Earthside 8 has surfaced...

[Grant Goggans]

We did get confirmation from Roger Langridge this week that Alternity did go to print, and presumably contained the lost Mark Millar story, so it probably showed up at a few dealers' stalls at UKCAC.  Hopefully we can get a nice scan of the Mr. Elephant Head strip; unfortunately the owner of the comic says that he doesn't really have a nice scanner.

[The Corinthian]

I like the idea of the comic being themed like a televison station but my god those "editors" are embarassingly naff despite being designed by Hewlett...

They should have done what Starlord vetoed and made the editor a scantily-clad space babe.

[Emperor]

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/08/26/earthside-the-2000ad-for-kids-that-never-was/

[Emperor]

We did get confirmation from Roger Langridge this week that Alternity did go to print, and presumably contained the lost Mark Millar story, so it probably showed up at a few dealers' stalls at UKCAC.

I thought it worth quoting Grant's previous take on this:

What I did not know at the time was, of course, this was using up old material. Tracer and Canned Heat were "survivors" of a proposed anthology book called Earthside 8 which was in development in the early 90s and axed by the summer of 1993. The book was aimed at younger readers than those currently absorbing 2000 AD. After learning about Earthside 8, I thought for some time that Stone and Peart had completed three episodes of Tracer before the axe fell, the pilot and this two-parter, and 2000 AD just found what place they could to make a little back on the investment. However, in part two, Paul Peart's signature is clearly dated "95," so at least 18 months had to pass before the art was finished. Perhaps the scripts sat in a drawer for all that time, and 2000 AD went ahead and paid for an artist, since the script droid had been paid two years previously?

Earthside 8 was also meant to have featured Dinosty by Pat Mills and Clint Langley. As the artist had finished five episodes before the comic's cancellation, it was decided to bring all ten episodes to 2000 AD; this ran in progs 873 to 882 in early 1994. There was also a hitman story by Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra called The Burning Man. The pilot episode for that was used as filler in the 1994 2000 AD Yearbook.

According to David Bishop's Thrill Power Overload, other strips planned for Earthside 8, which was briefly renamed Alternity, included work by creators such as Mark Eyles, Brett Ewins and Roger Langridge. The one I actually want to see, just because of the train-wreck factor, was Billy Whisper, a story about a teenage US president, as imagined by Mark Millar. The same concept had been used in an incredibly entertaining and goofy DC title called Prez in the early '70s. The Joe Simon comic has been a cult classic for years, and inspired my favorite episode of Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Somehow, I cannot for the life of me imagine a comic worse than a Mark Millar take on Prez.

http://thrillpoweredthursday.blogspot.com/2008/06/21-i-cannot-imagine-comic-worse-than.html

I am now morbidly fascinated by tracking down Millar's story too.

Hopefully we can get a nice scan of the Mr. Elephant Head strip; unfortunately the owner of the comic says that he doesn't really have a nice scanner.

To keep everything joined up those scans are here:
http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,29827.0.html

[robocook]

Interesting to see the 'Earthside 8' title appear on Bleedingcool.com the other day.

This ebay listing may be worth a look.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300460850244#ht_2989wt_1133

[Emperor]

If anyone from here is bidding on that do let us know - I'd hate to think we were bidding against each other but I'd also like to make sure the copy stayed... close to home, as it were.

[SmallBlueThing]

Ive stuck the first bid on it. But as im expecting it to make triple figures, it's more so i get a notification of its final price, cos chances are i'll forget about it! So, bid away!
SBT

[maryanddavid]

If its anywhere near my pocket toward the end Ill throw a bid on it.

David

[Colin YNWA]

It certainly will be a nice thing to own and be very interesting to see if interest in this one catches fire.

[Albion]

I see the auction has ended. Was the winning bidder from here?

[Colin YNWA]

Went for £26. Given its rarity I thought it might have fetched more. Mind I guess it is a pretty niche item.

[strontium71]

I'm pleased to say that I managed to win this beaut. It came today and is in perfect condition - obviously been well looked after. Apologies to anyone here who bid and lost , I know what it's like to lose  , but rest assured it at least went to a fellow boarder.

[Emperor]

I'm pleased to say that I managed to win this beaut. It came today and is in perfect condition - obviously been well looked after. Apologies to anyone here who bid and lost , I know what it's like to lose  , but rest assured it at least went to a fellow boarder.

Hurrah!!

[SmallBlueThing]

Dont know how many bid, but i put the first tenner on, and went up to £14 (i think, it may have been £16), but didnt keep an eye on it, cos i honestly expected it to go over a hundred. I reckon you got a bargain! Glad it's stayed 'in house'.
SBT

[IndigoPrime]

I'm pleased to say that I managed to win this beaut. It came today and is in perfect condition - obviously been well looked after. Apologies to anyone here who bid and lost , I know what it's like to lose  , but rest assured it at least went to a fellow boarder.

Scan the bugger, sir. You know you want to!