Prog 50

Judge Dredd is brilliant in this week's 2000AD. I'm laying my cards on the table early, but the artwork was powerful and bold, and the story intricate and laced with humour. Sure, Invasion was also very good, but this Dredd is all I could think about after I put the comic down. Prog 50 is memorable for all the right reasons. 

Prog 50

4th February 1978

Dan Dare's fight against the Starslayers is splashed right across the cover, and it looks fantastic. I'm torn between turning the page and finding out what happens next to taking my time and soaking in the cover art as long as I can.

With more Starslayer ships arriving, Dare is in shock, even more so when those Starslayer ships begin to open fire on the battle fleet.

Inside the comic, we find out why. The Starslayer ships have been taken over by the very slaves that Dare called to rise up against their oppressors. With his army of Grawls, Minians and Drones, Dare counterattacks and the battle is swung in his favour. 

There remains one final problem, Dark Lord is still loose somewhere on the ship. Looking like he has fallen straight out of the Star Wars movie, Dare looks for him with a sword in hand below decks. 

He finds him but gets more than he bargained for as Dark Lord fires the killing star from his helmet. With the star shooting towards his head, Dare manages to utter the long-winded sentence "A remote control razor-sharp weapon...and it'll take me right between the eyes" in the final panel of the comic. 

Not exactly what I would choose for my final words, and it does undo the dangerous aspect of the weapon fired. Dare is a split second away from death yet he chooses to say all that -  he must speak a lot faster than you or I could. 

Asides from this niggle, the rest of the strip was as good as it gets for Dare. Lots of fighting, both inside and outside of the ship, and a good variation as each slave race fought the battle in their own way. Seeing Dare go one on one with Dark Lord was a fitting climax to this week's strip, and a life-or-death cliffhanger always works well for me. The only time I was taken out of the story was when I misread 'Minians" as 'Minivans' The thought of a slave race turning up in minivans to fight the Starslayers, now that would be a sight. A little insight into how my mind works there, but overall this was a thrilling ride from start to finish.

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "With the killing star, I strike first...I will remove the rebellion's head!" 

My favourite story for the last two weeks has been the Visible Man and as I turn the page I have high hopes for this issue. The first page looks excellent, and the opening two pages tell the story of how we got here. The story doesn't advance, but it is well told and neatly sums up all that has come before while being stylish in both artwork and language.     

With few options open to him, Frank decides that his only hope while on the run is to seek out his girlfriend, Marie. Two days on the run across the country bring him to Marie. In the darkness she encourages Frank to reveal himself, something he is reluctant to do. However, the choice is made for him as she flicks on the light. 

The shock of seeing Frank as he proves too much for her, and she lets out a shriek that brings the downstairs neighbours' attention. Thinking there is an intruder, they arm themselves before coming up the stairs.

The confrontation is inevitable, and in the tussle that ensues Frank is shot in the shoulder. Making good his escape, he can clearly see the bullet lodged in his shoulder. This makes it easy for him to pull out, and he does so in the last breath of the issue. With no future, Frank decides that henceforth no rules shall apply and he will run wild. 

Although it retold the story, the first two pages were my favourite and were considerably better than the rest of the strip. I mentioned how stylish they looked above, and that sums up all that was great about these pages. The images on the page, and the dialogue, all of it added to the nightmare feel of Frank's predicament. It was dark and foreboding, and ran at a slower pace than the rest of the strip, allowing us to wallow in Frank's misfortune.  

The rest of the strip throws us forward in the story, and as he promises to follow no rules, the boundaries of the story have opened up to Frank. From here on anything could happen, and that is one of the things I like best - the unknown. This wasn't quite as good as the last two weeks, but it remains a must-read and will be something I will return to with eager anticipation. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "I-I didn't mean to scream, Frank. It was the shock. But -*choke* - I'll stand by you. Somehow..."

There is a Walter Wobot one-shot story that I'm going to skip over. It is good, if you have time then I recommend you go back and read it. As for me, I'm all about the heavier story of Judge Dredd that comes later in the comic. 

Before that though, we have Future Shocks. The square jaws of the characters immediately give away the artwork of John Cooper, and that gives me comfort from the start. 

In the 21st Century, robots are designed for many purposes. One of those is the role of a guardian to watch over children and make sure no harm comes to them. It sounds simple enough, but this whole story revolves around this one simple task, protect the children. 

Young Lee wants to go out and play, and his father agrees but he must take his guardian robot with him. The guardian does its job well, preventing him from climbing a tree, and a couple of panels later also stopping him from crossing a river. 

Lee is unhappy with this, the robot is stopping him from having any fun at all. A ruined city offers more adventure, and this is where the story reaches its climax. 

Lee and his guardian fall into a cellar. Lee attempts to climb out, but the robot stops him due to the high-risk factor. And so they are left trapped in this cellar as night falls, the time when muties will roam the ruins. 

I liked everything I saw here. The story was well-paced and took a simple idea and gave it a twist of drama. The final panel held the key to the whole story, and it looked great. John Cooper's art was sympathetic to the story, and this last panel in particular expressed all the fear and tension of the climax. A highly recommended story, and one that brought a fresh perspective to the genre.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Negative! I am programmed to never let you out of my reach!" 

When I saw the first page of the Luna Olympics in Judge Dredd I thought it may have gone several ways, none of them good. Boy, was I wrong, and this story proved to be a cracker. 

The Luna Olympics are beginning, with a variety of teams competing, but all eyes are on the main rivals, Luna-1 and Sov-cities. There is no mistaking the cold war overtones, and this thread runs through the whole story. 

Early on we have accusations of cheating, as scanning equipment finds a competitor full of steroids, and even worse, over the 20% bionic quota allowed. Dragged off by the Sov-cities judges, Judge Dredd can only look on and comment on what a bunch of thugs the Sov-cities judges are. 

There is plenty of sporting action and records being broken in the lunar gravity, and even some new sports such as skateboarding taking part, an idea that isn't as far-fetched here in 2023. 

However, with the gold medal table tied between Luna-1 and Sov-cities, it all comes down to the final event, the 100 metres sprint. Here we get to see the various competitors put their 20% of Bionic body parts to good use, in particular the Sov-cities sprinter and his bionic thighs. 

With his bionic thighs giving him a spectacular start, the Sov-cities runner looks to have won, only to be blasted by a laser from the crowd right on the finish line. 

Racing to the stands, Dredd finds that the Sov-cities judges have already caught the perpetrator, and are in the process of handing out a death sentence. Dredd tells them to drop their weapons, they carry no such penalty here on Luna-1.

They tell him the laws are weak, and Dredd resorts to shooting the gun out of one of their hands, only for the bullet to ricochet and kill the other one. With two Sov-cities deaths in a matter of minutes, the Sov-cities judge declares that they are now in a state of war. 

This story would have been extremely topical and relatable in 1978, and sadly it is just as relatable in 2023. We haven't come very far at all in some respects. I fell in love with this story early on, despite my reservations, and found the different aspects were measured out in just the right amount in the story. It didn't focus too much on the freaky aspects of the sports, but it did show them and provided a couple of laughs in doing so. The way the Olympics was interwoven into international politics was well told, and spot on to what we know nowadays. I have always thought that Judge Dredd carries an air of menace the way he looks, but the Sov-cities judges were even more so, and I found their design very good. We have here a story with some good futuristic touches but grounded in a cold war thriller that guarantees I'll be back week after week to eat this all up. Hand me a spoon! 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Then your law is weak, Dredd. We'll show you how it is done..."

It looks like Savage's luck is beginning to run out in this week's Invasion. Things start well enough, as in the darkness the Royal Hover Yacht Britannia appears. Savage and Prince John board, and are promised a meeting with the Queen. It is here that Savage's luck changes. 

There is no Queen, only Savage's nemisis, Rosa Volgaska. It is all an elaborate trap, for they aren't on the Royal Yacht, but rather a Volgan vessel dressed up to look like it. With Savage and Prince John surrounded, there is only one chance. 

Thinking quickly, Prince John jumps a guard and takes his weapon. Comannding Savage to jump overboard, Prince John points his gun at Rosa, only to find it full of blanks. 

Swimming back to the ship they were stowed away on, Savage climbs aboard only to find all the crew dead, and one very angry Georgia waiting for him and intent on breaking him with his bare hands. 

The last line of Invasion tells us next week it reaches its climax, and I for one can't wait. This story has been building for weeks now, and this issue delivered some heavy blows. Just as it seems safety is in sight, Savage is knocked back by betrayal and the clever plans of Rosa. It was a roller coaster and one that kept me on my toes throughout. It was hard not to be invested in the story and the characters, we have all travelled a long way together. I appreciated seeing the growth of Prince John, and even Savage acknowledged his change. A mix of emotions reading this story, with the end in sight I don't want to say goodbye just yet, but if this is the end then we are definitely going out on a high. 

Rating: 9/10

Best Line: "You can and you will! I've learnt a lot from you these past weeks. I've learnt to command and I command you to 'get on ya bike' off this boat - now!" 

With the beautiful Pearly about to fry Giant's brain, it's up to Louis Meyer to save the day in Inferno. He does so by shooting her weapon with his own pickflick.

Receiving instructions to avoid capture at all costs, Pearly flees, only to be struck down on the field where she dies instantly. Zack is particularly distraught by the death of his crush, even more so when her broken body is revealed to be an android. 

Louis Meyer explains this is how he caught onto her scheme, his android body is the same as hers and he could pick up the programming impulses sent to her. 

With that part of the story out of the way, we return to the game. The Hellcats are now incensed and play hard, and not always fair. Venner punches an opposing player, and from the conceded penalty Moody Bloo is injured. Giant can only look on and think that the syndicate is turning the Hellcats into hate-crazed animals. 

I enjoyed the Pearly part of the story early on, but once she died the rest of the story fell flat. The middle section sagged, and the final page failed to arouse any interest from me. I wanted to like it more, and I think that perhaps Pearly could have stayed in the story for perhaps a few more weeks. But it wasn't to be, and I can only cross my fingers and hope that something happens next week that will once again win me over. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "That chick didn't just die...she exploded!" 

Prog 50 final ratings:

Overall: 8.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "We are at war!"

Best Panel:

 

  

Prog 49

Since the arrival of the Visible Man, 2000AD seems to have improved on every front. Inferno has recently taken an upturn, Invasion continues to be strong, and Dan Dare is firing on all cylinders. Meanwhile, Dredd's time on the moon has been an added bonus and continues to burnish the legend that is Dredd. I rated the last issue highly, and, spoilers, I also rate this one highly. I am rapidly beginning to see why they call it the world's greatest comic, and I'm not even up to issue fifty yet. 

Prog 49

28th January 1978

"Death to the intruders!" is a great way to start Dan Dare and a great way to start this week's comic.

With Dare's ship being boarded by Starslayer troops, the story has taken a turn for Dare and his men. Not only is he facing the incoming troops, but all the action is being shown on video screens across the slave planets in anticipation of Dare's annihilation. 

But Dan Dare will not go quietly into the night, oh no, he and his men put up a ferocious fight, repelling the invaders on every front. The final act of this first invasion comes as Bear clambers outside the ship and cuts a hole that sucks all the Starslayers out into the vacuum. 

Despite their efforts, the ship is gradually overrun and we end this week's strip with Dare and his men bracing themselves for the final onslaught. There is a hint of positivity on the final panel as the pilot points outside and exclaims that the Starslayers are in for a shock.

I think I know what this shock may be, but I will restrain myself from picking up the next issue and will instead wait until next week. This is a knock-out issue of Dan Dare. I'm not normally one for long battle scenes and page after page of fighting, but the story was gripping, and as I say every other week, Dave Gibbon's art was fantastic. The scenes of Bear cutting open the hull with his axe were superb and one of the highlights of the comic for me. Sometimes space action can get lost in the darkness, but Dave Gibbon's crisp clean lines highlighted what was important on the page and kept my eyes focused throughout. I thought I had tired of Dan Dare, but this once again made me a believer, and I found it deeply satisfying. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Kick those worms back down their holes!" 

I'm not one hundred per cent focused on Future Shocks this week, as I'll explain soon. The story is simple enough and told quickly. 

Venus colony is the garden of the solar system and provides food for humans across the galaxy. They are invaded by aliens which are ugly-looking fly-type creatures.

One of the humans collaborates and shows them around the facility. The story ends as betrays them, delivering them to a secret room that has giant Venus fly traps which promptly eat the aliens. 

A good story, although the alien commander is named Nilvek and this threw me.  I couldn't help but notice that Nilvek backwards is Kelvin, and I spent a lot of the story wondering who Kelvin might be. There was no Kelvin in the credits, and by the time I reached the end of the story, I began to think that perhaps I had read too much into it. 

Kelvin aside, this was a great story. It was to the point, had the required twist, and was pretty to look at. Overall, very well done and I enjoyed what they did here. Now, if I could just find out who Kelvin was...

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Good lord! Did you ever seen anything so repulsive?!"

Visible Man reveals what it is at its heart today, a Frankenstein story. It proclaims it boldly, with Frank Hart himself uttering the words "I'm Frankenstein!"

The story wastes not a panel. We open with Frank Hart driving a jeep and processing what has happened to him before he abandons the jeep with the realisation of what he has become. 

Looking for practical solutions, he dresses in a scarecrow's clothes while he ponders his long-term future. He has several good ideas, firstly attempting to give himself a tan with a sunlamp in an attempt to hide his innards.

It's a dismal failure, as he burns his internal organs. Plan B is attempted, smothering himself in foundation cream to give himself a natural look. It briefly works, but while trying to withdraw his money from the bank he begins to sweat the cream off, leading to chaos in the bank. 

With no money and no chance of work, Frank takes the only course of action open to him in the final panel -panic!

Again, a highly imaginative story and I'm amazed I had never heard of it until a couple of weeks ago. I enjoyed seeing Frank trying different options for hiding himself, all were creative and with equally creative results. The dialogue added different layers to the story but most revealing was Frank's internal dialogue which seemed to capture the true feeling of such a transformation. Dan Dare was great this week, but I think Visible Man just pips it this week for my favourite.

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Ha, ha! Her face when she saw me!" 

Judge Dredd is down and out in the Oxygen desert, with a gloating Wild Bill Carmody leaving him to die where he lays.

So far so good, but the next turn of the story I'm not so thrilled with. Stretching for his law rod, Dredd gets off a shot that strikes the audio circuit of his bike, turning it on. It is then a simple matter of Dredd calling his bike to come to him. It's all a bit unbelievable to me, in the context of the wider story, and I'm pleased to turn the page onto, hopefully, better things.    

Over the page and I am again swept up by the storytelling and instantly reengage with the strip. It's a day later, and Dredd is presumed dead, that is until a bedraggled Dredd appears at the door. Downcast, he turns over his lawrod, helmet and badge. He feels he is no longer worthy of being a Judge and trudges out of the building, no longer Judge Dredd, but rather just plain Joe Dredd. 

Taking the lowly job of a street sweeper, he hits rock bottom as that job proves too much for him and he is fired by the robot squad he is working for. 

It is now that Butch Carmody emerges from the shadows. Unhappy that Dredd is alive, he intends to finish what he started in the desert. Dredd is quick though, and using his street sweeper he quickly disarms Butch before socking him in the jaw. Butch is dismayed to find that Dredd has been faking it for the last couple of pages, and it was all a trap to draw him out. Case closed, Dredd returns to his status as a Judge, a position he promises to hold until the day he dies. 

I hated the first page, but everything after that was brilliant, and I absorbed every panel. The most striking images were those of Dredd quitting, and I could choose any one of the ten panels as my favourite for the story. Dredd walking away from it captured my imagination, but I also enjoyed seeing him slumming it with the street sweepers as Joe Dredd. The look on his face captured his fall from grace perfectly, and once again I couldn't help but linger over every panel I read. Not quite a perfect story, it still managed to steal my heart for the brilliant artwork and final pages as the story shook out. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Sometimes it is necessary to take drastic measures to uphold the law"  

Stowed away on the ship bound for Canada, Savage smells a dirty rat in this week's issue of Invasion. 

He still doesn't know that it's Georgia who is the Volgan agent, but he comes close after finding the Volgan smashing the radio below decks. Georgia acts quickly before Savage can see who it is, throwing the radio at Savage and smashing Savage's riot gun in the process. 

Next we get a reflective moment that foreshadows what comes next. Silk examines Savage's broken gun while he sleeps, reflecting that it is Savage's best friend. Prince John corrects him, Silk is his best friend and the one he would lay down his life for. As I read these words I immediately began to fear for Silk's safety over the page. 

I was correct to worry, for Silk sees a lamp being tied to the mast. Going to investigate he finds another sailor who is also there wondering where it came from. It is a trap and Georgia grabs them both and throws them off the mast and down to the deck below. As Savage storms to the deck to see what the commotion is, he finds both Silk and the sailor dead, with Georgia nearby lying that he arrived just as the culprit made off. Savage is visibly shaken by the death of Silk and swears revenge as Silk is buried at sea. Georgia too is making his promises, tomorrow will be the day that the trap closes around Savage.

A lot to take in here, and all of it is good. The death of Silk was unexpected, although it was set up on the previous page, and adds another layer to Savage's character. In the same breath, it also strips a layer off the story, and the story will become one man's war against the Volgans. Perhaps Nessie will step into the gap left by SIlk's death. Seeing a softer side to Savage was a nice touch, and hopefully, this will continue to be developed in future issues. Behind all of this development is the evil Georgia who still remains undetected. With that confrontation still ahead of us, there is much to look forward to in the coming weeks, and the story is hitting its stride right now. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Silkie...me best mate. After all we been through"    

Hit by a mysterious beam of light, Giant was plummeting towards the ground in the final panel of last week's Inferno. Luckily he is saved in the first panels of this issue, Moody Bloo stepping forward and catching him. He is badly hurt and is taken off by the medics. 

Although the team is relieved, not everyone is happy with the outcome, in particular, Pearly the cheerleader that fired the beam. She's not alone though, and behind the scenes, Mr Chubb is equally unhappy. He asks that the determination levels and kill levels be increased in the programming of Pearly. 

On the field, the Hellcats are acquitting themselves well despite being a man short. Scoring a touchdown, things are looking good, but off the field the story is quickly evolving. 

As Giant lies on the medical table, Pearly approaches the doctor. Giant is OK but needs rest. Pearly offers to watch over Giant so the doctor can go see some of the game, to which he agrees. Alone with Giant, Pearly receives the instruction to once again use her energy beam, this time to kill Giant. She is just about to do so when Brain gets strong impulses and realises that Giant is in trouble, leading to the final image of him driving towards Giant as Pearly hovers over him.

A good mix of action in this issue, and the artwork in the first few pages looked outstanding, helped in no small part by the fact that it was given a lot of room to breathe across the first two pages. The story started strongly and had a solid middle section before the final dramas closed out the strip. Every part of it worked well together, and the story connected strongly to the artwork on the page. A juicy read, this story helps finish the issue on a very high note indeed. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Another 'cave-in', Giant. But this time... it's in your head!"   

Prog 49 final ratings:

Overall: 8.5/10

Best Story: Visible Man 

Best Line: "No, not Judge - just Dredd...plain Joe Dredd"

Best Panel:

Prog 48

The perfect tonic for a cold and rainy day is the fantasy world of 2000AD, and that is where I fully intend to lose myself for the next half hour as rain lashes down outside. Sometimes the worlds inside our own heads are better than the world outside our window, and that is where I'm going to retreat to now. 

Prog 48

21st January 1978

Dan Dare may have the Dark Lord as his prisoner, but it is far from smooth running in this week's issue. 

Surrounded by enemy ships, Dare sends a video signal, letting them know that he has their Dark Lord prisoner, and demands to be streamed through to all the slave planets. Across the galaxy, Dare calls on the slave planets to rise up now that he has Dark Lord in his grasp. 

That grasp doesn't last very long as Dark Lord pulls a secret weapon from his helmet, the star crest, and uses it to dispatch with his four guards. Making for the reactor room, he seals himself away safely before sending out his own signal to Star Slayer ships, commanding them to board Dare's ship at once. 

Dare's shocked expression says it all in the final panel, as he exclaims that next week's fight will be the big one. 

I felt that last week's episode of Dan Dare fell flat. This week is much better, and I found myself quickly turning the pages as I raced through the story. It was great to see the Dark Lord take control of the situation rather than be a passive victim, and the weapon in his helmet made for some stimulating art from Dave Gibbons. The cliffhanger we finished with feels proper dangerous, and with Dan Dare in a tight situation you can guarantee the front cover of next week's issue will be something special. This more than makes up for last week, and as I turn to the next story I am very happy indeed. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Very secret, fool...and very deadly!"

Visible Man was my favourite story in last week's issue and I am pleased that this week lives up to my high expectations.

Frank Hart realises just what a monster he has become, but personally I rejoice in the fantastic art that renders his body. He is unhappy with his situation, and unhappy that others want to use him for science. Trapped in a laboratory turned into a home, his options are limited apart from outrage on the first couple of pages. 

Further on in the story, he lies still for three days, unresponsive and unmoving. As he is approached by a scientist, ostensibly to revive him, he suddenly springs into action, punching out the doctor before making an escape. It looks like he might not get away with his, but he points a gun at himself, threatening to ruin their medical experiment, before he speeds off in a jeep. 

The final panels sees him approaching a checkpoint. The soldiers open fire, but he smashes through, to freedom and next week's issue. 

I love the concept of this, although I can't help but for sorry for the artist, Trigo, who has lavished such detail on Frank Hart's body. I can only assume it was a time-consuming task, but it delights my eye, no matter how monstrous it is, and is a huge plus to the story. We are still in the setup stage, and I think we will need one more issue before the story begins to freely flow, but I am already one-hundred percent sold on this story, and once again it is my favourite of the week. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Now, Frank, don't take it like that! Just think of yourself as unique!" 

Future Shocks is longer than usual, but it is worth it. 

We are on the moon, with the 1987 Apollo moon landing team surveying the landscape on their moon skates. Seeing a mysterious figure, Commander Jack Keller sets off to follow him. This chase takes a couple of pages before the story blooms into its full glory.

The mysterious figure stops and takes Jack Keller prisoner. He is a shape-shifting alien, and taking Jack Kellers form it intends to travel in his place back to Earth for a full survey. Jack is left without oxygen and can only survive in the room he is left in. 

However, he is not alone, and we find he is not the first astronaut to be caught in such a way, this has been going on since the very first moon landings. 

The final panel is the piece de resistance as another astronaut prisoner introduces himself - Neil Armstrong. 

A great twist, and although I had my doubts about the length of the story it certainly paid off in the end. I am a big fan of anything that has to do with the moon landings, and this delivered a strong story grounded in the Apollo project. The story had several remarkable panels, and I could easily see this story stretched out further than what we have here. Original, yet grounded in something familiar, this story hit all the right buttons for me and was a stand out among the recent Future Shocks. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "No! He's taking my place! He'll never get away with it!"

We are kickstarted into Judge Dredd this week as we see Dredd struggling for air and death rapidly approaching as he staggers through the oxygen desert on the moon. 

Rewinding from this opening scene, Dredd takes us back to the beginning of the story as he recounts how he got here. 

Stuck listening to inane court cases, Dredd longs to be out on the street fighting real crime. Leaving Judge Tex in charge of the hearings, Dredd spends the rest of the day where the real action is. 

After dealing with an armed robber, Dredd gets the call - all units to report to the dome perimeter where Badlands Gang are attacking work crews and travellers.

Using a dragnet they capture most of them, but Wild Bill Carmody, the worst of the lot, makes a getaway. It is now up to Dredd to venture out into the Oxyen Desert to find him. 

As night falls, Dredd strikes it lucky and sees Wild Bill beside a fire in his porta-dome. He swoops down but is caught in a trap, it is merely a dummy in the porta-dome and Wild Bill comes at him from the side, shooting him off his bike and leaving him face down in the dirt. 

This is where we leave the action, Dredd struggling for air as Wild Bill flies off. I can't think of a better way to finish, and this is one cliffhanger I'm dying to see play out. We are still working with Wild West tropes, and again they are folded well into the story. The lone lawman out in the desert hunting down a desperate bandit, we have seen it all before, but here on the moon it seems fresh, and as we have seen many times before, Dredd is no normal lawman. I appreciated seeing Dredd on his own, with no Walter by his side, and the character was all the stronger for it. Dredd on the Moon is continuing to deliver tight story after tight story, and next week this may well be the first story I turn to. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "...that's right, Marshal Sir. The dwarf bit me in the knee, he did"  

The jaws of Colonel Rosa's trap continue to close on the unsuspecting Bill Savage in Invasion. With her planted man, Georgi, still with them, Bill and his men head for the neutral ship which will be smuggling Prince John back to Canada.

Leaving the docks, they run into a Volgan patrol craft, but after some banter back and forth, Bill seizes the ship with aid of both Big Nessie and the traitorous Georgi who throws the remaining Volgans overboard. 

Nessie returns to shore, where upon returning to the Cavarn she discovers the rest of the resistance dead, and Colonel Rosa waiting for her. Clubbed to the ground, she becomes the first part of Colonel Rosa's haul. 

Meanwhile, in the final panels of the story, Bill and his men are stowed away. Georgi offers to take Bill's shotgun from him, asserting that they are safe now, but Bill tells him that he prefers to keep it with him. In the final panel, we see a maniacal Georgi laughing to himself and once again promising to rip Savage apart with his bare hands. 

Although there was very little action, besides the brief skirmish on the Volgan patrol boat, I enjoyed this a lot. The cogs of the story are still moving and we are edging closer to the confrontation that I thought we might have got this week. I'm pleased that they are still holding that confrontation from us, and the tension is continuing to be ratcheted up in the story. Some of the thrill and extravagances from the previous weeks are gone and replaced with a far more robust and compelling story. Built around solid characters and a wider story of betrayal, Invasion is again a worthwhile addition to 2000AD. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Lookin' for mermaids ain't we!" 

With the Pleasure Palace still burning the following day after the Hellcat's escape, we return to sporting action for this week's Inferno. The team put last week's drama behind them and they resume training in preparation for their next match against the Firbank Fiends. 

Not everyone is focused on the game, while the rest of the team put in the practice Zack is in the office selecting cheerleaders for the new cheerleading squad. It's a tough job, but some got to do it. 

Cheerleaders selected, the game begins with the cheerleaders immediately going through their routine. The on-field action is tough and made even tougher as we discover that one of the cheerleaders, Pearly, isn't quite what she seems. With a secret beam shooting from her neon letter, she shoots Giant out of the sky and we finish the story with Giant plunging towards the cinders. 

I am often apathetic when it comes to the actual Inferno games themselves. This case is different. Maybe because pretty girls are involved, but I quite enjoyed seeing the hellcats in action and the mysterious Pearly taking vengeance against Giant and the team. We still know nothing of her back story or motivations, so this is only the first step in the latest plot twist. As I know from my own experience, the pretty girls are the ones you have to be most careful of, so I can fully relate to where the story is going at this stage. Taking life lessons from sci-fi comics, I will be back next week for another dose of Inferno and all that comes with that, 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Ridin' hard and flyin' high. That's the Hellcats, score or die!"

Prog 48 final ratings:

Overall: 8.5/10

Best Story: Visible Man 

Best Line: "Spent...too long on... Judge Marshal's chair...now the oxygen desert...going to make me pay for it... "

Best Panel:

Prog 47

Easter, what a drag. I don't feel like staying at home, and I don't feel like going out. I don't even feel like reading comics if I'm honest. Still, I have a reputation to uphold, so here I am dutifully at my computer, comics by my side, and ready to dive into Prog 47. 

Prog 47

14th January 1978

Dan Dare looks like he will be the cover star for the foreseeable future, and we begin this week's episode with a quick recap provided by Dare with his monologue and captions. 

Inside the issue, things begin to move quickly as Dare finds the execution stakes in the inner storage hold. Turning the hold pressure up beyond its limits, it becomes a bomb, just waiting for the right moment to explode. That right moment comes soon enough, with the star stakes exploding outwards like a swarm of deadly missiles, spiking the Dark Lord's own men. 

The story continues to move at this fast pace, as Dare seizes the Dark Lord prisoner and the rest of the ship. The escorting ships have no idea what is happening, and they quickly fall to the guns of the now Dare-controlled ship. 

It seems Dare is in control, but the Dark Lord remains confident as we see him still plotting to defeat Dare in the final panel. 

I enjoyed this story well enough, although I have mixed feelings about the pacing. I appreciated the fast-moving story but felt that it was a little too easy for Dare and his men in this episode. Every obstacle was easily overcome, and every foe dispatched swiftly. There was no tension, asides from the final panel, and it was a gentle cruise through the story. I would have liked a little more resistance, just to give the story some grit, yet despite this, I found it highly readable and fun. 

Rating: 6/10

Best Line: "I'm moving spacers--the Dark Lord himself is on the ship and he's my target!"

A new story this week, The Visible Man, courtesy of comic books legend Pat Mills. I am very aware of Pat Mills and his canon, although I have never come across this particular story before. 

Ex-soldier Frank Hart is a man of action and danger. Speeding in this Porsche, he is caught in a terrible accident with a lorry carrying nuclear waste. Taken to a hospital, he is literally kept in the dark about his condition. 

Like many a comic before it, the nuclear waste has changed Frank Hart, in this case making his skin and muscular tissue transparent. Now, just like the visible man toy, we can see all his organs and he has become a living visible man. 

The previous Mach-1 story that this replaces dealt with a similar man of unique abilities, and like that previous story, the government has plans for Frank, whether he likes it or not. 

Our first view of the visible man was sensational and immediately set my expectations for this story sky-high. With Pat Mills at the helm, I have every confidence that this story will quickly become a favourite. We have seen men changed by radioactive materials before, and I expect Pat will take this story in an unexpected direction as we rumble through the next few weeks. We are off to a great start, the character is intriguing and with a story to be wrapped around him next week I think the story can only get better and better.

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "No-one's putting a looney-coat on me!"

A Future Shorts drawn by John Cooper keeps me on a high, as we run through a quick story of alien infiltration. 

The governments of the world are concerned about spies and infiltration, each suspicious of the other. In London, an infiltrator is about to be questioned when an unknown figure remotely presses a button and the suspect is melted. 

Questions are raised at the highest levels but overruled but the respective presidents and prime ministers. Mike Walsh is determined to know more and follows the trail to Australia. 

It is there that he stumbles across an alien plot to take over the world. He reacts quickly, pressing the button to destroy the various operatives around the world, which we see in the final panels are all the heads of state of the UK, US, and Russia. 

A tidy tale, it was John Cooper's artwork that appealed to me most. I have always been a fan of his clean style and read many a war comic drawn by him when I was younger. He seemed to specialise in square-jawed heroes, and we certainly had one of those here in the story in the form of Mike Walsh. The story itself was told as well as it could be in the space provided, and although this isn't a favourite story of the week, it was a pleasurable read. A bit of John Cooper magic mid-comic is just what I needed now. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Great scott...they're all doubles of the man who turned to jelly!"

John Cooper's art was great, but Brian Bolland tops him in the following Judge Dredd. Each panel looks sensational, and by the time I read this week's tale I already have four or five favourites for the panel of the week. 

The story begins with a nice nod to Werner Von Braun, as Dredd opens a new territory on the moon for colonisation - The Von Braun territory. It's an open land grab, with Dredd and Judges watching on to make sure all laws are obeyed.

Several arrests are made throughout the day, but our story really begins with the appearance of Rowena, a waitress robot. She has a tale of woe to tell, and Dredd listens attentively to her report.

Her mistress is Window Spock, who has claimed a good street site to build a flapjack parlour. The problem is she is being strong-armed into signing over her rights to this property by Interseller Psionocs Corporations. I immediately chuckled at this name, especially when they referred to it continually as IPC, the same name as the publisher of this comic, a joke I would like to think I would have understood as a kid, but I'm not betting on it. 

The following day and IPC are back at Window Spocks, this time with a PSI-chair that will send electrodes to her brain and force her to sign. 

It doesn't go to plan, her will is too strong, and Dredd emerges from the shadows where he had been waiting the whole time and makes the necessary arrests. 

The final page of the story takes a turn as Rowna pays another visit to Dredd, ostensibly to give Dredd some cookies made by her mistress. However, Dredd detects that the cookies are robot made, and questioning her motives he looks out the window to see her and Walter spending some quality robot time together. We have given robots human-like personalities, and now the day is here when they can fall in love. 

This story has a lot to recommend it, and I found something I liked in almost every panel. A great story, and with the wild west feeling pervading throughout, and some subtle and not-so-subtle nods to our world, there was some work for the old grey matter to do as I was reading it. The artwork was gentle on the eye, and giving Walter a moment at the end was a nice bonus, especially as they have given him a girlfriend with a name beginning with 'R'. Hilarious.  Not quite the ass-kicking Dredd of yore, but just as enjoyable as any other story this week. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "You are so brave, Walter. I hope you'll always be Rowena's....friend" 

Savage has made it to Liverpool, and this week in Invasion we meet Liverpool's favourite sons. 

Seeking to find a vessel at Liverpool docks to get Prince John back to Canada, Savage and Silk meet the local resistant group in the Cavern, the famous cellars of the sixties where the beat groups first emerged from. 

It is here that we meet some very familiar faces, although I do find it a little jarring to see John Lennon's face looking out of the page. It is a reminder of the time in which this was written, still two years before Lennon's assassination, and at the time he was still a current cultural figure.

Given a special guitar, Savage and Silk explore the docks, before slipping into a bar to find some sailors willing to smuggle them. It is unfortunate that they are recognised, and soon after they enter the bar a Volgan patrol storms in looking for them. It is now that we find out what is special about the guitar. Silk makes to play it and sing but soon swings it towards the Volgans where we discover it is actually a hidden gun. 

Most of the Volgans are dealt with, but the remaining two get the drop on Savage and SIlk, that is until a big seaman takes a hand and cracks some skulls. Introducing himself and Georgia, he promises to help Savage and Silk smuggle someone to Canada.

All is not what it seems, and in the final panels we see that 'Georgia' is actually 'Georgi' and he working with Colonel Rosa Volgaska, hoping to crush Savage with his bare hands. 

I could have done without the Beatles appearing at the Cavern, although I do make an allowance as this was only ten years after the Beatles were at their height. The rest of the story ratcheted up the tension and wasn't as cartoony as some of the previous issues. There is a real danger on the page and one senses that it is only going to get darker in the coming weeks. The story is building again, and next week we should see things come to a head with Savage and Colonel Volgaska, the most dangerous villain he has come across on the pages of Invasion so far. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Yeah, we lived well- till the invasion, Then the Volgs took away our record royalties-we're back where we started!" 

Over in Inferno, the Harlem Hellcats are facing a menacing bunch of heat-seeking droids intent on doing them permanent damage. I thought these droids might prove to be a tough proposition for the Hellcats, but the Hellcats manage to arm themselves with Inferno bats and balls, both of which prove to be excellent weapons against homicidal droids. 

The droids dispensed with, the next obstacle that Cullen throws at the team are gun-toting novelty cowboy droids. These too are dealt with surprisingly easily, in this case, a stray power cable thrown at them is enough to short them out and leave the Hellcats free to pursue Cullen.

However, the power cable more than destroyed the droids, it also sent an electrical charge back to the control room, causing a fire. The Hellcats can only watch on helplessly as their only link to the syndicate, Cullen, is engulfed in flame on the TV before their very eyes. 

There is nothing left to do but escape the building, which burns to the ground while they watch on, their chances of finding the syndicate that framed them now in ashes. 

All is not quite lost though, and although they may not be able to find the syndicate, the syndicate is about to find them as we see in a sinister final panel. 

This is the best Inferno story in some time, and I enjoyed every aspect of it. The action scenes were great, there was some good use of their sporting skills, and the wider plot evolved.  The team may not be any further ahead, but the storyline is, and there is an extra wrinkle in the plot each week. I'm surprised by how much I like this story when it's away from the sport of Inferno, and it is the wider storyline that has me captivated. Good stuff, long may it continue.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Go chase ya head, handsome!" 

Prog 47 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: The Visible Man 

Best Line: "You're lying to me! Something's gone wrong, I can tell! W-what is it? Tell me!"

Best Panel:

Prog 46

1978 has arrived and nothing bad has happened, it turns out the future isn't nearly as scary as we thought. Out with the old and in with the new, and there are some changes in the world of 2000 AD. Dan Dare makes a welcome return to the cover, while deeper within the comic we learn that there'll be a new addition to the storyline up next week. All positive things to look forward to, and I already have a good feeling about this issue before I've turned a single page. 

Prog 46

7th January 1978

New year, new look, and we begin 1978 with Dan Dare on the cover and still struggling against the might of the Starslayer Empire. 

As Dare's ship approaches the Dark Lord's planet, it is greeted by the sight of bodies orbiting in spacesuits, Dark Lord is making a point by having his enemies floating around the planet until they starve of oxygen and die. 

Dare is still a captive on his own ship, his men hypnotised and under the command of the Dark Lord. However, that changes once they land and they are released from this control so that they might witness what the Dark Lord has in store for them. 

As they are forced into space suits, Dare takes his chance and pulls the Starslayer Captain in amongst his own men and surrounds him. The outcome of this is Dare is pulled from the huddle of men, now in his spacesuit and in the hands of the Captain. 

But, things are not what they seem, Dare has swapped places with the Captain, and it is the Starslayer who faces being put into orbit. 

With Dare disguised as the Starslayer Captain, we leave the strip, Dare lined up with the other guards and plotting his next move.

I was pleased to see Dan Dare on the cover, and this was a refreshing change after the last few months. Dan Dare always impresses with its Dave Gibbons artwork, and a front cover is certainly a selling point to any fan. 

Inside the comic, the story is processing nicely. A neat twist with Dare and the Starslayer guard changing places, although I felt rather jaded when I could see what was going to happen in the first panel of action. The story is picking up with Dare's men released from the secret weapon, and I anticipate some well-rounded action as the entire cast comes into play in the next couple of weeks. 

Not spectacular, but well crafted and another solid building block on our journey through the Starslayer story. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "No good screamin' pal--you're stuck in that space suit like us! None o' your soldiers spotted us do a changin' o' the guard on ya...not even your Dark Lord! Now it's all up to Dare!"

Several weeks ago we had a quaint time travelling story in Future Shocks, that told of a time machine being built at home. This week we have a similar story, as Tim Matthews builds a time machine in his front room and immediately puts it to us to travel back a million years. 

He is most disappointed to look through his window and see the same old street exactly as he left it. In his rage he destroys his machine, only to find that it did work - a little too well, and had transported the whole street back in time. 

With no way to return to the future, he and the street face being stranded with some very hungry dinosaurs.

A tasty little tale, it is paced well across the page and a half. A brief setup, then the action, and the final twist. The final twist wasn't a great surprise, but it was well executed and gave the story the spicy ending that I like to see in these stories. Not best in class, but a fine example of the genre.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "No! I'm still in the same crummy street, in the same time!"

The battle of the Mach men rages on, as Mach-1 fights it out with Mach zero. It is much the same as we saw last week, but this time Sharpe intervenes, sending his own men into the fray. 

As they fire a grenade launcher into the melee, Mach zero realizes that it is Sharpe who they should be fighting, not each other, and together the two Mach men take control of the battle and walk triumphantly out of the house. 

Zero has given himself up, happy to be put into Sharpe's hands on the back of a promise that the scientists will try and restore him to a normal person. The promise doesn't last long, and the ambulance he is transported in is blown up by a Chieftain tank, and then driven over a cliff. 

There is no chance, and Zero is dead, leaving Mach-1 to curse Sharpe. There is a video message left for him, Sharpe has left the country until Mach-1 cools down. Mach-1 doesn't look like he will cool down anytime soon, and he ponders the double-crossing Sharpe. 

The most intriguing part of the strip is the final words that tell us that John Probe will be taking a break to think things over, and next week we have a new story to look forward to. 

Not quite the spectacular finish I expected, this is a story finishing on a whimper rather than a bang. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but my expectations were sky-high and it never reached those heights. I am buoyed by the fact that it will return, and with plenty of unfinished business between John Probe and Sharpe the story could potentially run for much longer in the future. A disappointing finish this week, I remain positive for a future run. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "It's a ball of fire! Zero's dead! And that was no accident!"

A full-colour page of Judge Dredd is a wonderful way to start this week's story. Finally, Dredd is about to meet Mr Moonie, and having it happen with two coloured pages makes my heart swell in anticipation. 

The story doesn't disappoint, and Dredd and his ever-faithful Walter arrive at Moonie ranch, ready to meet the main man himself. What they meet instead is a luna projection of Mr Moonie, who recounts his life story as Dredd and Walter negotiate a series of traps. 

After avoiding the river of mercury, and a luna dust storm, they finally come face to face with Mr Moonie, and it's a face one doesn't forget in a hurry. Mr Moonie may have made his fortune on the moon, but it came at a cost. The cost was a luna virus that horribly disfigured his head, leaving him to live out his life as a virtual recluse.

Mr Moonie has one final surprise in store for Dredd and Walter, as he traps them in a glass cylinder before applying a moon vacuum that sucks the air out of the room. Things look grim for Dredd, but Walter emits a high-frequency sonic wave that shatters all the glass, including his own and leaves Dredd free to lay the hand of justice upon Mr Moonie. 

The story concludes naturally enough with Walter reminding Dredd that he is his humble servant, while Dredd comes to the party with one final pun. 

I wanted more from this story than what I got. I expected Dredd's confrontation with Mr Moonie to be spread across several issues, rather than just this one. Mr Moonie was also a disappointment, and although he came close to defeating Dredd he didn't feel any more dangerous than any other villain we have met before. On the plus side, Walter is always a scene stealer, and he was strong throughout this week's issue. The dialogue was snappy, and the colour pages were a real thrill, it is unfortunate that this thrill couldn't be maintained for the rest of the story. A good Dredd, but some way off being a great Dredd. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Best line: "Bullets won't penetrate...pumps sucking air out... *can't breathe*"

Colonel Rosa Volgaska is back in business for the Volgans in Invasion, and even though she is key behind the action this week, she remains in the background as far as Savage is aware. 

With Prince Harry in tow, Savage and Silk are on the move. They have some misfortune as they encounter Volgans travelling in the same direction as them, but the misfortune proves to be for the Volgans as Savage tricks them into getting caught in the Solway killer tide. 

Rosa is watching remotely from the camera her soldiers are carrying and we find that she too was aware of the Solway killer tide, but hadn't alerted her forces. This plays out again over the page, as Savage runs into a Volgan trap, only for the Volgans to be caught in a surprise explosion. This explosion is the work of Rosa, who tells us that it's all part of her master plan, and she doesn't want Savage caught too soon. 

Without a direct confrontation between Colonel Rosa Volgaska and Savage, this was a battle fought by proxy. Savage is completely unaware of Colonel Volgaska's machinations behind the scenes, and the story is currently moving beyond his control. The scene with the first entanglement with the Volgans and the subsequent flood was for me the highlight of the strip, and the rest of the story was a little too pedestrian. However, I'm always a fan of behind the scene manoeuvrings, and this story has that in spades. With Colonel Volgaska's plan still to be revealed, we have some way to go and it could be sometime before Prince John reaches safety. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I'm watching you poor fool. Both Savage and I know something you do not...that Solway has a secret!"

We finish this issue with Inferno, as the Hellcats pursue Cullen into a hologram meteor shower.

He is soon lost in the mists, and the Hellcats face a much more immediate problem, they are no longer in a hologram meteor shower but rather a real meteor shower. They do their best to fend off what is thrown their way, and after two pages of this action, Moody Bloo manages to hurl one back to where it came from, destroying the power source and allowing to Hellcats to escape. 

It is a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, for as they stand at the start of the maze they are faced with four androids, all programmed to home in on body heat. It's a cliffhanger finish and a very well-drawn one at that. 

Most of the story was dedicated to escaping last week's predicament, before facing the next obstacle. As such, it didn't feel like much happened this time around. The pace of this story has slowed, and as much as I appreciated the artwork, I felt something was lacking. The hologram meteors were a diversion and not one I enjoyed, and the androids look to be much more up my alley. Next week is potentially much better than this week, and I can only hope that comes to pass. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Now get back where ya came from, ya over-grown sugar-pea!"

Prog 46 final ratings:

Overall: 6/10

Best Story: Future Shocks

Best Line: "Oh, dwat! You're hurt master! Speak to Walter"

Best Panel: