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: