Designed to appeal to older readers than other Fleetway titles in order to take advantage of a boom in interest in 'adult' comics, Crisis featured overtly political and complex stories; one issue was even produced in conjunction with Amnesty International.

The breakout success of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen and Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns had greatly boosted the view that comic books (or as mainstream press outlets often called them, 'graphic novels'[a]) were a credible form of entertainment on both sides of the Atlantic.

[3][2] However, Igor Goldkind had produced British trade paperback editions of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns for Titan Comics that replicated the commercial success and critical attention the titles had received in America.

[5] Meanwhile, 2000 AD editor Steve MacManus quit the title, citing burnout after an initial temporary stint replacing Kelvin Gosnell in 1979 had turned into a decade-long residency.

[3] Before MacManus left for America in 1987, there were rumours that the IPC Youth Group was up for sale as the parent company looked to divest itself of comics, and that the controversial tycoon Robert Maxwell was weighing a bid.

Wanting to promote upcoming talent he commissioned John Smith, who at 20 already had experience on DC Thomson's science fiction title Starblazer and 2000 AD (including "Tyranny Rex") to write what would become "New Statesmen".

These retained Fleetway's copyright on the material and a flat rate, but added an 8% royalty for sales beyond the title's break-even point, for collected edition reprints and - crucially - 35% of net profits for overseas syndication, as well as provisions for further payments in the event of merchandising or adaptations for other media.

Feeling it would go against the grain of the title's intended older audience, MacManus eschewed the free gift while Goldkind worked on a publicity campaign,[3] including a launch at a bar in North London; Mills later felt this flew in the face of the comic's contents.

[3] However, despite the expensive launch and attempt at better production values (including all-colour artwork) the comic was still printed on newsprint stock like the company's weeklies, something both Mills and Hughes would later criticise.

He would later recall he convinced management of Crisis' topical nature by pointing to the Enya's UK number 1 single "Orinoco Flow", with the choral refrain of "Save the whale".

[6] After being contacted, Ennis not only produced a full script for the opening episode within two days but also suggested his friend John McCrea as artist; a deal was rapidly struck.

[6] MacManus commissioned "Skin" by Peter Milligan, who had spent most of the eighties maintaining an unlikely balance between experimental creator-owned work such as anthology Strange Days with IPC freelance scripts for stories like "Action Force" and "M.A.S.K.".

[6] The following issue saw the start of Ennis' second submission, "True Faith", an acerbic assault on organised religion; he was paired with artist Warren Pleece, whose work the self-published (along with brother Gary) Velocity had caught MacManus' eye.

[12] In his new role as Group Editor, MacManus also explored the idea of producing monthly ongoing supplementary titles to 2000 AD and Crisis, in the form of Judge Dredd Megazine and Revolver, and got the green light after Fleetway struck gold with a licensed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic.

[6] However, while the serialisation of "True Faith" had passed largely without comment,[13] the collected edition drew mainstream condemnation and was withdrawn after two months on sale,[3] reportedly on the orders of Maxwell himself.

[6] The Economist ran an article on the controversy on 19 January 1991, speculating that "no one would think twice about it" if the story was a novel, and felt that the furore was largely caused by the ongoing belief in the press that the comic medium was still exclusively aimed at children.

[15] Mills and Goldnick hosted a panel at the Institute for Contemporary Art were both were tactfully non-committal about whether the choleric Maxwell - whose close links to the likes of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu were coming under increasing scrutiny - was aware of the issue's contents.

Morrison used this as a device to satirise Thatcherism[6] but some Cut staff objected to the use of Nazi imagery for shock value, and the dispute was leaked to the tabloid press, who reacted in their usual sensationalist fashion.

[17][f] Revolver meanwhile lasted just seven issues before being incorporated into Crisis from #56; the merge brought the conclusion of Morrison and Hughes' revisionist "Dare" and Paul Neary/Steve Parkhouse story "Happenstance and Kismet" but few extra readers.

To boost profitability, Crisis began printing European stories in a bid to cut costs, including Federico Fellini/Milo Manara collaboration "Trip to Tulum".

Crisis' decline took place among increasing press scrutiny into Maxwell's business practices, particularly over his links to Mossad, misappropriation of company pension funds, and defaults on loan payments.

His business empire collapsed rapidly afterwards, due to the calling in of massive loans and misuse of company pension fund assets,[18] with Fleetway being sold to Danish publishers Egmont.

[17] Rebellion Developments purchased 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine from Egmont in 2001, and the other Fleetway Publications they still owned in 2016, including the publisher-owned portions of the rights to Crisis.

[8] TV Cream's Ultimate Guide To 70's and 80's Pop Culture felt Crisis suffered from convoluted storylines and an "overly serious demeanour", relating that "right from the off it was clear the hip audience it was reaching out for didn't like the comic's preachy tone".

[21] In a 2011 piece for Comics Bulletin, Regie Rigby echoed many of the same concerns, feeling Crisis would "denounce you as a 'counter revolutionary running dog lackey of the evil global capitalist military industrial complex' if you didn't instantly agree to join it on the barricades.

He would later blame its failure on a lack of sincerity behind some of the writing, feeling it was diluted by "fashionable bandwagoning", the introduction of European reprints and what he perceived to be a change "into some sub-version of Deadline".

Ironically its life was much the same as that of Crisis, with a promising start derailed by an inconsistent line-up, inexperienced creators, the impact of declining sales on providing consistent quality and behind-the-scenes infighting.