The following year the experienced group editor Barrie Tomlinson – who had previously launched the successful Tiger spinoff Roy of the Rovers and the 1982 revival of Eagle, as well as the shorter-lived Speed and Scream!

[2] Tomlinson had enjoyed moving out of his comfort zone of sports comics previously and relished that Wildcat gave him a chance to try science fiction;[3] while 2000 AD itself was under his group, he largely left the capable Steve MacManus to run the title unless his help was asked for.

One thread consisted of standalone stories set on the Wildcat itself, while four serials – "Turbo Jones", "Loner", "Kitten Magee" and "Joe Alien" – would follow the exploration exploits of various parties onboard the ship.

Tomlinson retained "Turbo Jones" – initially drawn by Ian Kennedy and later Spanish duo Vanyo – and "Loner", with art by David Pugh.

Tomlinson would later wonder if the decision to make the title fortnightly had cost it momentum, though he would also note that the British comics market was continuing to contract, with the previous year having seen MASK, Oink!

[3] He later felt "the title was one of the best [he] produced",[4] and was gratified when Rebellion Developments chose serials from Wildcat for their Treasury of British Comics reprint series decades later.

The antisocial galactic mercenary known as Loner surprises everyone by putting $20m in his earnings (aided by a lottery win) towards the funding of Wildcat and is given the fourth exploration shuttle.