In 1987 our world changed for ever. Now in the year 2002 humanity is still trying to adjust to a world controlled by Superheroes.

I was 9 years old when I saw my first super villain during a trip to London. "Look Mother, that super villain can fly!" "No he can't dear. He's falling. Bulldog Drummond just threw him off the roof." – Argent, London’s favourite superhero.

The United Nations flag now flies over the Houses of Parliament, alongside the fascist standard of the Tabula Rasa and a small, modest looking, Union Jack. The pigeons still fly in Trafalgar Square, and the shit-stained statue of Nelson still watches over his people, but tradition aside, England is nothing more than the fabled ‘Airstrip One’ predicted in Orwell’s 1984.

“It was perhaps inevitable that they would eventually decide we were incapable of governing ourselves. Unruly children can only get away with so much before the frustrated parents decide to confine them to their bedrooms and stop their pocket money. Perhaps we never saw it coming. Perhaps we were naïve in believing they were like us only stronger. We were certainly blinded by the colourful post war antics of the first batch of supermen and women. They certainly weren't to be taken seriously then, nor during the Cold War years, or the early sixties when the old values of obedience to traditional structures of authority still held sway. Even in the seventies when the heroes and villains began to be more politically inspired we still didn't concern ourselves with the bigger picture. But by the mid eighties events were to take a turn for the worse. Our caped crusaders, our Guardians of Truth and Justice grew tired of our petty squabbling and territorial disputes. They grew tired of the way half the world starved while the other half lived in comparative luxury. It was time to take our toys away. It was time to spank our bottoms and send us to bed early. It was time to seize control.”

- Roger Farnham from his introduction to ‘The New World Order’. 456 pp, Secker & Warburg, price £12.99

“When the world’s strongest super heroes banded together and formed the Tabula Rasa, governments shrugged and said, it’s just one more super team to keep an eye on. When the Tabula Rasa intervened in the civil wars that plagued Africa many of the Governments secretly approved as it spared them one more headache to worry about. But when they took control of the UN there was uproar. Not that it made any difference in the long run of course.”

- Jeremy Bowen, BBC1

“The simple fact is they're in charge and we're not. And there's nothing we can do about it.”

- Tony Benn, MP (retired)

“It's just American Imperialism writ on a larger scale. I don't believe a word of this super hero take over. America is behind it. Most of the super heroes are American. It's a conspiracy - the White House is probably issuing their orders as we speak.”

- Michael Shaw, The New Internationalist magazine.

“The only thing Orwell got wrong was the date.”

- Julie Burchill, The Guardian.

“People ask, why did so many superheroes join the Tabula Rasa over the years? The answer is simple when you think about it. Deep down, everyone wants to be on the winning side, don’t they?”

- From a Radio 4 discussion programme.

‘For Your Protection’ and ‘Because You Deserve Peace’ - the slogans on Tabula Rasa posters worldwide.

‘The Tempel of Psychic Youth Loves You’ – anonymous graffiti scrawled on the surface of Tabula Rasa posters throughout London.

Click on the links below

Book 1: In This Green and Pleasant Land (23 episodes)

1 – Slaves to Fashion
2 – In the Hall of the Leper King
3 – Brighton Frock
4 – Heroine Chic
5 – 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
6 – Fear Loves This Place
7 – Something Wicked This Way Comes
8 – Race With the Devil
9 – In the Mouth of Madness
10 – Prosaic Nation
11 – Paradise Lost
12 – This is Not an Exit
13 – The Man Who Jumped
14 – In A Gadda Da Vida
15 – Et In Arcadia Ego
16 – I Tego Arcana Dei
17 – All Day and All of the Night
18 – Yesterdays
19 – Ever Fallen in Love with Someone?
20 – I Feel Love
21 – Love Will Tear Us Apart
22 - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
23 – When it Rains in Seattle, it Rains Forever

Book 2: The Future Sound of London (23 episodes)

1 - As Above
2 - Then So Below
3 – There is a Light That Will Never Go Out
4 - It’s a Rainy Day Sunshine Girl
5 – Slip Inside This House
6 – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7 – See Elenor Play
8 – Tumbledown
9 – Hell Hath No Fury
10 – Resident Evil
11 - Dawn of the Dead
12 - Day of the Dead
13 - Twilight of the Dead
14 - Night of the Living Dead
15 - Psychedelicatessen
16 - Hallowed Be Thy Name
17 - Thy Kingdom Come
18 - Thy Will Be Done
19 - On Earth As It Is In Heaven
20 - The Age of Aquarius
21 - May the Circle be Unbroken
22 - Nothing Can Stop Us Now!
23 - When the Sun Shines in London, it Shines Forever

Book 3: Helter Skelter (23 episodes)

Airstrip One - the Lost World (4 episodes)

1 - North By Northwest
2 - Elinorr - Princess Warrior Kitten
3 - Suffer Not a Witch to Live
4 - Lord of the Rings