Prog 5

 Sunday morning and all is quiet. My wife is catching up with the news on her phone while the rest of the house is mine. With only my own thoughts for company, this week's edition is calling me, its cover demanding I pick it up. Now, one should never judge a book by its cover, but Prog 5's cover shows a dramatic scene of Judge Dredd battling a giant cyborg, while the text in the corner proclaims "The comic of tomorrow, today!" How could one resist such a cover, it's time for me to lose myself in the world of 2000 A.D. for the next half hour.

Prog 5
26 March 1977

There is the potential for Invasion to tip over into war comic territory, however, the characters lift it above such fodder. Things are starting to move quickly with this story, Savage has taken on the code name "Mad Dog" and is living up to his billing. Batting in the streets of London, he sets a trap for the Volgans in Trafalgar Square, before escaping to the Isle Of Dogs - something I can relate to having lived in the Isle Of Dogs for several years myself. With lots of snappy lines, there is plenty to enjoy in this issue. On the downside, it never quite delivered a killer panel or twist for me, a tasty morsel of an issue rather than a substantial meal. But next week will be great, I can just feel it.  

Rating: 6/10

Best Line:  "We're the Mad Dogs, Volg! And you just turned us loose!"

It's all coming back to me now - the Tyrannosaurs are loose in Carver City, while Reagan still requires a gland from one of them to save Joe's life. It is the dinosaurs that take centre stage again in this story, and that is perhaps how it should be, with the Tyrannosaur being so visually stimulating. There is a couple of turns in the plot to keep us engaged between the dinosaur action, while Reagan manages to fight old-one eye and get what he needs to save Joe, there is still the issue of Claw Carver wanting revenge for the havoc wreaked upon his city. So while the dinosaurs turn on each other outside, inside the humans do the same, the issue ending with an uneasy truce that sets us up nicely for the next issues. The story is simmering nicely, and the artwork is still fantastic, so even though I'm giving this an average rating, there is plenty in its favor, the average mark reflecting that I am expecting much more in future issues.    

 Rating: 5/10

Best Line: "I am not programmed to deal with this situation" 

I can't say that I am particularly thrilled by Harlem Heroes this week. The first couple of pages over given over to the end of the game of aeroball they were playing against Baltimore last week, and as an easy victory, there is;t a lot on the page that speaks to me. Things improve with the appearance of Ulysses Cord, a gentleman who has just paid a hundred million dollars for the tri-vision rights on aeroball. No doubt this was an unbelievable amount of money in 1977, but having seen Chelsea FC waste the same amount of money on Lukaku last season, it seems like the deal of the century to modern eyes. Ulysses Cord is splashing the cash, all the Heroes have to do is keep winning and bring the world championship back to America. In these modern times, it feels all too familiar, and I can't help but compare it to the Premier League and some of the modern clubs competing with wealthy investors behind them. Things aren't all that they seem, and Giant smells a rat - after all why would someone spend that much money on them after only winning one game. There is another game at play, and the thought of this makes me forget those first couple of pages. 

 Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Yeah, it sure sounds great! On the other hand, someone might just be throwing us to the wolves" 

I set my expectations high for Dan Dare early on, and this episode meets those expectations and more. The first couple of pages has me in love with the art and the weirdness of the situation as well as the creatures they are encountering. A younger me might have used the word scared,  but the more mature me prefers the world uncomfortable. Seeing one of Dan Dare's colleagues ingested by one of these horrible creatures is especially uncomfortable and I'm glad I'm reading this in the morning, and not at night just before sleep and the nightmares that would ensue. Although Dan manages to blow one up, he and Monday still find themselves inside one of the creatures, where they are transported in the stomach back to the creature's base. A gruesome thought, but not without precedent, as Monday rightly points out that there is an earth story about a chap in the whale which is similar. Meanwhile, back on the ship things are just as bad, with the aliens seizing control of the ship. All seems lost, I will be rushing back to this story as soon as I can in the next issue. 

 Rating: 7/10

Best line: "My God, I'm being sucked in, alive!"  

The issue of M.A.C.H. 1 is better than last week and I warm to it a little more. While on holiday, John Probe is taken by an illegal arms dealer, Otto Brandt, who wants to steal the secrets to his super strength. John Probe goes willingly, his human emotion overriding the computer intelligence when innocent bystanders are butchered. He does eventually fight back, once they are airborne and this makes up the second half of the story. I think I preferred the first half of story, seeing the human aspect of the character talking to the computer, and making his own emotional-based decisions. The second half of the story is all action, with plenty to enjoy with the fight scenes. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line:  "I eat a lot of spinach" 

Judge Dredd ends the issue on a high. The cover promised much, and the story matches the cover. In a whodunit, Dredd has a series of murders on his hands, which leads him to O'Neil, sensor-round salesman, and curator of the special effect museum. This leads to confrontation, and Dredd's final battle against the greatest movie monster of all time -Kong. It's a fast-moving story, with a healthy dash of humor, weirdness, and futurism. As always, the art suits the story style, and I would rate this story more highly if only I didn't know that there is much better yet to come. A good ending to a solid issue, and a pleasant way to start my Sunday 

 Rating: 6/10

Best line:  "Dredd's attacking the cyborg! But he'll go over the edge, and we're two miles up!" 

Prog 5 final ratings:

Overall: 5/10

Best Story: Dan Dare

Best Line: Judge Dredd- "To think, I could get a robot-cleaner for half the price and save all her nagging"

Best Panel: