Smith's earliest published work appeared in the
DC Thomson's science fiction comic Starblazer in the mid-1980s. Soon after, he became a regular contributor for 2000 AD and followed up with the political
superhero serial New Statesmen for 2000 AD's spin-off title Crisis.
Many of Smith's series created for 2000 AD shared the same
continuity under the umbrella of
Indigo Prime, a multi-dimensional organisation that policed reality, recruiting recently dead people as its agents. The original run of Indigo Prime stories ended with "Killing Time", in which agents Winwood and Cord pursued a demon that had hitched a ride on a Victorian time machine, one of the legitimate passengers of which turned out to be
Jack the Ripper. Other contributions to 2000 AD include Revere, a post-apocalyptic occult story with art by
Simon Harrison,[1] and Firekind, an anthropological science fiction story involving alien cultures and dragons, illustrated by
Paul Marshall. Perhaps the best-known character created by Smith is
Devlin Waugh, a flamboyantly gay
exorcist, assassin, and
vampire working for the
Vatican of the future, co-created with artist
Sean Phillips and published in 2000 AD's sister title Judge Dredd Megazine. In addition to his own creations, Smith has also contributed stories for the long-running serials Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd.
Examples of John Smith's cross-referencing of characters throughout his oeuvre include:
Renegade
Indigo Prime agents Fervent and Lobe originally appeared in Tyranny Rex. Although, at that point, Indigo Prime had only appeared in a single Future Shocks installment, "A Change of Scenery", Smith stated he always considered the stories taking place in the same world:
"They were both part of the same tailor-made Universe. That was intended right from the start."[4]
The character Mr. Cheetl originally appeared in Firekind,[7] while Mr. Vathek, another member of the Chadarisq-Khan species,[8] appears in Pussyfoot 5.[9]
Two members of Indigo Prime, Dazzler and Creed, appear in Scarab #7.
"By that time I was probably just so sick of the thing I thought – 'Fuck it. I'll rip off my own story' – and stuck in Indigo Prime as a lazy way out."[4]
Winwood and Cord appear in the last few pages of Dead Eyes, uploading Danny's soul into a cloned body after the human race in his home universe (Reality 377) are killed.[10]
Style and influences
Smith's work, told in an elliptic, fractured narrative style reminiscent of
Iain Sinclair or the
cut-up technique of
William S. Burroughs, is characterised by intricate, sometimes obscure plots and an interest in taboos and the
occult.
"Systems of Romance" (with
Doug Braithwaite, in Sci-Fi Special '89, 1989)
"Untitled" (with
Steve Sampson, in Winter Special '89, 1989)
"Shadowground" (prose story with illustrations by
Duncan Fegredo, in Annual '91, 1990)
"Touched by the Hand of Brendan" (prose story with illustrations by
Mark Buckingham, in Sci-Fi Special '91, 1991)
"A Twist in the Tale" (prose story with illustrations by
Paul Marshall, in Sci-Fi Special '93, 1993)
"Bitter Fruit" (with Paul Marshall, in Yearbook '94, 1993)
"Deus Ex Machina" (with Mark Buckingham (#852–855), Paul Marshall and
Richard Elson (#877–880), in #852–859 and 873–880, 1993–1994)
"The Comeback" (with
Steve Yeowell, in #1395–1399, 2004)
Rogue Trooper: "Cinnabar" (with Steve Dillon, in #624–630 and 633–635, 1989) collected in Rogue Trooper: Tales of Nu-Earth Volume 4 (tpb, 288 pages, 2014,
ISBN1-781-08230-8)
Robo-Hunter: "Something for the Weekend, Sir?" (with Chris Weston, in Sci-Fi Special '92, 1992) collected in Robo-Hunter: The Droid Files Volume 2 (tpb, 400 pages, 2010,
ISBN1-906-73543-3)
Tales from Mega-City One: "Animal House" (prose story with illustrations by Chris Weston, in Sci-Fi Special '92, 1992)
"Hate Inc." (with
Manuel Benet Blanes, in Judge Dredd Mega-Special #6, 1993) collected in Judge Dredd: The Restricted Files Volume 3 (tpb, 288 pages, 2011,
ISBN1-9079-9221-9)
"Roadkill" (with
Peter Doherty, in #856–858, 1993) collected in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 20 (tpb, 320 pages, 2013,
ISBN1-7810-8141-7)
"Darkside" (with Paul Marshall, in #1017–1028, 1996–1997) collected in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 25 (tpb, 320 pages, 2015,
ISBN1-78108-331-2)
Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 32 (tpb, 304 pages, 2018,
ISBN1-7810-8661-3) includes:
"Survivor Type" (with
Simon Davis, in #1190, 2000)
"New Model Phoord" (with Paul Marshall, in #1197–1199, 2000)
"Meatmonger " (with
Siku, in #1365–1370, 2003) collected in Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files Volume 38 (tpb, 256 pages, 2021,
ISBN1-78108-941-8)
"Fear of Mirrors" (with
Mike Mayhew, in #4–6, 2001–2002) collected in Vampirella Masters Series Volume 3: Mark Millar (tpb, 144 pages,
Dynamite, 2011,
ISBN1-6069-0195-8)