''Necronauts'' was a story appearing in the British comics anthology '' 2000 AD'', by British comics writer Gordon Rennie and artist

Frazer Irving Frazer Irving (born 1970) is a British comic book artist known for the series '' Necronauts'', published by the British magazine '' 2000 AD''. After breaking into the American market he has worked on a number of superhero titles, including a s ...

. It brought Irving to public attention as his high contrast black and white artwork complemented Rennie's dark storyline.

Publication history

The outline for the story and was written in 1991 and was originally intended for Tundra Publishing, where Rennie had published ''

White Trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a d ...

'', however: The story formed part of a general push by editor

Andy Diggle Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series '' 2000 AD''. He is best known for his work on ''Adam Strange'' and ''Green Arrow'' for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series '' The Losers'' an ...

to get more horror into the comic: "I commissioned ''Necronauts'' because I thought horror would work well in ''2000 AD''."Bishop (2007) page 217 It eventually started in the ''2000 AD'' end of year special in 2000, Prog 2001, and continued in issues #1223-1230.

Characters

* Charles Fort, investigator of anomalous phenomena *

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

, creator of

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

with a strong interest in the paranormal * H. P. Lovecraft, teller of dark tales *

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

escapologist Escapology is the practice of escaping from restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, burning buildings, fish-tanks, and ot ...

and debunker of fraudulent Spiritualists *A mysterious evil flier, who while never named is clearly based on

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

Plot

In 1926, while practising a new trick, Houdini has a near-death experience, awakening the mysterious Sleepers. Meanwhile, Lovecraft is visited by a talking raven, and a séance that Sir Arthur is attending is attacked by a strange force that possesses the

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

. Sir Arthur travels to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to speak to Houdini, where they are attacked by Tcho-Tchos, summoned by The Sleepers' human minions (The Hidden Masters of the World: The Illuminated Ones). While Houdini and Lovecraft travel back into the spiritual plane, Fort and Sir Arthur must protect their bodies from the assembling dark forces. However, there is also a traitor in their midst, and one of their number will die.

Collected editions

The story has been reprinted as a

trade paperback Trade paperback may refer to: * Trade paperback, a higher-quality softcover version of a book * Trade paperback (comics) In comics in the United States, a trade paperback (shortened: TPB or trade) is a collection of stories originally published ...

Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its ''Sniper Elite'' series and multiple games in the ''Alien vs. Pre ...

: *''Necronauts'' (64 pages, December 2007, , February 2008, ) *''Tharg's Terror Tales Presents Necronauts and Love Like Blood'' (collects ''Necronauts'' and ''A Love Like Blood'', 128 pages, October 2011, )

Awards

*2000 Eagle Awards, Favourite Comic Strip to Appear in a UK Magazine or Comic (runner-up) *2001 National Comics Awards, Best New Talent (Tied win): Frazer Irving for ''Necronauts'' *2004 Diamond Comics Awards, Graphic Novel of the Year

Notes

References

*
''Necronauts''
at 2000 AD online * {{Refend

External links

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

Reviews

Trade review

, November 9, 2003
Review of the trade paperback
October 19, 2006 Cultural depictions of Arthur Conan Doyle Cultural depictions of Harry Houdini