{"id":32308,"date":"2025-02-26T18:49:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T18:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=32308"},"modified":"2025-02-26T18:49:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T18:49:47","slug":"the-helltrekkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/02\/26\/the-helltrekkers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Helltrekkers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy John Wagner<\/strong>, Alan Grant<\/strong>, Horacio Lalia<\/strong>, Jose Ortiz<\/strong> & various (Rebellion)
\nISBN: 978-1786187963 (Rebellion 2000 AD)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

This book also includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for comedic and dramatic effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s last great comic icon has been described as a combination of the other two, merging the futuristic milieu and thrills of Dan Dare<\/strong> with the shocking anarchy and irreverent absurdity of Dennis the Menace<\/strong>. He\u2019s also well on the way to becoming the longest-lasting adventure character in our admittedly meagre comics pantheon, having been continually published every week since February 1977 when he first appeared in the second weekly issue of science-fiction anthology 2000AD<\/strong>. As such, he\u2019s also spawned a rich world where other stars have been born and thrived\u2026<\/p>\n

Judge Dredd<\/strong> and the ever-expanding, ultra-dystopian environs of Mega-City One were devised by a creative committee including Pat Mills, Kelvin Gosnell, Carlos Ezquerra, Mike McMahon and many others, with the major contribution coming from legendary writer John Wagner, who has written the largest portion of the canon under his own and via several pseudonymous names.<\/p>\n

In a 22nd<\/sup> century America, Joe Dredd<\/em> is a fanatically dedicated sentinel of the super-city, where hundreds of millions of citizens idle away their days stacked like artificial cordwood in a world where robots are cheaper and more efficient than humans and jobs are both beloved pastime and treasured commodity. Boredom has reached epidemic proportions and every citizen is just one askance glance away from meltdown or blow-up. Judges are peacekeepers maintaining – actually enforcing – order and passivity at all costs: investigating, taking action and trying all crimes and disturbances to the hard-won equilibrium of the constantly boiling melting pot.<\/p>\n

Justice is always immediate. They are necessary fascists in a world permanently teetering on the edge of catastrophe, and sadly, what far too many readers never realised is that the entire milieu is a gigantic satirical black comedy with oodles of outrageous, vicariously cathartic action. Just keep telling yourself, some situations demand drastic solutions. It\u2019s what all politicians and world leaders do\u2026<\/p>\n

As hometowns go, Mega-City One does not generally engender fond feelings or happy memories, but thankfully does lend itself to all manner of stories from supernatural thrillers to cop procedurals to savagely satirical social broadsides. It\u2019s a place where any kind of tale is begging to be told. Thus John Wagner, Alan Grant & Horacio Lalia\u2019s Helltrekkers<\/strong> – a no-nonsense sci fi thriller B-feature masquerading as a future western and the first serial spin-off from the burgeoning Dredd universe (Dreddiverse?) to not focus on Judges and perps but rather the pitiful proles they pacify and push around. This tome collects the strips from 2000 AD<\/strong> progs 387-415. and was popular enough in its day to win a rotating spot in the comic\u2019s coveted colour section, meaning alternating monochrome and technicolour moments of mirth and madness.<\/p>\n

The ancillary feature was written by Alan Grant with regular writing partner John Wagner, co-scribing the voyage as enigmatic \u201cF. Martin Candor\u201d and visually kicked off by fantasy stalwart Jos\u00e9 Ortiz before Horacio Lalia waded in to illustrate the majority of episodes from the second onwards. This collection offers a note of gloriously gory circularity to proceedings, by closing with a brace of full colour Ortiz \u201cStar Scan\u201d recap features as seen in Progs #387-388 as well as a Lalia cover gallery…<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Ortiz Moya\u2019s 60 plus year career began after he won a contest in Spanish magazine Chicos<\/em><\/strong>. During the 1950s, he worked on many digest strips for Editorial Maga, including Capitan Don Nadie<\/em><\/strong>, Pantera Negra<\/em><\/strong> and Jungla<\/em><\/strong>. Agency work saw him produce several strips for foreign publishers, particularly Britain where he illustrated Caroline Barker, Barrister at Law<\/strong> for The Daily Express<\/strong>, Smokeman <\/strong>and UFO Agent<\/strong> for Eagle<\/strong> magazine and The Phantom Viking<\/strong> in anthological top seller Lion<\/strong>. During the 1970s & 1980s Ortiz worked on several popular British strips including The Tower King<\/strong> and House of Daemon<\/strong> for the new Eagle<\/strong>, Rogue Trooper<\/strong> and Judge Dredd<\/strong> for 2000 AD<\/strong> and The Thirteenth Floor<\/a><\/strong> for Scream!<\/strong> This last was another stunning horror-show Ortiz co-created with Wagner & Grant.<\/p>\n

Whilst doing all of this work on UK kid\u2019s comics, in the US Ortiz was also working on – and is arguably best known – for illustrating stories for Warren\u2019s horror titles, especially Eerie<\/strong> and Vampirella<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Born January 28th<\/sup> 1941, Horacio Nestor Lalia made his first professional sale in 1964 to Hora Cero<\/em><\/strong>, and began an association with publisher Columba a year later. After assisting Argentinian comics stars Eugenio Zoppi (Mysterix<\/em><\/strong>, Zig Zag<\/strong>, Lord Cochrane<\/strong>) and Alberto Breccia (The Eternaut<\/strong>, Ernie Pike<\/strong>, Sherlock Time<\/strong>, Mort Cinder<\/strong>) in 1966 Lalia started agency work for the Solano Lopez studios on strips for the UK market: generally war stories released by Fleetway. He moved on in 1968, but returned to British comics in the late 1970s, mostly Future Shock<\/strong> stories in 2000 AD<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In 1975 Lalia became a main illustrator for publisher Record but continued working in UK comics and elsewhere. This included for Eura in Italy, Spain\u2019s Norma, Bastei in Germany and France\u2019s Albin Michel whilst simultaneously contributing to Argentinian daily La Raz\u00f3n<\/em><\/strong> and Spanish publishing house Bruguera.<\/p>\n

So as if Judges, mutants and dinosaurs aren\u2019t enough for you, what\u2019s this all about?<\/p>\n

Fed up with their appalling lives in Mega-City One, a doughty band of bold pioneering families – each with their own sordid baggage and backstories – opt to escape civilisation\u2019s dubious security and cross the \u201cCursed Earth\u201d in heavily-armoured mobile homes in search of a better life and (possibly) less lethal promised land…
\n\"\"
\nLed by – and unfolding via the narrated records of – Trekkmaster Lucas Rudd<\/em> and assorted survivors, the tale opens with Ortiz draughting the dawn departure of 28 Radwagons carrying 111 former citizens from the city\u2019s West Gate 13. Ignoring Judge advice, the doomed hopefuls are ready to voyage 2000 kilometres to the highly speculative – if perhaps fully fictional – \u201cNew Territories\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reasons for departure range from painful to tragic. The Glemps<\/em> want somewhere to raise their mutant baby free from shame, whilst hillbilly criminal clan the Nebb<\/em>s are getting out before the Judges finally get something actionable on them. The mutual goal lies across a nuke-ravaged, devasted radiation desert left after the war that ended civilisation. Somehow this trackless wasteland can still support life – as represented by mutant enclaves and would-be messiahs, bandit camps, fugitives from Judge justice, hermit hideaways, and the detritus of abandoned science projects. They include resurrected and reconditioned dinosaurs and other abandoned megafauna who have carried on evolving, plus all manner of fresh and interesting lifeforms and monsters guaranteed to keep the Helltrekking lively and never dull…
\n\"\"
\nVeteran guide Banjo Quint <\/em>rides with the Rudds – Lucas, his wife Amber<\/em> and son Bud<\/em> – in the lead wagon, seeking to ride roughshod on the most mismatched, unsuitable and unlikely re-settlers he\u2019s ever seen. Unprepared idiots addicted to a dream, the waggoners are uniformly menaces to themselves and others: a perfect snapshot of why humanity is doomed. That\u2019s confirmed on day one on reaching abandoned theme park Sauron Valley to learn that resurrected dinosaurs are magnificent and tasty. A little later their knowledge expands further as they discover T-Rexes bear grudges, hunt in packs and will stalk prey for thousands of klicks just to get more of that choice, yummy human flavour…<\/p>\n

Family units like the Turtles<\/em>, Lovejoys<\/em>, Diefenakers<\/em>, Jumbys<\/em>, Clampeets<\/em>, Zapoteks<\/em>, and Koosh <\/em>merge but seldom mix, and don\u2019t associate with single seekers like utterly unprepared Mo-Pad hobbyist Rollo Peterson<\/em> or proper weirdoes like circus family the Hubbles<\/em> or the hippie Guppy Commune<\/em>… at least outside of the increasingly common sunset mass-buryings. The Nebbs <\/em>in Wagon 17 are really a menace to others and seemingly regard their fellow pioneers as an expendable emergency resource. Their selfish wayward antics cause as many fatalities as \u201cnatural\u201d Cursed Earth threats like dino herds, radiological diseases such as Black Scab, radioactive smog, sucking patches of quick-quag, flesh-melting acid rainstorms, predatory \u201cmutie\u201d tribes and fugitive criminals from the Mega cities…
\n\"\"
\nIt\u2019s no wonder Quint doesn\u2019t make it far past St Louis. The halfway point, it\u2019s only seen by 72 trekkers and as the quest stubbornly continues, that death toll inexorably mounts…<\/p>\n

Crafted during the bleakest moments of the last third of the Cold War and unswervingly based on classic western prairie wagon train tales, albeit amped to a mordantly dark and satirically trenchant high point, the grimly attritional saga of the Helltrekkers and its frankly unexpectedly upbeat conclusion is a pure piece of politicized polemic as cathartic entertainment: subversively hilarious, frequently deeply moving and rendered with appropriately stark line and whimsical imagination.
\n\"\"
\nThe kind of tale that made 2000 AD<\/strong> such a reliably revolutionary read and anarchically rebellious outpost of dissident counter culture, this complete collection comes with a chilling realisation that maybe those days aren\u2019t over yet…
\n\u00a9 1984, 1985, 2022 & 2023 Rebellion 2000 AD Ltd. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Wagner, Alan Grant, Horacio Lalia, Jose Ortiz & various (Rebellion) ISBN: 978-1786187963 (Rebellion 2000 AD) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. This book also includes Discriminatory Content included for comedic and dramatic effect. Britain\u2019s last great comic icon has been described as a combination of the other two, merging … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Helltrekkers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,42,113,290,255,66,125,135,111,107,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-best-of-british","category-comedy","category-dinosaurs","category-environmentalism","category-horror-stories","category-humour","category-judge-dredd","category-satirepolitics","category-science-fiction","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8p6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32315,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32308\/revisions\/32315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}