Harrier was founded in 1984 by Martin Lock, up to that point a long-time comics fanzinepublisher known for BEM and Fantasy Advertiser. The success of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles led to a short-lived explosion of black-and-white independent comics in the United States in the mid-1980s. The U.K. publisher Harrier's titles followed the same mold. Harrier's aesthetic was also inspired in some ways by the bold design of the UK's Escape magazine. The company's name was an homage to the famous British-designed military jet the Harrier. Harrier's first title was the space-fantasy series Conqueror, with the first issue being dated August 1984. The series traced its roots back to 1979, when writer Lock and artist Dave Harwood created the first stories for BEM. Conqueror eventually ran for nine issues and spawned a number of spin-offs and one-shots, published throughout 1984 and 1985. The 1987 Conqueror Special served as an end-cap to the series. 1985 saw the first volume of Swiftsure, also written by Lock, which ran for six issues and was followed by a second volume of four issues in 1987. In 1986, Harrier released the showcase anthology Avalon, which ran 14 issues; and Redfox, which ran ten issues before being picked up by Valkyrie Press. Second City and Shock Therapy also debuted in 1986. That same year, Harrier published one issue of Lew Stringer's Brickman, which featured pages drawn by notable British creators Dave Gibbons, Mike Collins, Mark Farmer, and Kevin O'Neill, and an introduction written by Alan Moore. 1987 was Harrier's most active year, as it debuted the humor series !Gag!, Barbarienne, Eddie Campbell's Deadface, Grun, Nightbird, and Swiftsure vol. 2; as well as the one-shots By The Time I Get To Wagga Wagga, Captain Oblivion, the Conqueror Special, Deathwatch, Phil Elliott's More Tales From Gimbley, and Watchcats. That year Harrier also debuted its New Wave imprint — the first title published under it being Glenn Dakin and Steve Way's Paris the Man of Plaster, which ran for six issues. Other alternative-flavored titles, like Deadface and the !Gag! anthology, were soon folded into the New Wave imprint. The Harrier title Redfox won the 1987 Eagle Award for Favourite New Title. In 1988, Harrier released another batch of new titles—including Harrier Preview, Kalgan the Golden, Moon Fighting, Nick Hazard, Sunrise and Vignette Comics — none of which lasted for more than two issues. That year, Harrier's New Wave imprint released the four-issue Sinister Romance and Eddie Campbell's Ace and Bacchus. By the spring of 1989, however, low sales forced Harrier to shut down.
Notable creators associated with Harrier
Harrier first published Eddie Campbell's long-running character Bacchus, first in Deadface and then in a self-titled comic. The New Wave imprint featured Campbell, as well as Glenn Dakin's work, in Paris, The Man Of Plaster and the anthology !Gag!. Dakin also co-edited, wrote, and drew the New Wave humor title Sinister Romance. Long-time British comics creator Phil Elliott edited !Gag!. Harrier also published two collections of Elliott's A Tale from Gimbley stories, as well as Elliott and Paul Duncan's four-issue Second City title. Two of three completed prologues for an unfinished story by Grant Morrison and Tony O'Donnell titled Abraxas were published as back-up stories in Harrier's Sunrise #1-2 before its cancellation. They were printed in black and white although the original art was in color.
More Tales From Gimbley — Phil Elliott; sequel to Some Tales from Gimbley
Nick Hazard — based on John Russell Fearn's "Lords of 9016"
Some Tales From Gimbley — Phil Elliott
Vignette Comics
Watchcats
New Wave imprint
Ace — Eddie Campbell
Bacchus — Eddie Campbell
Deadface — edited by Phil Elliott; contributors included John Bagnall, Eddie Campbell, Glenn Dakin, Elliott, Paul Grist, Ed Hillyer, Rian Hughes, Trevs Phoenix, and Steve Way
Paris the Man of Plaster — Glenn Dakin and Steve Way
Sinister Romance — satirical romance comics by Glenn Dakin, Trevs Phoenix, and Warren Pleece
