Prog 9

    

Ahh, the smell of newsprint, there is nothing like it. Even the merest whiff of it has me transported back to a time when I wore short pants. It is unfortunate that I didn't read 2000 A.D. back then, but my quest to right that wrong continues now. Let me indulge in my own comic time machine for the next half hour. 

Prog 9

23 April 1977

I can sleep soundly at night knowing that men like Bill Savage are in the world. Fighting the good fight, this week in Invasion Bill watches on as a team of Royal Navy divers attack the Volgan flagship - the "Volga." Things don't go according to plan, as the ship is armed with a sonic weapon that wipes out the attack force. It is left to Bill and the other resistance fighters to take out the Volga the old-fashioned way, fighting their way from cranes down to the ship like old-time pirates and then destroying the ship with burning oil. There is a lot to like in this issue, and the idea of Bill Savage and the resistance fighting like pirates gives us some great panels. The image of Bill coming off a chain, gun blazing, is one that sticks in my mind long after I put the comic down. The first half of the story is dedicated to the failed attack by the navy divers, and here we have some equally memorable panels, especially the images of the diver's corpse and the first sonic attack which both deserve time and attention. As I've said before, there are times when this seems to belong in a war comic rather than 2000 A.D. but it's so enjoyable that I can't help but give it a high rating. 

Rating: 7/10

Best Line:  "Silk and his flash mates have gone Chief. They're the experts and they'll get the glory for nailing that ship"

Flesh immediately grabs my attention with a fantastic opening page showing the "Dino-Express" - a train filled with tourists from the future who come to see the prehistoric past. This is no ordinary train, it is equipped with a dinopuncher that smashes the dinosaurs out of the way. Even the thought of this idea makes me smile, and seeing it in action is a joy to behold. Not only that but it is also equipped with a Tyranno Horn, a horn that sounds like the call of a Tyrannosaur that is used to scare off other dinosaurs. It's all very imaginative, and I bathe in the delirium of such ideas. It is the sound of this horn that attracts the attention of Earl Reagan and Claw Carver, who make their way to the train after hearing it blare. Unfortunately, they aren't the only ones to hear its call, Old-One Eye also hears it, but as a challenge. She manages to free herself from the pit where we left her trapped last week and seeks out the call. This sets us for the finale, where she comes across the train, and despite the efforts of Reagan and Carver, takes her first victim, an annoying child we met in the first pages. Some would say it's rough justice, but the death is so gruesome that Tharg has censored it. Flesh gets better every week, early on I applauded it for its imaginative setting, and now that paying off as different scenarios and situations are played out in this world. I have no complaints with this story at all, it fires all the synapsis in my brain and gives me a kick like no other.       

 Rating: 8/10

Best Line: "Censored. No Earthlet has the necessary 100G nervous system to see this picture in full." 

It was tempting to skip straight to Harlem Heroes after seeing this week's cover that features this strip. The cover shows some action that we don't actually see until the final panels, but it's enough to lure me in with high hopes and expectations. The first page of the story lives ups to those expectations, an introduction to the villain of the piece in all his cyborg glory. While this tin terror sets off in search of the Heroes, they themselves are in the midst of a lavish celebratory parade thrown by Ulysses Cord. Their next match is against the Montezuma Mashers, and we are treated to a panel showing a beautiful looking pyramid that serves as their stadium. From here on in I don't care what happens in the story, I just want to see more art like we've been treated to in these first few pages. Every page has had something that jumps out at me, and my eyes just can't get enough of this visual stimulation. It is among the masked spectators that the cyborg villain Gruber awaits, the story finishing as he takes aim at Giant. Just like the previous two stories in this issue, Harlem Heroes gives me plenty to enjoy, and yet it is completely different from the previous two stories. It is the art that has me enthralled in this story, and even if the story hasn't moved much, it still feels fulfilling.    

 Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Gotta find and destroy those high and mighty punks the Harlem Heroes" 

When we last left Dan Dare he was betraying his comrades to the Biogs, a betrayal that we soon learn is a ruse, but not before Monday has a good crack at beating Dane Dare, in what are some of my favorite panels in this issue. After revealing his ruse to Monday, Dan Dare makes his way to the Odyssey, under orders from the Biogs to surrender the ship. Dan does nothing of the sort, instead firing up the engines, burning a hole half a mile deep in the side of the Biogs living ship, before making their escape to freedom. It is a short-lived victory though, as Dan and his crew emerge in the middle of two massed space fleets that are about to engage in war.  last week I was effusive in my praise for the artwork, but this week it is the story that carries the weight of my attention. It continues to move quickly forward and one wonders we will go now that Dan and his crew are back in the wider universe. 

 Rating: 6/10

Best line: "On my planet there is only one punishment for traitors, the Martian death-lock!"  

I always enjoy the art of John Cooper, and even if this issue of M.A.C.H. 1 isn't to my taste, John's artwork always is, no matter the story.  This week we have another story that centers around John Probe going into a hostile country to grab a scientist. While the story practically writes itself, it is the action scenes that provide the thrills, and we have several gratifying panels as John Probe goes into action. The final page as he indulges in some humor and is chastised by the computer is more to my taste when it comes to the story, and I am left feeling warmed by the overall issue. Far from perfect, but with John Cooper's art and an element of humanity at the end, I rate it higher than I perhaps should. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line:  "I got a right to crack a joke, haven't I, computer? After all I'm a human being!" 

I thought last week was the best Dredd so far, but this week's Judge Dredd easily tops it. It still has a sense humor, but it's not to the fore, and the concept of Robots and their humanity is central to the storyline, raising some ethical questions in a far more thoughtful Dredd story than we have seen n the first eight issues. Starting at the Robot of the year show, we see Dredd and Diablo observing a cruel exhibition of Robots programmed with feelings being put to death by fire, and shedding real tears. Dredd comments on the cruelty of it before he is called into action by a gunman in robochair gunning down the guards. After being overcome by Myclon gas, Dredd hunts the gunman using the police bloodhound robot, a robot capable of catching a scent at twenty miles. Dredd finds the villain easy enough and after shooting him down is left to ponder on the role of robots in society. As always, the artwork is top-notch, that is a given, but here it has a story to match and the final panel is particularly poignant and points towards some depth of character in Dredd. I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, and this closes out the issue on a high. This issue is crammed full of good stories, and the Dredd one can look any one of them in the eye. 

 Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "it was a cruel exhibition, Diablo! We give robots the will to live and then expect them to "die" like willing slaves. It's going to spell trouble one day " 

Prog 9 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd 

Best Line: Judge Dredd - "I would not have caught the lawbreaker without this bloodhound robot. But that heap of metal down there was a robot too...how long before robots discover how to break the law?"

Best Panel: