First appearing in Prog 376 of 2000 AD back on July 7th, 1984, Alan Moore and Ian Gibson’s 10-issue run on The Ballad of Halo Jones has grown to become a seminal work, one of 2000 AD’s most fondly remembered strips and the first part of a trilogy that is regarded in the highest echelons of comic book storytelling.
We’re introduced to Halo Jones, an 18-year-old who lives in The Hoop, a circular floating housing estate floating off the East coast of the United States. Volume One takes place over 24 hours and follows Halo as she embarks upon a sometimes violent and occasionally comical shopping trip. It’s a smile-inducing journey until she returns home to find her flatmate Brinna Childresse-Lao brutally murdered and her friend Ludy indoctrinated to become a Different Drummer, a cult member. Halo decides to leave the planet aboard the Clara Pandy and seek her future in the stars.
Infused with 2000 AD’s classic mid-‘80s inventiveness and flair, The Ballad of Halo Jones Volume One sees Moore and Gibson at their best. The razor-sharp incisiveness of Moore marries perfectly with the off-kilter but instantly recognisable penmanship of Gibson, floating from comedy to pathos in the change of a panel. Moore employed his tried and tested method of organised madness, throwing us into a seemingly alien environment of 50th century social problems and politics, cults, slang, fashion and an off-world war that gave little explanation, forcing the reader to pay attention as the world building developed, only to be paid off in later issues and future volumes down the line. Halo would become a legendary character within the reality of her own series, and this first volume set down the seeds of that development as she first sets out on her journey.
Halo Jones is rightly considered a classic. Not only is it one of 2000 AD’s finest moments and yet another character from the iconic British weekly to hit the comics zeitgeist but a genre-breaking story that broke the mould of what Moore described as ‘guns, guys and gore’. The writer had “no inclination to unleash yet another ‘Tough Bitch with a Disintegrator and an Extra Y-Chromosome’ upon the world” and with this seemingly everyday tale of a young woman going out for the day on a shopping trip he certainly succeeded. This first ballad was far from ordinary, and despite her lack of superpowers, Halo was far from ordinary either. If you’ve not shared her journey for a few decades or have never had the pleasure of meeting her at all then this comes highly recommended.
THE BALLAD OF HALO JONES VOLUME ONE / AUTHOR: ALAN MOORE / ARTIST: IAN GIBSON / PUBLISHER: REBELLION / RELEASE DATE: MAY 17TH
