We are close to 1978, but not quite there with this issue from New Year's Eve 1977. The future is almost upon us, and this issue contains several visions of the future which we have now seen with our own eyes. We still don't have Judge Dredd on the streets dispensing justice, but the driverless cars of Future Shocks are with us, and a reader's drawing of the watch of the future is pretty close to another handheld device we all carry. So, let us turn the page and have a look at the future as imagined in late 1977.
Prog 45
31st December 1977
It's been some time since we saw someone suffering from future shock on the pages of Judge Dredd, but as Dredd sees the calendar turn over to 2100, we have our first Futsie case of the century occurring on the moon.
Overworked Arthur Goodsworthy has until midnight to complete his paperwork in the office, or faces having his contract terminated and quite possibly his life. After a marathon session at his desk, Arthur completes his work with seconds to spare, only to have it all undone by some overzealous revellers.
He snaps, and after clubbing a couple of his co-workers, he takes to the streets for mindless vandalism. It is now that Dredd enters the story, and after being approached by Arthur's son, he takes matters into his own hands.
Displaying some empathy, he takes Arthur into custody and then sees off two of Mr Moonie's thugs who arrive to derive retribution from poor Arthur. Justice dispensed, and the right people dealt with, Dredd's final panel has him thinking that its time to deal with Mr Moonie himself.
The artwork in this issue was top shelf, and it was amply matched by the storyline which held my attention throughout. It's always satisfying to see recurring topics appear on these pages and the reappearance of future shock strengthens the back story no end. I also appreciated the humanity displayed by Dredd. He may be an ass-kicking tough guy, but his response to Arthur and his mental health was commendable. Last week's issue was flat, but this time out more than made up for it. The little touches were great, and I was delighted to see "Buzz Aldrin St" on the page.
This is one story that has aged well, and with the promise of a showdown against Mr Moonie next week, it continues to deliver.
Rating: 8/10
Best line: "I guess it's no good asking you to come quietly!"
The first four pages of Invasion are dedicated to a bank raid by Savage and co and are little more than an excuse for a series of clever puns and explosions. It is all very entertaining, but the story starts properly after this as we return to the Volgan perspective.
In the Volgan Security Headquarters, the Marshal is unhappy with Colonal Kasov, head of security. Kasov reports that Rosa Volgaska, the former colonial we met some time ago who wrestled with Nessie, is still in the dungeon but wishes to speak with the Marshal.
Brought before the Marshal, Volgaska bends his ear to a plan she has thought up while being held in the dungeon. The Marshal is enthused by the plan, and Volgaska demonstrates her intent as she chokes Kasov with her bare hands.
With Kasov dead, she regains her place as Colonial, and in the final panel promises to finish the resistance once and for all.
The first half of this story was exhilarating, yet shallow when it came to the actual plot. The Volgans were mere pawns in the bank raid, cannon fodder, as Savage flexed his wit. I was most entertained, but quickly forgot it when we returned to the nitty gritty of the story in the back end of the strip. The appearance of Rosa Volgaska was well-timed, and although I don't like her as a person, she is a great character and should prove to be a good foil to Savage and his team. She is far more dangerous than we have previously seen, and the panels as she chokes Kasov give us a good indication of just how driven and deadly she is. The scene is set for a showdown, and a character like Volgaska will bring the very best out of Savage.
Rating: 8.5/10
Best line: "Too slow, Volgs! How's this for the worst traffic violation ever?"
The last issue of Dan Dare ended with his ship being tricked into making a hyperspace jump back to the planet Grawl. That plays out on the colour pages of this week's issue as they come out of their Hyperspace jump and straight into the trap laid by the Dark Lord, they have jumped directly in the path of his secret weapon and soon enough everyone on the ship is under control of the Dark Lord and Starslater empire.
On the planet's surface, Dare is unaware of this, and he and the Grawl slaves are still protected behind their visors. However, as the secret weapon fades, they remove their helmets, and Dare calls his ship to come in and land.
That it does, but it begins to open fire on Dare and his new army. Accessing the ship through a secret hatch, Dare is confronted by his own men, and he realises that they are under the control of the Starslayers. He puts up a fight but is captured, and the ship takes off for the Starlsalyers planet. It is here that we leave the story this week, with Dare's ship being ordered to slow down before they come down to their deaths.
I have mixed feelings about this week's episode. I enjoyed it, but it never got under my skin like some of the previous issues. The colour pages were a joy, even if not much happened on them, and even once we switched to black and white the art continued to be a highlight. The story is fine enough, and I am beginning to think it's just me. If I could sit down with the story now, I would give it the classic 'it's not you, it's me' speech. I'm just not ready for this plot and don't want to settle down with it. Nor do I want a whirlwind romance. I just want to spend some time with it and get to know it better. That may take a few weeks, so I'm going to take some hours, and perhaps re-read this a few more times before next week.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "It...it's the Slayer's secret weapon! We...we been suckered..! Turn and.."
It does feel very much like a 1977 story, as in the first panel we see a Morris Panda car. The story that follows isn't quite so quaint as the policeman comes across a terrified man.
The man relates his story, he had been recruited to build a fully automated computerised car. With a small team, they built the car easily enough, but on its maiden drive, the car electrocuted the driver and then attempted to run down the others that worked on the car. Yes, the car is alive and trying to kill people.
The police officer returns to his car, only to find that the rogue car is communicating with his vehicle via the police radio, and within seconds he has been murdered by his own car.
The story ends with the engineer being killed by the Ferrari he helped build before the Ferrari and Morris drive off together to go find more humans to kill.
This wasn't a short sharp shock and ran for several pages. While I enjoyed the concept, we are now in a world of driverless cars and the premise doesn't seem as scary as it may have been thirty-five years ago. However, the story was well told, and with the artwork, it remained a compelling read. In 1977 I would have rated it extremely high, and even in 2023 there is plenty to enjoy here.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "C,mon, Sweetie - let's go find some more humans!"
We have a hunter vs hunted storyline in this week's Mach-1, as Sharpe of the secret service hunts down Mach zero, Mach-1's out-of-control predecessor.
Sharpe is making for Mach zero's house, convinced that he will try and return there. He is confronted by Mach-1, and Sharpe gives him fifteen minutes to speak with Mach zero and make peace.
It does not go well, and Mach zero and Mach-1 fight, with all their super strength on full display. The fight is unresolved, but Sharpe can no longer wait and orders his men to shoot to kill.
I had been looking forward to the confrontation between the two hyper men, but I found myself underwhelmed when it eventuated. There was less talking than I expected, and although I knew there would be a fight, it was not as intense as I expected. Elsewhere, the story is progressing nicely, and we had another Frankenstein call back as Mach zero saw his reflection in the water. The angle with Sharpe still hasn't been fully played out, and I have every hope that this story will improve rapidly in the coming weeks.
Rating: 7/10
Best line: "no! Zero show you what trust means! Trust means killing and now Zero kill you!"
In their hunt for clues they meet the manager Cullen, but when shown a photo of Charlie Vance (who left the clue of the gambling chip), he claims to have never seen him before. But by chance, they are offered a photo of their visit by the casino photographer, and taking their chance they ask if he has photos of all the visitors to the casino in the last few weeks.
He does, and sure enough, they find a photo of Vance meeting the very same Cullen who claims to have never seen him before
We don't get long to digest this information, Moody Bloo is just about to make trouble with a game of indoor inferno in the casino. He destroys the game, accidentally of course, but this escalates as he also destroys a droid bouncer sent to escort him out.
In the confusion and smoke, Cullen makes a break for it. The Hellcats pursue him, but find themselves in a hologram meteor show. It's dramatic but ultimately harmless, that is until we see an unknown hand about to switch it from hologram to the real thing.
I loved the detective aspect of this story, and it worked well throughout the strip. It was more Scooby Doo than Sherlock Holmes, especially in the final pages, but overall I was hooked on every word and every panel. This is not what I expected from Inferno, and I am enjoying it far more than the sports action of previous weeks. If we can continue this for the next couple of months I will be a very happy man indeed.
Rating: 8.5/10
Best line: "So either Cullen forgot that he spoke to Vance...or he was lying when he said he'd never seen him before"
Prog 45 final ratings:
Overall: 8/10
Best Story: Inferno
Best Line: "Wow! Freakin' far out, man!"
Best Panel:
.png)
Bonus:
No comments:
Post a Comment