ABC Warriors: The Meknificent Seven

A.B.C. Warriors #1

by Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill (Illustrator), Brendan McCarthy (Illustrator)

The Volgan war has raged for years, spreading off of Earth and on to Mars. Now an Earth general has assembled a team of advanced robots, capable of withstanding Atomic, Bacterial or Chemical attack, to finally conquer the ‘devil planet.’ They are are the A.B.C. Warriors — and they’ve come to tame a planet. Spread the word! Plus this collection features a never collected before Alan Moore ABC Warriors short-story!!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1979

About the author

Pat Mills, born in 1949 and nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since.

His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw the book, the opening art was a bit overwhelming, It felt cluttered and I did not know any of the characters, Then I started reading the book and at about half way through I found that I really liked the art and the characters and the story, I guess it sort of sneaked up on me, The art is very nice but in black and white, I would love to see this boo with computer coloring added. This was a Good Read.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most entertaining part in this one was the art. It was so much better than the stories.

[John Bleasdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, wonderful character, I love Joe Pineapples and the Mess particularly. Some super art and pleasantly cynical satire. Spread the word.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Meknificent Seven is basically a continuation of the Volgan war, Or the beginning, I don't know, I'm not reading them in any particular order. Which is cool coz apart from the infrequent narrative overlaps, what you get is a easily followable narrative.
The overall objective here was to show us the assembly of the Meknificent seven. When the sTory starts off we meet usual suspect, Hammerstein and Joe Pineapples, plus a raggedy Happy Shrapnel.
Here, Hammerstein, Joe Pineapples and Happy plus a bunch of rookie robots take on VOLG. HQ. The warriors overrun the HQ.
From here, it's on to Hammerstein recruiting Mongrol. Then Deadlock, Blackblood and lastly Steelhorn, who after so many years of war has become a Pacifist Robot. Steelhorn goes to the demob center where he thinks he's going to be decommissioned and turned a civilian, but instead gets betrayed and melted down in the Fusion Furnace. He survives the furnace but he's destroyed he becomes 'The Mess'

The reason for the assembly is to lead a mission to Mars and colonize it really. Nothing new there, as far as ABC stories go.

VERDICT: Uhm, Pat Mills is a genius, but it doesn't show in this volume. I think I'm going to contradict myself for what I wrote earlier about the ABC warriors being a fairly followable narrative despite whichever order you read them in. I think The Meknificent Seven was part of the very earlier beginnings and having read some of the later stuff, I've somehow cheated myself out of surprising conclusions or worse suspense.
Either way, still cool to know where the story originates.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This compilation of several ABC Warriors comics from the old 2000AD title brought back memories of reading them in the 80s. The art is very raw but effective for the dark and apocalyptic content, possibly set in the same bleak universe as the more familiar Judge Dredd.

The storyline follows huge androids built to handle combat settings that humans cannot survive (Atomic, Biological, and Chemical Warriors - ABC) as they build a squad from various sources, including former enemies. The story arc is part of a long series but it is very wordy and the word balloons combine small print with a rough font, making it challenging to read at times.

Like most British fantasy and sci fi, it is incredibly dark and depressing, with little joy or happiness and virtually no real heroes in a miserable situation.

[Blake Petit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting post-apocalyptic comic about a world where robots are invented to take over the wars humans no longer want to fight. The first half of the book begins with three of the ABC (Atomic, Biological, Chemical) Warriors as they attempt to recruit four other robots on their team. Once assembled, about halfway through the book, they begin their real task -- bringing peace to the war-torn planet Mars. This was, of course, originally serialized in the classic British anthology 2000 AD, and went on for some time after the stories contained in this book, so it's not really a surprise that the story feels somewhat incomplete. It's an interesting book, though and brings us some early work from a few future comic superstars.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed book to me - I have incredibly fond memories of 2000AD while I was at uni in the early 90s and to me the ABC warriors was one I would eagerly look for in the next edition. Along with Dredd and Slaine, the ABC warriors epitomised the publication. However this is their early if not first incarnation - the artwork reflects this along with the story lines they used. Now to me this is a mixed blessing- I loved the storyline and yes nostalgia plays a huge part - but the artwork is not as refined or as flamboyant as I remember it in later prints. So yes a great read but not of my favourite ABC outings.

[AJW · Rating 3 out of 5]

The highlight for me was the artwork. This is my favourite period of McMahon's art and I think it still looks good over 30 years later. I enjoyed re-reading the story of Hammerstein recruiting 6 robot warriors to form a fierce squad of seven to rid Mars of criminal corporations. Even when I read these stories as a kid, I knew it was based on 'The Magnificent Seven', and that appealed to me and my mates in the playground. All in all, an enjoyable read. It's almost a four star rating from me, but not quite. But as I said, it's an enjoyable read with some great artwork.

[Doctor Action · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very promising. Whilst this is the first collection it feels pretty confident. Hammerstein had been around a while on Ro-Busters and the creators' enthusiasm and energy shines through. Clearly lots of background thought out with links to Nemesis too. I could have rated it a 4 if not for the horrible Ezquerra-drawn Golgotha story (I only really like him on Strontium Dog, tbh. His wobbly, rounded line style is particularly unsuitable here, IMO) and the boring George arc. Looking forward to more, though. Good fun and (mainly) great art.

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[Morbus Iff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of the ABCs, but still cuddly.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the recruitment aspect of the stories. Good the read the early adventures. 3.5 stars