''Deadline'' was a British comics magazine that was published between 1988 and 1995. Created by '' 2000 AD'' artists

Brett Ewins Brett Ewins (1955 – 16 February 2015) was a British comic book artist best known for his work on ''Judge Dredd'' and ''Rogue Trooper'' in the weekly anthology comic '' 2000 AD''. Biography Ewins studied Conceptual Art at Goldsmiths College, w ...

and

Steve Dillon Steve Dillon (22 March 1962 – 22 October 2016) was a British comic book artist, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on ''Hellblazer'', ''Preacher (comics), Preacher'' and ''The Punisher''. Early life Dillon was born in London i ...

, ''Deadline'' featured a mix of

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

and written articles aimed at adult readers. ''Deadline'' sat at the forefront of the wave of British comics anthologies for mature audiences that included ''

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

'', ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' and ''

Toxic! ''Toxic!'' was a British comics, British comic that was published weekly from March 28 to October 24, 1991, by Apocalypse Ltd, with a total of 31 issues. History ''Toxic!'' was the idea of Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill (comics), Kevin O'Neill, Mike ...

'', and had a cultural influence beyond the comics world, most notably via its breakout star

Tank Girl Tank Girl is a British comic created by Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett. It first appeared in print in 1988 in the British comics magazine ''Deadline (magazine), Deadline'', and then in the solo comic book series ''Tank Girl' ...

. ''Deadline'' was published by Deadline Publications Ltd.

History

The magazine's origins lie in the earlier publication ''Strange Days'', an anthology title created by Ewins,

Brendan McCarthy Brendan McCarthy is a British artist and designer who has worked for comic books, film and television. He co-wrote the film '' Mad Max: Fury Road''. He is the brother of Jim McCarthy. Life and career Early life and work Brendan McCarthy was ...

and

Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', ''Revol ...

. Much of the non-strip content centred on alternative and indie music. Coupled with the subversive nature of many of the comic strips, the magazine had a distinctive

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

ethos and post-punk sensibility. The magazine was owned and financed by Tom Astor (grandson of

Nancy Astor Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor was born in Danville, Virginia and rai ...

), and initially edited by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins before transferring editorship to Dave Elliott, then Si Spencer and finally

Frank Wynne Frank Wynne (born 1962) is an Irish literary translator and writer. Biography Born in County Sligo in the west of Ireland, Frank Wynne worked as a comics editor at Fleetway and later at comic magazine '' Deadline''. He worked for a time at ...

(a former staff member of ''

'' and subsequently translator of

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas on 26 February 1956) is a French author of novels, poems, and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker, and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. H ...

). Alongside original material, Elliott and Wynne also introduced reprints of American

alternative comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

such as '' Love and Rockets'',

Bob Burden Bob Burden is an American comic book creator, comic book artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''Flaming Carrot Comics'' and the ''Mystery Men''. Early life Burden was born the eldest of three siblings in Buffalo, New York. His fath ...

's Flaming Carrot and

Evan Dorkin Evan Dorkin (born April 20, 1965) is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books ''Milk and Cheese'' and ''Dork'', the latter of which features his comic '' Eltingville''. His comics often poke fun at fandom ...

strips such as '' Milk and Cheese''. Elliott also arranged for content from the magazine to be reprinted in the US by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

as ''Deadline USA''. ''Deadline'' enjoyed the patronage of those who would not normally purchase comics and the support of several key bands of the time, with Blur making regular appearances in the ''

'' strips (''Tank Girl'' artist

Jamie Hewlett Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born 3 April 1968) is a British comic book artist and illustrator. He is the co-creator of the comic book ''Tank Girl'' with Alan Martin (writer), Alan Martin and the virtual band Gorillaz, alongside Blur (band), Blur ...

was good friends with Blur's

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

), and covers including

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a comedy film by Millicen ...

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

Carter USM Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (also known as Carter USM or simply Carter) were an English indie rock band formed in 1987 by singer Jim "Jim Bob" Morrison and guitarist Les " Fruitbat" Carter. They made their name with a distinctive style ...

and the

Senseless Things Senseless Things were an England, English pop punk band, formed in 1986 in London. The band released four studio albums and achieved two UK Singles Chart, UK Top 20 hit singles before splitting up in 1995. Senseless Things reformed in 2017 to p ...

. However, the commercial failure of the ''

'' film and the crossing over of the alternative scene into the mainstream (around the time of

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

, a movement it had helped to champion) saw the magazine eventually fold at the end of 1995. In the late 2000s, Alan Grant edited the title ''Wasted'', which owed much to the style and ethos of ''Deadline'' a decade and a half earlier.

Comic strips published in ''Deadline'' (selected)

* ''

'', created by the young team of writer Alan Martin and artist

* ''Johnny Nemo'' by

and

* ''Wired World'', by

Philip Bond Philip John Bond (born 11 July 1966) is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on '' Deadline'' magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. ...

* ''Planet Swerve'', by Alan Martin and

Glyn Dillon Glyn Dillon (born 1971About: Glyn Dillon
, SelfMadeHero) is a British costume designer, as well ...

* ''Hugo Tate'', by Nick Abadzis * ''Cheeky Wee Budgie Boy'', created and written by Jon Beeston, and drawn by Beeston and Philip Bond * ''Timulo'', by D'Israeli * ''A-Men'', by Shaky Kane * ''Space Boss'', by Shaky Kane * ''Fireball'' by Jamie Hewlett * ''Exit'' by Nabiel Kanan * several early works by Al Columbia * ''Box City'', ''Ruby Chan'' by Rachael Ball

References

Notes

Sources

* * {{refend

External links

Tank-Girl.com
(official website of ''Tank Girl'')
Online version of the Deadline strip ''Sadist''
1988 comics debuts British underground comics Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1988 Magazines disestablished in 1995 Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct English-language magazines