The Tower King

The Tower King was a comic series published in the British comic book Eagle, from issue 1 (dated 27 March 1982) to issue 24 (dated 4 September 1982). It was written by Alan Hebden and drawn by José Ortiz.

Plot

The story was set in a post-apocalyptic modern-day London. Following from a nuclear war, a malfunctioning solar-powered satellite, somehow bathes the Earth in radiation that makes the production of electricity in any form impossible. Without heating, transport, food, or communication, and in the middle of a heavy winter, London swiftly falls into mass panic, resulting in pseudo-medieval anarchy; the state of the rest of Britain or other countries was not explored during the strip.

Unlike many of the early Eagle strips, The Tower King was in drawn rather than photographic format; the strip's creators made use of the opportunity by juxtapositioning jarring visual elements, such as historic London landmarks strewn with the rubble of modern buildings, or soldiers in patchwork armor complete with pocket watches and police helmets, armed with both halberds and grenades.

The main character was Mick Tempest, a natural-born soldier and leader, with a down-to-earth demeanour (and a more than passing resemblance to depictions of Jesus). He organised his neighbourhood into a group, sharing protection and food in the face of rioters and looters, and then negotiated entry into the Tower of London for protection, Britain's monarchy apparently having been killed in the chaos. He was captured in an assault on the Tower by Lord Spencer, a self-styled feudal warlord, who tried to publicly behead Tempest on Tower Green when he refused to swear fealty. They were attacked by Tube Rats, a vicious group who had taken over the defunct London Underground system; in the battle, Tempest proved his worth to Spencer as an equal rather than a lieutenant.

Tempest, Spencer, and their army slowly regained control over parts of central London, encountering a hospital containing medical staff who had become insane due to events and had started a cult around worship of human organs; a group called the Wreckers who drove hand-cranked diesel-powered tanks and trains; and an 'electric temple' inside a power station, within which another deranged group of people worshipped electricity, pretending it to still exist.

The electricity-interfering satellite had been destroyed by meteor impact shortly before, a fact Tempest discovered when he switched the station's generators on to prove electricity was never coming back. The strip ended with Tempest vowing to re-create the world without the many social problems wrought by modern technology.