The Galaxy's Greatest Comic Gets an All-Star Comedy Cast
Published: Thursday 21st January 2021
Where would British storytelling be without 2000AD? Some of our most fantastical minds have passed through its pages: Alan Moore (Watchmen, V For Vendetta), Neil Gaiman (Good Omens, Sandman), Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys), Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl, Gorillaz), plus newer talents like Alex de Campi and Al Ewing. It's outrageously influential.
The self-styled Galaxy's Greatest Comic - launched in 1977 and still edited by the legendary alien, Tharg - has always boasted a dark satirical humour across its varied weekly strips, from Judge Dredd's worryingly familiar dystopia to the one-and-done Future Shocks, a sort of sci-fi Inside No. 9 where numerous big creatives started out.
Now those latter strips are getting a Hitchhikers'-style audio series: Future Shocks Radio, for subscribers. Behind it all is the multi-skilled comedy Jedi, Nathaniel Tapley (who's not from near-Betelgeuse, like Tharg, but close enough. Chelmsford). The show's credits boast a bunch of other fine comics too - Al Murray, Desiree Burch, Rufus Hound, etc - either acting of writing.
It's turned out to be quite a test for Tapley as the world went seriously sci-fi along the way, but like the comic, they're prevailing. Zarjaz! As Tharg likes to say.
How did this project come about, Nathaniel - it sounds quite a logistical challenge?
Future Shocks Radio grew out of my love of anthology shows and particularly old-time radio anthology shows.
In 2019 I went to [2000AD owners] Rebellion convinced that bringing Future Shocks to a new medium could bring them to a new audience, and - with the boom in audio that's happening at the moment - that this was an ideal time to bring Tharg to people's ears.
Unfortunately, the next year the world broke and we had to rethink pretty much every aspect of how we'd produce these audio dramas.
Rather than all getting together in a studio with engineers, we had to train all the actors to be their own sound engineers, using whatever equipment they had to hand. So that side of it became much more challenging, as it became clear that we were going to be producing these in lockdown.
What brought you into the 2000AD orbit, personally? Were you a fan anyway?
I've always been a comics fan, and 2000AD has always been a part of that. One of the things I found intimidating about 2000AD at times, though, was the sense that I'd buy an issue and then find I was reading part eight of one story and part two of another with no context for either, which I found very frustrating as a child.
That's why I loved Future Shocks from such an early age: they were a way in, something you could read and understand despite never having read the comic before. As such they were always the bits I looked forward to and sought out.
You've tapped up some top comedy talent to appear, too?
We've got a great cast of comics on board. Al Murray will be playing an Australian alien and a swashbuckling hero; Lizzie Roper gives some great performances as ALL SORTS OF THINGS; Rufus Hound plays a man turning into a car and a Nazi scientist; Ruth Bratt plays Queen Elizabeth I; Steve Nallon is Maggie Thatcher.
Desiree Burch is a conspiracy theorist who might just have stumbled on the truth; Tony Way is Heinrich Himmler and a robot repairman; Gbemi Ikumelo is a randy alien of indeterminate physiognomy; and we've got many, many more.
Did you actively approach 2000AD fans for it then?
I didn't focus on getting fans of the comic because I wanted people's performances to be really fresh and new. It was my job to make sure the adaptation was respectful of the source material, it was theirs to bring new life to it. The most important thing was whether the person was funny. The second most-important thing was whether they were available...
People like John-Luke Roberts are doing scripts too - how does that process work?
We've got a bunch of great writers - some new to radio, some old hands - on board. The process was fairly simple: we gave people a copy of the original strip they were adapting and discussed ways they might take it. We then encouraged them to go wild, knowing we could always pull it back if we drifted too far from the source material.
That was one of the advantages of having such strong initial material to work with: we could always come back to it. We then batted drafts backwards and forwards for a while before starting casting. Everyone brought such amazing ideas to the stories, often finding new, unexplored angles, that we ended up with some really exciting pieces. I can't wait for you to hear them...
How important is 2000AD generally, as a hub for UK talent?
Over the last 40 years, 2000AD has been a vital proving ground for new talent, and an unmatched place for the UK to find creative voices in comics. The fact that so many of the people who wrote and drew have become so influential both in the comics industry and beyond have made Future Shocks and 2000AD a vital cultural touchstone for the country's creative work over the last half a century.
Is 2000AD much more than a physical comic now, with stuff like this happening?
Yes, 2000AD - and with it the Treasury of British Comics - is much more than just a physical comic. It's also a key part of our psyche: it's got a unique combination of the cynical and the fantastic. From the collected editions to movies to board games to merchandise and now into the world of audio drama, there isn't (or shouldn't be) a medium where you can't get your fix of Zarjaz thrills.
Can you see there being a Marvel-style cinematic universe one day?
Personally, I'd love there to be a wider 2000AD universe, encompassing all of the great stuff from the Treasury of British Comics: not only could you have audio adaptations and original stories from Megacity One or Strontium Dog or the ABC Warriors, but imagine listening to creepy tales from The Thirteenth Floor before turning on the Animated Adventures of Nemesis the Warlock and settling down with a Scream and Misty anthology show. There are such exciting possibilities.
How is Tharg to work for? More of a Stan Lee, or an evil world-conquering Mekon?
Tharg is a wise, fair and benevolent editor, both compassionate and incredibly good-looking.
He also has my family in a secure facility near Oxford, so I hope that will do?
For details of Future Shocks Radio, head to the 2000AD subscription page
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