Ant Wars has now been hyped up for several issues of 2000Ad, but before its arrival next week, we must first negotiate the final issue of Death Planet. Death Planet still feels like it has some way to go, and I do wonder why they are drawing the curtain on it so quickly, especially as there have been some great developments of late. With dramatic characters, a fantastic world, and a survivalist plot, I have enjoyed it thus far, and I feel slightly cheated to see it ending this week. All I can say is this Ant Wars had better be good after ditching a story such as Death Planet.
Prog 70
24th June 1978
Now that Artie Gruber has been dealt with, we are back on an even keel for Inferno. There are apologies from the opposing team, and then a timely news announcement regarding the death of Mr Chubb and his sidekick Alphonse Torso. The news announcer also informs us of their links to the gambling syndicate, although Giant tells all that he's sure they're just the tip of the iceberg.
With the Hellcats now officially cleared, there are smiles all around, although once again Giant is the voice of doom. he doesn't even stick around for the celebration and instead takes off by himself for forty-eight hours.
Two days later, the Hellcats are enjoying a dinner together when unexpectedly the door creaks open and standing there is Artie Gruber. There is a shout, but then Giant appears, explaining that he has built a replica, one that he has complete control over, to remind himself to be on constant guard.
The rest of the team is put off their food, and they all make their excuses to leave. Giant tells them they have nothing to fear, but late that night as he sleeps in the bed the robot whirs into life and appears menacingly at his door.
The drama in this story is at a low-level hum, and although the final panel threatened, it was the only part of the story that I found interesting. The reasons for Giant building a replica of Gruber were never probably explained, and I had trouble buying into his reasoning. Likewise, the moment when the robot switched on in the night. My first thought was why, followed by a shrug of the shoulders and a yawn. I was dubious when Gruber first made a comeback in this story and to see it happen again is all too much for me. I like Inferno, but we need to do away with Gruber once and for all and bring in a new threat.
Rating: 4/10
Best line: "Aww, c'mon Giant you're talking from doomsville. Let's forget the whole crummy crew, an' have ourselves a celebration!"
Future Shocks isn't too much of a shock this week. On the first page, we meet a worker named Krang making his way home after a hard day at work. However, his work is far from over, and once he gets home his wife has quite a list of chores that need doing.
He dutifully does all the chores, and over the page, we see him in the kitchen doing the dishes and calling to his wife that he's doing his best, he's only got three pairs of hands. He does only have three pairs of hands, and we see him busy with his six arms trying to get through all his work.
Not the grim life and death that we sometimes get in Future Shocks, and I was quietly pleased to see a more lighthearted story on the pages of 2000AD. It was not a shocking ending, it made me smile rather than shock me, and I feel this is just what was needed for the story. A nice palette cleanser, I am now ready to face the grit and grimness of Mach Zero.
Rating: 6/10
Best line: "Nag, nag, nag! That's all she does..."
There is little time to settle into Mach Zero, from the very first page the story is advancing.
The tramp Gimpy has called a council of war amongst the brotherhood of vagrants, and the enemy is named with a call to war - Cousin George.
Not all at the meeting are loyal, there is one traitor in their midst, a member called Sneaker the Rat. Sneaker and rat by nature as well as by name, he is soon reporting all that he has heard to Cousin George. Pleased to receive this information, George shows he is equally untrustworthy, and rather than receiving a reward, Sneaker is dispatched with.
Unaware of all of this, Mach Zero is still chained up in the basement. He is equally unaware of the three groups of the vagrant army making their way silently towards where he is being held prisoner, all with the intent of freeing him.
The story constantly moved forward at a steady pace, and I appreciate that nothing was rushed. We weren't swamped with details, and yet everything we needed to see was on the page. Once again there was splendid art throughout the story, and this was the story I dwelt upon longest as I worked my way through the comic. Every panel was to be savoured and enjoyed, and it felt like an indulgent treat to have such a story appear on newsprint. My favourite story this week, and deservedly so.
Rating: 8/10
Best line: "I tell you, my brothers, that the time for talk is past! Our friend helped us. Now we must help him, by declaring war on the common enemy...the man called Cousin George"
With the slave Tweak strapped to his back, Judge Dredd is facing the Slay Rider and a wall of napalm throwers.
The first pages are all action as Dredd leaps from his bike at the slavers, leaving Tweak to fend for himself as the battle rages. Tweak unwittingly helps, pushing a button on the bike and firing a barrage of mortars into their foes.
The battle escalates, but once Dredd defeats the Slay-Rider it is all but over. Counting their losses, Spike is angry at Dredd that Judge Patton is dead, most of the robots are smashed, and it is all for the life of a dumb alien.
Looking towards Tweak they see that he is placing rocks on a grave. Spike is convinced that this is where Tweak has buried the bodies of his human victims, but upon opening the grave they find that it is the rest of Tweak's family, who have all been murdered by the plantation owner.
We finish with Dredd and his men helping to close the grave, while Dredd ruminates on the cruelty of the human race and their so-called civilized ways.
The ending and tone perfectly aligned with the rest of the story. I couldn't help but agree with Judge Dredd's final assessment that sometimes the human race makes him sick. The humans presented in this story were the very worst of mankind, and Pat Mills made his thoughts on slavery and all it entails very clear here in his writing. The artwork stayed out of the way, and let the story shine through. There was action, but it wasn't overwrought, and the actions of the characters spoke for themselves. With stories like this, one can see why so many rate 2000AD so highly.
Rating: 8/10
Best line: "Dragged as a specimen off his home planet...sold into slavery...his mate and kids butchered on a world light years away from home...yeah, Tweak must really think we humans are civilised!"
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This is the final episode of Death Planet, and things will have to move rapidly to wrap it up from the situation we are now in.
Things do indeed move quickly, and the first page lays out that Lorna Varn, Richard Corey, and all the colonists are now working as slaves for the leader of the pirates, Zeena Dra Gornik.
We also learn in the first panel that one of the planet's creatures of death, in this case a large Hell Bird, is picking off slaves and striking fear into the heart of Zeena Dra Gornik.
Over the page, Corey makes a decision that will bring this story to a close. Using his axe he chops off his arm that has the bracelet that Zeena is using to control him and grabs her, pulling her in front of him, as a giant bird swoops down at them.
With its jaws wide open, it picks up both of them, including the controller that Zeena is using to control the slaves, and disappears into the sky. Freed of the control device, the slaves rally under Larna Varn's command, and soon they are fighting back against their captors.
It's not much of a fight, and the story ends with the colonists gaining control of the pirates ship. Vern decides that they won't be using it to fly to safety but rather that will stay on the planet and colonise it, it is what Richard Corey would have wanted.
This happened all too fast for me, and while I appreciated Richard Corey's sacrifice, it would have meant more with a longer, and perhaps more detailed buildup. I enjoyed this story early on, and it took an interesting turn with the arrival of the pirates, but this ending had me reassessing my opinion of the story. A weak finish, it is a shame that this will be how I remember the story, especially given how much I liked it in earlier episodes. There was a lot of untapped potential in the Zeena Dra Gornik character and a lot more backstory that could have added a different dimension to the story. Likewise, the tension between Richard Corey and Lorna Vern was not satisfactorily resolved, and it was papered over in the final shakedown rather than given the longer in-depth treatment it deserved. Lots that I didn't like here, but I shall always have fond memories of the earlier issues, despite my final thoughts of its wasted potential.
Rating: 4/10
Best line: "That pirate lady is scared witless by that creature....hmmm! I wonder?"
I had forgotten how bonkers Dan Dare is at the moment until I saw the first panel of this week and the lay of the land. The vicious aliens Vrakk are attacking the descendants of 17th-century Earthmen kidnapped by UFOS and there is only Dan Dare and his men standing in their way.
There is one house already alight, and just like last week one of Dare's men points out that it looks like some kind of weird anthill.
There is little that Dare and his men can do about the Vrakk attack, and they take to their heels in an effort to draw them away from the village. It works, but as Dare and the spacers hide in the undergrowth they hear the Vrakk crying out. Seeing what the commotion is, Dare finds that the Vrakk are running scared in the face is some huge killer worms.
The worms take off as Dare fires at them, and Dare quickly returns to the village to confront Obadiah Crowe and question what the meaning of all this is. Obadiah swears upon their sacred book that he knows nothing of these worms, but later Dare discovers that the sacred book is actually empty.
Doing some exploring they find a crashed alien ship. It appears relatively new, and Dare and another spacer search it for clues. Once again Obadiah appears, and the wider story reveals itself as he changes form into a giant killer worm.
Well, that's my nightmares sorted for tonight. Dave Gibbons has done a fantastic job on the artwork here, giving the story a creepy horror edge. But it is the script robot Jack Adrian who has really excelled, concocting a brilliantly weird and wonderful story that has kept me guessing, and suitably scared, throughout. None of this could be predicted, and it is a fantastic mix of genres and ideas. I recently read some of the original Dan Dare stories from the 1950s and we are certainly light years away from that. I couldn't ask for anything more: an inventive story, a dose of horror, lovely artwork, and a plot that is still revealing itself. All great stuff, and long may it continue.
Rating: 8/10
Best line: "Huge killer worms--making mincemeat out of the Vrakk! Where did they spring from?"
Best Story: Mach Zero
Best Line: "Judge Patton dead...most of the robots smashed...and what for? To save the life of some dumb alien!"
Best Panel:
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