Prog 60

 This week's issue is hit-and-miss. There are a couple of outstanding stories, but others aren't quite up to the standard I have come to expect. No matter, next week we can do it all again and the cyclic nature of these stories can continue. Now I know how my father feels, I'm not angry, just disappointed. 

Prog 60

15th April 1978

Dan Dare is descending deep to destroy the Sluurg-mother with a sonic-bomb, hoping to save the waterworld of the Zeebos being destroyed. He is facing one more crucial problem though, the special booster fluid in his veins is wearing off and he is succumbing to the enormous deep sea pressures. 

The Slurrg-mother looks on as Dare approaches, and then reaches out, thinking that he is food. Dare avoids her grasp and she instead swallows the sonic-bomb. It is far from over for Dare as she grabs him a second time and he resorts to stabbing her in the eye, freeing himself from her clutches just as the sonic weapon detonates. 

The world around him begins to collapse and it seems that he has no escape, only for him to awake on a hospital bed where Hitman informs him he has been unconscious for a week. 

Hitman informs Dare, and the reader, of all that has unfolded since the sonic bomb exploded, and how how they found Dare once they got the Eagle's reactors working again. They are now back on the fort orbiting the planet and waiting for Dare to pull through before they warp out of there. 

Dare has other ideas though, and his final task is to mop up the rest of the Slurrgs. We are informed in a single panel that this takes two months to achieve using laser canons and torpedos, and once this genocide is complete they finally leave the planet and we all anticipate a new adventure next week. 

A weak ending to what has been a fairly decent story. Disappointed to see the annihilation of a whole species on the final page, but I guess in space it's kill or be killed. My only other negative thought was that I didn't much care for the look of the Slurrg-mother. Those lazy-looking eyes didn't truly convey the menace of the creature. 

Asides from those two things, the rest of the story entertained me and was at times touching on thrilling. Not as good as the issues leading up to this one, but still I walk away from this story with a smile on my lips and thoughts of becoming a space adventurer myself. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Weak as a...newborn kitten! The...surface is twenty miles up...and I'm just....not gonna make it!" 

John Probe has returned to the laboratory where his life as MACH 1 began, only to find his boss Denis Sharpe waiting for him with a hulking menace known as MACH 2. 

Sharpe has instructed MACH 2 to destroy John Probe and the next few pages of the comic outline their battle against each other. It's an unequal fight and it soon becomes apparent that MACH 2 is both stronger and tougher than Probe.

Probe does have a piece of luck when MACH 2 throws him into high-voltage cables. The cables spark and flame and MACH 2 looks a little frightened. Probe capitalises on this and pokes a flaming cable into MACH 2's face. This brings the next big reveal in the story, for as MACH 12's skin melts away we see that he is a machine. 

Sharpe reveals more, telling Probe that as MACH 1 he was too unreliable, the human emotions of his being overriding the logic of his computerised brain. With MACH 2 there will be no such consideration.

MACH 2 grabs Probe from behind and begins to choke him out, and thoughts of who he really is floods Probe's mind. It is then that MACH 2 releases him on Sharpe's command and we finish the story with Sharpe telling Probe that he is the only one who knows Probe's full story, and as much as they hate each other, they need each other.

The fight in the middle of the strip was typical for the genre, but it was the final page where we broke new ground and the story dragged itself into a wider context. This feels like a fresh start, and although Probe has been pursuing his history for a few issues, now it feels like he's never been further or closer to the truth. Far more interesting than battling villains of the week, MACH 1 has found its feet and finally matured into a story I want to read every week. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Yet as you see, a little thing like having his plasti-skin melt won't stop MACH 2. He goes on till his mission is complete!"

With Astronaut Major Steel being hauled about the alien craft orbiting Earth, it seems that Commander James Hunter's counterattack in Colony Earth has failed. 

Professor Vandenberg has other ideas, and clambors about the alien ship himself, seeking to negotiate Steel's release. This leaves Hunter and war robot "Charlie" alone to carry out the fight, and they find themselves gaining entry through a part around the back. 

Blasting their way through a couple of doors and several guards, Hunter soon finds himself in the room he seeks, where the aliens are talking with Vandenberg and Steel. From here on all hell breaks loose, with Hunter and Steel putting up a storming hand-to-hand battle. Several panels later the fight has been all but won, and we finish the story with Hunter facing down the alien leader and about to, hopefully, bring things to a conclusion. 

Not my favourite story right now. A lot happened this week, but none of it felt very important. It was all too easy, and nothing felt earned. All three members of Hunter's party gained access to the alien craft smoothly, there was no drama with the professor and Steel being captured, and Hunter himself gained entry extremely easily. He quickly found his colleagues and the final fight was over in just a few short panels, it all became one-sided quickly. The art looked great, but as soon as I followed the story I became disillusioned. I want to like this story more than I do, but right now it's just not appealing. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Hunter - you old swamp rat - you made it!" 

At first glance, it looks as though this week's Judge Dredd story is about a firebug, but after reading it we find that it's actually about something much closer to home - Walter Wobot.

We start with a dramatic splash page of a burning tower block and the mad scramble of citizens trying to parachute to safety. Over the page, Dredd is on the scene and directing safety operations, while his faith robot Walter delivers sandwiches to him to keep his strength up. 

The fire is brought under control and Chief Judge and Dredd are discussing the firebug behind this fire and ten others. In a city of 800 million, he is going to be hard to find.

It is Walter who gives Dredd a vital clue the following morning. As he delivers breakfast to Dredd he also tells him that it is the anniversary of Walter gaining his freedom. As a token of his appreciation he has burnt his freedom papers and had some ownership papers drawn up - Dredd is now the owner of Walter. 

Dredd is annoyed at this interruption but it does spark a thought in his head, and he calls for all the ownership deeds of the properties that have suffered fire damage. His hunch proves fruitful, they are all owned by one man named McCracken and he is soon brought in for questioning. 

It doesn't take long to get to the bottom of it, removing the top layer of his skin they find traces of fire-starting chemicals. McCracken stares angrily out from beneath a swarth of bandages as he is taken away, but the story still has some way to go. 

Dredd returns home to find a suicide note from Walter. He has decided he can't live without Dredd and will throw himself off a tall building forthwith. Dredd puts out an emergency call, and soon sights Walter on Dredd's bike, about to jump off a tall building. 

The bike plunges over the edge, with Walter chained to it. Dredd is aboard a hover bus, and with a net he catches Walter mid-fall, before rushing him quickly off to the roboclinic. 

Walter is repaired, but Dredd remains cold with him to the end, telling him that as his owner he expects Walter to do exactly like he says or he'll be auctioned off. He speaks harshly, but Walter is overjoyed to be back in the fold and claims to be the happiest robot in the world. 

A story of two halves, and neither was particularly satisfying. I enjoyed the firebug story, especially the panels when McCracken is brought in for investigation and the horrifying machine he faced, but it wrapped up all too quickly. I would have liked to see it fill the whole strip, and the Walter storyline split off for another day. I have the same feelings for the Walter storyline. The end was good, but with more build-up, it could have been much more, Despite this, I enjoyed this week's strip, and the mention of sandwiches twice in the first pages made me smile. The first page in colour wasn't the highlight as far as the art goes, that was within as the Judges interrogated the prisoner, but it did set the tone as far as humour goes with the comment from one of the citizens gliding to safety calling out "Be careful you fool! Where were you during glide chute training" This humour remained strongly embedded throughout the whole strip and raised it above the midlevel plot. Some strong elements here, I would like to see them gel together in a stronger storyline. 

Rating: 6/10

Best Line: "I'm Judge Dredd's wobot, please give these sandwiches to him. He must keep his stwength up!" 

Future Shocks is very much a short sharp shock, with the story barely stretching to a page and a half. 

We open with two archaeologists opening up an ancient tomb and having a lively debate about what lies in the coffin they find there. One surmises that it is the body of visiting aliens from other worlds while the other thinks it could be the leader of a lost tribe. 

Over the page, we have the final panel of the strip with a vampire rising above both the men, an explanation neither man considered. 

As much as I liked the final panel, it wasn't enough for me to fall in love with the story. I'm usually a sucker for ancient crypts, and this one certainly ticked all the boxes for me, but there wasn't enough of a hook to have me quickly turning the page. The final panel looked sensational with the vampire drawing heavily from Nosferatu, but the story was all but over and this twist didn't make up for the brevity of the strip. Pretty to look at, but I would have liked just a little more flesh on the bones of the story.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I wonder what secrets lie behind those ancient stones?"

With a giant garbage robot bearing down on them, the only chance for the Hellcats is the surprising arrival of Regal Eegle on his bike. This week's episode of Inferno drops us straight into this scenario, with Regal Eegal leaping off his bike at the critical moment and letting it slam into the robot's claw. The team think it's a cowardly act, but he has cunningly overheated the energy fusion cell on the bike, turning it into a bomb. And what a bomb, the robot is completely destroyed as it crushes the bike in its claw.  

With the controller of the robot also dead, there are no further clues for the Hellcats to follow in their search for the Syndicate. A team meeting is held, and everyone is made aware of the situation the team find themselves in. There is talk of breaking up the team, but everyone agrees to stick it out despite the odds stacked against them. 

In the next game, the team play exceedingly well, and it seems all is back on track as the crowd begins to appreciate them. However, watching on TV is the shadowy figure of Mr Chubbs, still plotting their demise. He seeks someone ruthless and with a grudge against the team to do his bidding. He has found just such a person, who we see in the final panel, all he has to do is raise him from the dead. 

I don't want to spoil it, but the figure Mr Chubb has lined up is most familiar to us, and I look forward to his return next week. But until then I must consider this story. A nice big explosion up front, some internal politics, and then the final appearance of their nemesis and his latest scheme makes for a well-rounded issue. There was even time for a game to appear briefly, and for once the team were winning. All positive things this week, and with next week bringing new twists this story is going from strength to strength. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "That's for losers, man! To hell with the Syndicate!"  

Prog 60 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: MACH 1

Best Line: "Stop screaming - we haven't even touched you - yet!"   

Best Panel: