cause between you and Marvel Comics?

DS: I think there was an element of jealousy there. They didn't get to see how poorly Warrior was selling and I always talked it up, because I knew that if it was seen to fail, with its award-winning high profile it would set the industry back years. Nobody would take a risk like Warrior again, citing its failure as a reason. So I talked it up a storm and soon everybody was trying to emulate it, especially the post-Skinn Marvel UK, who even took to reprinting our old stuff in a more Warrior-like format to compete with us!

So when we were audacious enough to go from our tiptoeing position of not even using his name on the cover (in the early issues) to putting out a Marvelman Special, Marvel instantly jumped on us. Not that surprising for a company which had launched a weekly called Big Ben, after we were already using the name, but justifying it by featuring Ben (The Thing) Grimm. I couldn't afford legal help, the magazine was leaking money like a sieve and only kept going because of my Quality Comics shop and mail order. So, even though I knew that we'd never run any more Marvelman strips anyway, as Alan Moore, Alan Davis and I had all gone our own ways-- creative differences--I singlehandedly prevaricated and procrastinated just for the fun of it. They'd a bloody nerve suddenly trying it on and I wasn't going to walk away quietly.

We had precedent, in using the name, but Marvel had the muscle. But I still got the last laugh, by printing the legal letters and, quite usefully letting everybody simply assume it was Marvel's fault the strip had ceased. A much more palatable version than saying the creators had fallen out and didn't want to work together any more.

RA: You appeared (to me anyways) to be the first British comic to be heavily distributed in the USA. Do you know what brought this about? Warrior's appearance certainly seems to have been the proverbial floodgates for British writers & artists to show their work in the US. Before Warrior, the only British artist I remember ever seeing on a regular basis was Ken Barr.

DS: Actually, Paul Neary (in Warren's Creepy, Eerie & Vampirella magazines) and Barry Smith (on Marvel's Daredevil, X-Men and Conan) predated Warrior in the US, too. Although both did, ironically, work for Warrior too--Barry on the first series, Paul on the second. As for US sales, direct distribution was just kicking in when we were producing Warrior. With Diamond being a relatively small latecomer, there were about 14 competitive suppliers for the comic shop market... it was fantastic. And we supplied them all! It really helped make up for the high percentage of unsolds through the UK federated trade (aka: newsagents). But more importantly, it was a takeaway menu for US publishers looking for the next big thing after Spanish and Filipino creators. Brits had the historical discipline of doing black and white weekly one, two, or three page serials, so they tended to work much tighter than people in US comics, with their luxury of 20 to 25 pages per episode and colour to fill in the gaps.

I'd get calls from pals like Dick Giordano, then editorial director at DC Comics, asking for Warrior contributor phone numbers, saying such-and-such a writer wanted to work with one of our artists, or such-and-such an editor wanted to work with one of our writers... if they had the time. Couldn't really refuse, even though it cost me. Len Wein was a keen Warrior reader, that's how he singled out Alan Moore to take over on the dying Swamp Thing book. In a similar way to Stan Lee’s take on Amazing Fantasy with the launch of Spider-Man in the final issue, it was the "it's going down, so let's try something different just for the hell of it" approach.

RA: You came out near the tail end of the full-size Black & White comic magazines, which had been started by Warren Publications in 1964. Do you miss that kind of comic? (I know I do)

DS: I always admit to having two role model mentors in comics: Stan Lee (for his reader friendly "Uncle Stan" approach) and Jim Warren for his format. Without the pair of them I'd never have been inspired to pinch a bit from each. I grew up a DC Comics fan at a time when all Marvel was doing were those wacky all-age fantasy books, but it was Stan and Jim's approach which gave me a foundation to build on. While I never admitted such to either, it was fantastic to be treated as an equal by both of them when our paths crossed. Although Warren did have a darker side, but so what? His books were great. This industry gets too hung up over personality and celebratory status instead of actual product.

RA: Outside of the Moore written stories, which Warrior strips do you feel were the most accomplished?

DS: Sorry, I desperately try to remain objective. I don't play favourites because it just opens a whole can of worms. Now I think, I remember one Warrior writer actually whining at me because Alan Moore was getting more pages than he was. The fact that the guy's had hardly any comics work in the 20-odd years since Warrior is answer enough. But no, no, no, you have to keep a distance. I'm blunt enough as it is, but such truths can often hurt irreparably.

RA: Which Warrior strips were included in the publishing agreement with Pacific Comics, which went out of business before actually reprinting any of the Warrior material?

DS: All of them. V for Vendetta, Spiral Path, Marvelman, Pressbutton. We'd put together an anthology called "Weird Heroes" as a catch-all for the equivalents of those sophisticated album tracks I was talking about earlier, while Marvelman, V and Pressbutton had been designed with circular logos to appear as a house-style trio. Alan, who'd held up Marvelman appearing because he didn't want a name change, also pulled V for a far poorer deal with DC, but it was his call.

Quality/Pacific cover mockups (what might have been)

RA: Towards the end of Warrior's run, you began to devise a connected world between the various strips, even those that did not appear to have any link whatsoever. What prompted this?

DS: They'd been intended to link from the start. Only V was the exception, being in an alternate world, one where Mike Moran never remembered his trigger word.

RA: Where did the Bogey strip originally appear?

DS: Cimoc, in Spain. But the translations were appalling. I might as well have written it from scratch, it would have been easier!

RA: How would the Big Ben serial have ended?

DS: Why the past tense? (Laughs.) It did actually tie in with my next phase, reworking old UK material for US colour comics. There was a strong crossover brewing between Big Ben, The Steel Claw and our Amadeus Wolf, a renamed Cursitor Doom from UK weekly Smash! Examples, in the newly commissioned pages, actually made it into print in both strips. I always liked to look at the big picture.

In 1981, before Warrior even launched, we were talking with Charlton's John Santangelo about revamping their old Action Heroes as an alternative to Marvelman, which had been so pokey. I remember the scrabble we had over who would get to write what. I grabbed my old favourite Sarge Steel but can't remember what Alan Moore and Steve Moore settled on.

RA: Many of the stories appearing in the last few issues of Warrior appear to have been reprints from various Euro comics. Why did this take place?

DS: Money, money, money. It's a rich man's world...

RA: What brought about the end of Warrior?

DS: Money, money, money. It's a rich man's world...

RA: Any odd anecdotes from the Warrior days that you care to share?

DS: Far too many to single out. But I'm sure we'll already have lost most of your audience by now, so let's allow those who've made it this far to go have their dinners.

A 1996 Warrior issue, done as a flipbook with Comics International

RA: What have you been doing since Warrior ceased publication?

DS: Damn, can't refuse that offer. Hold off on your appetite, kiddies, almost there and there's a shock at the end. In brief: A book for HarperCollins (Comic Art Now - a long overdue art directory for comic artists), a live action TV series co-writing with one of TV's top drama writers, a kids animation project (with a subject which will surprise quite a few people) and creating a new syndication agency. Oh, and for the last 16 years I edited and published a trade magazine called Comics International. And I wrote another book called Comix: The Underground Revolution (which got me in The Tate. Yay! Even if it was only the bookshop, it was still The Tate).

Dez Skinn & some of his magazines!

RA: Any final thoughts?

DS: Yes, the promised shock: The Mousetrap - it was the butler. He did it. Hah! (Hey, it got you to the end, didn't it? Worked for me. Heh-heh)

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