 Really & Truly on the cover to2000 AD Prog 845, art byRian Hughes. | |
| Character information | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | 2000 AD #842 (1993) |
| Created by | Grant Morrison Rian Hughes |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in thecomics anthology(s)2000 AD. |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Publication date | July – August1993 |
| Main character(s) | Really Something Truly Amazing |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Grant Morrison |
| Artist(s) | Rian Hughes |
| Editor(s) | Tharg (Alan McKenzie) |
| Reprints | |
| Collected editions | |
| Yesterday's Tomorrows: Rian Hughes' Collected Comics | ISBN 9781607063148 |
Really & Truly is ascience fiction comic strip that appeared in the British anthology2000 AD in1993, created byGrant Morrison andRian Hughes. It depicts the travails of the titular characters as they take a shipment of advanced drugs from Colombia to San Francisco in what writerDavid Quantick has described as a "post-Burgess, post-trance-house future".[1]
The story was - along with theJudge Dredd story "Inferno" - Morrison's contribution to new2000 AD editorAlan McKenzie's "Summer Offensive", an 8-week period where he sat back and let Morrison,Mark Millar andJohn Smith have free rein.[2] The story was published in2000 AD Progs 842-849 (3 July to 21 August 1993) - alongside Millar'sManiac 5, Smith'sSlaughterbowl and Morrison/Millar collaborationBig Dave.[3]
Really & Truly dealt explicitly with drugs, and according to Morrison was written in a day while high on ecstasy.[4]
In Teknograd, an enclave of young Russian scientists located in the Colombian jungle, Really and Truly are employed by Dmitri to run a consignment of bullets - a narcotic that can be inserted into the ear, producing "head shooms that last for days". Their destination is an illegalrave inSan Francisco, and Dmitri sendsCosmonaut Johnny Zhivago along with them as well. As they reachPanama they are detected by theFBI, who notify Captain Nice, while drug-lord Boss Buddha also targets the pair. On a comfort break Truly is nearly attacked by mutants but saved by the awful verse ofbeat poet Scuba Trooper, who promptly joins them to get a lift toMexico, where they are ambushed by the gigantic House of Fun, Nice's huge mobile base. They escape but end up in Anyville, a fifties Americana theme park filled with robots and a lone human,Native American Kicking Bird. They learn Boss Buddha's enforcers are closing in so split up - with Johnny Zhivago and Scuba Trooper heading on to San Francisco while Really and Truly draw them off. The ladies head to a floodedLos Angeles and are attacked by helicopters. They shoot them down but are intercepted by the House of Fun - which has been captured by Johnny and Scuba, with Captain Nice sidelined when he ingests the drug Void. Really, Truly and their motley crew then enjoy the rave.
| Title | ISBN | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Yesterday's Tomorrows: Rian Hughes' Collected Comics | 9780861661541 | 12 July 2007 |
| Yesterday's Tomorrows: Rian Hughes' Collected Comics | 9781607063148 | 1 February 2011 |
Richard Bruton ofComicon.com disliked the story, considering it derivative of the material often seen inDeadline, "packed with drugs and forced wackiness", but was thankful for the "brilliance" of Hughes' art.[5]Comic Book Resources placed it fourth on a list of Morrison's "most controversial stories", calling it a "Class AJosie & the Pussycats" and also noting the similarities toDeadline, particularlyTank Girl.,[6] and would also call it "Easy Rider by way ofHanna-Barbera".[7] Graham Johnstone called it "an entertaining romp" while reviewingYesterday's Tomorrows: Rian Hughes' Collected Comics for Slings & Arrows.[8]
Morrison themselves would note "Really & Truly is no award-winner but it has a certain throwaway charm",[4] and would later admit the story was heavily influenced byDeadline.[2]