Vanguard

Vanguard is a comic strip by Robbie Morrison and Colin MacNeil, with colours by Chris Blythe. It was published in 2000 AD progs 1212 to 1219. The protagonist, Elizabeth Vanguard, wants to be the first woman ever to captain a starship. Pictured is Richard Elson's cover for prog 1217.

Morrison wanted to do a second series but that never got off the ground. He believes that "The first book didn't blow anyone away. Maybe the concept was a bit too straight. But I'm pretty sure if we had completed the story Vanguard would have become more popular." That's the cut-throat world of comics for you. (Source: Thrill-Power Overload by David Bishop.)