Firekind
| Firekind | |
|---|---|
 Art by Paul Marshall |
|
| Created by | John Smith Paul Marshall |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Fleetway |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Title(s) | 2000 AD #828-840 |
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) 2000 AD. |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publication date | March – June 1993 |
| Number of issues | 13 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | John Smith |
| Artist(s) | Paul Marshall |
| Letterer(s) | Steve Potter |
| Colourist(s) | Paul Marshall |
| Creator(s) | John Smith Paul Marshall |
| Editor(s) | Tharg (Richard Burton) Alan McKenzie John Tomlinson |
Firekind ran in the weekly anthology comic 2000 AD for 13 issues in 1993. It was written by John Smith, with art by Paul Marshall.
Contents |
[edit] Publication history
Firekind came about as part of the "Spring Fever" promotion at 2000 AD after a change in distribution saw a big drop-off in sales.[1] The assistant editor Alan McKenzie had contacted John Smith and suggested he might want to write a story involving dragons to make up for the lack of fantasy in the comic. According to Smith:
| “ | when I started to think about it, I realised what a naff proposition the whole thing was. I'd read a few Anne McCaffrey books and she'd pretty much got the whole dragon thing sewn up, so I didn't want to do a rehash of that. I always try to come at things from a different angle, see it from a different perspective, so I though I'd write it as a hard SF story instead.[2] | ” |
The story started in 2000 AD #828 (1993 and ran through to issue #840. However, part 7, which should have run in issue #834, was omitted. According to John Tomlinson, another assistant editor:
| “ | This was born out of the usual tight deadlines we had on 2000 AD and the original art being kept in the same place as already used pages. Somehow one episode got lost in the mix. ... [2] | ” |
Paul Marshall spotted the error but the production staff were running sufficient far-ahead that they were putting together issue #839 and the missing episode had to be run after the final insallment.[2]
The story was reprinted in Extreme Edition #8 (2005).
[edit] Plot synopsis
The self-contained story concerns a human botanist named Larsen who travels to the alien jungle planet Gennyo-Leil whose atmosphere is a toxic hallucinogen. Though he initially gains the inhabitants' trust, his mission is compromised by the arrival of a merciless gang of mercenary poacher / torturers. But Gannyo-Leil is not without defences...
[edit] Avatar
James Cameron's Avatar has a number of parallels with Firekind:[3]
- A human goes to a jungle world with deadly plant and animal life, as well as poisonous air.
- Floating rocks fill the sky.
- Aliens inhabit the planet and are not understood by the humans.
- A human goes to the natives and lives among them.
- The aliens ride dragons.
- The protagonist eventually helps the aliens defeat the humans with help coming from the planet itself, which turns out to be 'aware'.
- Both Firekind and Avatar depict a native species and environment interconnected through some sort of "neural net"
[edit] Notes
- ^ Bishop (2007) pages 158-159
- ^ a b c Bishop (2007) pages 159
- ^ Edwards, James (January 28, 2010). "Did Avatar Completely Rip Off An Obscure British Comic Called Firekind?". Heavy.com. http://www.heavy.com/post/did-avatar-completely-rip-off-an-obscure-british-comic-called-firekind-3291. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
[edit] References
- Firekind at Barney
- Bishop, David Thrill-Power Overload (Rebellion, 260 pages, hardcover, February 2007, ISBN 1-905437-22-6)
