The Cartoon Museum in London has opened a new exhibition titled 'The Future Was Then,' running until March 21, 2026, which presents visions of the future as imagined by comic book artists. The show features iconic characters such as Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Buck Rogers, and Tank Girl, tracing how comic strips have reflected shifting societal hopes and anxieties about what lies ahead, from mid-20th-century optimism to the darker, more cynical outlook of the late 1970s.
This exhibition matters because it highlights how comic art—often dismissed as popular entertainment—serves as a powerful cultural barometer, capturing evolving attitudes toward technology, politics, and social progress. By juxtaposing earlier idealistic futures with dystopian visions like Judge Dredd's quasi-fascist world, the show offers a compelling lens through which to examine how our collective imagination of the future has changed over decades, making it relevant to both art history and contemporary discourse.