John Smith (comics)

John Smith is a British comics writer best known for his work on 2000 AD and Crisis. His work is characterised by intricate, sometimes obscure plots and an interest in taboos and the occult. This is told in an elliptic, fractured narrative style reminiscent of Iain Sinclair or the cut-up technique of William S. Burroughs. Other notable influences include Michael Moorcock, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Alan Moore and Noel Coward.

Related Topics:
British - Comics - 2000 AD - Crisis - Occult - Iain Sinclair - Cut-up technique - William S. Burroughs - Michael Moorcock - Edgar Rice Burroughs - Alan Moore - Noel Coward

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Smith's best-known character is Devlin Waugh, a flamboyantly gay exorcist, assassin and vampire working for the Vatican of the future, co-created with artist Sean Phillips for the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Related Topics:
Devlin Waugh - Gay - Exorcist - Vampire - Vatican - Sean Phillips - Judge Dredd Megazine

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His earliest work was for D. C. Thomson's science fiction comic Starblazer in the mid-1980s. He wrote his first script for 2000 AD in 1986 and wrote the political superhero series New Statesmen for Crisis in 1988.

Related Topics:
D. C. Thomson - Science fiction - Starblazer - 1986 - Superhero - 1988

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many of his series for 2000 AD were tied into the same continuity, under the umbrella of Indigo Prime. Indigo Prime was a multi-dimensional organisation that policed reality, recruiting recently dead people as its agents. The climax of the series was Killing Time, in which agents Winwood and Cord pursued a demon that had hitched a ride on a Victorian time machine, one of the legitimate passengers of which turned out to be Jack the Ripper.

Related Topics:
Continuity - Jack the Ripper

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Other series for 2000 AD include Revere, a post-apocalyptic occult story with artist Simon Harrison and Firekind (1993), an anthropological science fiction story involving alien cultures and dragons, illustrated by Paul Marshall. He has also written Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd.

Related Topics:
Simon Harrison - Science fiction - Dragon - Paul Marshall - Rogue Trooper - Judge Dredd

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, he has written a fill-in on Hellblazer and an eight-part series called Scarab, which started out as a revamp of Dr. Fate.

Related Topics:
DC Comics - Vertigo - Hellblazer - Dr. Fate

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~