Prog 39

Well, that was a pretty bad day at work. Thank god I'm home again -time to lock the door on the outside world and lose myself for an hour or two in these musty old pages.  No matter how grim things are in the real world, they're nowhere near as dark as daily life is in Mega-city 1.

Prog 39

19 November 1977

The first strip of the comic is Judge Dredd, and I can't think of a better way to start. Of course, Judge Dredd is one of the premier strips of 2000 AD, so this may well be as good as it gets this week. We shall see. Sometimes Dredd can be heavy and serious, and other times, well, other times you get a story like this. A story that is hilarious from start to finish, with a clever idea that is pushed to the limit. The premise for the story is simple, there is a gang war, led by a gang of Apes. Not your run-of-the-mill apes' mind, but a mafioso bunch of wise guys, complete with New York accents and Tommy guns. Even the idea of it makes me smile. And that's all there is to it. The apes start a gang war, so Dredd pays a visit to the Don's mother, then in a raid he captures the gangsters and the Don as he attempts to escape. Simple, capeesh? The icing on the cake comes in the final panels, as rather than being thrown in prison the apes are put in the local zoo.  Every panel draws from all the mafia tropes we are so familiar with, and I grin from ear to ear as I read it, I even try my best gangster accent out on my wife (fail). It is impossible to read without hearing the stereotypical gangster voice in my head, and it captures perfectly all the films and books we know so well. It is a brilliant idea well executed. Not the Dredd I expected, but it is the Dredd I needed.

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "I only got one ting ta say ta ya, Dredd - nuts!" 

We are in Dundee for the opening panel of Invasion, and I am filled with memories from a drunken weekend I once spent there (don't ask). And like me, Bill Savage is seeking accommodation for the night, taking a risk after seeing a sign for a B&B. I can well understand the risk, and even though he is told that the sign is out of date, the two old ladies in charge of the establishment take him in, especially after recognising that he has Prince John in his company. Yes, just like my dear old grandmother, these ladies know all about the Royals, and even have a secret stash of jubilee plates. The bonhomie doesn't last long, the Volgans are soon at the door seeking accommodations themselves.  Upon entering they initially don't recognise Bill Savage and Prince John, but after snatching a chair out from under Price John his identity is revealed as one of the old dears exclaims his name. Don't underestimate a pair of Royal doting old ladies is my advice as they spring into action, attacking the Volgans with furniture before Savage takes a hand and settles the matter. The old ladies are key to this story, and as Savage and the Prince escape, more Volgan troops arrive, looking for the old ladies that helped them escape. And that brings us to the final part of the story, as Savage, Silk, and Prince John disguise themselves in women's clothing and blast their way through a checkpoint - taking the heat off the old ladies as the Volgans assume Savage was disguised as a woman the whole time. It is not quite the end I expect, but I enjoyed all the pages leading up to this. The scenes at the B&B were the peak for me, Savage's interaction with the women was great, and the art was crisp and easy to read. The story was quickly told, and even though I was disappointed with the ending, the rest of it was so swift that it barely seemed to matter. A lightweight story this week, I'm sure Savage will be back into heavier action in the coming weeks. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Hit them hard, Jeannie!"

Dan Dare is still on the slave planet Minian and seeking the raw materials to fix his ship. Slipping in undetected among the slaves, Dan, Bear and Hitman witness a rock fall, with Bear leaping into action to save two of the slaves. Witnessing first-hand the power of the energy whip, Dan and company keep a low profile, waiting for their moment. As night comes they make their move, Hitman shooting out the lights while Dan enters the processing plant to find the materials he needs. A guard sees him and Dan is about to feel the lash of the energy whip himself but moves quickly by throwing some powdered titanium which shorts out the whip and defeats the guard. Leaving the slave compound, Bear stays behind to prepare the slaves for the moment when they can strike, but unbeknownst to all the Starslayer leader is aware of the potential rebellion and we finish with his chilling words "the Dark Lord is ready", which, to be honest, raised a giggle from me with the memories of playing our Led Zeppelin tapes backwards and hearing similar proclamations. I enjoy this lively tale, and it gained a jump start on the first pages appearing in colour. Dave Gibbons artwork continues to enthral me, and I spend just as long lingering on his art as I do reading the story. This Dan Dare story is on an upswing at the moment and it seems we will be on this planet for a while yet, which is just fine by me. This slave rebellion can play out over as many issues as they need, I'll be happy to read whatever is written, as long as Dave Gibbons is the artist. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Come, little men--Bear give back your lives!"

Ahh, yes, the hyperpower children of MACH 1, what horrible little nasties they are. Of course, no human being could harm a child, which leaves John Prove and Tanya in a quandary. Despite John Probe asking them politely not to attack him, they come at him anyway with their super strength. While Tanya is dragged off to be killed, John Probe faces the scientist Horowitz who is determined to find further secrets about Probe's abilities. But, using these very abilities, Probe throws off his captors and strikes out to find Tanya. Just like in the movies, he finds her in a nick of time, and together they face the group of children surrounding them. Using Tanya's chains as a weapon, Probes swipes the children aside while Tanya finds an immobile tank to use as a weapon. It's not immobile for long, and pushing her hyper strength to the limit she saves the day by crashing it into the control centre. The day may be saved, but Tanya is not, and we have a brief death scene before we jump back to London with John Probe threatening his boss Sharpe about the fact that he knew the code to the enemy's top secret vault. Something is rotten and John Probe is going to get the bottom of it. This is a great way to end the story, and I am hooked by these final two panels. The rest of the story was good, I enjoyed the fighting against the children (I never thought I would be typing that!) but I wasn't so excited about the death of Tanya. I would have liked to see her stick around a few more issues, the interaction between her and Probe as equals was bringing a new dynamic to the tale, although the two of them paired up would have been an unbeatable combination. Not quite the finale I expected, but I was happy with how the story panned out, and the final panels suggest there is plenty more ahead of us.

Rating 8/10

Best line: "She's dead...dead. All because of compu-puncture. Yeah, all its brought is death and destruction...Sharpe...he's the one responsible..."

There is no Future Shocks this week, so we close out the issue with Inferno. I'm not too disappointed the Future Shocks isn't there, the stories this week have all contained plenty of action, with one or two stories running slightly longer. The comic is still the same amount of pages, so I'm assuming the Future Shocks has been dropped due to lack of space. Inferno itself has a lot of action but the plot moves at a crawl. We don't get much more than last week, players are still dropping out of the match due to the poisoned chewing gum, but our three Heroes remain unaffected due to using their own supply of gum. With their team being well beaten on the field, it is only on the final page do they conclude that the gum has been poisoned, while at the same time, Charlie Vance is in the charging rooms, planting money in their pockets and sowing the seeds for whatever will happen next week. As much as I enjoyed the on-field action, and it does look great, the plot didn't keep pace, and by the end of the strip we have only slightly advanced from where we were last week. We almost break even between my two feelings, but not quite, and I finish the strip wishing that there had been more steel behind the flashy façade of action.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "The salt gum! Jupiter's moons, why didn't I think of it before...?"    

 Prog 39 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Yeah, da streets is gonna be runnin' red - an' it ain't gonna be wit' ketchup!" 

Best Panel: