Prog 58

I'm loving Dan Dare at the moment, and the cover image has me intrigued from the moment I first see it. Elsewhere in the comic Inferno continues it's strong run and MACH 1 has a fresh start that piques my curiosity. Not everything is great, Judge Dredd is disappointing, but there is always the promise of next week. Let's dive right in and see what's hot and what's not. 

Prog 58

1st April 1978

At the end of Dan Dare last week, two crew members of the Eagle were facing a big problem looking at them through the viewer. The front cover of Prog 58 reveals that that problem is much bigger than even I could have imagined, with a huge slug-type creature staring them down. As big as a street block, it is a lardy menace,  and with the motor reactors of the Eagle dead, the story is delicately poised. 

One of the crew members of the Eagle has experience in such matters and surmises that as it isn't moving it might be dead. The only way to know for sure is to get out and have a look and this they do forthwith. 

It seems that he is correct as the creature shows no signs of life as the approach. A swift kick to the creature changes the situation dramatically as arms with pinching hooks burst from the body and pull the crew member inside. 

Back on the Eagle, Hitman has returned after losing Dare on their own expedition. He informs the crew that Dare is probably dead, but unknown to him at that very moment Dare is awaking to an alien scene. 

Surrounded by humanoid beings, Dare turns on his psycholator and immediately is able to communicate with them. They mean him no harm and are in fact in danger themselves from a more dangerous foe, the Slurrgs.

The Slurrgs are mindless beings that burrow into the seabed, causing massive seaquakes and volcanic eruptions. Through these actions, they are slowly tearing the planet apart. 

Dare is escorted back to his ship by the aliens, and there he sees that it is a Slurrg that is threatening his vessel. Dare's comrades are at that moment shooting needle missiles into the Slurrg, which only worsens the situation as it releases what are known as Snappers, all mouth and crab-like claws. 

This wasn't quite what was advertised last week. When we left the Eagle in Prog 57, they were looking at a humanoid figure through the viewer. The threat revealed on the cover of Prog 58 is far from humanoid, although considerably scarier. I am happier with these creatures, and the rest of the story saw me carrying fear in my heart.  The aliens that Dare encountered didn't impress me. They are weak, and if not for the appearance of Dare one wonders what would happen to them. That aside, I do like these different branches of the story, and the way they intersected at the end. The Slurrgs were a 10/10 for me and carried the story this week, as well as providing the hook to bring me back next week. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "L-look! Out there - - it's as big as a street block!"

We have an odd story for M.A.C.H. 1 this week. The first thing that grabbed my attention is that it is illustrated by John Cooper, something we haven't seen for a while. The second thing, which I only found at the end, is that it is a single-issue story, again something we haven't seen in some time. 

The story picks up from where it left off, with John Probe walking in the Everglades to return to his boss, Sharpe. Hearing the cries of a hysterical young lady, he encounters a woman crying for help for her younger brother who is about to be eaten by a crocodile. 

With his hyperpowers put to good use, Probe rescues the boy and then carries him home for the woman, who we find out is named Louise. 

Louise lives in an unsettling environment, in the swamp with the strangest family you ever did see. Grandma and Pa look as though they have stepped out of another time all together, while brother Ike says very little. The young, good-looking, Lousie is the most normal of all of them, and Probe wonders why she lives with such weird people. 

Probe has more to consider after speaking with Pa and learning that he likes living out here off the beaten track, even though some loony with a meat cleaver did attack him and take his arm clean off one night. 

Probes thoughts on the matter are interrupted by a scream and thinking the worse has befallen Louisie he runs to the source. There he finds the young lad, with hen feathers on the ground and blood on his fingers. It's all very strange and Probe has much to consider that night as he is told to lock the door as it can be dangerous at night. 

Sitting alone and trying to piece together the clues, Probe fails to notice a cloaked figure enter the room behind him, axe raised in a manner that suggests that evil is afoot. 

The blade drops towards Probe's head, and he avoids it just in time. Moving quickly, he tackles the hooded figure and is surprised to find that it is Louise. It is now that the computer tells him that the girl is a homicidal psychopath who has lured him here to make him her next victim. 

An unexpected turn at the end of this gothic tale, and one that makes the weirdness of the previous pages worthwhile. A return to single-story issues, this was a change of pace from the previous Dolphin Tapes story. I enjoyed the crispness of the storytelling, and the artwork of John Cooper was a fine match, all clean lines and uncluttered. An interesting turn, I hadn't expected southern gothic to appear as a genre with the pages of MACH 1, I found the story engaging and it had me guessing throughout. With a rewarding finish, this was a timely story for MACH 1, giving us a chance to breathe after last week's issue. It didn't quite feel like a MACH 1 story, but there was enough here to keep both casual readers and long-time fans happy. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Yes Sir, it's quiet and off the beaten track out here. I kinda like the place...even though some loony with a meat cleaver did attack me and take my arm clean off one dark night." 

On Colony Earth Hunter and the Professor are looking at the wreckage of the crashed flying saucer. 

There is little they can do, and Hunter arranges for it to be taken to Cape Canaveral for further investigation. They arrive and find the aliens are already struck, and Cape Canaveral is in ruins. 

One survivor is organising the rescue operations, Astronaut Steel, and Hunter collars him to come to have a look at the saucer.   

Steel's assessment is that the damage is only superficial and he is confident that his boys can get it flying again. A plan is quickly hatched to get it airborne and for Hunter and Steel to fly it to attack the alien platforms. 

However, the aliens have noticed these going ons, and several alien saucers prepare to attack. With time against them, Steel and Hunter take to the skies in their saucer, flying by the seat of their pants and about to take a ship they can barely fly into a battle against four alien craft. 

The first part of the story felt slow, and in the second half it all seemed to happen at once. With every part of the story being essential, this didn't matter too much and the acceleration towards the end of the story and into next week's issue was fitting. A couple of things stood out to me. First, I did smile at how easy it was to spot the astronaut at Cape Canaveral, he was the one wearing a spacesuit as if it was everyday attire. Then there was how easy it was to fix the alien ship and fly it with no experience. Implausible, but forgivable in a story such as this. Next week looks like it will be action-packed, and after this issue, we are set up nicely for what comes next.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Ma boys ain't finished checking out the control functions yet -but - well, if you've flown an Apollo, anything else is kid's stuff!" 

Some sensational-looking art opens Judge Dredd, but the rest of the story is pure filler. This issue is merely a placeholder until Dredd's promised return to Mega-city 1 next week. 

Dredd is the toughest Judge on Luna-1 and we see him giving harsh penalties for infringements on the first two pages of the story, 

The rest of the story deals with the full Earth and its effect on people, an event that compares with the full moon and its consequences on Earth, only twice as bad. 

Judge Dredd has every available Judge on the streets and for the rest of the comic, we see them dealing with a variety of bad guys in every way, shape and form. There's not much more to this, the night ends and Dredd returns home exhausted, with Walter Wobot fussing over the soon-to-be asleep Judge. 

A filler from start to finish, I took very little from this story. The art was commendable, especially the first image, but asides from this nothing stood out to me. A variety of small-time crooks didn't provide the drama required, and there was no overall story to pull it all together. We return to Mega-City 1 next week, and that feels about right for where we are now. The moon is no longer as inspiring as it was, and with this story, the cupboard is clearly bare.

Rating: 4/10

Best line: "Serves the slowster right, I say! You're lucky Judge Dredd didn't see that towel he stole from the hotel, I always told you you should have married that nice Robinson boy!" 

Future Shocks touches on the theme of scale, and although the story is new, the concepts behind it are not. 

We are introduced to the Juggernaut, a new tank that lives up to its name. It is being put through its final testing before being pressed into service. With its fearsome armament and new tracker system, capable of detecting all objects in a twenty-mile radius, it passes the test with flying colours, destroying all the tanks put up against it. 

The test looks like it is over when suddenly another tank is detected on the radar - a tank as large as the Juggernaut itself. It is a lucky break, the tank only being detected when the radar operator was experimenting with the distance settings. 

Acting quickly, the commander orders missiles to be fired, but just as they are launched the radar operator reports that he had reduced the scanning distance to only a few yards and that the enemy tank they had detected was actually themselves. This realisation comes too late, and the story closes with the Juggernaut being destroyed by its own missiles. 

Cute idea and a likeable story. The opening images of the Juggernaut are impressive and give us a sense of scale from the beginning. I won't remember this story in a couple of months but I will certainly remember the look of the Juggernaut. This was just the palate cleanser I needed after the Judge Dredd story, and as a tightly constructed narrative, I found its two-and-a-half-page story far more engaging than the five pages of Judge Dredd.   

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "It's true, Sir, the thing's a giant, it's identical to us in size!" 

The Hellcats may have won a superliner in Inferno, but it hasn't made them any new friends as we see an angry mob throwing stones at their new vehicle on the first page. 

Moody Bloo is angry about this, but the rest of the team is unconcerned as they enjoy the luxuries of their prize, including onboard medical treatments that are rapidly healing the injured players. 

Their course is Beehive Jungle in upstate New York, an abandoned social housing complex overrun by bikers and vandals, and also the location of the android factory that produced the murderous Pearly. 

While seeking the owner of the factory, Arfon Kalmann, the team fly over a huge remote-controlled garbage robot consuming abandoned cars. What they don't see is a few panels later a figure pushing over the operator and taking control of the robot, using it to pick up the hapless man and crushing him in the robot's giant pinchers. 

Meanwhile, the team arrive at Kalmann's workshop, but they are horrified to see what has happened to him. I would be horrified too, but I don't yet know what has happened to him and I shall have to wait until the next issue to find out. 

A great scene-setting episode and the feeling of the beehive jungle was conveyed well in every panel. It looks futuristic, derelict, and scary as hell. The garbage-eating robot was the star of this world and had an appropriate number of large panels to build my fear of it. We are back on the trail of the syndicate, and although there wasn't much action in this week's issue, plenty of groundwork was laid for the coming weeks. The characters took a back seat in this episode, and it was all about the world they are in, and what they will be facing. I wouldn't normally like this, but in this case, I found it compelling and I can't wait to see them interact with this world in future issues. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Perhaps your 'ol buddy' fancies a change of diet!" 

Prog 58 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Inferno

Best Line: "I may have the strength of fifty men- but what's the use of that when I can't think for myself? -these computer circuits in my brain rule my life!"   

Best Panel:

Prog 57

My hands are so cold I can barely type. I have been under my duvet all morning reading comics, and now I have emerged to find it just as cold as I imagined. No doubt some quick typing and a nice cup of tea will restore me, but this might be a short blog entry - I just want to get to somewhere warm. The last thing I want to think about is the cold of outer space where Dan Dare is, or the oncoming ice age of Colony Earth, or even the lunar temperatures of the moon where Dredd currently is. I gotta find a warmer comic to enjoy.  

Prog 57

25th March 1978

"On a planet totally covered by water, Dan Dare and the seven-man crew of an Eagle craft are spinning out of control into a deepsea trench! The Eagle's main reactors are useless...and the trench is twenty miles deep!" 

So reads the opening panel of this week's Dan Dare adventure, and things are getting worse by the moment as the Eagle craft is caught in a current and about to slam into a cliff. 

It takes a heavy hit and some damage, and Dare desperately tells Hitman they can't afford to take another hit like that. Plunging deeper into the trench it seems only a matter of time before they do take another hit and Dare's fears are well founded. 

Dare is always thinking, and as the next cliff face comes at them he takes decisive action. Commanding Hitman to fire the forward lasers, the Eagle is propelled backwards, giving Dare a chance to deliver a quick physics lesson to Hitman and the reader. Whether this physics holds up to scrutiny, I'm not so sure, but it is nice to see some sort of explanation on the page. 

Safely on the seabed, Dare commands his crew to get busy with the necessary repairs. This means leaving the vehicle and we do see some interesting panels as Dare and his crew use an underwater vehicle called the sea slug to traverse the ocean floor.  

Leaving the sea slug to take some soil samples, Dare encounters a sudden eruption with the ground opening up beneath his feet. He falls into the crevasse but finds himself carried back to the surface by alien life forms. Vaguely humanoid, they deliver a loud noise towards Dare, filling his head with a throbbing pulsating sound, rendering him unable to think. 

Meanwhile, the crew of the Eagle are facing their own problems, with only one viewer in action and right now that viewer is filled with a large alien face. 

Not as high octane as last week, nevertheless this issue carried my attention in a variety of ways. The use of the sea slugs on the ocean bed was interesting to me, and I did enjoy the first appearance of these new alien life forms. There were two hooks at the end to bring me back next time, Dare's predicament, and the problems facing the crew of the Eagle. The story was on a smaller scale than last week and it worked well, drawing us back to the characters in the story while laying the groundwork for the next few weeks. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Stomm! So there is other life on this world! But are they going o save me or try to eat me, like that giant worm we met?"

John Probe (M.A.C.H 1) almost has the Dolphin tapes in his hands but first, he has to fight Hacker and Scarlotti. It is Hacker who does the fighting on behalf of Scarlotti, and with a boat hook in hand he put up a strong fight against Probe. 

With Hacker serving his role, Scarlotti leaves the two of them to fight it out, but not before he takes the tapes for himself and fires his laser pistol into the ceiling, leaving the laboratory to flood from the swamp above. 

Left to their fate, Probe and Hacker fight on as the water rises around them while watching them from a nearby tank is the half-man/half-fish that was agent Robert Peel. 

Hacker has the upper hand, but just as it looks like all is lost for Probe, the ceiling gives way, flooding the room and freeing Robert Peel. Hacker is about to deliver the killer blow when Peel takes a hand in the matter, sacrificing himself as he kills Hacker. 

It's now up to Probe to catch Scarlotti, and this he does so relatively quickly as he runs across the Everglades. 

Scarlotti tries to outrun him but falls into some quicksand. In an act of desperation, he shoots at Probe - and misses. Probe does his best to pull Scarlotti from the quicksand, but there is little he can do and both Scarlotti and the dolphin tapes are lost. 

The mission has failed on every front, and we leave with Probe once again cursing his boss Mr Sharpe. 

I wanted this to run for a few more issues, but seeing Probe fail a mission was a great choice and I appreciated seeing that he is not infallible. Perhaps the seeds planted in this story will bear fruit later down the line, it certainly feels that way. The fight in the laboratory dominated the story, although it didn't live up to the number of pages it was given. Robert Peel played a part, as perhaps many of us might have foreseen, and it felt right for the story. Ho hum action, but a story that delivered plenty, this was an uneven but ultimately satisfying ending.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "If he goes all the witnesses go - except me!"

The aliens have kicked started a new ice age on Earth in Colony Earth and Commander James Hunter intends to do something about it. 

With reports of Cronian Island, a mere five hundred miles away, being attacked by flying saucers,  Hunter and the professor, along with their captured robot weapon, take to the anti-gravity buggy in an attempt to fight back. 

As they arrive Hunter leaves the professor to find any survivors, while he takes to the sky with the robot to attack the flying saucers. The robot can't do anything but fire in a straight line, but Hunter puts him to good use and shoots down two of the saucers. One explodes in the sky, while the other one suffers lesser damage and manages to crash land on the island. 

Hunter lands to find that the professor has managed to find a lone survivor.  This survivor tells them that the saucers attacked them soon after they had spotted a new satellite pouring out immense amounts of radiation. It appears that this satellite is what the aliens are using to make the climate changes and in his final breath, he also manages to tell them its orbit bearing. 

As the chopper crews arrive, Hunter marches with his robot companion toward the crashed saucer, hoping that there will be something there to help them with their battle.

Once again the story is moving quickly, and although I remain displeased with the remote control robot, I enjoyed seeing Hunter put it to use in fighting against the saucers. It seems this robot's laser weapon is stronger than I supposed and it proved very effective against the much larger ships. The story still has some weak points, but things bode well for the coming weeks, and I do feel a sense of anticipation as Hunter strides towards the crashed saucer. A strong issue next week and shall fall in love with this story all over again. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "And here's number two. Hope those tin guts o' yours ain't squeamish, Charlie!" 

A very interesting Judge Dredd story this week. The story has me hooked from start to finish, but Dreedd only appears sparingly and has no influence on the outcome of the story at all. 

We begin with an intriguing splash page as Astro-tankers bring their precious cargo of oxygen to Luna-1. From here it is mixed with other gases and piped out to the homes and streets of the moon colony. 

We meet the villains of the piece on this very page as they burst into the mixing terminal, guns a blazing. Mixing tranq gas to the moon's oxygen supply, their scheme becomes obvious over the page. 

In millions of homes the tranq gas takes effect, the population falling where they stand. There is chaos on the streets as drivers fall asleep at the wheel, and bodies pile up on moving travelators. 

Free to take whatever they desire, the crooks quickly amass a fortune. They are forced to take evasive action once the Judges arrive, the Judges free from the effects of the tranq gas due to their own respirators on their helmets, but by playing possum they elude capture. 

The Judges do their best to reduce casualties, but with a monorail train crashing, and an office block on fire, there is little they can do except get as much robot support as they can to restore the situation. 

With the machines still operating, the Judges find an antidote to the tranq gas and get it up to the oxygen station. With the oxygen situation stabilized, life begins to return to normal. 

Late in the afternoon, we learn that fifty-three thousand people have died and half a million have serious injuries. Judge Dredd has not a single clue to follow, and it looks like the men responsible have got away scot-free.

However, fate takes a hand on the final page of the strip. Returning to their hideout, the crooks lock the door and pour out their ill-gotten gains. At this moment a face appears on the video screen, the payment control robot of the Oxygen Board. 

The crooks haven't kept up with their bill payments, and their oxygen bill is now two months overdue. In light of this, the payment control robot tells them that their supply of oxygen will now be terminated. 

With no oxygen, the villains make for the door, only to realise that it is locked. They scramble to find the key, but the key has been misplaced and is currently hidden in their loot. They trawl through the loot but is all in vain and they expire amongst their spoils. 

It is three days later that they are found, dead in their apartment surrounded by their stolen jewels and money. In an ironic twist, the oxygen board has executed them, an irony not lost on Tex and Dredd as they take in the scene before them. 

This didn't feel like a Dredd story, and with its final twist it comes across as a Future Shocks-type story. An extended Future Shocks for sure, but one with earns its page count. I actually found it refreshing to not have Dredd at the centre of the action and to have the crooks almost get away with their plan. The final twist was delicious, and I had a massive grin as I saw it unfold. A vast improvement over the car story of previous weeks, this is exactly what I want to see more of. Once again Luna-1 plays as a central character, the bad guys got what they deserved, and even though Dredd didn't crack the case, he still managed to look heroic throughout. Judge Dredd sets the standard, and in this case, that standard is high. 

Rating: 8/10

Bets line: "Not executed, Tex - cut off! It sure pays to keep your gas bills up to date."

Giant's jet-pack has exploded, and we left last week's Inferno waiting to see who survived the carnage. 

It is not as bad as the final panel had us believe, and although Giant was at the centre of the blast, he emerges unscathed, his body armour protecting him from the jet-pack on his back. Elsewhere, Venner has a broken arm, while the worst injury appears to be Zack who is unconscious and has a heavy concussion. 

The Hellcats count their numbers, and with only five members it looks as though they may have to forfeit the game. It is Louis Meyer that saves the day, appearing on a bike out of the tunnel, and despite complaints from the Sharks about him being a droid freak, he is allowed to take his place on the field. 

The rest of the game comes quickly, with the Sharks attacking the Hellcat's goal. Moody Bloo is their equal in defence and strikes a massive blow upon the ball, sending it pinballing around the arena. It is white hot and sends the players ducking and diving for cover. It comes to a stop with an unlucky Shark player taking the full impact on his bike, resulting in an inferno. 

The game is won, and in the aftermath we see Eegle trying to explain his actions earlier in the match, only for Giant to wave him off as they receive their prize - the luxurious superliner. 

We close with a reflective moment as Junk Jackson points out that they now have only half a team, and the syndicate is still out there. Giant ponders this in the final panel, wondering if the lead they're following is a zero and if so they are sunk. 

Inferno had a strong opening and finish, and apart from a weak page in the middle, it kept to its task of delivering plot and entertainment. There was some disappointment at seeing how little damage the exploding jet pack had done, the final panel of last week's issue promised far more death and mayhem than we actually got. The team still had its struggles, but it could have been much worse. The final panel caught my attention, it looks like we will be back on the trail of the syndicate next week, and as much fun as this week's game was, I look forward to returning to the bigger story. With good on-field action, some striking images, and a hook at the end, Inferno has given us a solid finish to this week's 2000AD.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "I ain't just gonna block it, blubber-lips...I'm gonna moider it!" 

Prog 57 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "A smart man can beat the law - but, baby, only a fool bucks the oxygen board"   

Best Panel:

Prog 56

Prog 56 is a good one. There is one flat spot, but asides from that every story is delivering heavy blows. I am impressed again with Inferno, a story I never give enough love to, and several other stories this week have large splash pages and images that stick in my mind. An excellent read this week - see below for my hot-takes (as the kids say). 

Prog 56

18th March 1978

Dan Dare is big this week. Big art and big action are splashed across the pages as Dare and his crew discover another uncharted planet. 

This planet is covered entirely in water, but teeming with life as Dare discovers on the very first page. A large tentacle bursts through the water, grabbing Dare and his Eagle craft. Large is an understatement, this tentacle is huge and wraps itself around his craft, dragging down towards a grotesque-looking mouth. 

This event is captured on two pages, dominated by full-size panels capturing the scale of the event. The panels are smaller on the following page, as Dare is pulled down beneath the waves, but not by much and the story continues to move rapidly.

The Eagle craft can operate underwater, but we don't get a demonstration of its full capabilities as Dare prioritises escape.  Using a surge of anti-gravity from the craft he bounces to the surface, and with all four reactors running at full burn, he breaks free. 

A swift communication to his main fort, still orbiting high above, and Dare continues to skim the surface. It's not plain sailing, and a major underwater eruption sends a huge tidal wave his way. There is little time for evasive action, and after being struck by the wave, Dare and his vehicle are sent plunging far beneath the surface, with no power, and seemingly no hope. 

A fantastic story this week, and the oversize artwork added to my enjoyment immensely. I was swallowed by Dare's adventure, and every page had me lost in its action. The sea creature encountered on the first page set the scale for the rest of the story to follow and by the time we reached the tsunami, I was well aware of how large it must have been.  The story wasn't too taxing and it was the artwork that did all the heavy lifting. I was delighted with the outcome, and haven't enjoyed a Dan Dare story like this for a long time. More of the same in future, please.

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "I only wish our computer was dead, too! Because I don't want to know what it's telling me!"

We have another time-travelling story for Future Shocks, a theme touched on often in this format. 

Scientists are putting the final touches on a time travelling machine, and we meet the two men about to give it the first test run back ten million years - Hank and Joe. 

They are given the same instruction that all time travellers are given - do not interfere with anything lest they change the course of history.  

The time machine works well enough and soon they're back in ten million BC. They have been told to say put until their return is activated but Hanks decides to take a look from higher ground. This results in him tripping over a monkey, and the monkey tumbling to its death over the edge. 

Joe is worried about this, but Hank brushes him off telling him that the professor worries too much. 

With their jump back to the present they find that there have been consequences to this incident with the monkey, All the scientists and professor are Ape-like in their appearance. We have one final panel of Joe about to remove his helmet, and not looking forward to what might be under it.

An unsurprising story and a paradox that has been well-covered in a variety of mediums over the years. This was a pleasant read but didn't add anything to the canon. As such the final reveal was underwhelming and there was the feeling that I had seen it all before. A good filler, but nothing essential here. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I don't get it! All I did was kill one lousy monkey! That's not interfering - or is it?"

With Commander James Hunter holding one of the aliens hostage in Colony Earth, it looked like they might be able to avoid death from an advancing robot. 

Hunter makes his intentions explicitly clear as he tells the alien to call off the robot or he will break every bone in his body. The alien is uncooperative and Hunter takes things to the next level with an uppercut to the jaw of the alien. 

He has some luck at this point, the alien drops what turns out to be a remote control for the robot. Randomly pushing buttons, Hunter works out how to manipulate the robot, and with this new ally they once again take to the hover vehicle to make good on their escape. 

Other robots come for them, but the professor uses the remote to fight them off, leaving them free to flee over the sea. Or rather what would be the sea were it not for the fact that all the water is receding. 

After travelling twenty miles over mud flats, they find their ship in deep water and safe. It is here that the professor tells them what he thinks is happening. The aliens are building up the ice caps, returning the climate to what it was tens of thousands of years ago when they first arrived. 

I love the art in this story but some of the plot points frustrate me. I couldn't help but groan when they picked up the remote control that controlled the robot. The advanced aliens are controlling the robots with remote controls with push buttons, nope, I'm not buying it. Where are these hordes of aliens to control the robots, we haven't seen any of them. After escaping the robots and aliens I found the story greatly improved, and the climate change storyline was much more to my taste, and more aligned with current thinking, although we rarely hear people speak of oncoming ice ages any more. It was a buzz in the seventies though, and I can well recall playground discussions about the forthcoming ice age in my youth.  A tale of two halves, I like the direction we are going, and we shall never mention the remote controls for the robots again. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Listen, gnome - call off your robot, or I break every alien bone in your alien body!" 

A dynamic start to Judge Dredd with an eye-catching double spread as the rogue car Elvis throws Dredd across his own apartment. Things get worse for Dredd as he awakens later to find himself hostage in Elvis, as Elvis drives into the Justice building.  

With Dredd his hostage, Elvis can do whatever he wants, and he demands lots of toys, a big parade, songs about him, and a TV show. 

All of this is given to him, while poor Judge Dredd remains trapped in the front seat. Dredd though has been doing some thinking, and using a special code he lets the other judges know of his plan. 

Later at the TV show, a crowd of autograph hunters descend upon Elvis. Distracted by this attention he focuses all his cameras on the autograph hunters, leaving Judge to enact the second part of his plan. 

Using one of the toy chemistry sets and a doll that has been given to Elvis, Judge Dredd starts a fire in the vehicle. With his internal sensors set off, Elvis automatically ejects Dredd. Elvis is aghast, but there is nothing he could do. 

Now free, Dredd orders him to surrender. Elvis is having none of it, and the Judges have little choice but to spray the corrosive spray on Elvis. The effect is instantaneous, and Elvis is reduced to a pile of nothing before our very eyes. 

A final panel sees the Dredd surmising upon the outcome and wondering if it had been better if Elvis had never been born. 

A strong start and a strong finish, it was the middle section of this story that let it down. The first two pages, in colour and with panels filling the page, had me hooked immediately. However, I turned the page to find the story slowing down as Elvis went to the Justice building and was bestowed with everything he desired. Dredd's final plan drew me back in and I was happy with the outcome. This was quite a long story compared to some of the ones we have had previously, and although I wasn't 100% sold on it, it is a direction I would like to see the comic move towards. We had more time to get to know Dredd's nemesis, and by the final issue the resolution felt earnt. With a better villain I would have rated this far higher than I have. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Just a pile of dust on a studio floor. All that's left of the car who never grew up" 

John Probe (MACH 1) is on his way to steal a top-secret research project, but so too are Luigi Scarlotti and Hacker. 

Led by the dolphin Zuma, Probe arrives at a deserted cabin. He smashes his way in and soon discovers a secret trap door. Descending a long ladder, he encounters a security system that shoots laser beams at him. 

These he evades and finds himself in a laboratory under the bed of the swamp. There is initially no clue as to what goes on here, or to the whereabouts of the previous agent sent to investigate, Robert Peel.  There are several weird-looking fish though, and even Probe's computer can't identify them.

The weirdest fish we encounter on the following page, a fish that looks distinctly human. The birthmark on the neck of this animal Probe recognises immediately, it's Robert Peel. 

At this point Scarlotti and Hacker reveal themselves. Thanking Probe for helping them break in, they tell him of the experiments to create a man-fish - a human capable of living underwater. It seems that they have made somewhat of a mess of Robert Peel, but Probe has little time to digest this as Hacker leaps forward to finish him. 

I love the weird and wonderful, and the latter half of this story certainly delivered that. I wasn't convinced about where we were heading as the dolphin guided Probe, and the action at the cabin and against the automatic security was empty, but these final two pages had plenty to compensate. The most dramatic panel is the reveal of Robert Peel as a man fish. It was both horrifying and intriguing and sold the story to me from here on in. Uneven, but the finish was superb and I can't wait to see next week. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "What a weird fish I've never seen anything like this before!" 

A mistake by Regel Eegle in the last issue of Inferno has left Teejay in the path of a Shark bike man, and the opening full-page image captures the horror of what is about to happen.

What does happen is unexpected as Marvin Bloo drops down through the flames and drags Teejay clear just in time.

In the confusion Eegle has snatched the ball, and as the focus returns to the game he scores, giving the Hellcats a two-nil lead. 

The Hellcats have mixed opinions about this. Some see Eegle as an asset and the accident wasn't his fault, while others question his courage and wonder if he really is a team player. 

Giant puts this to the test in the next portion of the story as he jumps on the back of Eegles bike and tells him to drive around the wall. Approaching the oncoming Sharks it is clear that he is scared, but Giant keeps him going while fighting off several of the Sharks. The end result is more points to the Hellcats as Giant scores for the team. 

The team come together to celebrate, but the celebration is short-lived as an overheated jest pack explodes, wiping out half the team.  

The final image is evocative, and the perfect hook to bring me back next week. What half of the team is wiped out remains to be seen, and from this final panel it could be anyone. The story built nicely throughout, with multiple characters given a turn. I had previously enjoyed seeing the style of Eegle, but now we are finding there is more to his character and he is becoming more interesting than the shallow impression we had of him at first. I sometimes find it hard to enjoy Inferno, but there have been several very good issues recently, and I am constantly surprised by how highly I rate it. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Yes you can, Eegle. Or so help me I'll unbalance this bike, and let you splatter yourself across the cinders!" 

Prog 56 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: Dan Dare

Best Line: "Blood and cinders! That exploding jet-pack's wiped out half the team!"   

Best Panel:

Prog 55

Sunday afternoon - my favourite part of the week. The noise of the day is receding and all I have left is my pile of comics and the spectre of work tomorrow. My first priority is Prog 55 and all within it. Everything else can wait, lets peek inside. 

Prog 55

11th March 1978

Dan Dare is facing down five clones of his shipmate Bear, and one real one, in the opening dilemma of this week's strip. 

Thinking quickly and acting quickly, Dare calls for Bear to pull his gun. He does so, and the five closes also grab for the same weapon, giving Dare a chance to blast two of them. 

The other three take to their heels, leaving Dare and Bear to consider the pods in front of them and the cause of their problems. The pod reveals its workings soon after, shooting Bear with a light ray. Before Bear can be cloned, Dare rips open the pod where a vegetable form of Bear is still forming. 

With a quick blast from his weapon, Dare shoots it back to its vegetative state, or cauliflower cheese as he describes it. 

From here, Dare briefly outlines how these creatures work, before the remaining three Bear clones appear. 

Exploring the nearby Star-cruiser, Dare finds just the weapon to fight them off - a flame thrower and another weapon that will solve his larger problem. The flamethrower works a treat and soon Dare and Bear are flying back to their fortress orbiting the planet. 

Once on board, we find out what Dare's final solution is for this planet - a planet bomb that destroys the planet and all life on it. With this obstacle out of his way, he has one final command - he doesn't want to see cauliflower cheese on the menu ever again. 

I agree totally with his last point, and I briefly feel like a space hero myself as I read this line. This was a pleasing outcome to the story, and it felt like an appropriate time to wrap up our visit to this planet. There was limited scope to these vegetable doppelgangers, and after seeing them pull the same trick three times we have about run the course. The drama on the plant was tight but never felt life-threatening. Dare found a solution to his problems almost too easily, and one hopes the next villain he encounters will be a tougher prospect. A tidy story with a neat end, this was pitched just right. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Re-programme the forts food dispenser--I do not want to see cauliflower cheese on the menu--ever!"

With a knife stuck in his torso, things looked bad for John Probe as we left him in the previous issue of MACH 1. This week things improve for him as we learn that he has grabbed the knife just in time to prevent it from going deeper. With death temporarily averted it is time to fight back, and this he does at his hyperpower best.

 He puts up a great fight against a group of guards but is outdone by Luigi Scarlotti, who strikes him over the back of his head with an iron bar. 

Tumbling into the pool, Probe looks done for as Scarlotta prepares to drop the temperature at such speed that the water will freeze instantly. This he does, leaving Probe frozen in a pool size block of ice. 

This upsets Professor Fisher, who fears that his precious dolphins may be next. He briefly wrestles with Scarlotti before he too falls to the hands of the surrounding guards. 

The following morning Scarlotti is preparing to move to Miami, but back in the pool of ice Probe is preparing his own escape. Using his computer data, he calculates that he needs to raise his blood temperate to avoid freezing to death. There is a chance that this could lead to brain damage, but Probe decides it's a risk worth taking. 

As his temperature rises, the ice around him melts just a little, enough that he can finally move his fingers, and with one final effort, he smashes his way out of the ice. 

Probe runs into Professor Fisher, and Fisher explains that they've taken one of the dolphins who knows the way to the secret area, and they will be using her as a guide to get there themselves. Probe is soon heading there himself, with his own guide dolphin, Zuma. 

It took a long time to clean up the fallout of the last issue, but it was well-paced and worth every page. Seeing Probe cheat death twice was worthwhile, and it was refreshing to see him use his hyperpower in other ways rather than just brute force. The final page of the strip was where the story took a leap forward. With Probe in pursuit of the wider mystery and the secret agent who went missing before him, we are in a fantastic position for the next issue. Not as good as previous issues, but still worth it.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Yes, sir - I've dealt with everything. You could say- our opposition have got cold feet!"

I thought James Hunter and his comrades were doomed as an alien robot started down the stairs towards them at the end of last week's issue of Colony Earth. However, on the first page of this week's edition, we find that the robot has a weak spot in its balance system and it can't come any further down the steps. Talk about a lucky break, all the tension in the panels beforehand leaks from the page in an instant. 

With a helping hand from Hunter and a swift kick, the robot is sent crashing down the stairs, leaving the team free to head to the surface. 

They surface to find the army in chaos. They are being decimated by the alien robots and ships, the alien heat rays wiping out all before them.

The army may be done for, but Hunter hasn't given up the fight, and as the robot attack comes to a conclusion and the aliens reveal themselves he makes his move. Jumping on one of their hover planes, he punches out one of the gnome-faced aliens. The craft is now his, as is the other alien who has survived his surprise attack. 

Flying the craft, by randomly pushing buttons and seeing what happens, Hunter, the Professor, and the alien hostage, take shelter in a cave, whereupon we find the alien can understand English, and indeed, all of Earth's primitive languages. We also learn that the aliens laid claim to the Earth many thousands of years ago as one of their colonies.

We have little time to digest this, as in the final panel they are discovered by the rest of the aliens. 

The aliens are ugly-looking creatures, but nowhere near as scary as their robot army. I was a little deflated when we first meet them, and as Hunter correctly pointed out, they do look like gnomes. Still, it is good to finally see what Earth is up against, and with Hunter on the case, I do feel I can sleep easily. This was an enjoyable and fast-paced story, with something happening on every panel, while all the while the story moved constantly forward. Next week should provide more of the same, and I for one can't wait to see what happens next. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "I don't know where you come from, gnome - but you sure ain't going back there!

Judge Dredd is still trying to put an end to the murderous car Elvis and this week it becomes personal. 

The car takes refuge in an apartment block, pushing his way into one of the apartments and forcing the owners into a corner while he plays with the children's toys. He may be a murderous car but at heart, he is just a child. 

Dredd uses this to his advantage, sending out a broadcast of Elvis's human mother asking him to come home. He follows up with a broadcast of his own face, goading Elvis and telling him that he is too chicken to face Dredd. He makes it clear that Dredd is just too good for Elvis, and can't even be bothered chasing him. 

Elvis falls for this and makes a threatening call to Justice Central. Telling Dredd that he is coming for him, Elvis leaves the apartment and heads out on the streets. This brings out a wave of Judges, but Elvis is quick and disappears into a network of underground caverns. 

With little chance of finding him, Dredd returns home. He arrives to find Water tied up and an angry Elvis waiting for him. Elvis has gained access to his apartment via an unknown elevator from the underground caverns. Holding all the cards, it seems Elvis has triumphed, but we'll have to wait until next week to see how that plays out. 

This story is getting a surprisingly long run. I would have thought that some of the earlier stories would be far more worthy of the extra pages than this one. The story is solid but isn't tugging at our emotions or overwhelming us with action, instead, it is a smooth ride from page to page, and there is little here that raises my pulse. I thought this might have been the last instalment, but we have at least one more week left. Fingers crossed the intensity will increase and we'll see this one out on a high. It's failed to excite me so far, a big ending is in order to win me over. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Yeah, I could whip Elvis with one hand...I could whip him with that little finger there."

Future Shocks covers similar ground to several previous Future Shock stories we have read before.

On a distant planet, man has struck oil. The prospector radios back to Earth to stake his claim, while telling us that he will rip this planet apart got get every last drop of oil. 

Over the page and he is stung by an insect and faints over his console. We then see that these insects are a miniature version of his own exploration. A well has been struck on his skin, and the insects are about to harvest every last drop of blood from this human. 

This is not new, there have been cases before in Future Shocks we see human activity replicated in miniature form. The alien landing from several months ago springs to mind, when a tiny alien craft landed on Earth, unseen by the humans who are looking for them. This doesn't make this story any less enjoyable, but it doesn't surprise me like it might have if I hadn't read the previous story. A nice idea, and a tidy story, even without the twist I found I liked it a lot. An enjoyable read and that's all I expect from any story. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Calculate that there will be at least enough blood-food to last us for ten decons of time!"

Inferno always suffers by being the last story in the comic. We have read and seen so much in the previous five stories that by the time I reach it I am already tired and ready to move on. It's desperately unfair, and we have had a good run from this story recently. 

The Long Island Sharks look mean, and they talk mean, their slogan "We don't just beat 'em...we eat 'em!" splashed across the first page of the story.

From here on it's all about the game, as the Hellcats in their borrowed gear struggle to beat the Sharks. They start well enough, their newest member Marvin a revelation as he snares the ball, delivers some smart lines, and sets up the first points. 

The Sharks are equal to the task, and they too make several aggressive moves. Moody Bloo matches them and repels the attack while setting up an offensive move for the Hellcats. We never see the outcome of this, as Eegle becomes spooked by something and crashes in an inferno. What or how, we don't know, but it's a bad way for the Hellcats to finish the comic. 

This game filled the four pages of the story, with large panels capturing the scope of the game and the onfield struggle of the teams. Some impressive dialogue between the players broke up the action, and of all the stories this week, this was the quickest to read. With bold action, and the wider plot temporality parked, it was easy to digest. It may not have challenged me, but it was an excellent way to finish out this week, and as I put down the comic I am very happy with everything I have seen. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "We don't just beat 'em...we eat 'em!" 

Prog 55 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Inferno

Best Line: "But why should I bother? Why should I waste my time on a kiddie car that's not fit to lick my boots?"   

Best Panel: