Tornado (comics)

Tornado was a short-lived weekly British comic magazine published for 22 issues by IPC Magazines between March 1979[1] and August 1979. After the cancellations of the Starlord and Action titles, IPC launched Tornado as a way to use up stories already commissioned for the other titles. Originally to be called Heroes,[2] like Action it was a mixed title featuring war, detective, horror, and science fiction stories. Its first editor was Kelvin Gosnell, who was followed by Dave Hunt.[3] Tornado was printed on the same low quality newsprint stock used by 2000 AD and also had five stories of four to six pages per issue. The title also had a "superpowered" editor, like Tharg, "Big E," who was portrayed in photo-strips by Dave Gibbons.

Tornado
Publication information
PublisherIPC Magazines
ScheduleWeekly
FormatOngoing series
Genrewar, detective, horror, science fiction
Publication dateMarch – August 1979
No. of issues22 regular issues
1 summer special
2 annuals
Main character(s)Blackhawk
Victor Drago
Wolfie Smith
Captain Klep
Creative team
Written byTom Tully, Gerry Finley-Day
Artist(s)Vincente Vaño, Massimo Belardinelli, Alfonso Azpiri
Editor(s)"Big E" (Kelvin Gosnell
Dave Hunt)

Stories

Main stories were:

  • "The Mind of Wolfie Smith" written by Tom Tully, with art by Vanyo, was the story of a young boy whose telepathic and telekinetic powers suddenly emerge, leading him to become a runaway.
  • "Angry Planet" written by Alan Hebden, with art by Massimo Belardinelli, was set in the late 21st century on a Mars that had been made habitable by humans. The story told of the struggle of the first generation of genetic 'martians' to free themselves from exploitation by Earth.
  • "Wagner's Walk" was a World War II story much in the Action style as the hero is an escaped German POW fleeing the Red Army.
  • "Blackhawk", written by Gerry Finley-Day with art by Alfonso Azpiri, was the story of a Nubian galley slave named Hawk, who rescues his ship from pirates. Granted his freedom and a commission as a Centurion, Hawk forms his own legion out of other slaves who are then treated as a type of "Dirty Dozen".
  • "Victor Drago" was a pseudonymous revival of Sexton Blake, IPC's long-running fearless detective, written by Bill Henry with art by Mike Dorey.
  • "The Lawless Touch" was about a thief called Jonny Lawless who is recruited to work for a secret agency.

Publications

As well as 22 regular issues, there were also two Annuals dated 1980 and 1981 (each published at the end of the previous year) and one Summer Special in 1979.

Merger

Tornado was merged with 2000 AD (at the time titled 2000 AD and Starlord, from a previous merger) with the latter's 127th issue. The only characters to transfer were Blackhawk, Wolfie Smith, and Captain Klep, the star of a one-page comedy strip. Both Blackhawk and Wolfie Smith had their storylines considerably modified to more closely fit the sci-fi tone of 2000 AD. Blackhawk was kidnapped by aliens and forced to compete in an outer space gladiators' arena, and the series was taken over by new creators, writer Alan Grant and artist Massimo Belardinelli. Wolfie Smith was menaced by an ancient force under a stone circle. By September 1980, 2000 AD had finished presenting stories with the Tornado characters, and the last issue titled 2000 AD and Tornado was #177, dated 13 September 1980, which contained the last episode of "Wolfie Smith".

Reprints

"Blackhawk" was collected in a trade paperback in 2014. Two more series, "The Lawless Touch" and "Wagner's Walk", were reprinted in the supplements to the Judge Dredd Megazine (#387, 391 and 392) in 2017 and 2018.

Story index

References
  1. Tornado #1 at 2000adonline.com
  2. The 2000 AD Thrill-Cast (21 February 2018). "Kelvin Gosnell - Part One". Rebellion. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. 2000 AD #2111, 12 December 2018, pp. 30–31
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