Durham Red

Durham Red
Illustration by Carlos Ezquerra from 2000 AD No. 561 (1988).
Publication information
Publisher	IPC Magazines/Rebellion Developments
First appearance	2000 AD No. 505 (1987)
Created by	John Wagner Alan Grant Carlos Ezquerra
In-story information
Full name	Durham Red
Team affiliations	Previously Strontium Dogs
Notable aliases	Red The Blood Queen Empress Redwina Saint Scarlett The Abomination The Blasphemy Brite Red
Abilities	Super-strength Super agility Bloodlust Regenerative powers Long Lifespan Superhuman senses

Durham Red is a British comics character, originally created in 1987 as a female sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running comicbook series Strontium Dog in 2000 AD. She was a sexy bounty hunter with a mutation that gave her a vampiric lust for blood.

When the character was first devised, there was some debate over Durham Red or Chelsea Blue as the character's name. The creators settled on Durham Red, and the character immediately proved popular from her first appearance. Following the death of Johnny Alpha, she was given a leading role in the spin-off series Strontium Dogs. Following the departure of writer Peter Hogan, the series was handed to Dan Abnett. Abnett's first action was to place Red in suspended animation and have her awake a thousand years after Strontium Dog continuity, in a universe where she was worshipped as a mythical saint of mutants.

With art by several artists including Mark Harrison, the series enjoyed a long run. The final story of the arc was printed in 2004, envisioning Durham Red surviving another thousand years, watching over the end of the human race and the beginning of a mutant-populated universe.

The Strontium Dog stories that Red originally appeared in have since been deemed non-canonical, as part of Johnny Alpha's revival. This leaves Red in an unusual position in terms of continuity. The original Strontium Dog stories have been reclassified as tellings of the legend of Johnny Alpha, while the current stories are the "truth". As such, it is possible that the whole Durham Red saga spins off from events that never actually happened in the Strontium Dog universe. Some fans call this "Knots Landing continuity", echoing that television series' crossover into episodes of Dallas which were later revealed as part of a dream sequence.