Thrill-Power Overload: The First Forty Years: Revised, updated and expanded!

by David Bishop, Karl Stock

The definitive history of the most influential British comic ever!

From 2000AD's humble and rocky beginnings to its current position as the Galaxy’s Greatest comic, Thrill-Power Overload charts the incredible history of this ground-breaking comic. With exclusive interviews, hundreds of illustrations andrarely-seen artwork, former 2000 AD editor, David Bishop and journalist Karl Stock, guide the reader through four decades of action, adventure, excitement and the occasional editorial nightmare!

Told by thepeople who were there, this is the definitive history of the comic that launched a thousand talents including legends such as John Wagner, Pat Mills,Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Carlos Ezquerra, Brian Bolland, Dave Gibbons, MickMcMahon, Grant Morrison, Kevin O'Neill, Simon Bisley and continues with 21stCentury breakthrough talents such as Jock, Rob Williams, Andy Diggle, Al Ewing,Henry Flint, Frazer Irving - and many many more.

Unfiltered,uncensored, and with remarkable frankness, Thrill-Power Overload demonstrateshow 2000 AD’s creators went on to change not only British comics, but also theAmerican comic book industry and its multi-billion dollar movie franchises.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

David James Bishop is a New Zealand screenwriter and author. He was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000.

He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.

In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.

In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.

Reviews

[Tom Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

More collegiate than I remembered from the first edition, an impression perhaps created by reading chunks of Pat Mills’ fewer-holds-barred memoir first. David Bishop - very much a villain of Mills’ highly partisan book - has the tricky job here of writing a comprehensive history of a comic he edited during one of the phases that gets most flak. For the most part he does a very good job, outlining the structural factors that contributed to 2000AD’s decline in the 90s - company policies mandating that everything commissioned is run, for instance, which meant that a productive but awful writer like Michael Fleisher could clog the comic’s gears for years. There have been plenty of dodgy creative decisions, too, of course, and the book doesn’t try and gloss over them.

For anyone writing about 2000AD’s stories this is invaluable, as Bishop (and Karl Stock, who takes over for the last 10 years of the history) manages to mention almost everything. Magical for completists and long term fans, but sacrificing the central story with its many crises and near-disasters leading to very real happily ever after: after Rebellion buys 2000AD, saving the comic, the behind the scenes drama stops.

Rebellion’s current identity as a kind of British comics heaven, and 2000AD’s longevity producing generally high quality SF strips for a small but steady fanbase, are wonderfully commendable developments but not quite as exciting as the first half of the comic’s history. Stock gets plenty of detail from creators, and plenty of rueful admissions of early blunders from inexperienced droids, but the tail end of the book is a lot of “and then we started this story and the fans loved it/couldn’t stand it/were divided” stories. Still, it’s a celebration and a resource with the skeleton of a great story in there, and for all my grousing here, that’s the right way round.

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

2000ad is always been part of my comics' life from issue 1. Who would have thought it could survive as longs as it has, but that has been the strength of its readers and creators.