New Statesmen | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Crisis |
Publication date | 1988 - 1989 |
Number of issues | 15 |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | John Smith |
Artist(s) | Jim Baikie |
Collected editions | |
New Statesmen | ISBN 1853862177 |
New Statesmen was a "political superhero series" [1] featured in British comic Crisis, created by John Smith and Jim Baikie, which lasted for fourteen episodes from 1988 to 1989.
Contents |
The series was published in Crisis from issue #1-14 with a reappearance in issue #28. It was also repackaged for the American market as a five-issue prestige format limited series that was released in 1989. This had been part of the business plan for Crisis from the start but only the early series, like New Statesmen, got this treatment.[2] In 1990 the story was collected into a trade paperback.
Set in America in 2047, the series told the story of a number of genetically modified "optimen", created with superhuman 'hard' and 'soft' talents, who were essentially biological weapons. The series asked what 'superheroes' would be like if they were far more human than traditional heroes.
The series depicted a dystopian future in which Britain had become the 51st state of America and the world is in the grip of fear of genetic engineering and political warmongering.
In many ways the series was ahead of its time. Two of the leading male characters were in a gay relationship.
It was collected into a trade paperback: