Flesh (comics)

Flesh debuted in 2000 AD's first issue in 1977. The series was set in the age of dinosaurs who were farmed for their meat by cowboys from the future. The series was initially planned by Mills to be in Action, but after that title suffered censorship, Mills held the story back for his next project which eventually became 2000 AD.

The strip followed a similar path to Hook Jaw, one of the strips Mills had written in Action, in that it featured humans trying to dominate nature for their own purposes before falling prey to nature itself. Mills's original story's frontier setting was also influenced by Westworld, including tourists treating the dinosaurs as entertainment (coincidentally, Michael Crichton, the author of Westworld, would later go on to write Jurassic Park).

Flesh Book 1 ran for the first 19 issues of 2000 AD as well as the 1977 annual, and ending its run that year. While Flesh was popular, the series was not mentioned again until 1978 when Satanus, Book 1's Tyrannosaurus antagonist, appeared in the Judge Dredd story The Cursed Earth. The series was revived and returned with Flesh Book Two in issue 86, which was written by Kelvin Gosnell and primarily drawn by Massimo Belardinelli. The series gained popularity and ran until issue 99. Further books followed in issues 800–808 and 817–825, written by Mills and Tony Skinner with art by Carl Critchlow, and issues 973–979 written by Dan Abnett and Steve White with art by Gary Erskine and Simon Jacob.

After a 10-year absence from 2000 AD, Flesh returned in 2007 with "Hand of Glory", a prequel to the events of Book 1. 4 years later, Book 1's sequel, "Texas", appeared 2000 AD. This arc remained unfinished and was followed by the sequel "Midnight Cowboys" in 2012. Flesh again returned in 2013 with "Badlanders" which featured the return of Book 1 characters set before the conclusion of Book 2.

While Flesh Book 1 was published in black-and-white, Book 2 featured colour pages and dinosaurs covered in feathers—nearly 40 years before feathered dinosaurs became commonly accepted.

The dinosaurs have made a number of appearances over the years:

• Flesh:
  • "Flesh, Book 1" (script by Pat Mills (1, 18–19), Ken Armstrong (2–4, 8), Studio Giolitti (5, 9, 10, 13) and Kelvin Gosnell (6–7, 11–12, 14–17); art by Boix (1–2, 8–10, 14), Ramon Sola (3–7, 10–12, 15–16, 19) and Felix Carrion (13, 17–18), in 2000 AD #1–19, 1977[1])
  • "Carrion" (2000AD Summer Special 1977)
  • "The Buffalo Hunt" (2000AD Annual 1978, 1977)
  • "Flesh, Book 2" (by Geoffrey Miller, Massimo Belardinelli (1–12) and Carlos Pino (13–14), in 2000 AD #86–99, 1978–1979)
• Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth (by Pat Mills (1–10, 21–25), John Wagner (11–16, 19–20), Chris Lowder (17–18) and Mike McMahon/Brian Bolland, in 2000 AD #61–85, 1978)
• ABC Warriors: "Golgotha" (with Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra, in 2000 AD #119–139, 1979)
• Nemesis the Warlock: "Book V: The Vengeance of Thoth" (by Pat Mills and Bryan Talbot, in 2000 AD #435–445, 1986)
• Flesh:
  • "Legend of Shamana, Book 1" (by Pat Mills/Tony Skinner and Carl Critchlow, in 2000 AD #800–808, 1992)
  • "Legend of Shamana, Book 2" (by Pat Mills/Tony Skinner and Carl Critchlow, in 2000 AD #817–825, 1993)
  • "Chronocide" (by Steve White/Dan Abnett and Gary Erskine, in 2000 AD #973–979, 1996)
  • "Flesh 3000AD" (by David Bishop/Steve MacManus and Carl Critchlow, in 2000 AD #1034, 1997)
• Satanus: "Unchained!" (by Pat Mills and Colin MacNeil, in 2000 AD #1241–1246, 2001)
• Flesh:
  • "Hand of Glory" (by Pat Mills and Ramon Sola, in 2000 AD #1526, February 2007)
  • "Texas" (by Pat Mills and James Mckay, in 2000 AD #1724–1733, March–May 2011)
  • "Midnight Cowboys" (by Pat Mills and James Mckay, in 2000 AD #1774–1785, 2012)
  • "Badlanders" (by Pat Mills and James Mckay, in 2000 AD #1850–1861, 2013)
  • "Gorehead" (by Pat Mills and Clint Langley, in 2000 AD #2001–2010, 2016)

• Bloodfang

• The 2000 AD ABC #41: Flesh at YouTube