Warrior #1: A Hero Reborn

March 1982 to January 1985 - the greatest period in British comics history. Also my formative years after leaving school in 1980, no qualifications, no job and no money but at least for those many months I had the joy of reading great work by the likes of Steve Moore, John Bolton, Steve Parkhouse and David Lloyd, Brian Bolland and Dave Gibbons, and new creators such as Alan Moore, Garry Leach, Alan Davis and Steve Dillon.

I only discovered the magazine by luck as a mate of mine knew I liked comics and stuffed a copy through the letterbox of my door - rolled up and everything. Only it wasn't my front door but the next door neighbour's!! As he handed the mag to me he looked at my scrawny 16 year-old body as if I was a crazed lunatic. Strangely enough the same guy ended up in the local madhouse about five years after that.

Just looking back at that now it's even stranger to see this advert in the first issue of Warrior:

That first issue was eagerly read over and over again as I listened to the John Peel show and was cheered up by the tuneful melodies of The Smiths.

Contents page:

That V for Vendetta story sounds naff. Brooding darkness and oppressive government - this was year one of Thatcher's Britain, things couldn't have been better!!

Still, the inside cover was glorious.

And here are the creators:

Pedro Henry - who he I hear you asking? Or is that just the Numbskulls in my noggin? That was the pseudonym of Steve Moore and he was partner in crime with Alan Moore's alter-ego Curt Vile when they created the classic Stars My Degradation in the anti-NME music magazine Sounds.

Speaking of Mr A Moore - for all those people who may have thought he's only been slightly crazier than Aleister Crowley for the last few years check out his you're not getting through customs with that passport photo from the next page.

Poor old Dez Skinn's days as a David Soul lookalike and extra on Swedish porn films were now sadly long behind him as he quoted JFK in his first editorial.

And now three pages from the reborn Marvelman.

The beginning but not the end - part 2 coming soon.

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Comment by Dave on July 25, 2009 at 6:10pm: Never read Warrior, so thanks for posting this. I only just read MiracleMan (MarvelMan).

Looking forward to more scans.

Comment by Martin on July 17, 2009 at 12:20am: Posting it through the wrong door gives this gives this even more significance , destiny and all that . Well sounds good to me ................

Comment by Patrick Penn on July 14, 2009 at 10:52am: I have this comic ,it was given to me a couple of years ago by Dez Skinn who i have met a few times and found him to be a very nice bloke.

Comment by nmtg9 on June 29, 2009 at 6:18am: Wonderful stuff Andrew. Warrior is one of my all time favourite titles, and I am so glad I read them first hand. I remember my Dad buying them, which was strange because he was a bit of a Marvel zombie and this was completely different.

I firmly believe this mag (more than 200AD) sparked the British invasion of the 1980's. From this mag, Moore got Swampy and changes comics as we know them (I know there were other factors too but hey).

Keep the scans coming.