Golden Sunsets - 50 Years Of Memories - Part 21 - 1987

By my early twenties I was fully immersed in the comics industry - both as a reader and as a retailer. But an encounter with one of my customers lead to the discovery of a different kind of super-heroics...

1987:

The trivia:

• By 1987, due to poaching, lead poisoning and destruction of their natural habitat, there were only 27 California Condors left on the planet. All of the huge birds, with their 3 metre wide wingspan, were captured and placed in the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo to help preserve the species. Thankfully due to a successful breeding program there are now over four hundred - many living wild.
• Chicago businessman Steve Rothstein purchased an unlimited first class American Airlines ticket for US$ 233,509. During the more than 10 years he owned it, he travelled in excess of 10 million miles, made over 500 trips to England and apparently cost the airline US$ 21 million. The pass was terminated in 2008 due to "fradulent behaviour".
• 19-year old German amateur aviator Matthias Rust managed to fly his small Cessna aircraft all the way from Helsinki to Moscow and land illegally near Red Square. Despite being tracked several times by Soviet air defence, he was never shot down. Although originally sentenced to four years in prison he only served a few months and the incident allowed progressive Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to dismiss many of his harshest military opponents.

Okay so I guess before I start with the memory proper, I should provide a bit more context to that comment at the top of the page about being a comics "retailer". This might take a while...

By the mid-1980s I was getting my regular comics from specialist shops rather than newsagents. It started with all those trips to "Forbidden Planet" in London, but as I left school and (after a brief period in market research) started working in Southend-on-Sea, I switched to getting my weekly fix from the local independent book shop in the Victoria Circus Shoping Centre - known rather generically as "The New Bookshop" (I never did discover where the "Old" one was).

The two rather mature gentlemen who ran the shop were always friendly and I became a regular customer. Their shelves were crammed full of all the latest Marvel, DC and independent titles. Each week I would pick up the current releases (almost everything to be honest) which they had put by in a hi-tech filing system of brown paper bags with your name written in marker pen. Thanks to these lovely fellows I discovered comics from First, Comico, Capital, Eclipse and a vast range of other titles. More and more of my meagre wages was being spent on four-colour adventures (well I was still living at home and couldn't drive, so had very little outgoings). I reunited with some old friends in the shop as we all started to hang out there and met some new ones along the way - including a very young Warren Ellis.

Then to my delight, a proper specialist comic book store opened on the ground floor of the shopping centre. "Collector's Dream" was run by run by local writer, artist, musician and sometime shoe salesman Gary Spencer Millidge. Gary would become well known in comic circles in later years for his seminal series "Strangehaven", but when I first got to know him, he was focused on the new shop and associated mail order subscription service. "Collector's Dream" became the new place for us comics fans to hang out, and it was in Gary's shop that we saw him work on the famine relief title that became 1985's "Food For Thought" (way before Marvel and DC produced their own titles). I was there when he unboxed the first issues of "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns". My younger brother even worked there for a while when he first left school. Those were great times.

But at some point not long after this (and here my memory gets slightly hazy), Gary decided that he needed to down-size and move the shop to smaller premises. I really wanted to get into the industry in some way and convinced my brother and a friend that we should buy the "Collector's Dream" mail order service and run it ourselves. With a cash loan from my father, we did just that and from my bedroom we somehow managed to run a small business on a complete shoestring.

Typing up the monthly order catalogues on a Commodore 64 computer, printing them out and pasting them together to then be photocopied, we wrote semi-humourous editorials to accompany the listings. We started with the customer list we had purchased from Gary and then expanded it by handing out flyers at the Westminster Comic Mart's - which looked great thanks to a custom piece of Alan Davis artwork we had got with the business purchase,  Deliveries from Titan Distributors became a weekly occurrence along with regular trips to the warehouse itself in Mile End for single issues (the minimum pre-order was two copies). All of our spare time was spent wrapping parcels, collating orders, banking cheques and keeping things afloat - all this while holding down regular jobs. It was hard work but hugely exciting. We made lot's of contacts, learnt a huge deal and of course bought a *lot* of comics for ourselves at trade prices!

One of our regular overseas customers was a young guy called Philip Chee who lived in Hong Kong and he often sent us long letters with his large order, chatting about his love of science fiction and fantasy and comics. Over time we corresponded back and forth and developed a good relationship with this fellow fan who was half a world away. Then one month Philip mentioned that he was going to be in London visiting family - did we want to meet up with him for lunch or something?

Arranging to meet outside Tottenham Court Road tube station in the West End, the three of us waited somewhat nervously until approached by a young dark haired gentleman in glasses. Yes, this was Philip and after a few minutes we found ourselves getting on really well, even if he did come across as very excitable and a definite comic book expert. We made a tour of all the London comic shops within walking distance (Philip wanted to stock up on back issues) and ended up at the flagship "Forbidden Planet" store, which as well as comics had the best selection of SF and fantasy novels that we knew of.

Perusing the lengthy low shelves for anything new, Philip picked up a US import book with a somewhat lurid purple-ish cover and a shining logo.. "The secret history of our times revealed" it claimed. "Had I heard of "Wild Cards" before?" Philip asked. I shook my head and he thrust the book into my hands. "You should try this series, it's really good" he replied (or words to that effect). Not wanting to appear rude - and to be honest open for something new to read - I took a look at the blurb on the back. What I saw was enough for me to plonk down my cash - and a nearly thirty year love affair was about to begin...

The memory:

Wild Cards

This was a world parallel to our own - a history in which an alien virus struck the Earth in the aftermath of World War II. Thousands were killed, but a handful of survivors were endowed with strange superhuman powers. Some were called 'Aces', gifted with extraordinary mental and physical abilities. Others were 'Jokers', cursed with bizarre mental or physical disfigurements Some turned their talents to the service of humanity, some used them for evil - and the Wild Cards 'shared' universe was born.

So this might have sounded like your typical Marvel or DC super-hero universe in prose form. But the difference was that these were "mosaic" novels (although the first book was more district short stories). Each unique character was created and written separately by a leading science fiction author, but formed part of a jigsaw whole, shepherded and edited by some guy I'd never heard of called George R.R. Martin. These weren't your traditional throwaway stories either. Following the 80s trend towards more realistic portrayals of super-heroes, these characters were fully three dimensional. They changed and adapted and faded in out out of the narrative like real people and even died, sometimes in violent pointless ways. The authors involved include Walter John Williams, Roger Zelazny, Melinda, M. Snodgrass, Stephen Leigh and Daniel Abraham. Even "X-Men" scribe Chris Claremont had an entry, but there are many many others.

The first volume chronicled the events from World War II to the present day and showed the emergence of the Aces and Jokers and the effect they had on world events. In addition there were many allusions to real-life celebrities being affected by the virus. Mick Jagger was a werewolf. Jim Morrison really *was* the Lizard King, etc, etc Most importantly we were introduced to many key players in the Wild Cards series as the decades passed:

• Doctor Tachyon -  a flamboyant Takesian who tried to prevent the detonation of his races virus bomb and now attempts to atone for their mistake by staying on Earth.
• Croyd Crenson "The Sleeper" - cursed to fall into a coma and wake up in a new body every few months. Sometimes an Ace and sometimes a Joker, he never knows what will happen when he falls asleep.
• The Great and Powerful Turtle - possessed of the world most powerful mental abilities, he hides inside a metal shall constructed from an old VW Beetle
• Fortunato - the supreme sorcerer on the planet who recharges his powers via tantric sex.
• Captain Trips - a burned out hippy biochemist who can call forth five different super-powered persona through the use of drugs
• Puppetman - a politician able to control the minds of anyone he touches and feed off their negative emotions? How could that  not be a bad thing...

I loved the first book and immediately went back and brought the following two. Set in the then current late 80s, each one dealt with a particular threat but sub-plots and continuing threads were interwoven and carried across between the novels, although generally each three books formed a loose trilogy. Between 1987 and 1993 there were twelve books published and "Wild Cards" straddled a host of different genres from political thriller to detective mystery to space opera. A  universe of different heroes and villains were introduced and like the best comic multi-part stories, sometimes it took several volumes for good to triumph over evil - and sometimes the bad guys won and people died. I couldn't get enough. This was my comics world though an adult lens. It was violent, sexy, horrific, thought provoking and overall brilliant.

Around about book six, a UK publisher (I think it was Titan) caught onto the "Wild Cards" phenomenon and they re-issued the books with new Brian Bolland covers, US publisher Bartam Spectra responded with their own new covers by "Grimjack" artist Timothy Truman, who continued with the new releases, and it's those that adorn my copies of books seven to twelve.

With a new trilogy starting in volume 13 came a new publisher - Baen replacing Bantam Spectra - and Barclay Shaw took over from Tim Truman as cover artist. Released a mere month after book 12, "Card Sharks" was subtitled 'Book 1 of a New Cycle'. A conspiracy tale involving a deadly "antidote" to the Wild Card virus known as the "Black Trump", the set of three also brought a number of character arcs to a conclusion and wrapped up things pretty neatly for the series as a whole. It would be seven years before I would get to read a new story set in this universe.

2002 brought "Deuces Down". Published by iBooks, the long-awaited sixteenth volume in the series was almost a companion piece to the first, as the reader was presented with an anthology of individual tales spanning four decades from 1968. However this time it was viewed from the sidelines as the focus was on those less well known members of the Wild Card saga, the 'Deuces' - those whose powers were almost negligible and often more trouble than they're worth. It's an interesting book but I wanted things to move forward in the main timeline.

Four years later I got my wish in "Death Draws Five", a novel written solely by John J. Miller. An apocalyptic thriller with religious overtones it featured the welcome return of favourite characters such as Carnifex, Mr. Nobody and Fortunato plus new female bad-ass Midnight Angel. But iBooks were about to go into bankruptcy and a new publisher was needed yet again. 

Enter Tor Books, who have released a further six new novels so far, with more to come - plus reprints of the originals, some with extra stories added. There have been many new characters, many new writers brought into the "Wild Cards Trust" and many new Jokers, Aces, Deuces and villains. 

Turning things almost full circle, there have been two comics versions (Epic did four issues in 1990 and the Dabel Brothers  / Dynamite six in 2008), plus role playing games, audio books, online short stories and translations into several different languages. There (predictably) is even a live action TV show in development. 

Why do I love the books so much? Certainly regular superhero comics have caught up with some of the storytelling techniques used ("Astro City" springs to mind) but I think it really comes down to two reasons. Firstly it's that things really do change within the in-novel universe - unlike the transitory illusion of change with mainstream comics (at least from the big two publishers). "Wild Cards" has been running for thirty years with nary a reboot or reality altering event in sight. Secondly it's that there is a real weight to the characters (probably because they are always written by their creators) which means you care about what happens to them. The "Wild Cards" universe looks certain to continue for many years to come and I for one can't wait to get each new release.


Honourable mentions:

• Filthy, Rich and Catflap - At a mere six episodes, this series was kind of the bridge between the anarchy of the "The Young Ones" and the sheer slapstick brilliance of "Bottom" that was to come. Rik Mayall played Richie Rich, a talentless out of work actor, Nigel Planer his sponging agent Ralph Filthy and Adrian Edmonson was Edward Didgeridoo Catflap, Richie's violent drunken minder. Treating the Fourth Wall as if it just didn't exist and frequently taking the piss out of Z-list celebrities and their huge egos, I found the show not quite as enjoyable as it's predecessor but still worth tuning in for the relentlessly manic performances.

• Green Arrow The Longbow Hunters - After "The Dark Knight Returns", this was DC's second "prestige" format mini series and for my money one of the finest Green Arrow stories ever told. I was already a fan of writer / artist Mike Grell from his time on "Jon Sable, Freelance" but the quality of his work here is on a whole other level and succeeded in getting me seriously invested in a character which I had never really been that bothered about before. By stripping away the trick arrows and bombastic villains, acknowledging his age and grounding things in a more realistic environment, Grell turned Oliver Queen into an urban hunter and these three issues paved the way for a fantastic seven year run as writer and occasional artist. I still don't think Green Arrow has been written better.

• Weaveworld by Clive Barker - I never got into the"Books of Blood" or the "Hellraiser" movies. Horror stories are not really my thing and certainly thirty years ago I had read only a mere handful of genre novels. However I picked up "Weaveworld" because of the more fantasy-orientated premise - and boy was I glad I did. The book revolves around the secret existence of a race of magical beings known as the "Seerkind" and their struggles to remain hidden from the non-magical world inside "The Fugue" - a separate dimension woven into the strands of a carpet. The Seerkind have to face multiple dangers from human and non-human antagonists, plus the mysterious "Scourge" which seeks to destroy all magic. Full of religious allusions and themes, a multi-facted plot and truly evil and horrific threats, the novel was several worlds away from the more traditional fantasies I had consumed up to that point and even now remains one of the best books I have ever read. I quickly became a Barker devotee as he published one excellent novel after another over the next ten years. Any attempt to turn "Weaveworld" into a film or TV series can only be doomed to fail in my eyes, as it would be practically impossible to match the imagination and power of Barker's prose.

• The New Statesman - It's Rik Mayall in a razor sharp political comedy. What's not to love? As M.P. Alan B'Stard he was selfish, devious, lecherous and out only for himself. Heaven help anyone who got in his way, and whatever schemes, crises or scandals surrounded him, B'Stard always came up as top dog. It was a role tailor made for Mayall and proved that he was not only a brilliant comedian but also a tremendous actor. I may have been  biased of course (since I already considered Rik to be my comedy god), but as well as being very funny the show was savagely cruel and irreverent to all it's targets from any corner of the political spectrum. Four series, two specials, a couple of stage shows and many newspaper columns - B'stard was a force of nature and hugely popular. Any resemblance to real politicians either living or dead was completely deliberate.

• Star Trek Next Generation - We actually didn't get to see this show in the UK until September 1990, when it started airing in its regular early evening slot on BBC2 (and then subsequently on Sky One), but I've included it here as it was first broadcast in the USA in 1987. That first viewing came at the right time for me as "Doctor Who" had finished the previous December. I quickly took to the adventures of the Enterprise D crew, and thanks to some 4 hour tapes and my trust Panasonic VHS video, I recorded up to eight episodes on one cassette in 'long play'. In later years this meant that my first wife and I (also a fan) would occasionally start watching an episode in bed, fall asleep and wake up the next morning to find that Captain Picard was still boldly going.. For a while I was obsessed with all things "Trek" and amassed a large collection of books, comics, fact files and assorted ephemera. Looking back, even if that obsession has faded and even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of "Deep Space Nine" in terms of dramatic arcs and long-form storytelling, "TNG" still has a cast of characters that I love to spend time with, and it's one of those shows where despite having seen each episode so many times that I probably know the plots off by heart, when one comes on the TV I still stop changing channels and start watching.

Marshal Law - First published by Epic Comics as a six-issue mini, before sporadically hopping around a number of different publishers and formats in the subsequent years, Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill's savage satire of the superhero genre is a classic that deserves a much wider audience. Set in the future city of San Futuro, Law's job was to take down rogue heroes, which he did with maximum force and extreme pleasure. He hated all costumed heroes - including himself - and Mills parodied pretty much all the major characters over the course of the various storylines. It's violent, funny and packed with a wide disregard for the meaningless tales of the larger than life costumed do-gooders. Match that with O'Neill's unique spiky artwork and you have something really rather special. Later odd cross-overs with characters such as The Mask and even Hellraiser's Pinhead are less acerbic but still interesting. There is a big deluxe 480 page collection available which deserves to be on your Christmas present list.

Max Headroom - The world's first computer generated TV star (sort of), it's hard to describe to people that weren't there exactly how popular Max was in the mid-80s. Star of a one-off near-future TV drama, host of a video jukebox / interview chat show, the spokesman for "New Coke" and even part of a pop song along with the Art of Noise, Matt Frewer's creation and his staccato voice was everywhere. I enjoyed all of these appearances, but it's the US TV series which is my favourite. Set in a dystopian near future (aren't they all?) where television networks rule the world, it was full of inventive imagery and storylines - at least for the time. Nowadays many of the things it predicted have sort of come true, which is kind of worrying...

By the way, there are a lot of other fantastic comics I could mention here, but I'm saving them for longer pieces further down the line. There is also this little series called "Star Cops" that deserves a *lot* of love and attention...