Cover of the Week – Deadline issue 5 March 1989. Wired World by Philip Bond

This week marks 30 years since the first issue of Deadline was released. Deadline was hugely important for British comics and marked something new. Its most obvious predecessor was Warrior which had shown that a British anthology style monthly featuring new work aimed at a ‘mature’ market, could be a success.

Deadline brought something different though. It seemed fresher and more original. It avoided superheroes or sword and sorcery. Instead it had stories like Tank Girl, Johnny Nemo and my personal favourite Philip Bond’s Wired World.

It went on to feature classics from US indie comics such as Evan Dorkin’s Milk and Cheese and Los Bros Hernandez’ Love and Rockets.

Deadline appealed not so much to the existing comics market but reached out to readers of the NME and The Face. Yes, cool people. There were more articles covering music, fashion and politics. It was a chunky monthly magazine and was always a great read. Much missed!