''Invasion!'' was a series created by

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfath ...

and mostly written by

Gerry Finley-Day Gerry Finley-Day (born 1947, in Broughty Ferry, Dundee) is a Scottish comics writer, prolific from the 1960s to the 1980s, best known as the creator of "Rogue Trooper". Career He began his career at D.C. Thomson & Co., before becoming the ...

that appeared in the first 51 editions of the weekly

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

'' 2000 AD''. The series introduced the character of Bill Savage, a classic anti-authoritarian character of the type which Mills is best known for. A prequel, ''Disaster 1990'', was published in 1979. The series continued in sequels under the title ''Savage'', beginning in 2004, by Pat Mills and

Charlie Adlard Charles Adlard (born 4 August 1966) is a British comic book artist known for his work on books such as '' The Walking Dead'' and '' Savage''. Career Adlard began his work in the UK on ''White Death'' with Robbie Morrison and '' 2000 AD'' serie ...

Alternate historical background

In the alternate recent history established in ''Savage'', the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

fell to a fascist military coup and was renamed the Volgan Republic by Marshal Vashkov in 1991. In 1992, vast new reserves of

North Sea oil North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea. In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian ...

were discovered off the coast of Britain.

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

became head of the Labour Party, and his "True Labour" movement gained power over Shirley Brown's Conservative Party in a 1995 general election. In 1996, Prime Minister Livingstone ordered the removal of all American military bases from the British Isles; by 1998, a newly isolationist United States had withdrawn completely from Europe and the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO). By 1999,

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

was King of the United Kingdom. The United States and Volgan Republic had a secret agreement, carving up the world into spheres of influence. Meanwhile, a

fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

among the establishment, feeling threatened by the new left-wing government, made overtures to the Volgans, offering to help with any invasion.

Synopsis

''Invasion!''

Set in the year 1999, the first part of the series depicts Western Europe and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's being swiftly overrun by an invasion from the Volgan Republic known as the Eight-Hour War.

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

oil rigs are seized by helicopter-borne commando units;

Heathrow airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

is captured by paratroopers, allowing heavy transport planes to land delivering heavy armour close to London; and the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

are hit by

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

, including a 50 megaton warhead.

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

escape to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, The UK Government capitulates, with many hard line anti-Volgan MPs, Lords, and generals along with Prime Minister Shirley Brown being executed; a puppet government, under Prime Minister Simon Creepton, takes control for the

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

of The People's Republic of Britain. Bill Savage, an East-End

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

driver, begins a one-man resistance movement against the Volgans after his wife and children are killed when Savage's home is hit by a Volgan tank shell during the invasion. As with similar characters that Mills and Day had created for other titles (such as ''

Action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

'' and ''

Battle Picture Weekly ''Battle Picture Weekly'' (at various times also known as ''Battle and Valiant'', ''Battle Action'', ''Battle Action Force'', ''Battle'' and ''Battle with Storm Force'') was a British weekly boys' war comic published by IPC Magazines from 8 ...

''), Savage is given a gimmick, his preferred weapons: a hauling hook and a sawn-off shotgun. Initially solo, he is recruited by Lt. Peter Silk into the British resistance. Initially leading the Mad Dogs

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

out of the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Haml ...

, Savage would later be mobile and take part in resistance action throughout the country. Throughout the series, Savage's brutal violence and working-class common sense lead to victory, whereas military resistance is depicted as being class bound and ineffectual. At the end of the series, Savage is tasked with taking the heir to the throne, Prince John, to safety in

. He smuggled the prince into North America on a US cargo ship; as Volgan agents murdered most of the crew trying to stop him, the series ended with Savage believing the United States would now get involved against the Volgans. The Volgan War (AKA the Fourth Oil War) became part of a connecting back story for a number of ''2000 AD'' series including ''

ABC Warriors ''ABC Warriors'' is a feature in the UK comic-book series ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' written by Pat Mills. It first appeared in program (issue) 119 in 1979 and continues to run as of 2018. Art for the opening episodes was by Kevin O'Neill ( ...

''.

''Disaster 1990''

A year after the first series ended, Savage returned in a prequel set nine years earlier (but still over a decade in the future) called ''Disaster 1990''. In this story most of Britain has been flooded by an environmental catastrophe, and the survivors fight each other. This disaster was not mentioned in the original series or in the sequels.

''Savage''

In the sequel series ''Savage'', the Volgans are still in command in 2004, but are opposed by

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

insurgent An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregular forces face a large, well ...

groups such as the Free European Army and Traitor's Gate. Escapist fiction is abundant, and produced by the Volgans themselves to pacify the general public; propaganda campaigns try to convince people to accept the occupation and not be "bitter-enders". Some have come to accept the occupation or actively collaborate with it; they are described as "Double Yellows", after the twin yellow stripes on the uniforms of the British State Security agents and police officers who collaborate with the Volgan regime. Despite the non-aggression agreement with the United States, American small arms and other weapons are used by resistance movements. Savage also has a CIA contact, and the two share information against the Volgans. Any major activity, however, is not taken and occupied Britain does not seem a high priority. (They would also be caught off-guard and be left out in the 2004 uprising.) Under the direction of Savage, the resistance groups almost force the Volgans to withdraw from Britain in 2004, though they manage to cling to power and send renewed troop numbers in. Subsequently, Savage assassinated Vashkov. Consequently, State Security agents retaliate by murdering Savage's brother Tom after discovering he had secretly written stories that would be embarrassing to the regime. Savage and his sister Cassie kill all of the agents responsible, only it is discovered that Savage's former-MI6 resistance contact had been behind it and was secretly a collaborator. Savage then kills him and his security team and posts a copy of his brother's work on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. As a result, the resistance, alongside the population, rises up against the Volgan "peacekeepers" and liberates most of Southern England. Book Four, however, opens with the country re-occupied after 2006, when a fresh surge of troops is deployed. By now, people in Britain are coming to accept Volgan rule. The United States is secretly outfitting resistance units with American weaponry and preparing to use

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as a staging ground for a liberation. Savage prevents the Volgans from causing a fake terrorist atrocity to drive off the Americans and by 2009 the Allied forces are openly bombing Volgan targets in London. American forces use an EMP bomb on London, wiping out most electronics and reducing it to a 1984 level of technology. 2009 also sees the liberation of Britain begin, with army robots being used as the advance wave at

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

. The Volgans develop a teleport machine and send their troops directly into American bases to kill the commanding officers. The teleport base is destroyed by Savage and his resistance group. In response to the ABC Warriors, the Volgans create their own battle robots called Mark 1 Blackblood robots, but most are destroyed in their secret underground factory before they can be deployed. In 2010 Mark Two Hammersteins are deployed and enable the resistance to retake Cardiff, Bristol and the Oil Refinery Port - Britain's newly discovered oil reserves are the third largest in the world and the reason why the Volgans invaded in 1999. To prevent the Volgans from retaking London they destroy all bridges except Waterloo which becomes a focal point in the battle. The Tolpuddle Gang, who have fought with Savage's unit, believe that they are being betrayed and abandon Savage at Waterloo bridge, although his unit successfully defend the bridge without the Tolpuddle Gang, despite them being proved correct when resistance war robots turn on them. Six months after the Volgans have surrendered Britain is about to become a Republic after the king abdicated, and Savage has no need to fight anymore, so returned to his sister's cafe. During a protest over jobs Hammersteins fire into the crowd and in the confusion Savage is kidnapped by collaborators, one of whom turns out to be his brother Jack, previously thought dead, but now a cyborg taking orders from the Volgans. During a parade both Hammersteins and the cyborgs attack the public, but are defeated by Savage, his unit, and the regular army. One of the casualties of the fight is Howard Quartz who has his brain saved, and placed into a robotic body, thus becoming a cyborg himself. In 2015, Savage lives undercover in Volgan occupied Germany. Hearing about a powerful but unknown artefact called "The Thousand Year Stare" Savage tracks Wolfie Vos, a member of the Edelweiss Pirates, and the only person who knows what and where it is. Savage is joined by Nika Volodina a disillusioned member of the secret police, and the two track down Vos who initially intends to kill Savage to appease the Volgans and reduce the risk against his own gang. Vos changes his mind when they are attacked anyway by the Volgans, and Savage and Volodina use the opportunity to escape both Volgans and the gang.

The weapons of Bill Savage

When ''Invasion!'' started, Bill Savage was armed with a double barrelled shotgun. After getting into contact with the British Resistance, he was given a

pump-action shotgun Pump action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge and typically to cock the hammer or s ...

. Throughout the original series and in the new ''Savage'' series, Bill Savage is shown to be skilled in the use of various types of firearms – both friendly and enemy The various firearms Bill Savage uses in the ''Invasion!'' and ''Savage'' series comics, besides his tried and trusted double-barreled side-by-side shotgun, are: * Various types of AK rifles the Volgan Army uses * The Beretta Model 92FS pistol (as seen in ''Savage: Taking Liberties'', in which he used this in conjunction with his pump-action shotgun) * The

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (, ) is a submachine gun developed in the 1960s by German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It uses a similar modular design to the Heckler & Koch G3, and has over 100 variants and clones, including selective fire, Se ...

submachine gun * The Kalashnikov AKSU-74 assault rifle (as seen in the recent ''Savage'' series) * The

L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle The L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), also known by the initial Canadian designation C1, or in the U.S. as the "inch pattern" FAL, is a British version of the Belgian FN FAL battle rifle. The L1A1 was produced under licence and adopted by the arme ...

7.62.mm automatic rifle (as ''Invasion'' was published in 1977, the writers had no idea that by 1999 the British Army would be using the L85 series of 5.56.mm rifles) * The

Remington Model 870 The Remington Model 870 is a Pump action shotgun, pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms, Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and mi ...

pump-action Pump action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by moving a sliding handguard on the gun's forestock. When shooting, the sliding forend is pulled rearward to eject any expended cartridge (firearms), cartridge and typically to co ...

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

(the pump-action shotgun Bill Savage uses resembles the Remington Model 870)

Soviets / Volgans

The Volgans were originally intended to be the Soviets, but IPC's management forced a last-minute change to the fictional "Volgan Republic of Asia" for fear of offending the Soviets. ''Savage'' portrays the Volgans as Russians who have changed their name after a successful 1991 Soviet coup d'état.

Bibliography

*''Invasion!'' (all episodes written by

, except episodes 1 and 7 written by

, 22 by Nick Allen, 34 by Nick Flynn, 36 by Chris Lowder; art by

Jesús Blasco Jesús Blasco (3 November 1919 – 21 October 1995) was a Spanish author and artist of comic books, whose career covered most of the conventional history of comic strips. He worked extensively in British comics in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Blas ...

, Pat Wright, Juan Sarompas,

Ian Kennedy Ian Patrick Kennedy (born December 19, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Between 2007 and 2023, he played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, Kans ...

, Mike Dorey, Carlos Pino,

Eric Bradbury Eric Bradbury (4 January 1921 – May 2001) was a British comic artist who primarily worked for Amalgamated Press/IPC from the late 1940s to the 1990s. He studied at Beckenham Art School from 1936, and served in the RAF as a rear gunner o ...

, Luis Collado, in ''2000 AD'' #1-51, 1977–78) *''Disaster 1990'' (written by Gerry Finley-Day, art by Carlos Pino, Mike White and Alan Willow, in ''2000 AD'' #119-139, 1979) *''Savage'' (all episodes written by Pat Mills): ** "Book I: Taking Liberties" (art by

, in ''2000 AD'' #1387-1396, 2004) ** "Book II: Out of Order" (art by Charlie Adlard, in ''2000 AD'' #1450-1459, 2005) ** "Book III: Double Yellow" (art by Charlie Adlard, in ''2000 AD'' #1526-1535, 2007) ** "Book IV: The Guv'nor" (art by

Patrick Goddard Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

, in ''2000 AD'' #1577-1586, 2008) ** "Book V: 1984" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' #1632-1641, 2009) ** "Book VI: Crims" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' #1685-1699, 2010) ** "Book VII: Secret City" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' #1740-1749, 2011) ** "Book VIII: Rise Like Lions" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' Prog 2013 and #1813-1823, 2012–2013) ** "Book IX: Grinders" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' Prog 2015 and #1912-1923, 2015–2016) ** "Book X: The Märze Murderer" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' #2001-2010, 2016) ** "Book XI: The Thousand-Year Stare" (art by Patrick Goddard, in ''2000 AD'' #2061-2071, 2017–18)

Collected editions

The titles have been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

: *''Invasion'' (March 2007, ) *''Savage: Taking Liberties'' (June 2007, ) *''Savage: The Guv'nor'' (July 2012, )

Footnotes

References

2000 AD profile

External links

{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081125224048/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/118959122247447.htm , date=2008-11-25 ,

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin is a daily website covering the comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks In January 2000, New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice founded then named Silver Bullet Comicbooks. During this period, the site ...

''Invasion!'' review
at 2000 AD Review Comics by Pat Mills 2000 AD comic strips Future history Fiction set in 1999