| Character Name: | Harlem Heroes |
| Noimage: | y |
| Converted: | y |
| Publisher: | IPC Media |
| Debut: | 2000 AD #1 (February 1977) |
| Creators: | Pat Mills Dave Gibbons |
Harlem Heroes is a British comic strip that formed part of the original line-up of stories in 2000 AD (February 1977). Inspired by the popularity during the 1970s of kung fu films and the Harlem Globetrotters, Harlem Heroes was devised by Pat Mills, employing elements from his Hellball comic strip, and scripted by Tom Tully. Initially, the series was to have been drawn by Carlos Trigo but the Spanish artist was replaced by Dave Gibbons prior to the first issue's publication. From issue (or "prog") 25 Massimo Belardinelli drew the concluding episodes of the first series and would be retained as its regular artist for the strip's reinvention as Inferno.
By the year 2050,[1] the game of Aeroball has swept the world! It's Football, Boxing, Kung Fu and Basketball all rolled into one! Players roar through the air wearing jet packs (controlled by buttons on their belts) and score "air strikes" by getting the ball in the "score tank". One of the top teams is the all-black Harlem Heroes![2]
Having made it through the preliminary round of the World Aeroball Championship, the Harlem Heroes' team bus crashes, killing all but four players. Louis Mayer, his brain alone surviving the tragedy, convinces his three fellow survivors, 'Slim', 'Hairy', and team captain John 'Giant' Clay, that they can still win the championship title.
2000 AD progs 1–27, 2000 AD Annual 1978, 2000 AD Annual 1979 (29 episodes)
Timeline
21st Century, usually placed in 2050[3]
"The Sport of Tomorrow" – Prog 1 (1 episode)
"Harlem Heroes" – 2000 AD Annual 1979 (1 episode)
"The Baltimore Bulls" – progs 2–5 (4 episodes)
"The Siberian Wolves" – progs 6–8 (3 episodes)
"The Montezuma Mashers" – progs 9–11 (3 episodes)
"The Flying Scotsmen" – progs 12–15 (4 episodes)
"Gorgon's Gargoyles" – progs 16–21 (5 episodes)
"The Bushido Blades" – progs 22–24 (3 episodes)
"The Teutonic Titans" – progs 25–27 (3 episodes)
"The Berlin Blitzkriegs" – 2000 AD Annual 1978 (1 episode)
Inferno is the violent sequel to Harlem Heroes. Set in the bloodthirsty arena of Inferno, an even more barbaric updating of Aeroball, with the addition of players on motorbikes (and gameplay similar to that featured in Rollerball), sportsmanship is gradually replaced by sensationalist violence and the desire for bloodshed and death on the field. Declining in-game values are shadowed by terrifying levels of boardroom corruption: their own manager, tiring of the Heroes' clean-cut image, is determined to get rid of their contracts, by taking out a contract on his own players. The scene of the Heroes' violent demise is a baroquely ruinous former casino called The Crystal Maze (a metaphor of the human mind, and a title later recycled), rendered in darkly gothic splendour by Massimo Belardinelli.
2000 AD progs 36–75 (40 episodes)
Timeline
2078
"Never mind, Citizen Giant. Look at it this way—you've lost a son but Mega-City One has gained a darned fine Judge."[4]
Judge Giant senior graduates from Mega-City One's Academy of Law, much to the delight of his proud father, John 'Giant' Clay.
2000 AD progs 27–28 (2 episodes)
Timeline
2099
Judge Dredd Megazine #216 (1 episode)
Timeline
2126
The rise and fall of Inferno is described in chapter 3, as background for a crime. The post-Atom War society was desperate for decadent sport but the events of Inferno ("the Hellcat Murders") would kill it, with Hellcat fans not returning and the average fan afraid they might get killed next.
Judge Dredd Year One: Wear Iron (2014)
Timeline
2080
A revival of the first series in name only, unrelated to Dredd.
2000 AD progs 671–676, 683–699, 701–705/745–749/776–779/928–939 (49 episodes)
Timeline
2109
2000 AD progs 671–676, 683–699, 701–705 (28 episodes)
2000 AD progs 745–749 (5 episodes)
2000 AD progs 776–779 (4 episodes)
2000 AD progs 928–939 (12 episodes)
Another revival, this one starring Judge Giant's grandchild Gem Giant as the captain of a new Aeroball team.
"Harlem Heroes" -- 2000AD Regened Volume 3
"Vs the Venetian Vipers" -- Mega-City Max