Flesh (comics)

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Flesh
Created by Pat Mills
Joan Solà-Segalés (a.k.a. Boix) [1]
Publication information
Publisher Fleetway
Rebellion
ScheduleWeekly
Title(s)
2000 AD #1-
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD .
Genre
Publication dateFebruary  1977   2016
Creative team
Writer(s) Pat Mills
Steve White/Dan Abnett
David Bishop/Steve MacManus
Reprints
Collected editions
Flesh: The Dino Files ISBN   1-907992-26-X

Flesh is a recurring science fiction story in the British weekly anthology comic 2000 AD , created by writer Pat Mills and artist Boix.

Publishing history

Flesh debuted in 2000 AD's first issue in 1977. The series was set in the age of dinosaurs who were farmed for their meat by cowboys from the future. The series was initially planned by Mills to be in Action , but after that title suffered censorship, Mills held the story back for his next project which eventually became 2000 AD.

The strip followed a similar path to Hook Jaw , one of the strips Mills had written in Action, in that it featured humans trying to dominate nature for their own purposes before falling prey to nature itself. Mills's original story's frontier setting was also influenced by Westworld , including tourists treating the dinosaurs as entertainment (coincidentally, Michael Crichton, the author of Westworld, later wrote Jurassic Park ).

Flesh Book 1 ran for the first 19 issues of 2000 AD as well as the 1977 annual, and ending its run that year. While Flesh was popular, the series was not mentioned again until 1978 when Satanus, the son of Book 1's Tyrannosaurus antagonist Old One-Eye, appeared in the Judge Dredd story The Cursed Earth . The series was revived and returned with Flesh Book Two in issue 86, which was written by Kelvin Gosnell and primarily drawn by Massimo Belardinelli. The series gained popularity and ran until issue 99. Further books followed in issues 800–808 and 817–825, written by Mills and Tony Skinner with art by Carl Critchlow, and issues 973–979 written by Dan Abnett and Steve White with art by Gary Erskine and Simon Jacob.

After a 10-year absence from 2000 AD, Flesh returned in 2007 with "Hand of Glory", a prequel to the events of Book 1. 4 years later, Book 1's sequel, "Texas", appeared 2000 AD. This arc remained unfinished and was followed by the sequel "Midnight Cowboys" in 2012. Flesh again returned in 2013 with "Badlanders" which featured the return of Book 1 characters set before the conclusion of Book 2.

While Flesh Book 1 was published in black-and-white, Book 2 featured colour pages and dinosaurs covered in feathers—nearly 40 years before feathered dinosaurs became commonly accepted.

Bibliography

The dinosaurs have made a number of appearances over the years:

Collected editions

Cast

Main characters

Allies

Enemies

Dinosaurs

  • Old One Eye – 120-year-old matriarch of a pack of Tyrannosaurs. Her eye was gouged out by Reagan.
  • Big Hungry – Giant Nothosaurus seeking revenge on Carver for killing his babies. A malfunctioning time portal sends him into modern times where he becomes the Loch Ness Monster.
  • Gorehead – Tyrannosaur from Old One Eye's pack mutated by atom bomb.
  • Satanus – Cloned son of Old One Eye, appears in Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth.
  • Golgotha – Son of Satanus and grandson of Old One Eye, appears in ABC Warriors: The Mek-nificent Seven.

Humans

  • McZ – Detective and gunslinger resembling Buffalo Bill Cody who relentlessly pursues Carver for murdering a time controller.
  • Flesh Controller – Corrupt corporate boss in charge of Base Nine, a meat packing plant that sends dinosaur flesh from the Cretaceous to the twenty-third century.
  • J.M Grose – Greedy executive in charge of fishing rig Atlantis. He has a parrot that repeats his orders like Long John Silver's bird, Captain Flint.
  • "Bull" Svensson – Captain of a fishing submarine. Is betrayed and drowned by Carver who hijacks the sub to reclaim his lost gold. His crew are named after characters from classic novels like Moby Dick , Treasure Island , and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas . [8]
  • Peters – The only sailor to remain loyal to Svensson. Is determined to bring Carver down.
  • Gunner Ben – Old deckhand and friend of Peters. He is very superstitious and half insane.
  • Preacher Sunday – Evil priest who believes the Cretaceous is Hell. He is actually a serial killer who strangles women, including Carver's girlfriend.

See also

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References

  1. 45 Years of 2000AD (2022) Oxford: Rebellion, p. 4
  2. 2000ad.org
  3. Flesh: Book 1
  4. Pat Mills interview
  5. Flesh: Book 2
  6. Flesh: Book 1
  7. Flesh: Book 1
  8. Flesh: Book 2