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       'If it takes off, as it should, this could be
        the most important comic of the decade'
                                                          - Time out 1988
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    Crisis was Fleetway's politically charged publication from 1988, which dared to
    drag mainstream British comics kicking and screaming into maturity. At least,
    that was the plan. It was launched as an off-shoot from '2000ad' and sported
    the tag-line '2000ad presents...' above its title, and several of that comic's
    artists and writers let their imaginations run loose on the new publication.

    For the first fourteen issues, readers were presented with two big strips.
    Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra's 'Third World War' focused on a student, Eve,
    who is forcibly enlisted and thrown into the melee of a multi-national war against
    poverty. Incredible to see this comic strip tackling a subject that now, a decade
    -or-more later, is the center of attention around the world. Then there was 'New
    Statesmen', by John Smith and Jim Baikie. This one focused on new genetic
    'supermen', known as Optimen, engineered to be the ultimate super-weapons.
    Again, genetic reasearch is one of the new millenium's main points of political
    debate, is it not?

       
    
    More top strips followed from some equally-top talent. There was 'Troubled Souls',
    by Garth Ennis and John McCrae which was set in Belfast, and Ennis teamed
    with Warren Pleece to give us 'True Faith', which looked at religion and belief
    through modern young eyes. 'Third World War' returned for 'Book II' and 'Book III' 
    and by the end of the comic's second year we even had Grant Morrison's
    'The New Adventures of Hitler' to stimulate debate and discussion. 
    
    After issue 49, Fleetway decided to adapt 'Crisis' in to a new monthly format.
    Now we were presented with selections of stand-alone strips each month,
    as opposed to those on-going tales. 'Crisis' was no comic now, rather it
    became an underground magazine, relying on its creative talent to draw
    in the punters. Sadly, it was wound up after just fourteen more issues.

    'Crisis' certainly had the talent available, so where did it fail, exactly?
    Well, it certainly didn't embrace its readership. From the very first issue
    readers were simply dropped into the strips with ne'er an explanation and
    the most scant of editorial prologues. There wasn't even a welcoming page
    from the creative team, celebrating this new fortnightly title and setting out
    its aims. The comic appeared to be preaching to the pre-converted. Indeed,
    a year down the line it still lurked half-heartedly in the shadows on newsagents
    shelves, waiting to be 'discovered' by a wider readership who probably didn't
    know it was there for them. And worse, when they did eventually pick it
    up, they must have felt they were arriving late to a party to which they
    were never really invited in the first place!

    Presentation aside, this comic was certainly a brave stab at something
    mature, and it should be applauded for drawing new talent out of the
    underground and on to the periphery of mainstream success, and equally,
    allowing established artists and writers to bring new themes and darker 
    subtexts in to Britain's newsagents. One suspects it opened the door to
    the likes of Vertigo; DC Comics' more sophisticated British cousin which
    launched back in the 1990s. But 'Crisis's failure to engage the masses
    was a crying shame, because the quotes and reviews were actually right:  
    It could have become the most important comic of the decade...
     
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      On the web


       2000ad Online
       http://www.2000adonline.com/index.php3?zone=covers&page=crisis       
       Rebellion keep the 'Crisis' memories alive with this splendid covers page.
       Every edition is here, handsomely scanned and presented...

       Crisis - a 2000ad publication
       http://members.fortunecity.com/ukko/crisis.htm
       Chronicling the 'Crisis' history here from birth to death. There are
       details of all the strips and developments along the title's timeline...

       a Crisis page
       http://www.bry.fast.co.za/~stuartm/rave/cypunx/comix/crisis.html
       All the developments with the title are identified here, together with
       strip credits and a smattering of small scans too...