Bad Company (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
-
For other use of the same name, see Bad company (disambiguation).
Bad Company is a story created for 2000 AD by Alan Grant and John Wagner but their initial story remained unpublished for over 16 years. Peter Milligan, along with regular collaborators Brett Ewins and Jim McCarthy, reworked the concept into the form that was finally seen in the magazine in the mid-eighties.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Humanity is at war with a strange alien species the Krool and young soldier Danny Franks is fighting on the planet Ararat, recruited by the renegades known as Bad Company after the destruction of his own platoon. As their name might suggest this is no ordinary group of soldiers, instead they are a collection of freaks and maniacs led by Kano, a Frankenstein-like monster with a secret kept in a little box.
Although starting as a simple future war story it rapidly went off into strange, dark and often hallucinatory territory which made the run in the eighties a solid fan favourite[citation needed].
[edit] Characters
- Danny Franks - a naive young solider whose story we follow as he gets broken and broken in. He narrates the story through his diary.
- Mac - A member of the same battalion as Danny, who joins Bad Company at the same time.
- Trucker - Another member of Danny's battalion.
- Kano - the leader of Bad Company, who is more than he appears. He acts in a psychotic manner, particularly when dealing with Krool.
- Mad Tommy Churchill - a soldier who apparently believes himself to be a British soldier fighting World War II.
- Thrax - a cadaverous and unpleasant figure, who often expresses mistrust at Kano's leadership abilities.
- Wallbanger - the Company's robot, who as well as being a heavily armed fighter, is also the group's medic, scientist and chef.
- Malcolm X - one of the few members of the Company to treat Danny in a friendly manner, and perhaps the most "human".
- Dogbrain - a man whose brain has been replaced with that of a rabid dog by the Krool.
- Flytrap - having lost his arm, he replaced it with a carnivorous Ararat plant. This makes him sensitive to changes in the Ararat environment.
- Gobber - a native of Ararat. He acts as the Company's guide. He also has the ability to spit a substance like "unbreakable chewing gum".
[edit] The Krool
The Krool are fictional alien species that serve as the main foe in Bad Company.
[edit] Political Structure
The Krool are led by a being known as the "Krool Heart" on the unnamed Krool Home Planet. The "Krool Heart" controls the Krool race via its vast psychic mind. Whatever the heart thinks, the mind will obey.
[edit] Technology
The Krool have the technology to create "War Zombies", hybrids and other such monstrosities. Due to their sadistic behavior, they have also created machines to extract the "soul" out of their human prisoners. They have also been known to employ sadistic brainwashed human captives as guards.
The Krool were ultimately responsibly for creating Bad Company and their leader when they took half a human brain and inserted it into a Krool and vice-versa thus creating the Krool-hybrid.
[edit] The Ararat War
The Ararat War was a war waged against Earth. They wanted to capture Earth to add to their seemingly infinite empire. They employed their "War Zombies" to attack the front line's defences. They finished off the survivors personally. Officially, the war ended when the planet imploded. Unofficially, the war continued on other worlds, known as Trash Planets, led by the remnants of Humanity.
[edit] Aftermath of the War
The first incarnation of Bad Company now led by Danny Franks consisting of the last Protoid in existence, Sheeva the last "Boom Baby" (see Human enhancement), De Racine, the last of the "Earth Elite" and a sadist called Rackman track down Kano and then head to the Krool Homeworld to destoy the Krool once and for all. Danny sacrificed his life to merge with the Krool Heart and kill the traitorious Protoss. Afterwards, Danny/The Krool Heart let the survivors leave the planet promising to make the Krool more passive.
A few years later, Kano goes back to the Krool Homeworld with a second incarnation of Bad Company. After a long battle, 'Kano and Bad Company managed to free Danny. As they leave, Kano elects to stay to continue fighting the Krool.
[edit] Bibliography
They have only appeared in their eponymous strip:
- Bad Company:
- "Bad Company" (with Peter Milligan; Pencils: Brett Ewins; Inks: Jim McCarthy, in 2000 AD #500-519, 1986-1987)
- "The Bewilderness" (with Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins/Jim McCarthy, in 2000 AD #548-557, 1987-1988)
- "Young Men Marching" (with Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins/Jim McCarthy, in 2000AD Annual 1989, 1988)
- "The Krool Heart" (with Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins/Jim McCarthy, in 2000 AD #576-585, 1988)
- "Simply" (with Peter Milligan; Pencils: Brett Ewins; Inks: Steve Dillon, in 2000 AD #601, 1988)
- "Ararat" (with Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins/Jim McCarthy, in 2000AD Annual 1990, 1989)
- "Kano" (with Peter Milligan, Brett Ewins/Jim McCarthy, in 2000 AD #828-837, 1993)
- "Down Among the Dead Men" (with Peter Milligan; Pencils: Brett Ewins; Inks: Jim McCarthy, in 2000AD Annual 2001, 2000)
- "Bad Company 2002" (with Peter Milligan; Pencils: Brett Ewins; Inks: Jim McCarthy, in 2000 AD prog 2002 and #1273-1277, 2001-2002)
- "B.A.D. Company" (with Alan Grant/John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, in Judge Dredd Megazine #4.15, 2002)
There has been one graphic novel reprint from Rebellion collecting together the more popular outings from the eighties:
- Bad Company: Goodbye, Krool World (Rebellion, 2005, ISBN 1-904265-27-8)
[edit] Trivia
The installment "Simply" was completed in four and a half hours as part of a charity event at the 1988 UK Comics Convention.
