Tharg's Future Shocks

"Out in the vast reaches of the universe, there are an infinite number of stories waiting to be told. From chronicles of the lowliest swamp denizens in backwater galaxies to the rise and fall of rulers of entire star systems, anything is possible in these twisted tales. Abandon your preconceptions, expect the unexpected, and take a trip beyond the edges of the imagination..."

Tharg's Future Shocks is a long-running series of one-off short stories which has run intermittently in the pages of 2000 AD since 1977 (2000 AD prog 25), the first ever story being written by Steve Moore. Typically, these stories are four- or five-page science fiction shorts, usually comedic or semi-comedic and with a twist ending.

Future Shocks have over the years been an entry point into greater success in 2000 AD for a number of writers and artists who have gone on to bigger and better things, including Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman. Though the stories are usually unconnected, some have occasionally spawned sequels or even led to ongoing series for popular characters, including Abelard Snazz, Agent Rat, Bradley, Joe Black and Ulysses Sweet.

The success of the Future Shocks series has inspired the creation of numerous imitator series, including Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales, Vector 13, Tharg's Time Twisters (which saw the first appearance of D.R. & Quinch), Tharg's Dragon Tales, Tharg's Terror Tales (a horror-themed series), Tales from the Black Museum (based in the world of Judge Dredd), Tales from Beyond Science (all drawn by Rian Hughes), Tales of Telguuth (all set on the planet Telguuth and written by Steve Moore), Pulp Sci-Fi, Past Imperfect, Tharg's Future Shorts (one-page Future Shocks), Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales (stories told without words) and Tharg's 3rillers (three-part stories). All of these are in 2000 AD, apart from Tales from the Black Museum, which is published in the Judge Dredd Megazine, and Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales, which has appeared in both.

Tharg, of course, is 2000 AD's alien editor, who occasionally acted as host to the early stories. The stories have been collected into a number of trade paperbacks.

People who have worked on Tharg's Future Shocks

 * Dan Abnett
 * Jeff Anderson
 * Mick Austin
 * Edmund Bagwell
 * Jim Baikie
 * David Baillie
 * Stephen Baskerville
 * Paul Bensberg
 * Gary Blatchford
 * Tim Bollard
 * Simon Bowland
 * Eric Bradbury
 * Nick Brokenshire
 * Mark Buckingham
 * Mike Carey
 * Michael Carroll
 * Jose Casanovas
 * John Charles
 * Andy Clarke
 * Colin Clayton
 * Simon Coleby
 * Mike Collins
 * Boo Cook
 * John Cooper
 * Eoin Coveney
 * Dondie Cox
 * Carl Critchlow
 * I. N. J. Culbard
 * Paul Davidson
 * Alan Davis
 * Jon Davis-Hunt
 * Rufus Dayglo
 * Jamie Delano
 * Andy Diggle
 * D'Israeli
 * Nigel Dobbyn
 * Chris Dows
 * Daniel Dwyer
 * Nick Dyer
 * T.C. Eglington
 * Jim Eldridge
 * Richard Elson
 * Al Ewing
 * Brett Ewins
 * Mark Eyles
 * Glenn Fabry
 * Mark Farmer
 * Jose Luis Ferrer
 * Tom Frame
 * Neil Gaiman
 * Leigh Gallagher
 * Dave Gibbons
 * Igor Goldkind
 * Kelvin Gosnell
 * Josep Gual
 * Mike Hadley
 * Simon Harrison
 * Jon Haward
 * Alan Hebden
 * John Hicklenton
 * John Higgins
 * David Hine
 * Peter Hogan
 * PJ Holden
 * Kev Hopgood
 * Sally Jane Hurst
 * Frazer Irving
 * Simon Jacob
 * Staz Johnson
 * Johnny Johnstone
 * Anthony Jozwiak
 * Shaky Kane
 * Ian Kennedy
 * Barry Kitson
 * Alan Langford
 * Garry Leach
 * Jody LeHeup
 * Dan Lester
 * Chris Lowder
 * Jake Lynch
 * Steve MacManus
 * Paul Marshall
 * Brendan McCarthy
 * Jim McCarthy
 * Mark Millar
 * David Millgate
 * Peter Milligan
 * Alan McKenzie
 * Alan Moore
 * Steve Moore
 * Grant Morrison
 * Robbie Morrison
 * Paul Neary
 * Jefte Palo
 * Annie Parkhouse
 * Steve Parkhouse
 * Paul Peart
 * Mike Perkins
 * Tim Perkins
 * D. Perry
 * Carlos Pino
 * David Pugh
 * Arthur Ranson
 * Kim Raymond
 * Nigel Raynor
 * Jesús Redondo
 * Graeme Neil Reid
 * Wayne Reynolds
 * Ian Richardson
 * Ian Rimmer
 * Steve Roberts
 * Hilary Robinson
 * Eddie Robson
 * Geoff Senior
 * Liam Sharp
 * Siku
 * Will Simpson
 * John Smith
 * Robin Smith
 * Ron Smith
 * Smudge
 * Ramon Sola
 * Simon Spurrier
 * Richard Starkings
 * Chris Stevens
 * John Stokes
 * Lee Sullivan
 * Bryan Talbot
 * Dylan Teague
 * Ron Tiner
 * John Tomlinson
 * Tiernen Trevallion
 * Ron Turner
 * Kek-W
 * Kevin Walker
 * Chris Weston
 * Mike White
 * Win Wiacek
 * Anthony Williams
 * Brian Williamson
 * Ben Willsher
 * Colin Wilson
 * Alec Worley
 * Arthur Wyatt
 * Steve Yeowell