Prog 37

I saw some old Progs for sale online the other day, Prog 381-Prog 425, and I briefly thought about buying them. It was then that I realised that it will be another seven years before I reach these Progs for my blog. That thought was a timely reminder of what a huge task I have set for myself. Given my current age, I will be blogging well into retirement. That's a small blessing for my wife, I certainly won't be getting under her feet if I retire, but it all feels a long way off. Still, it was a wise man who said the journey of a thousand Progs begins not with the first Prog, but with the first story, so with that wisdom foremost in my mind, let's have a read of the first story in this week's Prog - Inferno. 

Prog 37

5 November 1977

I was a little harsh on Inferno last week and I find I enjoy it much more in its second outing. The game is getting easier to understand and there are some great images that tell the story just as well as the words on the page. The three Harlem Heroes were playing for Washington Wolves and struggling with the rules when we last saw them. This week they have a better handle on the rules, and the ball, and adapting to this new game they find themselves on the winning side. The entire strip is devoted to this game, except for the final two panels when a larger plot appears. Watched by a Mr. Torso and Mr. Chubb, it seems corruption is afoot, with Mr. Chubb suggesting that Mr. Torso should speak to the Washington Wolves manager about betraying the Harlem Heroes for a slice of the gambling profits that could potentially be made. I definitely did not compare this to FIFA and football, but there are those out there that certainly would. The story is warming up nicely, and this new angle is just the hook I need to keep reading. I can't say I'm a fan of the game yet, but I loved seeing the big bikes in action, and these panels grabbed my attention in the best possible way. Plenty still to play for, and I am hooked for the next few issues at least. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Mr very thoughts, Mr. Torso! But if they lose...the people who gamble dollars on their opponents, will show a very handsome return...!"

I had high hopes for Judge Dredd this week as we plunge below ground for the second part of the story featuring the Troggies. With the Troggies planting explosives underground to destroy Mega-City 1 and Dredd captured and taken as one of the slave labourers, we are all set for a thrilling climax. Unfortunately, I am slightly disappointed and there is a distinct lack of drama this week, although some cracking dialogue more than makes up for it. The plot becomes an afterthought for me as I focus on the words and the banter back and forth between Dredd and the Troggies, all of it highly explosive in itself. There are only ten minutes left to save the city, and Dredd needs a plan, quick. Getting into an argument with another prisoner, Dredd tricks him into throwing him towards the laser drills, which he promptly uses to escape and free the other prisoners. Communicating back to the other Judges, Dredd gets an old subway car powered up and heads off to confront Slick Willy, leader of the Troggies. Blinding them all with a bright light, Dredd seizes control of the detonator and the situation, leaving him to comment that there are still plenty more subcultures out there with an axe to grind. Although I felt the plot was slight, as I mentioned earlier I loved the dialogue, especially the language of Slick Willy which seemed to draw a lot of references from pop culture history. My favourite would be "Slay you later, Alligator," and "in ten seconds we'll be flying to that great Elvis concert in the sky, can you dig it?" With his own Elvis quiff, it is easy to see where Slick Willy is drawing his inspiration from. Even other characters are getting into it - I'm not sure if the line "There's a train coming" is intentional or not, but that too draws from rockabilly style. There is a lot of fun sprinkled through the story, and I'm very happy with it even if it fails to reach the heights of some of the other stories of the last couple of months.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Slay you later, Alligator!" 

Reading Invasion in 2023 is a different experience from reading it in 1977. See Bill Savage and the crew of submarine raising a toast to King Charles doesn't seem as futuristic now as it did forty-five years ago (forty-five years ago, oh how it hurts me to type those words). The story really gets going on the second page as Prince John appears from the hold of the submarine, he has stowed away so he can see Britain again, after being exiled to Canada. Again, I can't help but see parallels to another modern Prince who has been exiled to the new world, but I put that thought aside as Volgan aircraft appear and the crew take evasive action. They spring into action, but the Volgans are faster, and the submarine is damaged and then destroyed, leaving Bill Savage, the young Prince John, and Silk wading ashore. Things get worse by the minute, as the Volgans recognise that Prince John is there and seeking to seize the heir, send all ground forces to the area to hunt him down. Phew, it's breathless action and things are delicately poised as we finish this week's episode. With action and plot well balanced, this is a highly readable strip from Gerry Finlay-Day and art robot Carlos Pino. Seeing the wider story brought back into focus by the appearance of Prince John is a timely reminder of the state of things in Britain and the wider world. There wasn't a lot of Bill Savage killing Volgans this week, but the scene is set for him to do killing-a-plenty next issue as the Volgan forces converge. Prince John feels like the weak link, both when it comes to fighting the Volgans, and as a character and I don't have a handle on what sort of person he is yet, so hopefully, he'll be developed further in the next few weeks. A great foundation has been laid, and I'm now looking forward to the payoff next issue and beyond. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Tonight's a special night - let's drink the health of his Majesty!" 

A lot happens in this week's Dan Dare, and every page and panel is crammed with action. It will be hard to distil down, but here we go. Faced with the giant gun-satellite, Dan Dare sends his ship away, but he and some of his men remain, their spacesuits camouflaged black, and they stealthily approach the gun-satillite. Entering through the gun turrets, they find themselves fighting the Starslayers immediately, and this hand-to-hand combat dominates the strip for the next two pages as Dan and his men hit them with everything they have. This is the most thrilling part of the strip, and there are many panels that capture the eye as the artwork of Gibbons captures perfectly the intensity of the close combat fighting. Dan Dare and his men capture the satellite, and as Dan reads through the papers he realises that there are dozens of slave worlds that make up the Starslayer empire. Wanting to help those worlds, Dan faces a potential mutiny from some of his crew, but this remains unresolved as two Starslayer cruisers commence an attack. So much to digest here, but I can sum up by simply saying I love it, all of it. Each panel looked fantastic, the story moved on a fair clip and the plot evolved to a point where I want to see more, as soon as possible. Dan Dare may be the hero of the story, but the hero of the strip was Gibbon's artwork, and it brought the characters to life in a way that I couldn't resist. I'm not sure what more I could ask for in a Dan Dare strip, and this was easily the best story in this week's comic.   

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Okay--odds of two to one! This'll be the fight of our lives, men...whether we like it or not--we're at war with the Starslayer Empire!" 

MACH 1 opens with the memorable image of John Probe's hyper-enemy, who he refers to here as 'hyper-chick', leaping over the barriers of a London tube station and running to the platform, something I can well relate to. Of course, I never did it with such skill or finesse, nor did I have Lazano/Canos capture my action in such dramatic fashion as they do here. As far as grabbing my attention, an attractive assassin running a hyper-speed certainly does the trick here, and I am happy to say the six pages of MACH 1 live up to this opening panel. It's not all about John Probe chasing this woman though, as not only does he catch up with her but he also manages to derail a tube train and save a young boy's life. Not a bad five minutes work for John Probe. Catching up with her is only part of the story, he also wrestles with her before she gains the upper hand and has him facing down the barrel of a gun, only for her human emotions to override her computer and spare John Probe's life. It's all breathless action, but there is some respite here as her back story is filled out at this point, and she gains a name - Tanya Maski. Tayna wishes to defect to the west, but first, the higher powers send her and John back to the East to destroy the facility that created her. Travelling by train, their forged documents fail to pass the onboard inspectors, and the issue finishes with John and Tayna contemplating a 200-foot jump from the train to avoid capture. Like I said earlier, a lot is happening in these six pages, all of it very good, and all of it pointing to a longer form of the story of which I am so fond. I shouldn't like MACH 1 as much as I do, but I can't help myself, especially with these East vs West spy thriller-type storylines. Sure, you may think one would have seen all these old tropes trotted out plenty of times before, but I'm still a sucker for them after all these years. This story started hot, finished hot, and had a solid middle which kept me flicking over the page as fast as I could digest it. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: " Nooo! I can't do it...I'm a human not a machine! 

A two-part story for Future Shocks this week and it finishes the issue in style with a story that intrigues me enough that I am tempted to pick up the next Prog immediately. We meet Daryl and Zak, two robot repairmen who are doing a booming trade. The future doesn't look so bright for their business when they see on the TV a self-repairing robot has been designed by Dr. Small. Seeking to protect their business, they pay a visit to Dr. Small, and while Daryl puts paid to Dr. Small, Zak finds himself locked in battle with his robot. It is in the heat of this fight that we finish 2000AD, with a question mark hanging over the outcome of this struggle. The story, although brief, has a good hook to it, and the three pages it is spread across have more than enough to make me want to come back and see more. It's not as spectacular as some of the other stories in this issue, but it a solid finish and guarantees I'll be back again next week to blog about Prog 38.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "This is lookin' bad...very, very bad"

Prog 37 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: Dan Dare

Best Line: "Run if you want, hyper-chick! Anything you can do - I can do better!" 

Best Panel: