As a "2000 AD" spin-off, it was initially science fiction based. It began with two stories: "Third World War", by Pat Mills and Carlos Ezquerra, extrapolated some of the effects of global capitalism on the developing world into the near future, as seen through the eyes of a group of young conscript "peace volunteer" soldiers; "New Statesmen" was a "realistic superhero" strip by John Smith and Jim Baikie. "Third World War" later moved on from developing world topics to minority issues within the UK and introduced two new artists, Sean Phillips and Duncan Fegredo, while Mills took on co-writers including Alan Mitchell and Malachy Coney.