Moonrunners

"Across the galactic reaches, huge transporters hauled cargoes to and from the inner worlds... While out on the edge lay hostile territory, solar storms and black galaxies... terrifying gulfs and uncharted voids... a perfect place for Moonrunners... old freighters long past their 'sell-by' date, making their fortunes hauling special cargo... stuff that nobody else would touch, like unstable isotopes or dangerous psychopaths..."

Moonrunners was a 'space opera' (it's a soap opera... in space!) comic strip by Alan McKenzie, Steve Parkhouse and Massimo Belardinelli published in 2000 AD in 1988-9. It can be seen as an attempt to solve the lack of strong female characters left by the discontinuation of The Ballad of Halo Jones. The strip centres around space-age cargo transport, like Ace Trucking Co. taken seriously. Tycoon Cara Nash has a daughter, Carroll, and a fleet of 'Moonrunners', clapped-out old space freighters crewed by a motley band of misfits.