No Future Shocks in this week's 2000AD. Instead, a couple of stories have extra room to fill out their plot. It's no bad thing, and overall this is a very strong issue. It's always good to see these stories with a little extra meat on their bones, and there is plenty to digest in the coming pages.
Prog 43
17 December 1977
Judge Dredd on the moon reveals itself as an old-fashioned western in this week's 2000AD. After cheating death twice last week on the moon, the story settles down this week and places Judge Dredd firmly in a setting that could be anywhere in the wild west. The title says it all - "Showdown on Luna-1"
Dredd is quickly sworn in as a marshall, before taking a stroll around town to get his bearings. With some gun-toting ranch hands heading for the local saloon, Dredd senses trouble and quickly follows.
What we get next is a series of movie tropes, and anyone who has seen a western in the last sixty years would be familiar with the following scenes.
Dredd takes on the troublemakers in the saloon, coming out on top, before taking to the street where he faces a showdown. Quick drawing against a robo-slinger, Dredd is the underdog, yet comes out on top with his years of training, and a moment of insight as he throws off his badge that the robot's homing darts are targeting.
The final panels see Dredd musing upon who is behind all this, with all clues pointing to C.W. Moonie.
What I have left out of the above is the killer humour that is liberally sprinkled throughout the story, and the cleverness of placing a western story on the moon. Every panel has a smart idea and little nod towards the genre it is stealing from, and I found myself reading this story three times to pick apart every nuance. It is no mere pastiche of the western genre, but rather a multi-level celebration of the genre. It doesn't quite feel like a Dredd story, but it is good at what it does and is most enjoyable from beginning to end.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "Come down and face me, you no-account earthie! I've ordered your grave on Gravity-boot Hill!
None of our heroes stays hidden for long, and as Prince John is discovered Savage and Silk break cover and open fire on the Volgans. It's a short battle and soon they are faced with the dilemma of what to do with the four prisoners they have taken.
Luckily, Savage has a solution, and we end the story with the four Volgans placed in a cage with a Gorilla, unable to cry out for help lest they wake him and face his wrath.
This story felt a lot shorter than the five pages assigned to it. Although not action-packed throughout, it moved at a steady pace, and the story was given time to marinate in its own juices. It wasn't complex or thrilling, but it did entertain me, and I applaud it for that. Not my favourite story this week, but another steady entry.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "I-I see a tall dark stranger come into your life! He means ill for you and your men!"
While Judge Dredd drew inspiration from westerns of old, Dan Dare also takes from a story we have seen before, that of Gladiators rising up against their masters.
Still pursued by the Star-slayers, Dare and his crew arrive at planet Grawl. After losing two good men at the last to planets, Dae takes the responsibility himself of travelling to the planet's surface.
He arrives at a large stadium, where the enslaved people of the planet are fighting as gladiators. Dare is quick to see the potential of having them join his fight, and he inspires them by taking on the Starslayers himself. They are roused by the sight of Dare fighting, and we end the strip with the Grawls taking up arms against the Starslayers.
This looks like it may be a one-sided fight - the Grawls are merely armed with swords, while the Star-slayers have all manner of modern weapons. Whatever the outcome, entertainment is guaranteed for the reader. This story is well set up for the next issues, and this week laid out what to expect. The gladiators look great, and there was a particularly good panel introducing them which gave us some idea of what to expect. Overall, a solid introduction, but next week will be when this idea fully develops.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "Watch, you tame freaks--watch a real fighter's death--taking on your real enemies...taking on the Star-slayers"
MACH 1 is jump-started with an attempted assassination at Buckingham Palace dropping John Probe straight into the action. With his unique abilities, he is able to see the sniper before he can go about his murderous ways, and quickly deals with him.
This is a false start, and after reporting to Sharpe and complaining, Sharpe accidentally reveals that John Probe isn't the first MACH-man.
From here on the story spins off in a completely different direction as John Probe disappears from the pages and we focus solely on Sharpe and this revelation. A visit from a new financial controller is a neat way to frame this backstory, and as he quizzes Sharpe on his expenses, Sharpe is forced to take him into his confidence and gives him a guided tour of a secret facility. It is here that we meet MACH Zero, an earlier iteration of MACH-1, with all the same powers. The only difference is MACH Zero has no control and is kept chained up in a vault far beneath the ground.
MACH Zero is bitter about his treatment by Sharpe, and this rage after Sharpe visits leads to him breaking his bounds and going on a rampage on later pages. Smashing out of the vault, he seeks vengeance upon Sharpe.
This coincides with the final panel of the story, John Probe once again appears in Sharpe's office, reading through his secret papers about MACH Zero, with the thought that perhaps he could help him.
A much more involved story than we have seen previously, this is the plot line I have been waiting for as Sharpe's schemes come to the fore and Probe on a collision course. This is really a tale of Frankenstein's monster, and the reader can't help but be sympathetic to MACH Zero. He wasn't quite as scary as I would have wanted, but his power is amply demonstrated. If Probe can find him, their awesome power together should be something to behold, that is if Probe can convince him to join his side. I'm very pleased with all these backroom dealings, and the way the story was framed with the financial controller, and even if I'm still waiting for the payoff the storytelling delivered on all fronts this week.
Rating: 7.5/10
Best line: "A lift five hundred feet underground? What have you got down there, Sharpe? King Kong? Hah, hah!"
The rest of the strip tells the same story, as the Harlem Hellcats take a beating on every page. Smashed into the dirt, miscommunication, and shooting each other on the field, all Giant can do is look upon it all in despair in the final panels. The Hellcats were promised an alley fight, and they certainly get that here with every panel featuring bone-crunching action.
Another strong issue for Inferno and we are finally getting to see these new characters in action. It is still messy, and the roles are yet to be clearly defined, but we can see that the story will work at untangling the current chaos over the next few weeks. This week is a sketch of what is to come, and while I didn't enjoy all of it, I do appreciate that the next few weeks could potentially be much better. A string end to this week's 2000AD, and much more to come in the next issue,
Rating: 6.5/10
Best line: "No good little gutterhounds - the kind of filth I had to deal with when I was a lawman. I'll teach 'em to bend the rules...every last one of them!"
Prog 43 final ratings:
Overall: 7/10
Best Story: Mach-1
Best Line: "No, no - not the shotgun- it- it is Savage!"
Best Panel:
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