Membership: Hammerstein;
Mongrol; Joe
Pineapples; Deadlock; the
Mess / Steelhorn; Tubal
Caine, Zippo;
formerly General
Blackblood; Hitaki; Mad
Ronn; Ro-Jaws; Terri;
Morrigun; Mek-Quake
Purpose: (originally) to fight the Volg War;
(initial team briefing after squad was gathered) to bring peace to Mars
(upon reforming during the era of the Termite era) to battle Torquemada's
Termites
(in the Time Wastes) to hunt down Thoth
Affiliations: Nemesis the Warlock; George, Colonel Lash
Enemies: General Blackblood, Howard Quartz, Volkhan, Torquemada, the Volgs, Golgotha
Base of Operations: Earth, then Mars, then the Time Wastes
First Appearance: (single ABC Warrior
(Hammerstein), only identified as war robot): Starlord#1
(IPC, 13th May 1978);
(ABC robots, only identified as war robots): 2000
A.D. Prog 92 (25th November 1978);
(general ABC robots) 2000 A.D. Prog 119 (IPC, 30th June 1979)
(ABC Warriors squad, officially now a team under recruitment)
2000 A.D. Prog 120 (IPC, 7th July 1979)
(ABC Warriors squad, first line-up fully recruited) 2000 A.D.
Prog 128 (IPC, 1st September 1979)
Summary: Originally constructed to fight the Volg War in Earth's early 21st century, ABC Warriors were robot soldiers capable of surviving warfare - atomic, bacterial and chemical - that would kill humans in seconds. Following the end of that initial conflict the first successful prototype Warrior, Hammerstein, became the leader of a specialist squad with an initial new goal of taming the newly colonized Mars. Unaging machines whose mechanical lives could only be ended by violent death, the ABC Warriors would spend subsequent centuries carving out their own independent existences, but inevitably events would always conspire to reassemble the team, albeit with the occasional new recruit replacing slain or misplaced past members.
History:
Comments: Created by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill.
The origins of the Atomic Bacterial Chemical Warriors lie in the Starlord series Ro-Busters. This story of a robotic disaster relief squad (think Thunderbirds with less wooden actors) included former war droid Hammerstein as one of the leads. (Ro-Jaws was the other one). Ro-Busters was one of the strips that survived Starlord's merger with 2000 A.D., and it was in their new home that the foundation was laid for the ABC Warriors, when Hammerstein told his fellow robots of his war years. After Ro-Busters reached its conclusion, a prequel of sorts would return to this earlier part of the war droid's life. Written by Pat Mills and with art by Kevin O'Neill, it debuted in Prof #119. We joined Hammerstein and his cohorts Joe Pineapples and Happy Shrapnel in the latter days of the Volg War (see Bill Savage), where they were recruited to gather a very special squad for a dangerous mission. The war ended before the squad was fully gathered, but that didn't matter - because the squad's mission didn't have anything to do with the war. Instead, they were to tame the newly colonised Mars. For many progs the Warriors faced the worst the Red Planet had to throw at them, bringing justice to the frontier world. They told those they encountered to make sure others knew that the warriors were coming: Spread the Word!
Years passed after this
mission finished, with the Warriors going their separate ways. It was
centuries later, when Earth had been taken over by the totalitarian regime
of the alien hating Torquemada, that Nemesis the Warlock recruited
Hammerstein and had him reform the squad. Under his command they would be
sent to battle throughout time and space.
Appearance checklist (not including reprints):
In comics:
In prose:
Medusa War (novel)
CLARIFICATIONS:
ABC Warriors should not be confused with:
First Posted: Circa 27/09/2004
Last updated: 19/05/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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