''Skreemer'' is a six-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

, written by

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 ...

with art by

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 ...

. The first issue was published by American company

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

in May 1989.

Synopsis

The story is set in New York, thirty-eight years after the fall of civilisation. The central character is Veto Skreemer, an imposing giant in an age when giants are near-obsolete. His story is narrated by Peter Finnegan as he looks back on both Veto's life and how it intersects with the lives of the Finnegan family, contrasting the formers' rise to power with the latter's struggle to survive.

Inspiration

, in the foreword to the book, explains that ''Skreemer'' has two distinct inspirations. The first is gangster films, specifically ''

Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' () is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture produced by The Ladd Company, Emb ...

'' and ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe. Starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, the film, set in London, weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, inc ...

'', and the second is

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

''.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a trade paperback: * ''Skreemer'' (169 pages, 2002,

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...

, ,

, )Trade details at DC
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Awards

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

: Won "Favourite Single or Continued Story US" Eagle Award

Notes

References

* * Comics by Peter Milligan {{DC-Comics-stub