The Ballad of Halo Jones - Book 4 and Beyond?

Book 4 and Beyond?

Since the publication of Book Three in 1986 fans of the series have been speculating on the possibility of Halo returning for further adventures. Rumours still exist of advertisements in 2000 AD at the time mentioning Halo's upcoming further adventures, indeed casting her in the role of being a "pirate queen" in book four. A projected 9 book series was thought to be in the works. In his introduction to the Titan reprint of Book Three in 1986 Alan Moore seemed to be leaving an open door for Halo's story to return to the comic:

"Whether this really is the last book remains to be seen. While there are currently no plans to continue the series, due to external circumstances and considerations, I think it's fair to say that, were these circumstances to alter, both Ian and myself would be only too pleased to resume The Ballad and continue to relate the history of a character to whom we've both grown very attached over the couple of years that we've worked with her. You know how it is...we've been out with her a couple of times and the chances are that if she's free, one day we might go out with her again. Who knows? Maybe we'll let you come along too."

Moore has had very little to say about Halo's return in the two decades since then. "I'd got plans to have her grow up and eventually end as an old woman," Moore told Mustard magazine in January 2006. "But I got to the point where I'd said to IPC, "Look, you know that you've ripped these characters off from us. If you were to give us the rights back, I would gladly write another three books of Halo Jones."

"Whereas if you don't I will never write Halo Jones and you won't get any money from the character. And they thought, 'Yeah, let's hang on to the character forever and you never get any rights to it and never write any again.' So that's where it is." A report from a 2004 BBC radio interview taping recalls that when asked to tell the audience about Halo Jones, "Moore smiled fondly as if someone had just reminded him of an ex-girlfriend who he'd never meant to split up with."

In an interview with Pádraig Ó Méalóid for 3:AM magazine (published March 2011), Alan Moore stated "the next adventure would have probably been when she was a female space pirate with Sally Quasa", "I would have been basically going through all the decades of her life, with her getting older in each one, because I liked the idea, at the time, of having a strip in 2000AD with a seventy or eighty year old woman as the title character", "it would have ended up with Halo Jones upon some planet that is right at the absolute edge of the universe where, beyond that, beyond some sort of spectacular lightshow, there is no space, no time, and it would have ended up with Halo Jones - all the rest of the people on this planetoid because, actually, time is not passing; you could stay there forever, potentially - and what would have happened is that Halo Jones, after spending some time with the rest of the immortals, would have tottered across the landing field, got into her spacecraft, and flown into the psychedelic lightshow, to finally get out."

In a recent interview with Gavin Hanly on the 2000AD Review site, Ian Gibson is asked about people's ongoing interest in the series and whether there was ever any intention to do a fourth series: "I'm very happy that Halo had such an effect. After all, that's why I asked Alan to write a girl's story. I thought it would make a difference... Alan and I had planned out Halo's future to a conclusion, but the series was interrupted by the dispute over copyright allocation, where Alan wanted to have all writers, like John Wagner et al., get their fair dues after streaming out a steady supply of genius for so many years. That's what I heard anyway - but I can't speak with authority as I wasn't involved in the negotiations. I have tried to contact Alan over the years, but with no luck. I have my own ideas of what could happen in the next couple of books that I'd have liked the chance to run past Alan, but I think he's discarded the story from his future..." In another interview on the Ximoc site Gibson reiterates his desire to keep the series going. When asked about his "dream project" he says: "I'm also sure that many of Halo's fans would like me to do some more books to continue the series. Just a shame Alan doesn't want to be involved (as far as I know?)"

In 1999 2000AD editor David Bishop told Rich Johnston that "Ian Gibson has cried off creating new illustrations of Halo Jones and Robo-Hunter, blaming artistic ennui". However, Gibson has been producing some visualisations of Halo over the years and continues to do so. In the early 1990s Gibson produced a colour poster (dubbed a "Megascan") of a youthful Hoopside Halo with Toby (the figures of Luiz Cannibal and Lux Roth Chop make up the ominous background). On the reverse side was a reprint of the first episode of Book 1 along with a "fact file" on Halo and her world.

A deluxe hardback volume of the collected edition was published in November 2003, and more recently a more compact paperback edition from DC/Rebellion in 2005. Ian Gibson has recently sold a commission of his work which clearly shows a Book 4 era Halo. In recent times Gibson has painted portraits of Halo which strongly suggest how she might appear in Book 4 and beyond (gemstones and/or great wealth and also the previously encountered Cetaceans seem to play a part in Halo's story beyond Moab.) Gibson's other work can be seen at his Gibson Studios website. In an article on the series, Regie Rigby sums up the impact of Gibson's art: "Halo's world was a vastly different future to those envisaged in 2000 AD's other stories. Ian Gibson's singular artistry gave everything a sort of rounded organic look, but also absolutely breathtaking beauty. Anyone who feels the way to make comics sexy is to draw small clothes and big breasts should take a look at Gibson's work on Halo Jones...with The Complete Ballad of Halo Jones reissued (and I suggest you dash out and grab a copy right now) and some genuine 2000 AD fans (in the shape of game software developers Rebellion) at the helm of the Galaxy's Greatest Comic who knows what could happen? Cross your fingers people. She went "out" many years ago. With any luck, she'll be back sometime soon."