The Vigilant: A Most Unusual Assemblage Of UK Heroes

British comics history is a colorful and often unusual story of the weird and the wonderful. While comics from the United States were just beginning to show up on UK newsstands in repackaged editions, their British counterparts were thriving, covering a wide spectrum of genres from superheroes, sci-fi, horror, humor and war comics, usually published weekly, fortnightly (every two weeks) or monthly.

This August, Rebellion — best known for their titles featuring Judge Dredd and his crime-fighting exploits in and around the bustling post-apocalyptic metropolis of Mega-City 1 — will venture back to the ’70s to bring together a most unusual assortment of characters as the stars of their new series, The Vigilant (JUN181951)!

In anticipation of the series release this summer, Rebellion’s own Michael Molcher spoke with writer Simon Furman (Death’s Head, UK Transformers) about the new series, its cast of characters, and the future of the super-team.

**********

Michael Molcher: For those who don’t know — what is The Vigilant and who are these characters?

Simon Furman: The Vigilant is a loose assemblage of heroes (and anti-heroes, and the plain weird and oddball) with their roots in British comics of the early 1970s (and onwards). The roll call (for this one-shot) is The Leopard (Lime Street), Blake Edmonds (Death Wish), Dr. Sin, Thunderbolt (The Avenger), Pete (and his Pocket Army of aliens), Death-Man and Yāo. But that roster is deliberately fluid — and in future stories there’s scope for other heroes to be called upon/involved (and others rested or sidelined). It’s more Defenders than Avengers, to use a Marvel parallel.

Michael Molcher: How familiar are you with the original characters in The Vigilant? Have you referred extensively to the original strips?

Simon Furman: These characters fall exactly into the period I was reading comics avidly as a young kid, so most of the Vigilant were very familiar to me already… research involved largely going up into the loft and bringing down piles of old comics! But while I’m certainly channeling those original strips, I’m keen to make this as ‘ground up’ as possible, with no pre-knowledge of the source material necessary. You may get more out of The Vigilant if you’re familiar with the original strips, but otherwise it’s very much a first issue — it all begins here!

Michael Molcher: How did you come to be the writer on The Vigilant?

Simon Furman: The editor, Keith Richardson, was familiar with my work on the likes of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws, and that energy and anarchy is what he wanted for The Vigilant. Generally, I’m known as the ‘giant robot’ guy, but honestly — as a fan myself and as a comics writer — I lean much more to superheroes and villains in terms of preference — but infused with that very subversive British perspective and attitude that often makes for spikier, edgier and more shaded characters.

Michael Molcher: Considering that some of the characters date from the ’70s, have you had to update any of them for modern sensibilities?

Simon Furman: Absolutely. British (boy’s) comics of the ’60s and ’70s weren’t exactly teeming with gender and ethnic diversity, and so The Vigilant roster needed a more contemporary and relevant makeover. Dr. Sin has been completely reimagined in terms of age, background and ethnicity, Thunderbolt is now female, and we have a new female (Asian) character in the shape of Yāo. Both Dr. Sin and Thunderbolt have direct links back to the original characters though, to keep that sense of continuity from then to now.

Michael Molcher: They also seem like quite a disparate bunch, from Adam Eterno to Death Wish’s Blake Edmonds. So has it been easy getting them to gel together as characters?

Simon Furman: Without giving too much away, Adam Eterno — while key to this first issue — is more a part of the overall problem The Vigilant must deal with than a member of the team itself. But the sheer eclectic mix of the core Vigilant members has made their somewhat abrasive interaction a joy to write, simply because they are so different (in ethos, attitude, motivation, etc.) and the way they spark off each other is really a big part of the fun. Even their ‘HQ’ is a character — and no one’s quite sure how much they can trust ‘him’.

Michael Molcher: What has it been like working with Simon Coleby?

Simon Furman: Simon and I actually worked together way back when on some short Transformers strips for Marvel UK. I loved his style then, but what I’m seeing from him these days (on The Vigilant and his recent 2000 AD work) is so much more mature and fully realized. It’s lost none of its dynamism or energy and attack, but there’s more depth and an easy assurance in his art now. In short, I trust him completely to take my script and make it sing and dance on the page.

Michael Molcher: The Vigilant has been heralded as ushering in ‘the Rebellion-verse’ — will it appeal to a wider, international audience that isn’t familiar with the original comics?

Simon Furman: Yeah, this will be a book that anyone can pick up and get a lot out of (though it’s ‘British’ through and through, and we don’t want to lose that, it has an international range and scope and overall team remit that opens it up to the whole world). I think of it as being a little like Marvel’s Ultimate line — the characters in question are 40+ years old but for the purposes of The Vigilant (and the larger Rebellion-verse) they’re being relaunched, reimagined and represented for a modern (global) audience. There’s nothing in the way of baggage that comes with it. No foreknowledge needed. Everyone is joining this at the start of what we envision to be a world(s)-building exercise.

Michael Molcher: Are there any other old characters from the Fleetway archive that you’d like to resurrect?

Simon Furman: For sure! Even though The Vigilant is jam-packed with characters and cameos from the original comics, there are just so many more I’d have loved to squeeze in there. And some of those cameos already feel like part of bigger stories that now need telling. We could go for another 40+ years and still not run dry of great characters!