Prog 131

22nd September 1979, I turned six years old. If memory serves correctly, I got a shiny new bike in an unmissable orange colour. I remember the party well, and I still keep in touch with some of the attendees. From the same date, I have no memory of 2000 A.D. I doubt I could read yet, let alone be interested in a sci-fiction comic. The present was exciting enough without having to consider what might be hidden in the creases of the pages of history ahead.  I doubt I would have enjoyed the party half as much if I knew what the writers of 2000 A.D. thought the future may bring. It's grim, with Dredd and the A.B.C. Warriors leading the charge on a gritty and brutal future. Even in 1990, Bill Savage was struggling, although we have already passed that milestone with nothing worse than Milli Vanilli occurring. However dark the future may appear on the pages of 2000 A.D, there was still humour that carried the day, with a healthy dose of the human soul shining through. Hope is undeniable, and with good men like Judge Dredd and Bill Savage out there, six-year-old Hamish can party on, knowing that the future can always be rewritten.

Prog 131

22nd September 1979 

We learn more about Mega-City One in this week's Judge Dredd, and despite its towering cityblocks it is suffering a housing shortage. 

Eighteen million people live in mobile homes, conveniently called Mo-Pads, in varying degrees of luxury. 

It is a more luxurious one that contains a mystery for Judge Dredd. Dredd observes it driving out of control, and once he gains control of the vehicle, he enters for a look around. 

Inside he finds a dead body in a pool, shot in the head, and after checking the rest of the vehicle he learns the man's name is Randall Hodges and the Mo-Pad has been on autopilot for almost three years. Whoever committed the murder has long since moved on. 

The lone clue is a note, leading Dredd to a TV show called Sob Story. On this show, contestants pour out their hearts, and willing viewers donate money. With 800 million viewers, the money at stake is huge, and Dredd duly goes to the studio to investigate further.  

The host fobs Dredd off, but the law will not be denied, and Dredd gets to interview him. The host remembers the dead contestant well and explains to Dredd that the Randall Hodges address was known to all who watched the show. There are 800 million suspects, and Dredd's final thought is that there may be many more victims circuiting in Mo-Pads.

This was a solid start to Dredd's next adventure. It didn't grab me right from the beginning, but by the final page, I had been sold on the concept and was ready to buy into the adventure. 

The world-building in the opening pages was done swiftly, and although this was my least favourite part of this week's strip, it was absolutely necessary for what came next. The idea that Mega-City One had a housing crisis, just like the modern cities we live in now, rang true and once I got past the concept of the Mo-Pads I wholly embraced the story.

A dead body in a pool draws from film noir, and for once, we have Dredd cast in the role of a gumshoe pursuing a mysterious murderer. With a suspect list of 800 million, he has his work cut out for him, and it will take some detective work next week to narrow this down. Dredd is often a man of action, so seeing how he approaches this case will be interesting. I anticipate some clever futuristic devices will aid him in his search. 

The future is wide open from this point. We have a curious case ahead of us, with some well-considered plot points and characters already. The TV show was instantly believable, especially since we have now lived through the rise of reality-based TV shows, and the host was familiar and realistic. The Dredd writers correctly predicted the future of reality TV in this issue, and I look forward to seeing what else they foresee for both our future and Dredd's.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You don't understand, ducky...the viewers have to know where to send their money. Every contestant's address is shown at the end of the programme!"

Blackhawk and his new friend, Ursa, are facing down Battak, who is about to punish them for their friendship. 

Blackhawk acts fast, breaking one of Battak's talons, and before Battak can strike back the pair are calmed by the appearance of their master. He commands that they fight in the arena where he can make a profit rather than here, and the scene is set for them to face each other at the stadium. 

Although armed with only a sword and shield, Blackhawk gives a good account of himself. He looks to have won the fight when Battak suddenly reveals he has wings, flying above the arena and preparing to dive upon Blackhawk. 

Blackhawk responds by throwing his shield, neatly shearing off Battak's wings. Battak crashes to the ground, and the victorious Blackhawk is commanded to kill him. 

Blackhawk is a man of honour and refuses to do so. As punishment, he is set to face a monster from the planet they are on. The monster must be quite a beast, as Blackhawk is told that it's absurd for him to fight it alone and Ursa will fight by his side. 

Like the previous weeks, the artwork and the fight scenes looked great. However, we are stuck in a loop, and the story isn't moving forward. We finish each week with something bigger coming and another challenge for Blackhawk, but it never moves the plot along and he is merely fighting a different monster each week. 

I still have hopes that this story will become something more than this. I have given it a strong rating based on the enjoyable aspects of the story, with the artwork being particularly noteworthy. However, this will not be enough to sustain my interest over time, and should the story fail to find a second gear my opinion of it will quickly drop. Once again I leave with the final thought that there is a great story to be told in this context and with these fine-looking characters, but it is all being wasted with mindless action week after week.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Ursa will help dusky human. We friends! We chop-chop well together!" 

The A.B.C. Warriors have tried to give weapons to the Cyboons so they can defend themselves against the cattlemen who are encroaching on their land. Although Rumpus, son of the leader Bedlam, has done his best to persuade the leader to use the weapons, Bedlam steadfastly refuses. Bedlam does not approve of his son's ways, and when Rumpus resorts to bad language he is shown the exit. 

Rumpus arrives at the cowboy's camp, telling them he wants to join them. For his troubles, he is lynched, and the A.B.C. Warriors watch on horrified. The Warriors realise they cannot defy Bedlam, nor can they fight his battles for him, but they do decide to take a hand in matters. 

The following day the cattlemen attack Bedlam and the Cyboons, intent on extermination. However, they find their weapons ineffective, as someone has switched all their ammunition to blanks overnight. 

Bedlam and the other Cyboons destroy the cowboys in battle, and the strip ends with the few survivors slinking off, with the comment that they are going to spread the word that the A.B.C. Warriors mean business. 

A.B.C. Warriors really delivered this issue and is the best story in this week's comic. Coming off the back of last week's strong setup it delivered an excellent story that built not just on what was told last week, but on the history of the American West. 

The story was engaging, and although we only knew the main characters briefly, we became invested in their story. Everyone roots for an underdog, and even more so when there is an injustice at play. No doubt the cinema would cheer at the sight of the Cyboons fighting the cowboys if this was a movie, and in comic form I found myself punching the air in triumph as the Cyboons attacked with tooth and claw. 

It was the realistic note to the story that gave it heft. The early sight of Rumpus being lynched was sobering and gave the story a weight that made the final panels all the more impactful. It was just after this lynching that I realised that the word 'Cyboon' (shortened to the word 'Boons' by the cowboys) is close to the racial slur 'Coon' and was a punch to the face that made the story jump off the page. 

This was the story I was hoping we would get from the assembled Warriors. We have waited weeks for the team to be assembled, and while that was enjoyable, it was nowhere near as good as what we currently have as the Warriors take on the Martian world. May this be the first of many such stories.   

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "With tooth and claw, my brothers..."

The Mind Of Wolfie Smith starts with a clean slate this week as the events of last week disappear in the rearview mirror. Wolfie is still hitchhiking and finds himself on the back of a motorbike driven by a young man in a hurry.

Wolfie's ESP gives him a premonition as a vision of the bike slamming into another car pops into his mind. Taking control of the situation, Wolfie grabs the bike's handlebars, just in time to avoid an accident with a car coming around the corner. 

Wolfie escapes unharmed, however, both the bike and its rider end up in a pond. The driver of the car, Tara Lawson, stops to chastise them, but Wolife disarms her with a smile, and soon he is seated beside her as she drives to  Druids Meet. She tells Wolfie that she has signed on as an extra for a new horror film being filmed there called "Night Of The Carnivore"

Wolfie decides to sign up because he needs money. However, as they approach Druids Meet, Wolfie picks up vibrations and voices from the stone henge on site and feels that the film unit couldn't have picked a worse place to make the film. 

I found this to be likeable, and a young lady by his side makes Wolfie Smith a much more relatable character. The story got off to a fast start with Wolfie and the speeding motorcycle, but it was Tara Lawson's arrival that really accelerated the story. Wolfie is no longer cast as a loner, despite words to that effect early in the strip, and with an accomplice by his side the scope of the story widens. It remains to be seen if Tara will be a victim or a companion, but the story is coloured by her arrival. 

Wolfie's ESP only made three appearances this week. Two were essential, and the third was a throw-away moment that gave us Tara's name without taking too much of the page to do so. It was first used to foresee the car coming around the corner. This not only saved Wolfie's life but gave us some early action and a reminder of his powers. The second time gave us Tara's name, and the third was in the final panels as he sensed the forces present at Druids Meet. After last week, where it was present in every panel, this was a well-timed change of pace and slowed the story so we could get a measure of Wolfie and his new adventure. This breathed new life into the story, and after the non-stop rush of last week was a timely breather. 

We still have a lot to learn about this place, the horror movie, and the henge itself, so next week promises to deliver a lot of information while giving both drama and mystery. If it all comes together as a fine blend the payoff should be an excellent adventure with a character I am finally warming to.   

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Any way will do me, darlin'...I only thumbed that nutcase 'cos he was the first thing that passed"

Bill Savage and the Oxford survivors of Disaster 1990 are attacked by a vicious flock of Waterfowl. Savage fights them off with his shotgun, proving his worth to the Oxford scholars, but questions remain about where these Waterfowl came from and why they became killers. 

One of the Dons has the answer to the questions. Pointing to a photo of a man surrounded by birds, he explains to Savage that a bird sanctuary is nearby - set up by the university and led by Doctor Pyke. Doctor Pyke has controversial ideas about bird communications, and it is presumed that the floods swept him away.  

Savage agrees to take a group of chemistry students with him to lay poison at the bird's nesting site. They arrive without fuss, and the students leave Savage while they go about their work. However, after several hours, they haven't returned, and Savage sets forth to see what has become of them. 

He is shocked when he finds their dead bodies, and realises that they have been pecked to death by the birds who were waiting in ambush. Savage stealthily makes his way back to his boat, but a second shock awaits him as he finds the birds have roosted on his boat and Doctor Pyke near at hand telling him that he was behind the previous day's bird attack and intends to complete his victory the next day. 

The birds are great in this story and just the sort of problem I want to see Savage overcome. My problem lies with Doctor Pyke, who seems a step too far as far as enemies are concerned. 

To see Savage come up against only the birds would have been enough for me. Doctor Pyke seems unnecessary and only lessens the threat of the birds in my eyes. We already have seen Savage come up against several wild men, and it was a refreshing change to see him fight a natural foe. The Waterfowl have already proven to be tough to beat, and I thought it fitted into the era in which the strip was written. Given that many horror films of the era cover similar ground of wild animals attacking humans (Jaws immediately springs to mind) this was fertile ground for the Disaster 1990 story. Unfortunately, we are now again seeing Savage fighting another human, something that I have already seen too often. 

The most memorable parts of the story were Savage directly confronting the Waterfowl, with the panel of him discovering the dead students the highlight. This was when the horror of what had happened struck home, and put the Waterfowl threat at a new level. It heightened the drama of the following panel as Savage saw the Waterfowl on his vehicle, and ratcheted up the tension. 

This was still a good story, and with a couple of tweaks, I would have liked it even more. Even so, my feeling is we are heading in the right direction and the story should continue to progress at a steady rate.   

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Heck! The whole lot of students - all pecked to death! The birds must have been waitin' in ambush!" 

Prog 131 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: A.B.C.Warriors 

Best Line: "Humans...stink!"

Best Panel:  

Prog 130

I had the thought today that we are rapidly approaching 1980 on the pages of 2000 A.D. Although the 1970s permeate every panel of what I have read so far, I have always thought of 2000 A.D. as a 1980s comic. This is because I was but a small child in the 1970s whereas by 1980/1981 I was fully formed and reading everything I could get my hands on. We are still a couple of months from that milestone, but it does give me something to look forward to. It's exactly what I need as I'm a little despondent today. Tomorrow it is back to work after my Christmas holidays, holidays that mostly consisted of forlornly looking out the window at the falling rain. The dystopian future sketched out in 2000 A.D. matches my current mood, so I shall wallow in the comic this evening, my melancholy made whole by a comic from forty-five years ago.  

Prog 130

15th September 1979 

It's been a while since we've had a mob story on the pages of Judge Dredd, but the drought is broken this week with a story that neatly captures most of the tropes of that genre. 

Dredd is bringing in an important witness, Joe 'Lips' Lazarus, to testify against the mob. 'Lips' Lazurus lives up to his name, with a series of impersonations of other gangsters with comedic humour that grates with Judge Dredd. He has also risen from the dead, surviving an assassination attempt by the mob. Only his head remains from the assault, and he now awaits a robotic body. 

The robotic body is being transported across the city when it is set upon by the mob, working under the orders of Elmo Hammer. The mob then use the van to gain access to the hospital where Dredd and Lips are awaiting the surgery. 

The mobsters make good progress, although they face stiff resistance from Dredd. It looks to be falling in their favour but Dredd comes up with a desperate scheme. 'Lips' gets on the hospital communications, and with an impersonation of Elmo Hammer, he tells the thugs to surrender. The crooks aren't convinced it's Hammer, but there is enough doubt in their minds that their self-destruct devices explode, killing every one of them. 

The death and mayhem are cushioned in the final panel as 'Lips' Lazarus gives us one final quip, and although it is not a very good one, it is a suitable ending for the story.

I love a good mobster story, and although I didn't love everything I saw here, it was still an enjoyable romp that appealed to me. 

The faces of the mobsters were an early highlight, and in particular, the face of Elmo Hammer was a wonderful caricature of what we have come to expect from such gangsters. His large square head, scar, and snarl were evocative and put me in just the right frame of mind for the story being told. It was a stereotype and in this case, a neat shorthand that got the reader into the story without the need for a lot of exposition. One sight of Elmo Hammer and we knew exactly what type of character he was and could easily guess his past. We have seen this many times on the pages of Dredd, with stereotypes and common tropes often employed. These never make the story derivative, and often enhance the storytelling rather than making for a lazy crutch.  

The dialogue also played well to the mobster story. Some people may consider the over-the-top accents too much, but one can't deny that they fit the story being told, and nicely offset the usual grim, yet witty, dialogue of Dredd. Dredd's black humour was made all the better by the lightness provided by 'Lips' Lazarus, despite my thoughts on Lazarus's final quip, and the balance kept the story moving even when there was no action on the page. Much like the artwork, they're is a shorthand at play here in the gangster language, the familiar doing a lot of background storytelling while we concentrate on the action at hand.

There was cleverness at play throughout the story and even the name of 'Lips' Lazarus told us a lot about the character, although some of this was enhanced in later panels. Dredd is full of such easter eggs, and part of the fun is pulling apart every word and every panel to see the treats scattered throughout. One can be comforted by the fact that if the art doesn't deliver a nugget, then the text certainly will. 

Dredd this week gave us strong storytelling propping up a lesser tale. I gave it a strong rating based not on the story being told, but rather on the manner in which it was told. I love the mobsters, but a story with a little more meat on the bones would have delivered given a knockout blow, rather than the solid body shot that we have here.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You doity alien rats! You ate my brudder, see! Now you're going to pay, see!"  

We didn't have a Blackhawk strip last week, but he is back today and the story of the former Roman Centurion and now intergalactic gladiator continues.

As the mighty spacecraft touches down on a dusty planet, Blackhawk awakens from his blackout. He finds himself in the company of a nasty array of alien gladiators, none of whom are friendly toward him. The exception is Ursa, a large bear, but that has repercussions as the squad leader Battak arrives and reprimands Ursa.

As punishment for Ursa's friendliness, all the gladiators are forced to take on the assault course. The course finds Blackhawk fighting an array of fearsome plants before he sees Ursa fall into a pit where a particularly gruesome creature awaits.

Blackhawk can't leave his newfound friend to die, and jumps into the pit with him, Between the two of them they fight off this beast. Crawling out of the pit, they find Battak awaiting them, furious that Blackhawk has interfered. The rule of the course is if you fall you die, and now Battak promises them both death, by the claws of Battak himself. 

It's hard to go past the art of Belardinelli without passing a comment. Once again he has excelled in delivering an array of alien lifeforms, each looking deadlier than the last. The first alien gladiators we saw looked as scary as you might imagine, but all were surpassed by the hard bony look of Battak.  Already one can see that he is not to be trifled with, and he was bestowed with a look worthy of his demeanour. The aliens we saw on the assault course were equally scary, and when Ursa and Blackhawk fell into the pit there was real peril. All of this is to the credit of Balardinelli, and the strip is greatly enhanced by all he puts into it. 

The story itself remains on a steady course, although we still have no idea of what the final destination will be. For now, Blackhawk is caught up with internal dramas and fights and we have yet to see how this will play out in the wider world. I am enjoying what I am seeing but I do look forward to seeing the story develop further. 

A case of steady as she goes this week, and for all the delights of Belardinelli's art we have yet to see the story fully bloom. The fight against Battak is repeating some of the stories we saw earlier against other aliens, and my fear is that this is how the story will progress, with Blackhawk fighting a series of aliens before he even gets to the arena. The story could be so much more than that, and the next few weeks will be crucial to my further readings of Blackhawk.     

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "We will have no friends here. Friendly things do not kill well!"

The A.B.C. Warriors have arrived on Mars with a mission to bring peace to the competing factions and corporations. 

This week it is the Soya Bean Cowboys that have the attention of the Warriors as the Cowboys look to expand their operations into the territory of the Cyboons. 

The Cyboons are intelligent apes originally imported to help Earth colonise Mars. When the work was done they were given a reservation where they could live in peace, a reservation that the soya bean cowboys are now looking to expand into.

After an initial confrontation with the cowboys, the Warriors are introduced to Bedlam, the taciturn leader of the Cyboons. The Warriors give modern weapons to Bedlam's son, who tells them that they need the weapons to fight back, although his father is old-fashioned and doesn't approve of modern guns. 

This is reinforced when Bedlam finally speaks, telling the A.B.C. Warriors that the Cyboons will fight their own battles with tooth and claw. 

The robots think the Cyboons, won't have a chance, although Hammer-Stein wonders aloud that perhaps they shouldn't interfere with Bedlam and his tribe's right to fight their way. Meanwhile, a possie of cattlemen are rapidly approaching the reservation with extermination on their minds and on their lips. 

Another worthy entry into the canon of A.B.C. Warriors, with the map shown last week coming to fruition as we see them engage with the Soya Cowboys. Like Judge Dredd, this is drawing on familiar stories and tropes, something we have seen before in A.B.C. Warriors, and one could easily substitute Cyboons for Indians or any other minority of your choosing. It was dealt with efficiently and never became condescending despite my fears. Having Bedlam's son being the main contact for the Warriors was a good device, and it did have a touch of realism as he negotiated the generational gap as well as the cultural gap. 

The story did a fine job of weaving the familiar and the futuristic and although the cowboy story felt familiar, there were modern touches throughout the story. The first page showed the mechanical cows and the synthetic way soya beans are turned into steaks and was appealing to my modern eye. If this is to be the price of veganism, then I will stick to my still bloody steak thanks. It also was just the way to start the story, pushing us far into the future, before revealing itself to be a classic cowboy tale, complete with the A.B.C. Warriors representing the Magnificent Seven. This has a lot of potential, and I expect we shall see more Magnificent Seven references on the page over the coming weeks. Given the delicate way the Cowboy/Cyboon storyline has been handed so far, I expect these references will fit neatly into the story rather than derail it, and we could see something special develop as the A.B.C. Warriors are brought further into a story of which they have only had a periphery role so far. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Dad believes 'progress' is a human disease...'progress' is just finding bigger and better ways of killing each other!" 

It's mind versus mind as The Mind Of Wolfie Smith faces the evil of Matthew Hobb. 

The fight sees Wolfie battling to control the sword in his hand as Hobb uses his psychokinetic powers. Eventually, the sword cuts down a chandelier that falls on Hobb, as well as setting fire to the house.

In the chaos, Hobb's slaves escape from the room they are locked in. Hobb rises from beneath the chandelier where he was crushed, and swelling with psychic energy he tells Wolfie that the flames are life and blood to one such as him. 

At that moment he is knocked off his feet by the escaping slaves, and Wolifie takes the opportunity to escape with them. Looking back at the house ablaze, Wolfie surmises that if Hobb was human then he must be dead. However, he still questions Hobb's final words and wonders who he is.

The story started and ended with a flourish, and with plenty of action in the middle, it was a breathless read from start to finish. We got a sense of the power that Matthew Hobb possesses, and in the final panel, we saw that he may well have survived the fire, despite what Wolfie might think. 

The powers that Hobb had, although shown to be mighty, weren't overplayed, and I was quietly pleased to see a falling chandelier was just as effective against a psychic warrior such as Hobb as it was against a normal human being. Of course, he did rise again, but not before the story had taken a large step and shown that there is plenty more to come. 

The Mind Of Wolfie Smith has been slow to reveal its potential and this week's issue was a turning point. The story has given us a powerful villain, shown us that Wofie has the weapons to fight back, and propelled us into something new for next week. The introduction phase of the story is now over, and having been given a strong foundation, it can only go from strength to strength from this point. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "But you have merely delayed the coming of my...hour of...ultimate... triumph!" 

Disaster 1990 continues this week with Bill Savage and Professor Bamber being ambushed by gas as they approach Oxford. 

Waking up in a strange room, Savage is quickly on his feet as three men approach the door. Bamber prevents Savage from doing something rash, recognising the three men as his old professors, and defusing the situation. 

Savage and Bamber haven't been abused, but rather they had sailed into the protective nerve gas that is released as anyone approaches Oxford. The professors show the pair around Oxford, pointing out how the brightest minds are preparing to survive - planting paddy fields and gathering like-minded people with the right skills to contribute to the community.

Bamber is immediately accepted into this community, but Savage's comments telling them that they will need his brawn as well as their brains don't sit well, and he faces a jury to decide if he can stay or if he must leave. 

With only his heavy vehicle licence and shotgun skills, it is decided that Savage doesn't fit with the ideals of the Oxford survivalists. However, the trail is interrupted by an attack of vicious waterfowl. They fly through the windows of the building, attacking all in sight. Snatching up his shotgun, Savage sees his opportunity, offering a chance for him to prove the worth of both him and his shotgun. 

This wasn't the Oxford storyline I expected, but it was the Oxford storyline that I needed. We started with a mystery and had some drama mid-story before we finished with action. It all built up nicely on what had come before and was a satisfying read. 

I liked the idea of the Oxford survivors being elitist, and it had an easy "Lord Of The  Flies" feel to it that worked well in this context. The contrast between Savage and the University generated some excellent drama, and Savage's name made just as much a statement as anything else in the strip. 

The trial of Savage delivered some sparkling dialogue, with Savage getting the best lines of course, and maintained the momentum of the story. Sometimes these stories sag in the middle, but that wasn't the case in this story, and it flowed nicely from start to finish.

I would have rated it higher, but it still hasn't peaked, and I feel even as good as it is,  it still could have given us more. After waiting weeks for something to happen, we are finally moving in the right direction. This is a good start, but I am confident the next few weeks will be even better. Please don't disappoint me 2000 A.D. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Pass! Now look, friends - I ain't got the sort of mind you got! All I know is how to maintain an' handle a heavy-goods lorry engine an' also a shotgun." 

Prog 130 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: A.B.C.Warriors 

Best Line: "I am Battak, Human! And if you don't understand why they fear me - I will soon teach you!"

Best Panel:  

Prog 129

I'm still waiting for a strip to be as good as Judge Dredd. A.B.C. Warriors is close, but week after week it is Judge Dredd who dominates the comic, and my thoughts on it. The artwork, the character, and the stories bestowed upon him are the best by a wide margin, and I am surprised that the other stories aren't of the same quality. That's not to say they aren't enjoyable, they certainly are, but they lack that x-factor that Dredd carries page after page. This week is a good example of this. Dredd is outstanding, A.B.C Warriors is finding its feet in a new world, and Wolfie Smith and Disaster 1990 are treading water. Anyone of these other stories could turn the corner and become something more substantial, but right now I'm not holding out much hope, and this firmly remains Judge Dredd's comic. 

Prog 129

8th September 1979 

When we last saw Judge Dredd he was pursuing a Sov-Blok ship that had stolen plans that threaten Mega-City One. His tiny craft had just been rammed by the much larger vessel, and Dredd was thrown into the Black Atlantic. 

We pick up the action as Dredd manages to survive the collision and scales the side of the Sov-Blok ship, intending to regain the plans and capture the ship.

As he confronts some of the crew, Dredd is suddenly overwhelmed as the seawater he has ingested poisons him. He is carried to the sick bay and his life is saved by a sexy-looking female doctor. Dredd recovers, and although strapped to the table, attempts to charm the doctor. This fails, but Dredd is thinking far beyond romance, and as he speaks with the doctor he steals the scalpel attached to her belt.

Using this scalpel, Dredd escapes when an executioner is sent to deal with him. From there it is a simple matter of making his way to the bridge, and the strip ends with Dredd sailing the captured ship into Mega-City One. 

The dialogue throughout this strip sparkled, making this one of the best-written Dredd stories we have had for some time. The artwork couldn't quite match the quality of the writing, but that barely mattered as I soaked up every word on the page. 

Dredd had all the best lines, although, oddly enough, his final line of the story was one of his weakest and was the only bum note of the entire strip. The rest of the characters didn't get the cracking dialogue, yet they all had their moments, and other attributes imbued by the writer which made them just as much fun.

I read this story with a huge smile on my face and couldn't help but smile at the Soviet stereotypes portrayed in the story. Another day I may have dismissed them, yet they did give some levity to the story and reminded me that Dredd is a satire at its very best. 

Swarthy Soviet villains, sexy Russian doctors, and the grim face of Dredd spitting out cutting dialogue made this compulsive reading, and although it didn't possess epic qualities, it was every bit as good as some of the longer stories we have indulged in. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "The Sov-Blokkers have added resisting arrest to their long list. It's time I started getting rough with them!"

There is no Blackhawk story this week, and in its place, we have a strip covering a day in the life of Tharg. I don't feel there is any need to cover it here, needless to say, it's an interesting division, although ultimately inessential. 

On the other hand, A.B.C Warriors is always essential reading, and this week we begin with the eye-catching image of a Cybo-Whale being attacked by a rival corporation.

From here the story is quickly laid out - the A.B.C Warriors are being sent to Mars where this attack occurred, to rid the planet of the competing factions that bring evil. At this point we finally learn the identity of the A.B.C Warrior's mysterious human officer- he is Colonel Lash, representing Free Mars, and he has assembled the team with this specific purpose in mind.  

Travelling to Mars on a ship with new settlers, they soon find trouble as their ship crashes in a sandstorm in the Saharan Sea. The settlers struggle with the thin Martian air, and although the ABC Warriors push them to walk to safety, it is too much for some.

Things get worse when they run into some Humpies, the earliest settlers on Mars. These ugly-looking humans carry compressed air in humps on their backs and heads and can go for days on a few mouthfuls of air. 

The two groups face off, calling each other ugly before a spear is thrown and a fight breaks out. The ABC Warriors step in and break up the fight, telling the two parties that the robots think both of them are ugly. Hammer-Stein tells how they must make peace with each other, and at gunpoint forces one of the Humpies to give the new settlers some of his oxygen in a literal kiss of life.

This they do, and soon all are kissing each other. Although none of them like it, it breaks the ice, and the ABC Warriors achieve their first goal. 

Finally, we have the identity of the Human officer and the A.B.C. Warriors have been unleashed on their first mission. The mission had a slow start, and the drama was lightweight, but it is good to be finally moving forward after a couple of months of assembling the team. 

The arrival on Mars gave us a good introduction to the mission and the obstacles the team will have to overcome. We didn't see the individual members of the team using their unique skills, and the story was mostly Hammer-Stein doing diplomacy work. I am confident that in future issues we will see much more of each individual robot, but this story did enough to suggest that they are a real team, and this new environment will be a fertile landscape for storytelling. 

A map on the final page of the comic showing the environs of Mars was a nice touch and not only did it provide us with a handy outlay of the planet, but it also suggested some of the future storylines. I couldn't help but notice the spot marked as the A.B.C. Warrior's secret base, and some of the large areas of land named with some hint of the natural resources each provides. 

Not a spectacular issue, but still one that was important in the wider context of the story. Seeds planted today will come to fruition in later issues, and from what I can deduce, we may well be in for an interesting Martian summer.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "'Cos they think you're ugly...you think they're ugly...and I think you're all ugly!"

The Mind Of Wolfie Smith has the powers of E.S.P. and after seeing a man jump to his death, Wofie is using these powers as he approaches Moldark Manor, a mansion he has already seen in one of his visions. 

The mansion is alive with psychic vibrations, and as Wolfie approaches he senses that his own psychic aura is triggered by the mental energy. 

The door is opened by a servant, and Wofie tells him that he is there to see Mr Hobb about the job advertised. Wolfie is led deeper into the house, and entering a room he finds himself surrounded by servants of Mr Hobb and a voice tells him he is about to join them. 

Wolfie regains consciousness and finds himself talking to an astral projection of the servant he first met, who he now learns is Mathew Hobb himself. Hobb tells him that his mind control is stronger than Wolfie's and that's how he was able to hide his identity when he first opened the door. 

Wolfie rightly calls him a psychic Fagan, forcing drifters and tramps to rob and steal for him. Hobb tells him he is correct and that he will soon join them. He wants to have a contest of psychic wits against Wolfie. Should Wolfie win he can go free, but if not he will be Matthew Hobbs.

Wofie thinks he needs to get some practice in and using his power he wills a sword from a nearby suit of armour into his hands. With a weapon in hand, he stands confident and feels he is ready to do battle.

If only I had psychic powers to see how this story would progress. The future is fuzzy, and there isn't enough here for me to form an opinion on how I feel about it right now.

The look of the comic is nice. It suits the story being told, and the artwork feels like a good fit for what is happening in the plot. The scenes of Wofie Smith's first meeting with Matthew Hobb had an energy to them that reflected the energy mentioned in the dialogue. Wolfie spoke of having a psychic aura, and although this wasn't explicitly shown on the page, one could sense it through the art decisions being made. Later in the strip, we see plenty of line work and swirls suggesting psychic energy, and although it looks busy, it achieves its goal of conveying unseen energy. 

I may need a few more weeks with the strip before I fully appreciate what it is, but I have patience, and I have the time.     

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "I've always wondered if there were other people in the world like me! Well, maybe I'm about to find out..!"

Bill Savage has finally reached the countryside after several months of adventures in London in the wake of Disaster 1990. 

It's not all plain sailing as they head to Oxford, with Savage and Professor Bamber encountering some county folk armed with bows and arrows. They escape unharmed, but the next locals they encounter are cut from the same cloth and attack them with pitchforks. 

Again, Savage and Bamber escape, and soon they can see the spires of Oxford emerging from the mist. Savage manoeuvres the boat cautiously through the fog, although Bamber is much more confident. That is until Bamber realises that the fog isn't fog, but rather some type of gas, and both men are overcome by the gas. The strip ends with Savage and Bamber waking up in a strange room where from the window ssavage can still see the spires but has only thoughts for who it was that ambushed them, and what sort of trouble they will find here.

I am relieved that Bill Savage has finally made it out of London. It has been hinted at for quite some time now, and this was the breakthrough I had been waiting for. I was delighted when he first saw the spires of Oxford and it felt like the story had taken a great leap forward. 

The first half of the story was disappointing. The countryside people were portrayed as simple country bumkins in a timeless stereotype. I thought 2000 A.D. was better than that, and they could have been presented in a sympathetic way. Both their attitude and the way they spoke to him were backward and small-minded. Actually, scratch that - looking at the current political climate there are plenty of people out there who would think like this, so perhaps this is a case, once again, of 2000 A.D. correctly foreseeing the future as it is. 

The second half of the story made amends for the first half, and the final page when they're overcome by gas and awakened in a strange room was just the mystery and intrigue I needed. There was some action in the strip, but the wider storyline is far more interesting than those frivolities and will stand us in good stead as we move forward. 

This was a steady-as-she-goes issue, but it has firmly pointed us in a new direction while laying out a course for future storylines and developments. All of it bodes well for the future, and although this wasn't the best it has laid the groundwork for future issues to build upon.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Not very imaginative, these country boys - that's what the last lot said!" 

Prog 129 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Dredd to control...have been attacked by Sov-Blok ship forty miles out. Prepare holding pens for 1,200 prisoners!"

Best Panel:  

Prog 128

The Tornado stories appearing in 2000 A.D. are still bedding themselves in and we are in the getting-to-know-you-other phase. Some stories I had positive feelings about last week are yet to reveal their true selves and my goodwill from last week is stretched as I wait to see what will develop. Unique characters and absorbing storylines is all I ask, and although we arent their yet, I read on with interest as these new stories continue to grow.  

Prog 128

1st September 1979 

Judge Dredd and a team of Judges are on a crime blitz, carrying out intensive investigations on random citizens' homes without needing a warrant. 

Entering the home of Mr. Sweet, they strip his apartment bare looking for any crime committed. They find nothing and Dredd is suspicious. They have at least cautioned the occupant of every dwelling so far - everybody commits crime sometimes, often without even knowing it. 

Smelling a rat, Dredd orders the Sweet to be put under 24-hour surveillance, and as Sweet heads to his work at the Department of Science, small hovering cameras follow his every move. 

The weeks pass and Dredd is rewarded when they see Sweet passing secrets of the new laser defence system onto a spy from East-Meg 1. 

Dredd gives chase to this spy, who manages to escape to sea. Dredd commandeers a vessel and gives chase, only to see the spy hauled onto a Sov-Blok anti-pollution ship. 

Although he is outside the forty-mile limit, Dredd demands that the spy be handed over, only for the ship to ram him and his much smaller vessel. 

The world of Dredd was greatly expanded with this strip, and the scope of the story being told was thrilling and exciting. The parallels to our own world were obvious, but that is the point of Dredd, and the familiarity gave the story some spice. A Cold War spy thriller, it was enlivened by the dialogue of Dredd and the futuristic details sprinkled throughout. The cover page carried all the aces and the image of Dredd pulling his gun on a large ship and threatening them, demanded I turn the page and read on.

Although the Cold War angle of the story was a well-trodden path, it was the smaller details of the future that thrilled me. In particular, the image of a drone silently observing Mr. Sweet was a panel that struck me and lingered after I finished reading. Although this was written forty-five years ago, it was incredibly accurate. To modern eyes, the sight of a drone observing is nothing new. We see it on the news every day, especially in war zones, and I barely registered it as some great forward-thinking by the writer to plant this detail in here. It lifted the story out of the Cold War era, in which it was written, and planted it firmly in the future with all the associated technology in the story, making it feel believable now that we have seen the drone. 

Yet again Dredd is the flag bearer for 2000 A.D. and its thrilling stories of the future. It seems as though it is my favourite story week after week, and I am beginning to think it's not just my bias, but Judge Dredd is genuinely one of the greatest comics of all time.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "They claim these anti-pol ships are working for the good of humanity - as if the Sov-Blok ever di anything for the good of humanity! Well, they're not getting away with this little number!" 

Blackhawk has been snatched by an alien craft and forced to fight as a gladiator in the galactic sport known as The Games. 

First, he must have a test of combat against the Beast, a massive alien creature that stands much taller than Blackhawk. Despite this size difference, Blackhawk is able to stay competitive using his speed and skill and eventually beats the creature after finding its weak point. 

The director who brought Blackhawk onboard is impressed and hands him a sword so he can kill the creature. Blackhawk refuses, but after the director is snatched by the monster, Blackhawk's hand is forced and he kills it. 

The director is pleased and tells him he has passed another test. However, Blackhawk's lack of humility before his superiors is a problem, and he has a strange metal band placed around his head. The band can inflict a variety of pains under the director's command, and although Blackhawk eventually passes out from the pain, the director notes that he did resist all the way. 

A middling story this week. We are still at the first date stage, getting to know each other and trying to make a connection. I thought I had a handle on the story last week, and this week we could move on to better things. Things didn't quite go as I had planned, and I am still struggling to warm to the story. 

I liked the premise, and the character himself is interesting. However, the story hasn't given us much more than that, and this week's issue mostly concerned itself with ensuring that Blackhawk is well and truly enslaved. 

On the plus side, the images of Blackhawk fighting were top-notch and the art of Belardinelli shone throughout. As well as providing some backbone to the story this also gives me hope for the future. If Belardinelli can weave more of his magic through the story we could be in for some spectacular issues. 

Aside from the fight, we also saw the humanity of Blackhawk come through, and this greatly enhanced the character in my eyes. The fighting looked great, but it was these small panels just after that piqued my interest. It showed another side to Blackhawk and gave us some insight into the character. It was only a brief moment but it did add some complexity to Blackhawk.

Not a great issue by any means but one that dangled just enough carrots to ensure I'll be back next week, drooling like Pavlov's dog.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Much as I would like you dead, director...I cannot stand by while a dumb animal slaughters an intelligent being!"

Last week in the A.B.C. Warriors we saw Steelhorn get put in a fusion furnace, only to survive as a new liquid entity known as the mess. 

This week we see the mess get some measure of revenge as he kills the manager of the demob centre, before killing two firemen sent to clean up the mess. 

At this point, Hammer-Stein arrives, and after discovering that the mess is actually Steelhorn, he gathers him up and takes him back to the other warriors where it is decided to keep the mess in a vacuum flask so he can be maintained at the correct temperature. 

The mysterious human officer enters the story and tells Hammer-Stein that although he has recruited the seventh and last A.B.C. Warrior in an unexpected manner, Steelhorn will still be useful for penetrating enemy defences. 

The officer calls them to be briefed on their next mission, but Deadlock tells the others he has already read the tarot cards and knows who they'll be facing - the Devil. 

Although ostensibly about robots, this story dipped into the world of body horror in an outrageous twist. It was unexpected, yet oddly compelling, as we saw Steelhorn become the mess. It didn't work one hundred percent of the time, but it did give us some grotesque artwork that stands among the best in the comic. It also raised a lot of questions about the direction of the story from here, and rather pleasingly the strip ended with a clear indication of where we are going next. 

The team is now complete, albeit not quite as we expected, and the A.B.C. Warriors have a clear goal laid out before them. We have a backstory for each character and they all bring a unique personality and skill to the team. This has taken some time to sketch out, but it has been well worth the journey so far, and I am sure this will pay off in the future as we embrace new challenges with the team that we already know so well.

Although not the best issue of A.B.C. Warriors, this was an essential one, and with all the pieces in place, we are ready for whatever comes next.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I can hardly believe it...once it was Steelhorn, bravest of the brave...and now it's...a mess! But...why is it slithering up my gun barrel?"

Last week we met The Mind of Wolfie Smith and had a quick introduction to the teenager with amazing ESP abilities. 

This week the story takes another step forward as the fugitive that he saw on the run from the police climbs a building and under the command of another powerful psychic force jumps to his death. 

Wolfie gets close to the police surrounding the scene, and reading their minds he gets some sense of what he has just observed. 

Picking up a glove dropped by the fugitive, he gets a vision of a spooky manor, the very one on the address of the situation vacant card he saw in the window last week. 

Catching a bus to the address, Wolfie learns that the staff turnover at the manor is high and that the owner Matthew Hobb is regarded as a crazy man. 

This doesn't discourage him, although perhaps it should, as in the final panels we see him approaching the manor while within a darkened Matthew Hobb watches him and delivers a soliloquy about making Wolfie his servant with a willingness to die, all so that Matthew Hobb can achieve an empire of darkness. 

Creepy and spooky, we know exactly what we are going to get with this story, It set its stall out early, and after meeting Wolfie Smith last week, we now see the world he inhabits is dark and unknown. With shadowy figures lurking in creepy mansions, with plans for world domination, the story is leaning hard into all the tropes of classic horror movies. Although not my genre, I am finding myself enjoying this a lot more than I should.

It's still early days, and I would still like to get to know Wolfie Smith a little better. We know of his powers and his backstory, but we still don't know what sort of person he is. We have seen him strive to do good, but we need some more interactions with others to get a feel for who he is. Next week may provide that as he meets Matthew Hobb, and I hope that the story will blossom from there. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "All I as is...loyalty! The willingness to...die, if necessary...so that Matthew Hobb may achieve his empire of darkness!"

We are straight into the drama of Disaster 1990 as the opening panel shows Bill Savage and the other survivors watching a massive whirlpool swirl around Wembley Stadium where they are trapped. 

While Bill Savage thinking about how they can escape, others are plotting revenge. The other survivors put a noose around Sam Slick's neck, intending to lynch him, only to be stopped in their tracks by Bill and his trusty shotgun. 

From there, it is back to the matter of escape, and the professor who calculates that if they lose all the excess weight, the amphibious vehicle should be able to use the whirlpool to jump over the wall of Wembley.

The plan looks as though it will fail as the walls begin to collapse before Bill manages to get enough speed up. However, they successfully make the jump, much to the surprise of the professor.

It is then that they see that Sam Slick isn't with them, but rather a much lighter tailor dummy has taken his place in the craft, making it considerably lighter. Turning back they see Sam sitting amongst the crumbling walls, raising a glass to them. He has sacrificed his life so they could escape and the final panel sees Bill Savage telling Bamber that sometimes a bit of decency can come to the surface when you least expect it.    

I enjoyed many aspects of this story, yet it never quite gelled for me. Seeing Savage save Slick from being lynched was true to his character, and an early highlight. The thrill of getting the boat up to speed was excellent, and the sense of speed and danger was conveyed well. The final sacrifice of Slick was well done, and a poignant moment to finish. 

Despite all this, I never truly became involved in the story. Slick's sacrifice was worthy of more than it got here, and although it was the best moment of the story, it could have been built into something much more. This was compensated by the understated artwork showing him raising a glass, in an image that said far more than the dialogue. The thrill of Savage escaping looked great, but in the back of my mind, I always knew he would make the jump. This made for an empty thrill, and the sense of peril was missing. 

There was plenty of like here, and if all these parts could come together in a satisfying manner it would easily be one of the best strips in the comic. The beauty of comics is there is always next week's issue, so it's that I turn to in the hope that Bill Savage and Disaster 1990 will give me the story that we both deserve.  

Rating: 6/10

Best Line: "There'll be no lynchin' while Bill Savage's got his shotgun! Back off!"  

Prog 127 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Nothing survives the fusion furnace- hotter than a hundred suns! You ABC warriors won the war - but you've served your purpose...now die, Steelhorn!"

Best Panel:  

Prog 127

The Christmas rush has arrived. The last week at work has been insane, so much so that I completely forgot that this week sees the introduction of several new stories in 2000 A.D. With Tornado being merged into 2000 A.D. we now have three new stories to digest - Blackhawk, Woldie Smith, and Captain Klep. I won't be giving Captian Klep any time here, it is your standard light comedy fare on a single page, and based on the first instalment it doesn't feel a good fit for the comic. Blackhawk and Wofie Smith are far more intriguing, and although neither gets off to a fast start in this particular issue, I am curious to see how they will develop. A change is as good as a holiday, and with that in mind, I shall embrace the first issue with the joy of the first day of a vacation. The possibilities of many a good time lay ahead of us, all we have to do is get on board and see what happens.  

Prog 127

25th August 1979 

Judge Dredd remains the standard by which all other stories are judged, and this week doesn't disappoint with a heavy fog descending upon Mega-City One. 

Like the pea-souplers of old London, it blankets the city, bringing new dangers to the streets. We have a taste of what these dangers entail when a cloaked man emerges from the mist, killing a young woman with talk of putting her in a pie. 

Dredd is soon on the case, and using the infrared beam on his bike he finds the murderer. The following fight is shortlived, and Dredd has his man - a robot Sweeny Todd. The clue to where he has come from is found in his top hat- a label from the Chamber of Horrors. 

The Chamber of Horrors is in the middle of the fog district. Dredd arrives and finds robot clones of Burke and Hare, the bodysnatchers, at work. They lead him to their master, and Dredd overhears him complaining that they can't get anything right - he wants money, not more bodies. 

At this point, Dredd intercedes and finds himself fighting other figures from the past, including the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Another fight ensues and Dredd triumphs, defeating the robot and arresting the citizen behind the crimes. 

This was a very tight story, with plenty of glorious panels scattered throughout the tale. There wasn't too much to the plot, but that hardly mattered as the story gave us drama, action, and a suitable outcome, all across six pages. With little happening as far as exposition goes, there was a lot of space for the art of Bolland to breathe, and with large panels and clean lines, his work dominated the story. The first image set the scene, and I immediately thought of Victorian London, long before it was alluded to later in the story.  

With an interesting array of villains, all recognisable from history, the story didn't need to introduce us to each crook, and we already had a good sense of how each one operated. This sped up the story considerably, and the sight of the hunchback climbing the bell tower felt part of the story while giving us a nice shorthand of what was happening. 

I am rating this story highly as there was no fat on the story, it moved quickly, and it all looked superb on the page   

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "No! No! No! How many times do I have to tell you two? I sent you out to get money, not bodies!"

Blackhawk is a new story for me, and I like what I see so far.  

This is a Gladiator story writ large.  Blackhawk is a Nubian Centurian, fighting for the Roman Empire when he is beamed to a mysterious spaceship. 

There he is presented with a challenge, and after fighting off several drones, two aliens come forward to introduce themselves. They quickly lay out the story of how they gather warriors from across the universe, bringing them together to fight for the entertainment of the masses. 

Blackhawk refuses to become a part of this, he would rather die free than become a slave, and it looks as though he will fall on his own sword. However, as he is about to do so, the aliens bring forth what would have been his first opponent, and seeing what a challenge it presents, Blackhawk decides he will indeed fight against the monstrous challenger. 

This wasn't quite what I expected, and I do wonder if it was previously a story set in Roman times reengineered to give it a sci-fi angle. A better man would go and do some research. I'm not going to do that as I insist on reading these stories as I would have done in 1979 with no internet and no way of knowing what was going on outside of the very comic in my hand. 

I like the idea of alien gladiators and the different scenarios that may present. The ultimate would be to have an uprising and a variety of aliens fighting together. Whether it or not that happens remains to be seen, but there is that seed of an idea in my head. 

The artwork started strongly, and although it's only my first taste of the strip I already have a good sense of the characters and the feel of the story. I am excited to see that it is Belardinelli on art duties, and his unique style is immediately apparent. This bodes well for future issues and paired with an original storyline, there should be plenty of scope for him to let his imagination run wild. 

Early days, but we have a firm beginning, and with a solid concept and some thought-provoking characters, we may well be in for a thrilling ride.    

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "We seek men like you, Nubian...men to whom fighting is a way of life...men who are not afraid to die!"

It seems the war against the Vogans has been won, as on the first page of A.B.C. Warriors we see Steelhorn bringing vengeance upon Marshal Vogod. Steelhorn is the seventh and last A.B.C. Warrior and several days later Hammer-Stein attempts to have him join the team. 

Steelhorn refuses to join despite losing the fight against Hammer-Stein. He tells Hammer-Stein that he is sick of war and is now a pacifist. He backs this up by leaving the army and setting forth to become a fireman instead. 

In the demob camp he hands over his weapons and enters cubicle "A" where he is told he will find out about becoming a fireman. It is a trap and he is instead melted down in a fusion furnace. 

However, this is not the end of Steelhorn, or the story, as he survives as a hideous, bubbling, metallic mess. In the final panel of the story, we see this mess making its way upstairs and toward the manager's office. 

An unexpected pivot this week, and I was caught off guard as I saw the war against the Volgans was over. Just as it looked as though the A.B.C. Warriors had assembled a team worthy of the opponents, it all came to a sudden end. 

The new direction the story is taking is of some interest, although it does feel as if we are starting over. We saw none of the other warriors, bar Hammer-Stein, in this issue, and the focus was very much on Steelhorn. How this will play out in future issues is a mystery. There is some intrigue, but it is hardly on the same level as what has come before and it does feel like a different comic. 

It's hard to make any sort of judgment on what we have here. It's not like the A.B.C. warriors of old, yet it hasn't quite grown into the skin of what it could become. Everything is up in the air at the moment, and we don't know what we have on our hands here until next week, guaranteeing that I'll be back for more. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I wanted to help humans...but now - now I curse you all!"

Another new story for me next as I clap my eyes on Wolfie Smith for the first time. 

Wolfie has a powerful brain that lets him move objects by thinking about them, pass examinations with ease, and predict the future. 

He is an outcast from a young age, all his childhood problems come to a head when he is sixteen years old and his parents insist he see a head doctor. It's all too much for him, and in a blast of frustrated mental energy he destroys half his street. 

Running away, he takes a job on a building site. He doesn't last long, and although he saves the life of a worker from a collapsing scaffold, he loses his job as the other workers find him too creepy. 

In Redford, a little town in East Anglia, he finds a situation vacant ad that looks promising. However, he is interrupted and a car crashes next to him. From the vehicle emerges a wild-eyed figure who is on the run from the police. Smith daren't get involved, but his ESP picks up another powerful brain which is giving the man instruction. While Smith watches on, the man begins to climb up the side of a building, with the voice telling the man that once he reaches the top he must jump off and destroy himself.

Another new story for me, and it doesn't move my needle one way or another. It was interesting enough to meet Wolfie Smith and see his powers at work, but I never felt invested in the character. One may have expected a character like this to provoke some sympathy from the reader, but he was neither here nor there as far as I was concerned, and I read the story with indifference. 

Once again it is early days, and I'm not writing the story off just because I didn't warm to it immediately. I need to spend some time with the story, and I would like to see Smith use more of his powers and get a feel for what he is going to do with his abilities. I like the thought that he is an outcast, and the story is leaning into a conflict with an equally powerful being who for now remains unknown. With questions hanging over the being, and what Smith might do next, there is plenty to keep the reader on the hook, and by the end of the issue, I should have a much firmer handle on who Wolfie Smith is and how I feel about him. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "With a brain like mine I reckon I could do almost anything! Maybe even a millionaire..!"

On the pages of Disaster 1990, Bill Savage still hasn't left London, despite threatening to do so for several issues now. 

This week it's a black marketeer who keeps him in town. Savage comes across this man when his vehicle breaks down while trapped in currents near a tube station, While Bill sits helpless, Slick Sam, a spiv if ever I saw one, appears with a boat advertising all sorts of wares a survivor might require. 

Slick Sam tells Savage that if he comes to the town hall that night, he can buy whatever he needs. Savage takes up this offer and arriving at the town hall he finds other survivors all paying what they can for the items Slick Sam has. 

Bill is unhappy with the situation, but hands over his gun in return for the parts he needs. After Sam departs, Savage gathers the other survivors and they decide they need to find Slick Sam's warehouse and put an end to this. 

Savage has one clue, a piece of turf found on the bottom of one of the items, and they realise that Sam's storehouse must be at Wembley Stadium. 

Savage goes there with the others in tow, and they find Sam's barge tied up at the edge of the terraces. Bill confronts him, and reclaiming his gun he and the others grab as much of the provisions as they can. 

While they do this, the Professor surveys the stadium. Running toward Savage, he warns that the Stadium is unstable, but it is already too late and in the final panel we see one of the walls collapsing and a whirlpool forming, trapping the survivors and threatening to drown them all. 

A solid issue, and despite some dramatic images on the final page, one that lacked much in the way of spectacular. It was all pretty standard fare, and from the first moment we saw Sam Slick we had a pretty good idea of what was about to unfold. 

Bill Savage did what he usually does, righting the wrongs with his trusty shotgun in hand, and although there was drama on the final page to carry us through to the next week, it didn't reach the thrill factor of some of the other stories. We have been strung along now for several weeks by the thought of Bill Savage leaving London and heading towards Oxford. In fact, he was quite explicit about it on the page three weeks ago, yet here we are still battling around famous London landmarks. It does feel like some good ideas came after the seed had already been planted, and the creative team has had to double back to cross off some of these ideas. I can't blame them for that, the last few weeks have been good, although hardly taxing, reading. There is a world of possibilities out there, yet Savage is still caught in the current of London-centric stories. Next week we should see him escape Wembley, but I am beginning to wonder, can he escape London?  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Hold it lads - you've got what you need and it's enough punishment for him." 

Prog 127 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Nothing survives the fusion furnace- hotter than a hundred suns! You ABC warriors won the war - but you've served your purpose...now die, Steelhorn!"

Best Panel: