Prog 19

A funny old week here, for most of the week I haven't had the time or energy to even think about what awaits me in Prog 19. I have woken today feeling rejuvenated, and now as the sun warms the outside world I am in my happiest of places with a cup of tea in one hand and the Prog in the other. Good times ahead, let's dive on in.  

Prog 19

2 July 1977

I get a kick out of the first panel of Invasion as it gives a historical nod to World War Two.  We see the V1 built by slave labour, only in this case it's not the V1 rocket, but rather the V1 highway, a high military highway covering Britain from North to South. I am immediately put in mind of Hitler building the autobahn in another reference to World War Two. I assume the V in V1 stands for Volgan, which I find clever and a nice touch. Last week I wrote of the anti-establishment feel of this story, and the comic in general, and that is once again central to the story here as Bill Savage connects with an underground resistance base manned by British soldiers. The angle is played up as Savage bumps up hard against army discipline, and the first half of the story mostly deals with this interaction before things come to a head and Bill assaults an office before heading out in search of some real action. This action he finds is the slaves building the V1, and Savages unleashes some of his frustrations on the Volgans, freeing the slaves and wiping out the Volgans using their own road-building equipment. I don't enjoy this as much as I should, it seems a little too on the nose, but another sip of my tea, a long breath, and I am back on board as Bill returns to the resistance base to collect his things, including the Brigadier's map, and some of his men. I like the idea of Savage leading a small band of men around Britain and in this last panel, I briefly consider him a Robin Hood-type character, fighting for those that can't fight for themselves. How this will play out, I haven't a clue, but there is just enough in this story to keep me on the hook for another week. 

Rating: 6/10

Best Line:  "Fair enough, Brig - you stay down here among the worms. I'm goin' up to keep the war goin'!"

"The morning after feeling! For seven days and nights the flesh eaters had rampaged through the trans-time base... gorging themselves. Now, their bellies full of human and animal flesh, they lay around...sleeping it off!"

What a great opening for the final episode of Flesh this week. I had forgotten that this final was upon us, and although I love the story this week, I turn the pages slowly and with a heavy heart knowing that this is the end. but, what an ending it is. After destroying the humans, and their base, Old One-eye staggers off to die. We follow her on this final journey. It is a journey of several days, and despite a couple of obstacles, she finally makes it to the Tyrannsoaurs' Graveyard. It is an impressive sight, and Old One-eye's final moments are beautifully captured. If this was the end, I would be more than satisfied, but there is one final twist that elevates this story further. Sixty-five million years later Old One-eyes fossil is discovered, dug out, and displayed at the Natural History Museum. The scientists are baffled by the human bones found within the skeleton, something that simply cannot be given that humans didn't exist at the time of dinosaurs, at least to their knowledge. The most dismissive of these scientists is Professor Gizzard, who hosts a dinner party within the skeleton itself. After delivering a rebuttal against the thought of man versus dinosaur he finds him trapped in the teeth of the skeleton where he becomes the final victim of Old One-eye. The comic works hard to reach this conclusion, that is quite a bit of work to set up this final scenario, but the payoff is great, and the captions of each panel make the story what it is and add a lot of weight to what otherwise could have been flimsy dialogue from the characters. Flesh has been a wild ride, and was the first strip that I brought into in 2000AD. This is a fitting ending, and one of the best of its run. The dinosaurs themselves have always been the main part of the story, and I am very pleased that we finish with Old one-eye rather than a human character.       

 Rating: 9/10

Best Line: "Children like to think of monsters and men fighting each other, but it's rubbish! This Tyrannosaur could never kill a man!" 

I enjoyed last week's Harlem Heroes immensely; this week's issue is a solid follow-up. With Artie Gruber wreaking havoc on the field, we left the last issue with a contact mine thrown towards Giant. We don't have to wait long to see the outcome of this in a dramatic first page and Giant leaves the ball for substitute Dale, who is immediately blown to bits. This ratchets up the on-field violence, and the Harlem Heroes prove themselves just as adept at playing hardball as the Gargoyles. We see several dangerous plays, all to the Heroes advantage, and once again I am finally won over by this on-field action. It looks great and propels the story forward while keeping it all about the team. Ginat is the moral compass of the story, and as he tries to keep his team on the straight and narrow tempers begin to fray, leading to disunity in the tea, disunity that the mystery man behind all their troubles is happy to see. Plenty of action, and with the gears of the bigger story continuing to revolve, this makes for a highly enjoyable few pages. 

 Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Quit buggin' me, Giant-- Or I'll lay one on you! " 

I like that in the first panels we see Dan Dare doing what he does best - flying a spaceship. As Rok points out, he is truly a great pilot. These first pages look good and capture what Dan Dare the pilot is all about as he expertly navigates his way through a rapidly closing door and tunnel to excite the hollow planet. It certainly is thrilling action, but the real danger comes in the following pages and every panel the Mekon appears in. As Rok and Dare scan the ship's memory banks they discover the Mekon's master plan to turn the Two of Verath into a living bomb to be captured and taken into the Galactic Council. I like how quickly this outlines the story to come, and brings the reader right into the story without drawing it out page after page. The rest of the story moves quickly, while we read what the plan is, the Mekon is already enacting it, and in the final panels, the Two of Verath are captured, while Mekon destroys the ship's memory banks, leaving Rok and Dare in an alien ship with no means of communicating with the federation. While not quite as good as previous issues, a lot of the story was laid out in this issue, and I think the next few weeks as it plays out will well be worth the ride.  

 Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Did I kill him? Probably not..he has the luck of ten thousand devils...!"  

Phosphate mining in M.A.C.H. 1, how topical.  M.A.C.H. 1 is ahead of its time in these first panels. However, I am reminded of the era it was written in a few panels later as a Japanese soldier is referred to as a "Nip," something my Japanese wife would be horrified by if she knew. Racist terms aside, this is a great issue of M.A.C.H. 1 as Simon Probes humanity battles his computerized self over the next few pages. Sent to an island to take care of a Japanese soldier still fighting the war 35 years on, M.A.C.H. 1 is not only fighting a man who is only doing his duty, much like himself but also representing big business as they turn an island paradise into a hell on earth. This makes for some internal conflict and a battle that Probe must win while fighting to do the right thing. The fight itself is surprisingly even, although Probe does eventually win, he doesn't kill the man, deciding that he did no wrong and was only following his patriotic duty.  However, in a war comic cliche, the Japanese soldier takes his own life, leaving Probe to ponder what it was all for. It's moments like this that lift this week's issue above some of the more awkward and cliched moments, and even though it's far from perfect I find myself reasonably happy with what I have just read. 

 Rating: 6.5/10

Best line:  "Okay, maybe I should have stopped him - but what happened only men would understand. Not a soulless computer" 

John Cooper handles the art in this week's Judge Dredd and his style is immediately recognisable in one of the first panels as some muggers assault a man in the street. This is a snappy issue of Judge Dredd, and the story is sleek and straight to the point, much like the artwork. A clean story, it tells two stories - one of the muggers that Dredd deals with by a seek heating bullet and the second half where he deals with the person who witnessed the crime but didn't stop to help. This is where we learn about how pollution-free Mega City-1 is as Dredd takes down his man for polluting the streets with his petrol-burning vehicle. It still has its sense of humor, I like that the man he pulls over has no criminal record, is named Nixon, and Dredd can only nail him with a pollution charge. This story has aged well, and one could easily imagine it being written today. The change in the artwork is refreshing, and the story itself is finely turned, making for a slightly different Dredd than I am used to, but one well worth reading. I don't think we could call this classic Dredd, but I enjoy it just as much.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line:  "Bright Moon tonight - a muggers moon! I'm going to have a busy night!" 

Prog 19 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Flesh

Best Line: "It doesn't matter how you make our city dirty - pollute the air or leave a guy to die- the law will clean you out!"

Best Panel: