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''Tharg's Future Shocks'' is a long-running series of short strips in the British weekly comic '' 2000 AD'' in 1977. The name originates from the fictional editor of 2000 AD and the book titled ''
Future Shock ''Future Shock'' is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler, written together with his spouse Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies. Th ...
'', written by
Alvin Toffler Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on t ...
, published in 1970.


Publishing history

The series began in issue 25 of ''2000 AD'' titled "Tharg's Future Shocks" in a single
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
written by Steve Moore, who also created the format. This established the pattern of the series which would be two- or three-page short stories, which were normally self-contained. These stories would be a testing ground for new artists and writers and creators resulting in the stories having a very mixed level of quality. Some successful authors such as
Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...
, Alan Davis,
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
, and
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...
found some of their earliest work published as ''Future Shocks''.


Spin-offs

Some characters proved popular enough to either appear in their own stories, or have multiple appearances in ''Future Shocks'', such as Alec Trench, Bradley, D.R. and Quinch and Abelard Snazz.


Similar series

''2000 AD'' also began several other
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
and horror short stories under several different titles, including ''Time Twisters''. Examples of the others include: * ''Future Shorts'', single page Future Shocks * '' Past Imperfect'' * '' Pulp Sci-Fi'' * '' Ro-Jaws Robo Tales'', stories presented by Ro-Jaws * ''
Tales from Beyond Science This is a list of minor '' 2000 AD'' stories. Stories A Absalom ''Absalom'' is a horror story spin-off from ''Caballistics, Inc.'' by Gordon Rennie and Tiernen Trevallion. The stories were "Noblesse Obligie" in ''2000 AD'' #1732–1739 ( ...
'', a short run series all drawn by
Rian Hughes Rian Hughes is a British graphic designer, illustrator, type designer, comics artist and novelist. Overviews Hughes has written and drawn comics for '' 2000 AD'', Vertigo CMYK and Batman: Black and White, and designed for DC Comics and Marv ...
* ''
Tales from the Black Museum Tales may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tales'' (album), a 1995 album by Marcus Miller * ''Tales'' (film), a 2014 Iranian film * ''Tales'' (TV series), an American television series * ''Tales'' (video game), a 2016 point-and-click adventure ...
'', an equivalent set in
Mega-City One Mega-City One is a fictional city that features in the ''Judge Dredd'' comic book series and related media. A post-nuclear megalopolis covering much of what is now the Eastern United States and some of Canada, the city's exact geography depends ...
* ''Tales of Telguuth'', a series of fantasy tales set on a distant planet, written by Steve Moore * '' Tharg's Terror Tales'', covering horror, that still occasionally appears * '' Time Twisters'', single episode stories, with a focus on time travel and subsequent paradoxes * '' Vector 13'' although wrapped in its own story stretching beyond the series, it still featured one off stories largely focused on anomalous or paranormal phenomena * '' Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales''


Collected editions

The stories have been collected into a number of
trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
: Two collections of Alan Moore's ''Future Shocks'' (''Alan Moore's Shocking Futures'') and ''Time Twisters'' (''Alan Moore's Twisted Times'') stories were released by
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...
in 1986: *''Alan Moore's Shocking Futures'' (1986),
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...
; reprints a selection of ''Future Shocks'' short strips originally published in '' 2000 AD'' between 1981 and 1983, with various artists. *''Alan Moore's Twisted Times'' (1987),
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...
; reprints almost all of Moore's Abelard Snazz strips, and a further selection of ''Time Twisters'' short strips originally published in ''2000 AD'' between 1980 and 1983, with various artists. The contents of those two volumes have been collected together into a single volume, along with additional material from Moore: *''The Complete Future Shocks'' ( tpb, Rebellion Developments, 2006 ) Despite the title, this is not a complete collection of all ''Future Shock'' stories from the comic, only the Alan Moore stories in the 1986 and 1987 books described above. All the ''Future Shocks'' written by
Peter Milligan Peter Milligan (born 24 June 1961) is a British comic book writer who has written extensively for both British and American comic book industries. In the UK, Milligan has contributed to numerous anthology titles including '' 2000 AD'', '' Revo ...
, John Smith, and Neil Gaiman and around half of
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...
's were collected in: *''The Best of Tharg's Future Shocks'' (160 pages, November 2008, ) A series of paperbacks collecting all ''Future Shocks'' is being published by Rebellion: * ''The Complete Future Shocks Volume 1'' (320 pages, July 2018, ) covers 1977–1981 * ''The Complete Future Shocks Volume 2'' (272 pages, August 2019, ) covers 1981–1982


References

{{Reflist, 2


External links


Complete list of ''Future Shock'' stories
at the official ''2000 AD'' website 2000 AD comic strips