This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the British character Loner.
LONER – In 1988 the U.K. comic book Wildcat introduced a sci-fi character called Loner. This figure was, shall we say, reminiscent of America’s post-apocalypse rebel Sabre (lower right), who debuted in 1978 and made his last appearance in 1985. I’m not accusing anybody of anything. We all know that comic books recycle and borrow ideas all the time. And at least they didn’t spell it “Lonre.”
While Sabre’s adventures were about a heroic rebel fighting the dictatorship that had arisen in the wake of a global epidemic, famine and nuclear disasters, Loner’s adventures were set far away from the planet Earth.
In the year 2492 a huge spaceship called Wildcat searches the universe for a planet fit for the human race to settle on as Earth faces destruction from a meteor storm. Loner was the world’s highest-paid mercenary warrior and bought his way onto the Wildcat by chipping in twenty million in financing.
Armed with his custom-made, multi-projectile firearm “Babe,” Loner goes forth to explore potential new worlds for the human race to colonize. Naturally, he faces a variety of science fiction menaces while carrying out that mission of exploration.
NOTE: Like Sabre’s “flintlock” laser pistol, Loner’s gun may look like an antique pistol but is really a high-tech weapon in a deceptive vintage casing. Continue reading
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