Prog 25

I have been looking forward to this week's issue and the arrival of Tharg's Future Shocks. Unfortunately, I am extremely tired, and perhaps not in the mood for reading comics. I'm not as young as I think I am, and I may have overdone it last night. However, I still have the energy to pick up a comic and turn the pages, so let's read this week's issue before I fall asleep on the couch.  

Prog 25

13 August 1977

The horror of war is on full display in week's Invasion story. With nerve gas as the main weapon, there is plenty of room for the artist to flex his muscle with several gripping pictures of the damage done. Throughout the story, the artwork remains important, with small details on every panel that contributes to the story, the visual storytelling is just as crucial as the dialogue in building the story. The story itself draws on several things we have already seen - Bill Savage meeting with a local who helps him out, only for that person to be killed later in the strip and Bill avenging them. In this case, a town has been wiped out by nerve gas, and Bill arrives in the empty city only to find the one survivor hiding in the hotel. While Bill and Silk enjoy the hospitality offered at the hotel, the Volgans arrive and kill the man they had just met, but not before he offers one final secret to Bill. It is this secret that closes out the story as Bill deals out retribution in the most fitting way possible in a nice parallel t the story's opening. The story itself is good, but it is the art that is the star of the show, and I can't think about this week's story without thinking of the art first.      

Rating: 7/10

Best Line:  "Quack, quack, Volgs!!"

A pause in the aeroball action sees us return to Ulysses Cord storyline in Harlem Heroes. Sure, the first page is dominated by the image of the Heroes' upcoming opponents in the aeroball final - the Teutonic Titans, but the rest of the story is sedate and inward-looking. I thought the return of Ulysses Cord would move the story forward, but we are in a holding pattern as the pieces are moved into place for the next episodes. The Heroes are given new equipment after a robbery, and Cord plans to use this in the aeroball final to finish the team for good. It is interesting enough to see the pieces come together, but there isn't quite enough there for it to be compelling. Next week promises to be a lot better, and I can only hope it lives up to those expectations. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I've heard of souvenir-hunters, but this is ridiculous!"

Shako continues his bloody run through the pages with another issue of flesh-tearing action. This week he has six pages devoted to his blood lust, and every page has a good mixture of gore and humour. The story doesn't evolve much further than we have previously seen, but there is a lot of fun to be had across the pages. Although I don't rate the story as highly as previous issues, the humour is well embedded throughout, and I am smiling despite myself. One really shouldn't be laughing at a giant Polar Bear chewing people's faces off, but here we are. Not as good as the previous weeks, but I enjoyed it just as much. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best Line: "p-please, ch-chief! N-no j-j-joke! Now he- he's bitin' my n-n-nose off...H-h-help meeee!" 

Before I started reading 2000AD, Tharg's Future Shocks was one of the few things I knew about the comic. Short, self-contained stories by a variety of artists and writers, this is one strip that could deliver anything week to week. And we are off to a good start this week with a story titled "King Of The World." The story laid out is simple enough, two warring tribes, the red-haired and the black-haired people, going into battle, from which the red-haired leader emerges victorious, proclaiming himself king of the world. However, all is not what it seems, and in a final twist we see that their world is actually a micro world, and they are being observed by giant ants who wonder at their intelligence. It is a classic short story-type twist and translates well onto the page. I like the premise for this strip, and if we get plenty more short stories like this I shall be more than satisfied.   

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line:  "Time for lunch, children! You've been watching those humans all morning...honestly, I don't know what you see in those horrible little things!"   

M.A.C.H. 1. is uneven after several good weeks. John Probe is called in to rescue some hostages, this time held on a train and in Frech. These two variables don't change the basic outline of the story much. As we have seen in previous issues, John Probe battles his way through a series of situations using his special abilities, before killing the main villain in an appropriate manner befitting the story. maybe I am feeling particularly grumpy today, but I don't find much to enjoy in this week's story. I want to like it more than I do, the art is good, and the story solid enough, but there once again is the feeling I've seen it all before, maybe there are only so many stories that can be told for John Probe, and we are now pushing at the limits. 

Rating: 4.5/10

Best line:  "Strewth! They've got Pierre in the neck..."   

I honestly don't know how I feel about the Judge Dredd story this week. Its usual humour and social commentary are intact, but I never quite warm to it the way I normally do. Dredd is on the hunt for a private TV station that is broadcasting a game show that is life and death, and I can't help but think of modern game shows and their "lifelines" This game show puts that phrase in a whole different light as wrong answers mean death for a family member. Dredd can't save the current contestant's family but does arrive just in time to dispense justice at the show's conclusion. The story is tilted to show the contestant's greed, so when Dredd saves his life there is the feeling that he doesn't deserve to be saved. As always, the panel of Dredd smashing through a wall on his Lawmaster is a highlight, but elsewhere my pulse is barely raised by the action laid out in front of me. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Best line:  "Stomm! That blade's dropping right for that sap's neck!" 

Prog 25 final ratings:

Overall: 6/10

Best Story: Tharg's Future Shocks

Best Line: "That...that Chester wasn't foolin'...he-he's rippin'...ripping me to bits!"

Best Panel: