The saga of the Atomic Bacterial Chemical Warriors started in the pages of 2000AD's short lived sister title Starlord, with the series Ro-Busters. Created by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill, the strip introduced the world to Howard Quartz (aka 'Mr 10 Per Cent' - because of his human brain housed in a robot body), and his squad of clapped out robots used to combat disasters across the globe. The series included many memorable characters, but it was the double act of Hammer-Stein (the ultra-square military robot) and Ro-Jaws (the sardonic ex-sewer robot) that captured people's imaginations. Ro-Busters ran through all 22 issues of Starlord, but, having put everything in place, Pat Mills decided to leave after issue 12.

Unable to match the success of its sister, IPC decided to merge the failing Starlord with 2000AD. However, continual rows with 2000AD's editorial staff and IPC management caused big changes behind the scenes of the Galaxy's Greatest before the merger, which led to Kevin O'Neill resigning as art editor. But he and departing sub-editor Nick Landau managed to convince Pat Mills to return to 2000AD, and he picked up the reigns of Ro-Busters once more. However, Mills had tired to creating disasters for the squad and eventually ended the series a mere year later.

Characters such as Howard Quartz and the irrepressible Mek-Quake, slipped into limbo, while Ro-Jaws went on to star in his own series, Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales (later becoming just Robo-Tales), from 1980 until 1982. As for Hammer-Stein, there were new challenges on the horizon...

With Ro-Busters veterans Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill at the helm, ABC Warriors made its debut in Prog 119. Building on what had been laid down in the Ro-Busters tale Hammer-Stein's War Memoirs (Progs 88-92, 1978), and using the 2000AD classic Invasion! (by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Pino, Progs 1-51, 1977-1978) to provide the backdrop to the story, Mills re-introduced the world to Hammer-Stein, this time as leader of The ABC Warriors, a collection of war robots designed to fight across any landscape, Atomic, Bacterial or Chemical.

	Keeping with 2000AD's very anti-establishment roots from the word go, the opening story followed the exploits of Sergeant Hammer-Stein and his comrades Joe Pineapples (formerly of the X-Terminators) and the hardened veteran Happy Shrapnel as they fought the Volgon war robots on the front lines. The story ended with Hammer-Stein killing one of his human commanding officers, an event watched by the mysterious Colonel Lash. After putting Hammer-Stein through his paces, Lash was convinced the sergeant was exactly what he needed. Only then, did he issue the order to Hammer-Stein, Joe and Happy to recruit four other robots for a mission more deadly than any of them had faced...
	First came the beast like Mongrol, a former robo-paratrooper who both the Allies and the Volgons feared. His mind shattered by tortures at the hands of the Volgon Secret Police, Mongrol was waging a one robot war against the Volgons in a bid to avenge the death of Lara, the girl who had re-built him. Next came the sinister Deadlock, the Grand Wizard of The Knights Martial, the ultimate ABC Warriors. The Knights Martial watched over the planet Earth from their orbiting watch tower, and were given special powers to try and convict war criminals. There were also rumours of experiments and mysterious powers gained through secret ceremonies, something which Hammer-Stein discovered first hand after losing a duel with Deadlock.
	Major Blackblood was the leader of the Volgan Straw Dogs jungle robots, and an expert in guerilla warfare. Lash gave the order to capture him, so his brain could be operated on and have the worst of his vices cut out. The ABC Warriors caught up with the Major at the site of what became known as The Bougainville Massacre. Finally, there was Steelhorn, and indestructable robot who struck the final blow in the Volgon War. After being betrayed by his human masters, he became The Mess, a living molten mass who burned with hatred for his betrayers.

It was only after these seven robots were brought together were they given their mission: to tame the devil planet - Mars!

Under the pen of Pat Mills, The ABC Warriors became a strip about a bunch of war robots with a very anti-war message running through it. Surprisingly, most of this was voiced by Hammerstein himself, adding a contrast to his character in Ro-Busters. There he was uptight, arrogant and brimming with self-confidence, while here in the 'sequel' he was very aware of his place in the scheme of things, which disturbed him, but at the same time made him into one of the most enduring characters in The Galaxy's Greatest Comic. Although never a deep and thoughful analysis on the ever-blurring lines between human and artificial intelligence, ABC Warriors showed Hammerstein acting with more humanity than any of the humans in the series.

The scripts themselves varied from good old fashioned science fiction to thinly veiled re-tellings of history, all of them gloriously illustrated by a stellar array of classic 2000AD artists, including Dave Gibbons, Carlos Ezquerra and, most famously, Mike McMahon. Like Ro-Busters before it, ABC Warriors carried an anti-authority air hidden in its pages, showing these robot servants voicing distrust and even hatred toward their human masters, something which Mills later took on to Nemesis The Warlock (albeit in a different and more extreme form). Unlike its predecessor, ABC Warriors also had those other early 2000AD trademarks: bucket loads of violence and excessive amounts of hardware.

The 'second phase' of the story moved the action to Mars and into more classic sci-fi territory. It lost some of the themes and ideas put across in their Earth-bound adventures, however, happily concentrating more on action. With the emphasis moved away from Hammerstein, the others had a chance to shine and show what they could really do out there in the thick of it. As the formidable team they were, The Warriors took on crooked ranchers trying to destroy a Cyboon reservation and stopped the plague of the Red Death, which fed on fear. Mills drew on another of his past creations, when he introduced Golgotha, son of Satanus, allowing the Mek-nificent Seven to make their mark in the saga of Flesh (another tale from the early days of 2000AD). They helped turn a giant robot from the laughing stock of Mars into a mek-nificent fighting machine, spreading the word of their presence on Mars. And then...

Behind the scenes of the Galaxy's Greatest things weren't plain sailing. 2000AD itself was changing, moving from letterpress to litho printing. This allowed for full colour ABC centrespreads, rather than the cruder seperation process which had preceded it. But this proved to be more of a curse than a blessing.

ABC Warriors was meant to be a two artist production, with Kevin O'Neill and Mike McMahon handling the art, but as the series progressed, more artists had to be drafted in to make sure everything was kept on schedule, something which infuriated Mills. The outgoing editorial team of the time (Nick Landau and Kevin O'Neill) had pledged there wouldn't be an assortment of artists assigned to one story, as had happened in the past, but IPC forbade the stockpiling of new material, so the new editorial team was forced to assign several different artists. Because Mills wrote the overall story in episodic format, it worked in the favour of the editors, but having different artists caused problems - one artist couldn't suddenly decide to change his mind or re-design a character part way through because it affected the others in the chain. Following this dispute, Mills' name hardly appeared in 2000AD for the next year, but he eventually relented.

In 1980, Mills and O'Neill took their creative partnership up another notch with a bizarre little tale called Terror Tube (Prog 167, Jul 1980). Built around a concept axed from last Ro-Busters story, The Fall and Rise of Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein by IPC's managing editor (and unofficial censor) Bob Bartholomew, the story laid the foundations for one of the comics most enduring characters: Nemesis The Warlock. The series became a smash with readers and critics alike, and went on to do for racial and religious intolerance what ABC Warriors had done for warfare.

A recently discovered memo, dated May 1981 listed a roster of 2000AD's major Thrills, with the writers and artists attached to each series. Hand written by Steve McManus at the bottom of the page was a request for the return of previously published strips, including Ro-Busters and ABC Warriors. As Nemesis progressed, Pat Mills made good on the request, and brought back Mek-Quake in Nemesis Book 3 (and a 'cameo' from his Ro-Busters comrades - look out for it!). Then, with the multi-award winning Nemesis Book 4: The Gothic Empire (by Mills, O'Neill and Bryan Talbot, Progs 387-406) in 1984, The ABC Warriors returned in all their rusty glory.

Ro-Jaws was the first surprise return. He was now working in a hotel in The Gothic Empire, and got himself assigned as a valet to The Warlock, Nemesis. Next came Hammerstein; he and a number of other ABC robots had been brought into service by Torquemada and his Terminators to assist in the taking of the Gothic Empire. While Ro-Jaws was still his usual lovably disgusting self, Hammerstein had been given an extra depth to his character. He had returned as a battle weary mek-man, questioning why they were killing the Goths (an alien race seduced by the earliest radio signals from Earth, and who sought to imitate humans as a mark of respect) and wanted an end to it all. After narrowly escaping a death sentence at the hands of his old comrade Mek-Quake, he was re-programmed and sent on a suicide mission to assassinate the Goth ruler, Queen Victoria.

Nemesis took a hand in foiling the assassination, and later stopped Hammerstein's own execution. With Hammerstein and Ro-Jaws reunited, The Warlock took it upon himself to re-form The ABC Warriors to aid the Goths during their struggle. Hammerstein's comrades in suicide Hitaki and Mad Ronn replaced the late Happy Shrapnel and The Mess, who had been left on Mars, and Nemesis headed off to the free robot planet of Mekka to find the others. Mongrol was working in a circus side-show, Joe was a police officer, and Blackblood was now a business man, living under the assumed name of 'Bunyon Snipe.' With six Warriors ready to face the world, Nemesis himself took the place of Deadlock - after all, they were the same entity...

After the Mars mission, Deadlock had returned to his Knights Martial only to discover them in a state of disarray. After locking himself away to study ancient texts, The Grand Wizard managed to succeed in his goal of seeking the higher realms to join with his master Khaos; The Warlock came for him and they became one. An interesting move on Mills' part, considering he had stated in the past that, although many fans had pointed out the physical similarities, Deadlock and Nemesis were in no way related.

After saving the Goths, Nemesis took The Warriors to find his son, Thoth, as he played havoc through the Time Wastes of Termight (Nemesis Book 5: The Vengeance of Thoth, Progs 435-445). They also followed Nemesis into an appearance in Diceman, 2000AD's role playing spin-off magazine, but, unfortunately, not into the world of computer games. Thankfully, they managed to resist the temptation to do a photo story. They made their penultimate appearance with The Warlock in Book 6: Torquemurder (by Mills and Talbot, Progs 482-487, 500-504). Although they only had a supporting role, it became the prelude to their long awaited second series, which saw them embark on their most challenging mission yet...

After losing both Mad Ronn and Hitaki, Nemesis made Mek-Quake and Ro-Jaws members of the team. He sent The Warriors alone into the Time Wastes to repair the damage Thoth had done, while the Warlock himself continued the search for his child. With Pat Mills scripting and Simon Bisley making his comics debut, The Warriors embarked on arguably their best solo adventure to date: Black Hole (Progs 555-566, 573-581). Tensions ran high in the team and things looked as if they could fall apart at any moment. Bisley brought back the ultra-violence and the huge weaponry, while Mills brought a more mature, almost adult, feel to the scripts to complement it. He gave each of the key players a chance to shine and show off extra dimensions to their character, some of which proved to be more than a little suprising.

During the initial chapters, The Warriors took on a group of robots known as The Mekaniks in a bloody battle (graphically illustrated by Bisley), and captured a human female in the shape of Terri. Seeing Hammerstein, she mistook him for Craig, the father of her baby. This encounter added another level to Hammerstein, reinforcing the tragic hero image Mills had cultivated for him over the years. He and Terri had fallen in love. However, it was after an early encounter with The Mekaniks that Joe made a startling discovery: Deadlock had returned. Although whether he had returned to help or hinder the mission was still a mystery.

The original Warriors now re-united, they ventured deeper into the Time Wastes to save Terra. With the mysteriously named S.M.S. taking up the reins on the art chores, many revelations came to the fore. Hammerstein, ever the tragic hero, was the first fully functioning ABC Warrior into battle, but he had inadvertantly killed his programmer, Jodi Jones, something which still haunted him. Blackblood, on the other hand, had secrets of his own, namely some negatives of Joe attending a party in Mekka, and wearing something other than a leather jacket...

Characterization was played out to the full, with each of the Warriors getting a chance in the spotlight, but the tensions ran higher and higher with each passing episode. Together, they faced The Eternal Soldiers of Agartha and a creature known as The Monad, a terror created by Torqumemada's purification plants situated at the end of the world. By the end of the mission, they had become a target for an earlier incarnation of the human empire (still in the far future where Earth was called Terra, but before Tomas de Torquemada brought about the downfall of science). All the secrets had come out of the closet, Hammerstein had lost Terri, Mongrol had been hit with some home truths, Deadlock had betrayed his master Khaos - the team had virtually imploded. Not only had The Warriors become the seven most wanted robots in the galaxy, the characters had also reached the end of their evolutionary progress.

While Simon Bisley went on to find more acclaim with Sláine The Horned God, the distinctive style of S.M.S. never found its way back into 2000AD again. However, that didn't stop The Warriors rearing their heads again, a mere two years later, in Warlocks and Wizards (Prog 700, 1990). Hammerstein had now relinquished his leadership to Deadlock, and the team had become agents of Khaos, but before they took on their next mission, they stopped off at the planet Gandarva, home of the Warlocks, to pay a visit to Nemesis, and allow Deadlock to settle a score with his fellow follower of Khaos. The two fought to the death and were literally re-born, purged of the guilt of betraying their master. However, this meeting threw the whole continuity of the series into disarray. If The Warriors were now at a point in time years before Torquemada took power, how did Nemesis know who they were? None of these questions were ever answered, however, and with Tony Skinner coming on-board as co-scribe and Carl Critchlow coming back to do art chores, the magicians teamed up once more in the disappointing The Enigmass Variations (Prog 723-729, 1991). Attending the Festival of Kaligo, Deadlock and Nemesis wound up in the middle of a game of 'Ten Little Indians,' as a creature called The Enigmass killed each of the attending magicians one by one. Once that was over, the two promptly went their seperate ways.

The Warriors made a solo return in Khronicles of Khaos (Progs 750-757, 780-784, 787-790). Mills and Skinner were joined by new regular artist Kevin Walker, and with him came the seventh member of The Warriors in the shapely form of Morrigun. Well, okay eighth member, but Ro-Jaws was only tolerated. Khronicles more or less picked up from where Black Hole left off, with The Warriors still on the run from the Terran Empire. Deadlock led them to the planet Hekate to collect seven heads for a ritual that would spread Khaos throughout the galaxy, ending the oppressive Terran reign for good. Probably most memorable for Joe's dress habits, Khronicles proved to be a less than popular series with some hardcore fans. However, the series went on to be translated and published across Europe. Not put off by the negative reaction, Mills, Skinner and Walker brought The Warriors back two years later in the very disappointing (and frankly forgettable) Hellbringer (903-911, 964-971). This time, the team, having all gone their seperate ways, were re-recruited to take on the Terrans once more, and destroy their new super-weapon: Hellbringer.

Mills' new age/chaos/Earth religion rants that had previously appeared in Sláine (which won him some criticism) also manifested themselves here in the ABC Warriors, which didn't sit comfortably in a story about war droids. Even Walker's execeptional painting couldn't save both these series from mediocrity. All the tensions and secrets had been revealed and resolved in Black Hole, leaving a bunch of ageing robots with nothing more to do than quibble pointlessly.

There was a gap of almost a year in the middle of Hellbringer, during which Hammerstein (with Kevin Walker tucked safely under his arm) made his big screen debut in the 1995 Judge Dredd movie. While Dredd had his movie uniform designed by Gianni Versace, Hammerstein was given a 'make-over' courtesy of Chris Halls (now known as Chris Cunningham, director of controversial music videos for Leftfield and Spiritulized - click here to find out more about his designs for Hammerstein).

Hammerstein's association with the grand old man of justice didn't end there. In 1995, Mills teamed up with Skinner and Jason Brashill for his first Dredd-related tale since the Blood of Satanus back in the early 80's. Hammerstein (Progs 960-963) not only filled The ABC Warriors shaped gap left by Walkers departure, but also pulled the threads of 2000AD continuity that little bit tighter, as it was revealed that Hammerstein had been a part of the robot armies loyal to Robert L. Booth, the president who had started the Atomic War of 2070, and fought in The Battle of Armageddon against The Judges.

After the eventual conclusion of Hellbringer, Tony Skinner took his leave of The ABC Warriors, leaving Mills to fly solo once again. However, it wasn't only Skinner who was jumping ship. Ro-Jaws also left the series, to help out at Deadlock's Kollege of Khaos, and hasn't been seen with the team since. Who knows, another series of Robo Tales may be just around the corner...

After giving Joe Pineapples a chance in the solo spotlight (Joe Pineapples: His Greatest Hits, 1996 Sci-Fi Special), Mills teamed up with Walker (his final outing with The Warriors) for another ABC Warriors story, RoadKill, which featured in the 2000AD Prog 2000 Special. The story brought the team full circle as they headed back to Mars to take on the pack of zombies known as the Jung Cannibals. A superior script and some fantastic black and white artwork from Walker promised much for the next series. However, said series didn't appear until 2001. In the meantime, Mills kept The Warriors busy.

Following on from Blackblood (Dishounourable Discharge, 2000AD Winter Special #4), Hammerstein and Joe, Deadlock was given a chance at solo glory, courtesy of Mills and Henry Flint (Deadlock, Progs 1212-1222). The Grand Wizard returned to Termight, now under the control of President Purity Brown, but found her alien friendly regime wasn't quite as it seemed...

Mills and Flint continued their creative partnership (which had also produced Nemesis Book 10: The Final Conflict) to give us the The Third Element (Prog 1234-1236), the beginning of the long awaited new ABC Warriors series, and the first for the twenty-first century.

Everything had come full circle as The Warriors returned to Mars in a time when, once again, peace is badly needed on the red planet. But the question of whether this is a return to former glories for the series has left fans divided. After a shaky start, however, The Warriors saw Mike McMahon return to the front lines with them, and produce one of the biggest shocks of the series: the return of Steelhorn (The Tripods, Prog 1240 - 1242).

Things weren't as they seemed on the red planet. Medusa, the planetary conscious of Mars, had awoken, determined to take revenge on her human inhabitants for trying to terraform her, and make her just like Earth. The native Martians, or Trimorphs, had risen up with her, and begun terrorist action against the human settlers. Mars President Cobb subsequently ordered all Trimorphs to be placed in detention camps until the matter was resolved. Until The ABC Warriors intervened, and tried to bring peace back to the red planet.

However, clashes behind the scenes between Mills and then editor Andy Diggle over the series stopped The Warriors return to Mars from being much more than a re-tread of old ground. Clunky dialogue and abysmal artwork from McMahon and Liam McCormack-Sharpe didn't do much to help the cause.

However, their next Mars based adventure, The Shadow Warriors, could change all that.

While The ABC Warriors next adventure is eagerly awaited, they've been making their presence felt in 2000AD. The original 1979 line-up (along with Ro-Jaws and Nemesis) made a brief appearance in the simply horrendous twelve part Judge Dredd tale Helter Skelter by Garth Ennis, Carlos Ezquerra and Henry Flint (Progs 1250-1261). The original members of The Warriors, popped up in Prog 1280, 2000AD's Silver Anniversary issue, along with Mek-Quake, Ro-Jaws, Nemesis and Torquemada, amongst countless others who've graced the hallowed pages down the years.

The various series may have met with mixed reactions down the years, but there's one thing that's for certain, The ABC Warriors have picked up a huge fan following (including comedian Simon Pegg, who named his character in Spaced after Simon Bisley), and in some circles, the original 1979 strip is seen as a close contender for 'Best 2000AD series ever.' Now, with the new Titan collections The Mek-Nificent Seven and The Black Hole, and the new Hammerstein miniature from War Games Foundry, The Warriors are reaching new fans. With Rebellion behind them, they look set to conquer whole new areas of media and merchandising.

Can the Saturday morning cartoon show be far behind...?

ABC WARRIORS HISTORY | NEMESIS HISTORY | RO-BUSTERS HISTORY

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