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Doomlord: The Deathlords of Nox
The second volume of Doomlord stories written and collected by Hibernia Comics. Collects the storyline "The Deathlords" from Eagle (vol 2) #79-93, the fourth run of the title and the first to be drawn rather than done as fumetti (a photo-story).
72 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Alan Grant
1,712 books144 followersAlan Grant was a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the creator of the character Anarky.
Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.
The pair eventually co-wrote Judge Dredd. They would work on other popular strips for the comic, including Robo-Hunter and Strontium Dog using the pseudonym T.B. Grover. Grant also worked on other people's stories, changing and adding dialogue, most notably Harry Twenty on the High Rock, written by Gerry Finley-Day. Judge Dredd would be Grant's main concern for much of the 1980s. Grant and Wagner had developed the strip into the most popular in 2000AD as well as creating lengthy epic storylines such as The Apocalypse War. Grant also wrote for other IPC comics such as the revamped Eagle.
By the late 1980s, Grant and Wagner were about to move into the American comic market. Their first title was a 12-issue miniseries called Outcasts for DC Comics. Although it wasn't a success, it paved the way for the pair to write Batman stories in Detective Comics from issue 583, largely with Norm Breyfogle on art duties across the various Batman titles Grant moved to. After a dozen issues, Wagner left Grant as sole writer. Grant was one of the main Batman writers until the late 1990s. The pair also created a four issue series for Epic Comics called The Last American. This series, as well as the Chopper storyline in Judge Dredd, is blamed for the breakup of the Wagner/Grant partnership. The pair split strips, with Wagner keeping Judge Dredd and Grant keeping Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. Grant and Wagner continue to work together on special projects such as the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover Judgement on Gotham. During the late 1980s, Grant experienced a philosophical transformation and declared himself an anarchist. The creation of the supervillain Anarky was initially intended as a vehicle for exploring his political opinions through the comic medium. In the following years, he would continue to utilize the character in a similar fashion as his philosophy evolved.
Grant's projects at the start of the 90s included writing Detective Comics and Strontium Dog, but two projects in particular are especially notable. The first is The Bogie Man, a series co-written by Wagner which was the pair's first venture into independent publishing. The second is Lobo, a character created by Keith Giffen as a supporting character in The Omega Men. Lobo gained his own four issue mini series in 1990 which was drawn by Simon Bisley. This was a parody of the 'dark, gritty' comics of the time and proved hugely popular. After several other miniseries (all written by Grant, sometimes with Giffen as co-writer), Lobo received his own ongoing series. Grant was also writing L.E.G.I.O.N. (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off) and The Demon (a revival of Jack Kirby's charac
Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.
The pair eventually co-wrote Judge Dredd. They would work on other popular strips for the comic, including Robo-Hunter and Strontium Dog using the pseudonym T.B. Grover. Grant also worked on other people's stories, changing and adding dialogue, most notably Harry Twenty on the High Rock, written by Gerry Finley-Day. Judge Dredd would be Grant's main concern for much of the 1980s. Grant and Wagner had developed the strip into the most popular in 2000AD as well as creating lengthy epic storylines such as The Apocalypse War. Grant also wrote for other IPC comics such as the revamped Eagle.
By the late 1980s, Grant and Wagner were about to move into the American comic market. Their first title was a 12-issue miniseries called Outcasts for DC Comics. Although it wasn't a success, it paved the way for the pair to write Batman stories in Detective Comics from issue 583, largely with Norm Breyfogle on art duties across the various Batman titles Grant moved to. After a dozen issues, Wagner left Grant as sole writer. Grant was one of the main Batman writers until the late 1990s. The pair also created a four issue series for Epic Comics called The Last American. This series, as well as the Chopper storyline in Judge Dredd, is blamed for the breakup of the Wagner/Grant partnership. The pair split strips, with Wagner keeping Judge Dredd and Grant keeping Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. Grant and Wagner continue to work together on special projects such as the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover Judgement on Gotham. During the late 1980s, Grant experienced a philosophical transformation and declared himself an anarchist. The creation of the supervillain Anarky was initially intended as a vehicle for exploring his political opinions through the comic medium. In the following years, he would continue to utilize the character in a similar fashion as his philosophy evolved.
Grant's projects at the start of the 90s included writing Detective Comics and Strontium Dog, but two projects in particular are especially notable. The first is The Bogie Man, a series co-written by Wagner which was the pair's first venture into independent publishing. The second is Lobo, a character created by Keith Giffen as a supporting character in The Omega Men. Lobo gained his own four issue mini series in 1990 which was drawn by Simon Bisley. This was a parody of the 'dark, gritty' comics of the time and proved hugely popular. After several other miniseries (all written by Grant, sometimes with Giffen as co-writer), Lobo received his own ongoing series. Grant was also writing L.E.G.I.O.N. (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off) and The Demon (a revival of Jack Kirby's charac
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 10, 2020
Brilliant,some monsterism and spacecraft
March 3, 2023
A good old fashioned uk comic from the 80's. My only wish is that someone to translate this into a tv show as was originally planned. More people need to discover the character of Doomlord
March 22, 2016
The first page of this volume brought back memories of one of my great childhood disappointments. I loved the Doomlord fumettis; they were genuinely terrifying for my nine year old self. A powerful alien who could take anyone’s place, who could disintegrate you with a flick of his finger, to whom death was a mere inconvenience and who let the only human who knew about him live out of pure amusement. The photographic nature of the strip chilled, taking away that small remove of unrealism that artwork gives. I stopped buying the Eagle when their budget meant they couldn’t support fumettis anymore and went to an all artwork comic on lower quality paper. I didn’t mind their strips (The Tower King, The House of Daemon and even the resurrected Dan Dare remain cherished memories) but there was something about Doomlord that meant it lost the charm it had for me when it moved to an artwork strip. It might also be that it was moving from the visceral SF horror thrills of that first story.
This collection gives a precis of the three stories presented as fumettis; setting up the background story before introducing the arc presented here. The story is a relatively simple one; after Vek has killed his fellow Servitor Zom to prevent him from destroying mankind the Dread Council of Nox send the Deathlords to assassinate Vek and destroy mankind. It’s therefore a simple on the run narrative with our continued existence as the prize. Any further details had faded over thirty plus years though. Would that childhood disappointment remain?
It wasn’t the epic wonder the fumettis had been but that childhood pique meant I’d missed out on a smart, funny strip. Alan Grant takes the opportunity offered by an all art strip to push Doomlord’s abilities and the scale of the story he can tell. Doomlord can now levitate, teleport and even transform into animals (the latter becoming a key plot point, including a deliciously absurd moment). The story includes motorway pile-ups, mass slaughter of dogs and people in a town encased in a force field and a plane crashing into a bridge on top of the usual deaths of people having their identity stolen – Vek’s the ostensible hero but his utilitarian philosophy with regard to individuals is singularly unappealing. All that’s leavened with a humour though – Doomlord gets to dress up as Father Christmas and pleads for the life of his human landlady with the merits of their wanting to take him to Butlin’s. This isn’t by any means a lost classic – the art is fine but not greatly memorable or expressive – but it’s a fine exercise in weekly episodic storytelling and indicates that the lack of reprints of British comics such as the revived Eagle (particularly compared to the US cultivation of its comics history) is not a quality issue. Indeed, with the number of creators moving to Marvel and DC from the early 1980s onward there’s a case that as a whole they’re essential to an understanding of modern comics.
This collection gives a precis of the three stories presented as fumettis; setting up the background story before introducing the arc presented here. The story is a relatively simple one; after Vek has killed his fellow Servitor Zom to prevent him from destroying mankind the Dread Council of Nox send the Deathlords to assassinate Vek and destroy mankind. It’s therefore a simple on the run narrative with our continued existence as the prize. Any further details had faded over thirty plus years though. Would that childhood disappointment remain?
It wasn’t the epic wonder the fumettis had been but that childhood pique meant I’d missed out on a smart, funny strip. Alan Grant takes the opportunity offered by an all art strip to push Doomlord’s abilities and the scale of the story he can tell. Doomlord can now levitate, teleport and even transform into animals (the latter becoming a key plot point, including a deliciously absurd moment). The story includes motorway pile-ups, mass slaughter of dogs and people in a town encased in a force field and a plane crashing into a bridge on top of the usual deaths of people having their identity stolen – Vek’s the ostensible hero but his utilitarian philosophy with regard to individuals is singularly unappealing. All that’s leavened with a humour though – Doomlord gets to dress up as Father Christmas and pleads for the life of his human landlady with the merits of their wanting to take him to Butlin’s. This isn’t by any means a lost classic – the art is fine but not greatly memorable or expressive – but it’s a fine exercise in weekly episodic storytelling and indicates that the lack of reprints of British comics such as the revived Eagle (particularly compared to the US cultivation of its comics history) is not a quality issue. Indeed, with the number of creators moving to Marvel and DC from the early 1980s onward there’s a case that as a whole they’re essential to an understanding of modern comics.
March 14, 2014
If your a fan of Alan Grant or the Eagle Comics then check this out. Well worth reading!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews