Ex-Mutants

Ex-Mutants
Cover to Ex-Mutants #4 (1987). Story by David Lawrence Art by Ron Lim and Tim Dzon.
Publication information
Publisher	Eternity Comics \ Amazing Comics \ Pied Piper Comics \ Malibu Comics
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	1986–1993
Creative team
Creator(s)	David Lawrence Ron Lim David Campiti

Ex-Mutants was a comic book series created by writer David Lawrence and artist Ron Lim along with editor David Campiti in 1986. It was first published by Eternity Comics and then Amazing Comics. Contractual problems resulted in a move to Pied Piper Comics. A legal dispute followed, and after running out of money for the struggle, the creators surrendered. The title returned to Eternity Comics and was later published in a revamped version by Malibu Comics, which Eternity had become an imprint of. A videogame for the Sega Genesis based on the Malibu version was released.

Synopsis

The series is set in a not too distant future, where an all-out war has decimated the planet, and the hapless survivors and their offspring have been horribly mutated by the toxins released into the environment.

A lone scientist, the three-eyed Dr. Emmanuel Cugat, selects five mutants, one male and four females, to be genetically altered, resequencing their mutated DNA to restore them to humanity. Belushi, Erin, Angela, Vikki and Lorelei become perfect physical specimens. Dr. Cugat then sends them forth to inspire the shattered Earth. Many of the mutants have other ideas, particularly their nemesis, the monstrous Great Fred.

The series was perhaps best described by author Lawrence in a 2004 interview in the webzine QRD [1] as "a light-hearted post-nuclear adventure series. The message if there was one, and I didn't really think about it at the time, seems to be no matter how badly we fuck up we'll get by."

Malibu Version

In the Malibu version of Ex-Mutants, there were three males (Dillon, Ackroyd and Bud) and three females (Shannon, Piper and Tanya). These six were mutants who were gathered by Professor Kildare, a robotic-looking cyborg and turned into humans. Ackroyd and Shannon were the playable characters in the Sega Genesis game.

Publication history

• Ex-Mutants, issue #1, Eternity, 1986
• Ex-Mutants, Special Edition #1, Amazing Comics, 1986
• Ex-Mutants, issues #2–5, Amazing Comics, 1986
• Ex-Mutants, issues #6–8, Pied Piper Comics, 1987
• Lawrence & Lim's Ex-Mutants Microseries: Erin, issue #1, Pied Piper Comics, 1987
• Ex-Mutants, issues #6–7, Eternity, 1987 (numbering continued from Amazing)
• Ex-Mutants (Shattered Earth Chronicles), issues #1-15, Eternity, 1988–90
• Ex-Mutants Annual #1, Eternity, 1988
• Ex-Mutants Winter Special #1, Eternity, 1989
• Ex-Mutants, issues #1–18, Malibu, 1992–94