Product Description

The A.B.C. Warriors - Hammerstein, Joe Pineapples, Mongrol, Mek-Quake, Blackblood, Deadlock and Ro-Jaws - have been summoned by Nemesis the Warlock, a co-zealot in Deadlock's Khaos-worshipping religion, for a very special task. They must defy the plans of Nemesis' crazed - and recently deceased - enemy, Tomas de Torquemada - and fight their way past his minions to prevent the end of time itself, and save the galaxy! But, as usual, the Warriors' idisyncratic personalities get in the way. with Deadlock his usual unfathomable self, Blackblood with a knife ready for everyones' backs, and Hammerstein...well, it seems that Hammerstein's fallen in love!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #703369 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

About the Author
Pat Mills has written countless comics stories, many for 2000 AD, including Judge Dredd, Slaine and A.B.C. Warriors. He also created Marshal Law. Simon Bisley shot to fame through his work at 2000 AD, and was artist on the bestselling Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham. He is currently preparing new strips for Atomeka Press and Coolbeansworld.

Customer Reviews

The ABC Warriors Are Back - Spread The Word!
Way back in 1987 this awesome story was published in 2000 AD- its just as good today in a lush graphic novel. This monster comic book is a good size and the art is reproduced perfectly.

The comic is superb- a highly imaginitive and intelligent story from the amazing Pat Mills that incorporates extremely human psychology (irony!) and a magnificent level of creativity. The story is a parallel to the Nemesis the Warlock sequences and takes place in their past and present (kind of). The story is fairly complex and punctuated by the characteristic mayhem of the ABC Warriors.

For those not in the know the ABC Warriors are a band of war-robots of varying ages (centuries in all cases) seemingly destined to fight for causes that aren't there own for eternity- the ABC stands for Atomic, Bacterial, Chemical- they are resistant to all three forms of assault. Each has a highly distinct personality- in Black Hole these come across stronger than ever before and leads to serious plot effects and changes of direction. The reader is treated to a resume on the past of some of the warriors- even the most `innocent' of them has a very dark history. Their mission draws on all of these `bad vibes', resulting in warping patterns of `khaos' across time.
The Warriors encounter other war-machines and more bizarre creatures and people on their mission- the greatest threat often none more than themselves.

Pat Mills has an excellent knack for catchy dialogue and this work features some of his best one-liners yet, as well as some superb monologues and reveries. None of the dialogue feels forced and the Warriors always seem not quite real in their behaviour- they are evolving into a human-like state of mind but are still, fundamentally, machines. Whole personalities are drawn in a few panels, that fit in easily and effectively with the long-established characters of the Warriors. A new and unusual Warrior is introduced in the form of Terr-1. Read the book and discover why- you may not look at recycling in quite the same way again though!

The artwork brought ABC Warriors to a new level back in '87 and it is still staggeringly good- two artists drew this book. The now legendary Simon Bisley and the sadly overlooked SMS.

Bisley's work is outstanding making extensive use of heavy contrast- his unique presntation of the various androids and othe robots is inspired. Each machine is structured roughly like a human (in varying degrees) but sculpted from wires, tubes and other parts. The result is a convincing and surreal set of chromed bodybuilders with guns! Bisley's art has an incredible dynamic flow to it- each motion and action leaps off the page, registering raw power at every frame. The art also features his characteristic graffiti (often a bit too self indulgent, but often funny) and tendency to seem to become bored: the quieter sections of the story that he has drawn are often much less inspired than the dramatic ones. Incredibly gory too (in a bolts and wires-tearing kind of way).

SMS' art is equally good but far less of instant impact- Simon Bisley spawned a host of imitators (and still does) with the sheer vibrant energy in his images. SMS' art is just as effective but considerably more subtle. His pages don't have anywhere near the same `oomph' that drives action into the face of the reader but they do have a tremendous complexity and depth. The sheer beauty of the `Art-Deca' buildings he portrays is astounding- as is the incredible scale and detail incorporated into them. Other exceptional areas include places outside- fields of waving grass and flowers. Considering the art is all black and white the colours nearly fly at you in your imagination.

The only drawback is that whilst both artists are great their styles are so different that their sections of the book don't always sit well with each other- the appearances of the Warriors can vary wildly.

Overall a great book that stands out magnificently on its own, and is even better as part of the Nemesis the Warlock canon (ironically you can take it or leave it as part of `ABC Warriors' as its set so far in the future of the original stories). An action-packed, exciting and intriguing science fantasy adventure. Any scifi fan should buy this book- it is unreservedly recommended.

Brilliantly original story...
For starters I would like to agree with much of what was said in the first review of this novel. This book is sort of abstracted from much of the ABC warriors as a reader of early 2000AD might know them, but does tie in with the Nemesis storyline and is a nice addition to those stories. However as far as the graphic novels currently in print go; this is essentially the middle story of the trilogy with the Khronicals following on from this. Although saying that, there is a big chunk of stories from the Medusa Wars (before this) that isn't currently available.
This is a good stand-alone graphic novel, if you don't know the characters you can pick it up quickly enough. It goes well with 'Nemesis: Death to all Aliens' as well as the 'Khronicals of Khaos' which are both available on Amazon.
Lots of original ideas, great iconic characters and some excellent artwork. It's like Dungeons and Dragons meets The Terminator in a British accent.