Whatever Happened To "Helium"?

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

I have absolutely no memory of Helium whatsoever. So- to the box of Meg floppies! (Knew they'd be useful for something).

SBT

[The Adventurer]

Barney only lists one but I swear there was a second book of Helium in the Prog not that long after book 1 aired. Am I making this up??

You're probably thinking about the AMPNEY CRUCIS INVESTIGATES story that partly took place in a world either very similar, or literally the same one (this is Edginton after all) as Helium. It came out very close together I think.

[Funt Solo]

Helium
(1934-1945)
Script: Ian Edginton, Art: D'Israeli, Letters: Ellie De Ville

Giant sky-ships ply their trade above an expanse of poison gas that has covered old England: but something lurks below! Another ripping yarn from Edginton and D'Israeli: it's full of action set pieces that never let us rest for too long. Each episode layers in another facet of this strange, mostly unexplained world - be it another faction, or a revelation of a character's mysterious past. Wonderful and creative, it leaves us begging for a second series.

[Funt Solo]

Ampney Crucis Investigates The Entropy Tango (1812.5-1822)
Script: Ian Edginton
Art: Simon Davis
Letters: Ellie De Ville
We're well and truly down the rabbit hole now.  Ampney is perhaps in an alternative reality, but possibly it's just an altered reality where he hasn't altered.  There are friendly martians (like from War of the Worlds, but passive), cyborg cultists and assassins, and possessed relatives attempting to resurrect a long-dead god-race. 

It's a lot of fun, a little confusing, and opens up more threads than it closes.  It doesn't have an ending, which is a downside in a story.  Ampney, perhaps quite sensibly, forgets all about it.  As always, beautifully painted:

[The Adventurer]

I can't believe Helium ran five years ago. I really can't believe the last Ampney was seven going on eight. Dang.

EDIT: I think Ampney visited the world of Helium in the 2nd to last story, The English Assassin, NINE years ago.

[broodblik]

I also thing it is more to do with Ian Edginton that gets bored with doing the same character. In the podcast he actually said it is better to create something new and fail then continuing with a character that treading water.

[The Adventurer]

I also thing it is more to do with Ian Edginton that gets bored with doing the same character. In the podcast he actually said it is better to create something new and fail then continuing with a character that treading water.

Honestly, that's why I think Edginton. He just writes so many fun ideas. His works have always been a staple of my reading since I started in 2004.

In that time he's written...

Red Seas
Leviathan
American Gothic
Detonator X
Stone Island
Stickleback
Ampney Crucis Investigates
Brass Sun
Helium
Kingmaker
Scarlet Traces

He's like Dan Abnett, he just... has a lot of stories and concepts in him. A surplus even. And I get excited when I see any of these strips return or a new one come down the pipe.

[SmallBlueThing(Reborn)]

How the flippity flackity floppity did I miss Helium? I've just read the whole of the series in the Meg #390 floppy, and can only assume I must have been going through a bit of a funny turn when it ran in the prog and skipped it.

Because that was great! And now I so want another series. Why hasn't there been another one? When is another one? I want another one.

SBT

[Woolly]

Why hasn't there been another one?

See Ian Edgington, above.
Tharg should put a 'No new stuff til you finish the older stuff' clause on him!

[The Adventurer]

Why hasn't there been another one?

See Ian Edgington, above.
Tharg should put a 'No new stuff til you finish the older stuff' clause on him!

Its probably not 100% him, I suspect artist availability plays a large role.