Invasion 1984! - Wagner / Grant / Bradbury.
Were John Wagner and Alan Grant writing virtually every strip in every British comic in the 80s? Yes, apparently. Here’s another one. This alien invasion yarn ran in Battle just before I started reading the comic (possibly by a matter of weeks), so it was a new one on me. It has that trademark Wagner / Grant vicious streak in spades – Doomlord inevitably comes to mind – and a slightly perfunctory ending that suggests editorial said “Right, wrap it up there.” Nonetheless, it’s gloriously apocalyptic stuff - Glasgow even gets nuked early in the story. Bradbury’s art is very atmospheric – he’s great at the horrible skeletal (and slightly unfortunately named) alien ‘spooks’, he’s great at depicting horrific viruses, and he’s great at bringing a sense of realism to the mass destruction. However, I’m less convinced by his alien technology, particularly the spiky hover-tanks. A cracking read though, better than expected.