18. HALO JONES (2000 AD)

Writers Moore and Gibson thought that 2000 AD could do with a female-led strip to counterpoint the comic's generally testosterone-heavy violence fests, and co-created 50th century everygirl Halo Jones, who just tries to get by in a dangerous future where going to the shops is a major trial. The original intent was to chronicle the heroine's whole life but only three serials were completed before the strip was curtailed by the usual who's-got-the-rights argument. The three stories find Halo as a teenager on that shopping trip, working as a stewardess on a spaceship and (grimly) fighting a Starship Troopers-type war in an all-female army. Halo is exponentially cooler than knock-offs like Tank Girl, mostly because she remains a fed-up real person amid the wild space opera of her universe.

Trademarks: Pout, white '80s-look hair (yes, we know it was a black and white strip and she got blonded in the horrible US colourised reprints – but her hair was white on the original 2000 AD colour covers), loyalty to doomed friends, robot dog sidekick, catchphrase: "I can't take a shopping expedition."

On Screen: Billie Piper circa 2005 would've been perfect.

Did You Know?: There was an Edinburgh fringe stage production in 1987, with Claire Fairley as Halo.

Buy The Ballad Of Halo Jones Vol. 1 now on Amazon