Tharg's Future Shocks
Rebranded in the year 2000 as just "Future Shocks" (after the long hiatus of Tharg during his ousting by the Vector 13 crowd), these are a staple of 2000 AD - a place to tell a short, one-off thrill.
Sometimes things don't quite fit in the bracket of being either futuristic or having a particularly twisty ending (or even neatly fitting in a single episode), so the one-off idea is also served either without any branding, or as (with varying longevity) Ro-Jaws' Robo-Tales, Tharg's Time Twisters, Tharg's Dragon Tales, Tales From Beyond Science, Terror Tales, Vector 13, Pulp Sci-Fi, Tales of Telguuth or Past Imperfect. A modern take on the idea has been to do specifically three-parters under the Tharg's 3rillers banner.
The Dreddverse gets similarly served with the sporadic Tales From Mega-City One and more successful Tales From the Black Museum.
| 1977 | 1978 | 1979-1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983-1984 | 1985 | 1986 |
| 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992-1993 | 1994-2000 | 2001 |
| 2002-2003 | 2004-2007 | 2008-2011 | 2012-2014 | 2015-2017 | 2018-2020 | 2021-2023 | 2024-2025 |
Art by Cliff Robinson
- The 2000 AD ABC: Tharg's Future Shocks
- Shop: Tharg's Future Shocks
- In Orbit Every Wednesday: What's the Ultimate Future Shock?
| Story Title | Parts | Pages | w indicates a wraparound coverCovers | Year(s) | Issues | Writer | Artist | Colourist | Letterer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Toast | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 660 | Simon Furman | Lee Sullivan | [b&w] | Glop |
| A Step Further… | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1990 | 663 | Ian Rimmer | Art Wetherall | [b&w] | Gordon Robson |
| War and Peace | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 664 | Nicholas Barber | Dave D'Antiquis | [b&w] | Gordon Robson |
| The Mirror | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1990 | 666 | Heath Ackley | Martin Griffiths | [b&w] | Annie Parkhouse |
| Thanks for the Memories | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 670 | Nicholas Barber | Massimo Belardinelli | [b&w] | Bambos Georgiou |
| Guilt | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1990 | 671 | John Tomlinson | Paul Marshall | <-- | Tom Frame |
| Termination Explanation | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 672 | Paul Carstairs | Massimo Belardinelli | [b&w] | Bambos Georgiou |
| The Dawn of the Loch Ness Monster | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 674 | Nicholas Barber | Ron Smith | [b&w] | Bambos Georgiou |
| The Big, Bigger Biggest Bomb | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1990 | 699 | Paul Carstairs | Mike Hadley | <-- | Tom Frame |
| The Tomb | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1990 | WS3 | Nicholas Barber | Kamilovski | <-- | Gordon Robson |
| How to Write a Future Shock | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | WS3 | T.M.O. | Eric Bradbury | [b&w] | Gordon Robson |
| Killer Pigeons From Hell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1990 | 705 | Alan McKenzie | Ron Smith | [b&w] | Ellie de Ville |
Linked to Tharg the MightySleighbells in the Sky | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1990 | 710 | Gordon Robson | Steve Yeowell | <-- | Steve Potter |
| >> Features << | |||||||||
Linked to Features | IndexesTharg's Future Shocks: The Index | 2 | 12 | 0 | 1990 | SFS13 | editorial | reprints | [b&w] | n/a |
| year | episodes | pages |
| 1977 | 19 | 61.5 |
| 1978 | 31 | 81 |
| 1979 | 17 | 64.5 |
| 1980 | 3 | 16 |
| 1981 | 37 | 157 |
| 1982 | 29 | 96 |
| 1983 | 6 | 17.5 |
| 1984 | 22 | 64 |
| 1985 | 22 | 68.5 |
| 1986 | 22 | 77 |
| 1987 | 30 | 87 |
| 1988 | 28 | 85 |
| 1989 | 32 | 116 |
| 1990 | 13 | 46 |
| 1991 | 16 | 71 |
| 1992 | 10 | 42 |
| 1993 | 10 | 50 |
| 1994 | 4 | 23 |
| 1995 | 7 | 35 |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 7 | 35 |
| 2001 | 20 | 100 |
| 2002 | 12 | 62 |
| 2003 | 6 | 31 |
| 2004 | 8 | 40 |
| 2005 | 1 | 5 |
| 2006 | 5 | 25 |
| 2007 | 4 | 20 |
| 2008 | 6 | 30 |
| 2009 | 6 | 30 |
| 2010 | 6 | 26 |
| 2011 | 4 | 17 |
| 2012 | 4 | 16 |
| 2013 | 4 | 16 |
| 2014 | 9 | 37 |
| 2015 | 6 | 25 |
| 2016 | 4 | 16 |
| 2017 | 7 | 28 |
| 2018 | 7 | 31 |
| 2019 | 7 | 30 |
| 2020 | 10 | 47 |
| 2021 | 7 | 34 |
| 2022 | 7 | 35 |
| 2023 | 10 | 49 |
| 2024 | 6 | 30 |
| 2025 | 4 | 20 |
| 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| 2027 | 0 | 0 |
Comic strip data (excludes other content):