Ace Trucking Co.

Last updated
Ace Garp
Newgarplarge.jpeg
Ace Garp starscan by Boo Cook; 2000 AD and Ace Garp copyright Rebellion A/S 2005.
Publication information
Publisher Fleetway Publications
First appearance 2000AD #232 (October 1981)
Created by John Wagner
Alan Grant
Massimo Belardinelli
In-story information
Alter egoAce Garp
Team affiliationsGBH, Feek the Freek, the Dopplegarp, Chiefy the Pig-Rat, Ghost
Notable aliasesGarp the Barp from Parp

Ace Trucking Co. is a comedy science fiction series that featured in the British comics magazine 2000 AD from 1981 to 1986. Created by writers John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Massimo Belardinelli, it followed the misadventures of a space trucking company headed by Ace Garp, a pointy-headed alien who spoke in a kind of futuristic CB radio slang. The title was lifted from Ace Trucking Company, a 1970s improvisational comedy group whose membership had included Fred Willard, Patti Deutsch, Michael Mislove, George Memmoli, and Bill Saluga.

Contents

Plot

Ace was the skipper of the cargo spaceship Speedo Ghost, for much of the series the Ace Trucking Co.'s only ship. His crew included his huge 'biffo' (both bodyguard and security) GBH, who believed himself to be dead, Feek the Freek, a skeletal being who acted as the ship's engineer, and the sarcastic ship's computer Ghost. Joining the crew later in the run was Chiefy the Pig-Rat, a small rodent-like creature that became Feek's best friend and missed no opportunity to insult Ace.

In later stories, the crew was also joined by a duplicate of Ace himself. The reason for this is that, tired of the series, the creators killed off Ace by having him believe that he was suffering a fatal disease, causing him to commit suicide by flying into a star. However, the popularity of the series with 2000 AD's readers caused it to be revived, the explanation being that Ace passed through a dimensional rift in the star, and ended up being discovered by his counterpart in another universe, but not before a brief detour in the offices of Tharg the Mighty in a drawer filled with other characters that had been killed off over time. Technically, the second Ace is the 'real' one from the earlier stories.

Other recurring characters were Jago Kain, the human boss of Ace's business rival Yellow Line, Cap'n Evil Blood, a space pirate who was always trying to kill Garp, Ace-hating officers Kroxley and Zagger of the Galactic Police and Fatty Arkl, a rotund alien who ended up as the skipper of Ace's second ship (Old Peart The Third).

The main artist for the series' run was Massimo Belardinelli, although Ian Gibson and Alberto Giolitti also contributed. As mentioned above, Grant and Wagner became tired of writing the series and made several attempts to end it (one series ended with the entire crew in prison), but reader demand kept bringing it back. The later stories show clear signs of the writers' annoyance at having to keep going on a series they had lost interest in - Ace started out as a smart and resourceful character, but ended up a greedy, dim-witted buffoon disliked even by his own crew. The character's official final story "The Garpetbagger" ended with his companions GBH and Feek the Freek ordering Ace to sell up and move on, quipping that he "outlived his welcome a long time ago".

In 1988, a one-off mini-story was produced for a 2000 AD annual which featured the original Ace returning to his own universe only to find that Feek has taken over the business and GBH has become his second in command. Ace loses his temper and vandalises a bar owned by Feek which lands him in prison, vowing to gain revenge at some point "in the near future". Despite this, Ace Trucking Co would not make a reappearance in 2000 AD until 2015, when the eight-page strip Star's Truck, by Eddie Robson and Nick Dyer, was published in that year's Sci-Fi Special.

Publication

Related Research Articles

<i>2000 AD</i> (comics) British comic magazine

2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic magazine. As a comics anthology it serialises stories in each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. Since 2000 it has been published by Rebellion Developments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin O'Neill (comics)</span> English illustrator (1953–2022)

Kevin O'Neill was an English comic book illustrator who was the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Marshal Law, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Hawk (British comics)</span> British comic book story

Black Hawk was a comic strip appearing on the British magazine Tornado, created by Gerry Finley-Day. It was one of three strips to transfer from Tornado to 2000 AD after the two merged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Gibson (comics)</span> British comic book artist (1946–2023)

Ian Gibson was a British comic book artist, best known for his 1980s black-and-white work for 2000 AD, especially as the main artist on Robo-Hunter and The Ballad of Halo Jones, as well as his long run on Judge Dredd.

Tharg the Mighty or The Mighty One is the fictional editor of the British science fiction comic 2000 AD. The character was introduced on the cover of the first issue in 1977 and is one of only two characters to appear in almost every issue of the comic, the other being Judge Dredd. Tharg rarely appears in stories but strips involving him have been written by such notable writers as Alan Grant, Alan Moore and John Wagner, albeit usually credited to "TMO" – "The Mighty One".

<i>Strontium Dog</i> Comics character

Strontium Dog is a long-running British comics series starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter who lives in Earth's future. The series was created in 1978 by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra for Starlord, a short-lived weekly science fiction comic. When Starlord was cancelled, the series transferred to the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD. In 1980, Wagner was joined by co-writer Alan Grant, although scripts were normally credited to Grant alone. Grant wrote the series by himself from 1988 to 1990. Wagner revived the series after a ten-year hiatus in 2000. After Ezquerra's death in October 2018, the series was put in indefinite hiatus with no current plans for its continuation.

John Smith is a British comic book writer best known for his work on the weekly anthology 2000 AD and its spin-off title Crisis, particularly the Indigo Prime, Devlin Waugh and New Statesmen serials.

Massimo Belardinelli was an Italian comic artist best known for his work in the British science fiction comic 2000 AD.

Chris Weston is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Flint</span> British comic book artist

Henry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British science fiction comic 2000 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hogan</span> British comics creator

Peter K. Hogan is an English writer and comics writer, best known for Resident Alien, which he co-created with artist Steve Parkhouse. Hogan began his comics career as editor of cult British comic magazine Revolver in 1990–1991, before working for 2000 AD, American comic book publishers Vertigo, America's Best Comics and Dark Horse Comics

Kelvin Gosnell is a British comics writer and editor. He was involved in the founding of the long-running comic 2000 AD in 1977, and was its second editor (1977–1978). He also edited Starlord (1978) and Tornado (1979).

<i>Thargs Future Shocks</i>

Tharg's Future Shocks is a long-running series of short strips appearing in the British weekly comic 2000 AD since 1977. The name originates from the fictional editor of 2000 AD and the book titled Future Shock, written by Alvin Toffler, published in 1970.

Harlem Heroes is a British comic strip that formed part of the original line-up of stories in 2000 AD. Inspired by the popularity during the 1970s of kung fu films and the Harlem Globetrotters, Harlem Heroes was devised by Pat Mills, employing elements from his Hellball comic strip, and scripted by Tom Tully. Initially, the series was to have been drawn by Carlos Trigo but the Spanish artist was replaced by Dave Gibbons prior to the first issue's publication. From issue 25 Massimo Belardinelli drew the concluding episodes of the first series and would be retained as its regular artist for the strip's reinvention as Inferno.

John Tomlinson is a British comic book writer and editor known for his work on various 2000 AD strips. He has occasionally been credited as Sonny Steelgrave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Grant bibliography</span>

This is a list of works by Scottish author Alan Grant.

John Wagner has worked on a wide range of British comics most notably working on Judge Dredd and the various spin-offs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Mills bibliography</span>

Pat Mills has written comics since the early seventies.

References

  1. ↑ Tharg's Nerve Centre, Prog 247
  2. ↑ Tharg's Nerve Centre, Prog 386


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.