Invasion! (2000 AD)
Invasion! | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
2000 AD | |
Schedule | Weekly |
Publication date | 26 February 1977 – 11 February 1978 |
Creative team | |
Created by | Pat Mills and Jesús Blasco |
Written by | various, mainly Gerry Finley-Day |
Artist(s) | various (see below) |
Invasion! was a series created by
The series introduced the character of Bill Savage, a classic anti-authoritarian character of the type which Mills is best known for. A prequel, Disaster 1990, was published in 1979. The series continued in sequels under the title Savage, beginning in 2004, by Pat Mills and Charlie Adlard.
Alternate historical background
In the alternate recent history established in Savage, the
By 1999,
Synopsis
Invasion!
Set in the year 1999, the first part of the series depicts Western Europe and the
Bill Savage, an
At the end of the series, Savage is tasked with taking the heir to the throne, Prince John, to safety in Canada. He smuggled the prince into North America on a US cargo ship; as Volgan agents murdered most of the crew trying to stop him, the series ended with Savage believing the United States would now get involved against the Volgans.
The Volgan War (AKA the Fourth Oil War) became part of a connecting back story for a number of 2000 AD series including ABC Warriors.
Disaster 1990
A year after the first series ended, Savage returned in a prequel set nine years earlier (but still over a decade in the future) called Disaster 1990. In this story most of Britain has been flooded by an environmental catastrophe, and the survivors fight each other. This disaster was not mentioned in the original series or in the sequels.
Savage
In the sequel series Savage, the Volgans are still in command in 2004, but are opposed by
Despite the non-aggression agreement with the United States, American small arms and other weapons are used by resistance movements. Savage also has a CIA contact, and the two share information against the Volgans. Any major activity, however, is not taken and occupied Britain does not seem a high priority. (They would also be caught off-guard and be left out in the 2004 uprising.)
Under the direction of Savage, the resistance groups almost force the Volgans to withdraw from Britain in 2004, though they manage to cling to power and send renewed troop numbers in. Subsequently, Savage assassinated Vashkov. Consequently, State Security agents retaliate by murdering Savage's brother Tom after discovering he had secretly written stories that would be embarrassing to the regime. Savage and his sister Cassie kill all of the agents responsible, only it is discovered that Savage's former-MI6 resistance contact had been behind it and was secretly a collaborator. Savage then kills him and his security team and posts a copy of his brother's work on the Internet. As a result, the resistance, alongside the population, rises up against the Volgan "peacekeepers" and liberates most of Southern England.
Book Four, however, opens with the country re-occupied after 2006, when a fresh surge of troops is deployed. By now, people in Britain are coming to accept Volgan rule. The United States is secretly outfitting resistance units with American weaponry and preparing to use Ireland as a staging ground for a liberation. Savage prevents the Volgans from causing a fake terrorist atrocity to drive off the Americans and by 2009 the Allied forces are openly bombing Volgan targets in London. American forces use an EMP bomb on London, wiping out most electronics and reducing it to a 1984 level of technology.
2009 also sees the liberation of Britain begin, with army robots being used as the advance wave at Fishguard. The Volgans develop a teleport machine and send their troops directly into American bases to kill the commanding officers. The teleport base is destroyed by Savage and his resistance group. In response to the ABC Warriors, the Volgans create their own battle robots called Mark 1 Blackblood robots, but most are destroyed in their secret underground factory before they can be deployed.
In 2010 Mark Two Hammersteins are deployed and enable the resistance to retake Cardiff, Bristol and the Oil Refinery Port - Britain's newly discovered oil reserves are the third largest in the world and the reason why the Volgans invaded in 1999. To prevent the Volgans from retaking London they destroy all bridges except Waterloo which becomes a focal point in the battle. The Tolpuddle Gang, who have fought with Savage's unit, believe that they are being betrayed and abandon Savage at Waterloo bridge, although his unit successfully defend the bridge without the Tolpuddle Gang, despite them being proved correct when resistance war robots turn on them.
Six months after the Volgans have surrendered Britain is about to become a Republic after the king abdicated, and Savage has no need to fight anymore, so returned to his sister's cafe. During a protest over jobs Hammersteins fire into the crowd and in the confusion Savage is kidnapped by collaborators, one of whom turns out to be his brother Jack, previously thought dead, but now a cyborg taking orders from the Volgans.
During a parade both Hammersteins and the cyborgs attack the public, but are defeated by Savage, his unit, and the regular army. One of the casualties of the fight is Howard Quartz who has his brain saved, and placed into a robotic body, thus becoming a cyborg himself.
In 2015, Savage lives undercover in Volgan occupied Germany. Hearing about a powerful but unknown artefact called "The Thousand Year Stare" Savage tracks Wolfie Vos, a member of the Edelweiss Pirates, and the only person who knows what and where it is. Savage is joined by Nika Volodina a disillusioned member of the secret police, and the two track down Vos who initially intends to kill Savage to appease the Volgans and reduce the risk against his own gang. Vos changes his mind when they are attacked anyway by the Volgans, and Savage and Volodina use the opportunity to escape both Volgans and the gang.
The weapons of Bill Savage
When Invasion! started, Bill Savage was armed with a
The various firearms Bill Savage uses in the Invasion! and Savage series comics, besides his tried and trusted double-barreled side-by-side shotgun, are:
- Various types of AK rifles the Volgan Army uses
- The Beretta Model 92FSpistol (as seen in Savage: Taking Liberties, in which he used this in conjunction with his pump-action shotgun)
- The Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun
- The Kalashnikov AKSU-74assault rifle (as seen in the recent Savage series)
- The L85series of 5.56.mm rifles)
- The pump-action shotgun(the pump-action shotgun Bill Savage uses resembles the Remington Model 870)
Soviets / Volgans
The Volgans were originally intended to be the Soviets, but IPC's management forced a last-minute change to the fictional "Volgan Republic of Asia" for fear of offending the Soviets.[2] Savage portrays the Volgans as Russians who have changed their name after a successful 1991 Soviet coup d'état.
Bibliography
- Invasion! (all episodes written by Gerry Finley-Day, except episodes 1 and 7 written by Pat Mills, 22 by Nick Allen, 34 by Nick Flynn, 36 by Chris Lowder; art by Jesús Blasco, Pat Wright, Juan Sarompas, Ian Kennedy, Mike Dorey, Carlos Pino, Eric Bradbury, Luis Collado, in 2000 AD #1-51, 1977–78)
- Disaster 1990 (written by Gerry Finley-Day, art by Carlos Pino, Mike White and Alan Willow, in 2000 AD #119-139, 1979)
- Savage (all episodes written by Pat Mills):
- "Book I: Taking Liberties" (art by Charlie Adlard, in 2000 AD #1387-1396, 2004)
- "Book II: Out of Order" (art by Charlie Adlard, in 2000 AD #1450-1459, 2005)
- "Book III: Double Yellow" (art by Charlie Adlard, in 2000 AD #1526-1535, 2007)
- "Book IV: The Guv'nor" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #1577-1586, 2008)
- "Book V: 1984" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #1632-1641, 2009)
- "Book VI: Crims" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #1685-1699, 2010)
- "Book VII: Secret City" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #1740-1749, 2011)
- "Book VIII: Rise Like Lions" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD Prog 2013 and #1813-1823, 2012–2013)
- "Book IX: Grinders" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD Prog 2015 and #1912-1923, 2015–2016)
- "Book X: The Märze Murderer" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #2001-2010, 2016)
- "Book XI: The Thousand-Year Stare" (art by Patrick Goddard, in 2000 AD #2061-2071, 2017–18)
Collected editions
The titles have been collected into trade paperbacks:
- Invasion (March 2007,
- Savage: Taking Liberties (June 2007,
- Savage: The Guv'nor (July 2012, ISBN 1-781080-40-2)
Footnotes
- ^ Prog 1450, Savage Book 2 Part one
- Thrill Power Overload by David Bishop; Judge Dredd Megazine#4.09
- ^ 2000 AD books – Invasion! Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 2000AD Online – reprint zone
- ^ 2000 AD books – Savage – Taking Liberties Archived 2008-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 2000AD Online – reprint zone
References
External links
- Savage: Taking Liberties review, Comics Bulletin
- Invasion! review at 2000 AD Review