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: