Hewligan's Haircut

2000 AD The Ultimate Collection #59

by Peter Milligan

The last sane man in the asylum. The fate of the planet Earth rests on his scalp. That's because of Hewligan's haircut; the most elegant thatch ever created which happens to contain a magic hole. Together with the reality-warping, Scarlet O'Gasmeter, he is going to save reality and fall in love.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy, Humor

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Phillip Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

not just a crazy wacky zany story, actually, it is touching, funny, and intelligent, it has some great satirical points to make about sanity and insanity, and about the perception of reality, and of identity.

[Dave Tindall · Rating 1 out of 5]

What is this doing in this collection of 'best'of 2000ad, instead of something like Zenith???

[James Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll actually be reviewing the 2000AD Ultimate collection edition that includes Sooner or Later, Zorcerer of Zilk and a few Future Shocks as well as Hewligan's Haircut. I just couldn't find that on here.

Sooner or Later stars Swifty Johnson as he escapes the dole queue in Thatcher's Britain by finding a job, of sorts, in other times and places.

In Hewligan's Haircut the eponymous Hewligan is due to be released from an Insane Asylum but before he leaves he is given a haircut. A haircut that makes his hair into a rune of power. A rune that warps reality.

Zorcerer of Zilk finds a young man drawn into an world of magic and madness and weird puns.

While different all three stories feature the idea of a person being taken from a normal(ish) hum drum world and being taken to another bizarre one. In each case backed up by some great art. For me Zorcerer of Zilk is my favourite having a nice quest story to underpin all the more trippy stuff.

[Ben Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading after a decade or so and still utterly magnificent and one of the most gorgeous strips to grace the pages of the galaxy's greatest wossname.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun story&the art! It looks like Jamie Hewlett and Peter Milligan had the best time sticking this whole thing together. All the little quirky touches work so so well!

[Timo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tries so hard to be zany bonkers fun fun fun but fails.
Nice art, though.

[Alex Smedley · Rating 5 out of 5]

More britpop than Liam and Damon having a kick around. Great art.

[Matty Dub · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amazing art but mind numbing story

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly, very early '90s, very fun artwork from Jamie Hewlett, for whom I am a sucker.

[Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beatiful book! From the pages of 2000AD both creators look like they had so much fun with it, you won't be wrong to be jealous!
If your familiar with Hewlett's Tank Girl; the art style and visual humour is just as zany and free. I enjoy it when Milligan writes so this was a nice combo.
Read; let common sense take a rest and enjoy

[Doctor Action · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars may seem high praise for something as garishly coloured, deliberately zany and throwaway as this, but you have to mark based on what things are.

This is a short, sweet ride into an existence that feels a bit like a modern Yellow Submarine. The artwork in a comic strip is usually at least as important as the text and this is sensational throughout, done by the guy who's Gorillaz pop band characters you will know. Very colourful, stylized and extremely imaginative. There were many details I noticed as cool and unusual.

The story seemed entirely throwaway (unless I was missing something) but felt original. And the text and dialog self-aware, funny, sweet and smart enough to keep it's levity from feeling pointless.

Good stuff.

[Fugo Feedback]

Marco provisoriamente esta edición porque veo que es la que más páginas tiene, pero supongo que terminaré leyendo la que consiga. Si los Hewligan logran la sinergia que me espero, supongo que no bajará de las cuatro estrellitas.

[Paul Michaels · Rating 2 out of 5]

It gives me no pleasure to slag off Hewligan's Haircut, but it really is a typical comic from the "zany" bad old days of British comics. Jamie Hewlett's artwork from 1990 is enough to provide some visual thrills, but I found the story cringeworthy and genuinely painful to read.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completely crazy in a way only Milligan and Hewlett could pull off. Lots of fun

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Historieta de la dupla Milligan/Hewlett de momento no publicada en castellano.

[Emilio · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a nonstop, mind-bendy romp about a guy whose haircut is so bad it breaks the space-time continuum (or does it?). What's not to love?

[Sean Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonkers. Loved it.

[John Somers · Rating 3 out of 5]

11/20.

[RND · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda frothy, cotton-candy light exercise of fun. You'll probably forget it by the end of the day, but it's enjoyable enough in the moment. Like ice candy. It's Milligan wordplay/puns and Hewlett art; what are you going to do, complain?