Prog 1

I missed it. 

Prog 1 -  26th February 1977.  I was away lost in my sports comics (Tiger, Roy Of The Rovers) and war comics (Battle, Commando). At the time 2000 A.D. meant nothing to me. 

Don't let the fact that I was only four at the time fool you, I spent my first few years when I learnt to read catching up on the comics of my infancy, but still, I never picked up a Prog - not even when all the cool kids at school were waving one under my face. 

It has been a source of shame that has dogged me for forty years and for all the thousands of comics I have read since I have never read a single issue of one of the most influential and highly regarded comics of our times.  

So, here I am, forty-five years later righting this wrong. My first reading of 2000 A.D. My first prog slog. My first EVERYTHING. How rare it is to be able to approach something so iconic with the fresh eyes of a newbie. You only lose your virginity once, and here I am with the comic in hand about to take my first plunge. 

2000 A.D.  - a newbies prog slog. 

Let's go.  

Prog 1. 
26 February 1977

The cover doesn't give an indication of what awaits, but the first splash page does with its statement of intent - "Welcome to your future"  However I am saddened by the fact that the futuristic-sounding  2000 A.D. is now 20 years ago -I am taken aback by how quickly the years have rolled by leaving the year 2000 as a stranded island of time in the past.  

The opening splash page already has my mouth watering - I can see some tasty morsels which I can't wait to sink my teeth into. Harlem Heroes looks like something that might appeal to me, potentially it looks like a similar story to The Spinball Wars which I used to read in Battle. Elsewhere, Invasion is already giving off some intense vibes, and that's from seeing a single frame, and Dan Dare has piqued my interest - how did he end up here? A familiar face from the Eagle comics, I see the words 'suspended animination' and I look forward to seeing how he goes in this bold future. Next week's fantastic free gift is now forty-five years in the rearview mirror, but the child in me still longs for the Biotronic panels, who wouldn't want a chance to be a Boiotronic man?

Ok, suitably stimulated, I'm ready to turn the page.

Invasion was the one from the splash page that I was most interested in, and it has lived up to all expectations. With Great Britain invaded by the Volgans, Bill Savage loses everything, and with his shotgun in hand vows to bring the war to the Volgans. Interesting to see that the year 1999 wasn't completely different from what we got, with the news broadcast on BBC3 - a channel that came into being in 2003, so they were pretty close with that one. Other media hasn't changed too much in the last half-century either, the Daily Mirror proclaiming "War with the East" is a headline they might publish today -and I assume the Volgans come from a region near the Volga river, so again from my perspective in 2022, it reeks of authenticity. As for a King Charles, well we're all still waiting for that, and the newsreader's comment that its the first invasion of The British Islands in a thousand years isn't quite accurate, I seem to recall an invasion in 1066, which makes this the first invasion in 933 years - lucky I'm not a pedantic man.  All this is neither here nor there, the best thing in this story is any panel with Bill Savage - a man with the right name for a situation like this. He has some cracking dialogue, and I just cant wait to see where he goes from here. I want to jump to Prog 2 right away to see how he goes - this story is already off to a solid start. The artist seems very familiar to me, I could easily look up who it is, but you know what, I'm just going to live with these comics a while before I dig into the writers and artists.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "With pleasure, sunshine - but I ain't hiding.. I'm reloading!"

I love the premise for Flesh. A glorious combination of time travel and Dinosaurs, this is ticking a lot of boxes already. With man traveling back in time to gather Dinosaurs for food, Earl Reagan predicts that in the future mankind or Dinosaurs will become extinct, and "Nobody makes Earl Reagan extinct"  The idea seems fresh to me, and I devour this story quickly. This first episode I feel is all set up, I think the story will take off in the next issues, once this groundwork is laid out. The first page is a great introduction, it leapt off the page at me. Again, the artist looks familiar to me, but I am content with my ignorance for now. It is every kid's dream to grow up drawing Dinosaurs, and I can feel that in the art here. As for many favorite panels? Well, that was the Dinosaur stampede, for sure. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "You overgrown Lizard, I'll ...A-A-AH!" 

I am initially a little disappointed with Dan Dare. He gets color pages, but the story isn't as colorful as the art and as much as I want to love it, I don't. Dan Dare is the only survivor of an accident over Jupiter and is held accountable for the loss. Facing court-martial he flees in a ship, setting up a potential fugitive story.  It feels done before, however, I do enjoy the final pages and I have high hopes that the next few issues will pull me into the story. The dialogue when he meets the Solar Fleet Commander is a lot of fun, as is the panel on the next page as he punches out a guard wearing a full helmet. That's a heck of a punch. 

Rating: 4/10

Best line: "What? He'll eat vacuum for this! Dare's a dead man!" 

Finally, I meet Tharg who I have heard so much about, and henceforth amend my email signature to "SPLUNDIG VUR THRIGG". 

Next week meet Judge Dredd?
Next week?
Another week before I meet the most famous face from the pages of 2000 AD? 

OK, I've waited this long, I can wait a few more days 

Mach 1 isn't so much a secret agent as a secret weapon. John Probe with his computerized form of acupuncture is a terrorist bashing, door kicking, hyper sprinting, and veritable one-man army bringing it to the terrorists.  Super soldiers aren't new, and this seems on the surface to be the least original story in the issue To its credit though, many of my friends speak highly of acupuncture, albeit not this computerized acupuncture, so it may be something I'll need to consider for myself in the future.  The final panel of a Vulcan aircraft in flight about to destroy London is enough of a cliffhanger for me to be flicking to this story in the next prog, despite my earlier reservations  

Rating: 3.5/10

Best line: "Let's see if the door's MACH-proof!" 

Finally, I get to the first story that grabbed my attention, Harlem Heroes and aeroball, the sport of tomorrow. The name Harlem doesn't quite have the same cachet of cool as it did in the late seventies, but the story still has a cool feel as we meet the team and the sport. I must admit, I am hooked by the twist soon after we are introduced to the team they are killed in an accident. One wonders where they can go from that, but the final page has me intrigued by the prospect of their brains surviving, and the last four-members carrying on the legacy. A good way to finish the episode as I immediately want to know where they will go from here.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "We -er- brought you these flowers and chocs, Louis. But I guess you won't be needing 'em now""  

 

That's it!

My first prog is done and dusted. Finally, I have that monkey off my back, and I am eagerly anticipating my next one. The most famous stories lay ahead of me, some far ahead of me, but I am content for now with what I have read here. These stories are enough for now to keep me reading, but I particularly look forward to the next issue and the introduction of Judge Dredd. I wonder what he'll be like... 

Prog 1 final ratings:

Overall: 4/10

Best Story: Invasion

Best Line: "You're joking... I ain't running from dirty Volgans! "

Best Panel: