The Red Seas

"The Red Seas" is a series for "2000 AD", written by Ian Edginton and drawn by Steve Yeowell.

The stories revolve around Captain Jack Dancer and the crew of his ship the Red Wench. It mixes pirates with anomalous phenomena, including magic, zombies, the hollow earth and werewolves.

Characters

*Jack Dancer, Captain of the Red Wench
*Orlando Doyle, villain from the first installment
*Erabus, a double-headed dog's head in a jar
*Jim is Tom's son but was killed by Isabella in "The Hollow Earth". However he was brought back to life with a strange being inside of him called Hnau. But Jim is not Jim any longer because his personality and voice are under Hnau's control.
*Isabella was an old flame of Jack's but left him and found herself to be a queen of The Hollow Land. But after killing Jim in order to climb onboard the Pendant Moon and trying to torture Hnau through Jim's body, Hnau sends her to Mars where she suffocates and apparently dies at the hand of some spider-like monsters.
*Hnau is a sort of giant ball but with all the characters faces molded onto it. He's awfully friendly and has taken over the body of Jim and can now explore The Hollow Land, the world which he owns.
*Tom is Jim's father and by the end of "The Hollow Land" is heartbroken saying that, that "thing" isn't his son.
*Isaac Newton, makes an appearance in "Underworld" and has his own stand alone adventure in "With a bound he was free...".

Plot

The first story "Under the Banner of King Death" saw the crea fighting zombie pirates (very similar to those in "" although the strip pre-dates the film).

In recent tales, "Underworld" and "The Hollow Land", the travelled into the Hollow Earth. In "The Hollow Land", Ian Edginton killed off the character of Jim who was later brought back to life but with a strange being inside him called Hnau.

"With a bound he was free..." moves away from the pirate crew, focusing instead on Isaac Newton. He appeared in "Underworld" but didn't travel into the Earth with the adventurers. However, this didn't keep him out of trouble and he gets involved with a murder that seems to have lycanthropic aspects.

A sequel is expected later this year or in 2007.

Publication

These are being reprinted by Rebellion:

*"The Red Seas":
** "Under the Banner of King Death. The Red Seas Book I" (in "2000 AD" #1313-1321, 2002, ISBN 1-904265-68-5)
** "Twilight of the Idols. The Red Seas Book II" (in "2000 AD" prog 2004 & #1371-1379, 2003-2004, ISBN 1-904265-72-3)
** "Meanwhile..." (in "2000 AD" #1416-1419, 2004)
** "Underworld. The Red Seas Book III" (in "2000 AD" #1460-1468, 2005)
** "The Hollow Land" (in "2000 AD" #1491-1499, 2006)
** "With a bound he was free..." (in "2000 AD" #1513-1517, 2006)
** "War Stories" (in "2000 AD" #1562-1566, 2007)
** "Old Gods" (in "2000 AD" #1600-, 2008)

ee also

*Pirates in popular culture
*Cultural depictions of Isaac Newton

External links

* [http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=thrill&page=profiles&choice=REDSEAS 2000 AD Profile Page]
* [http://www.2000adreview.co.uk/reviews/extra/2006/trades/red-seas/red-seas.shtml Review of Under the Banner of King Death for 2000AD Reviews]