Prog 71

Ant Wars has arrived, and I must say after having a sneak peek I am impressed with what I see so far. The rest of the comic remains strong behind this new story, and although I was sad to see the end of Death Planet last week, I have no complaints at all as I flick through this week's 2000AD. Let's have a deeper dive and see what happened in this thrilling issue.      

Prog 71

1st July 1978

After several weeks of hype, the Ant Wars are finally upon us. Obviously, there will be Ants and war, and my mind is already running quickly through the possible scenarios that will get us there.

I'm not too far off the mark with my assumptions, although the first few pages do a good job of laying out the characters and the context. Deep in the Brazilian jungle a group of Indians are rounded up by the government, ostensibly to be cleaned up and made civilized. The sight of the Indians eating ants is taken as a sign of the government's superiority, and the soldiers take delight in carrying the Indians back to a reservation camp for retraining.

As they depart, they throw a can of experiment insecticide into the nearby anthills, thinking that they will clean up every part of the jungle. This will be key to the story that follows. 

Months later, the youngest of the Indians is still eating ants. Although he has learnt some English, he hasn't stopped this habit, much to the disgust of the soldiers at the camp. Under their officer's orders, they beat this Indian until he is unconscious and then carry him back to his bunk. 

Later that night the Indian escapes. A helicopter sets out to find him, but they get more than they bargain for as they fly over the deep jungle. It is here that they find Anthills built into the sky, the size of small mountains. Staring in shock, the helicopter crashes into one of these, leaving the survivors on the ground surveying the wreckage.

They are not alone, the Indian they are seeking is also nearby. They are soon thrown together with the appearance of a man-size ant. The ant attacks the men, killing all but one, but the Indian intervenes and kills the ant with his knife. The soldier understands immediately that the experimental insecticide must be the cause of this.  We finish with the soldier and the Indian alone facing a long journey home and an army of giant killer ants. 

Heebie-jeebies all around for this one! I was drawn into the story by its political slant and statement about indigenous people and so-called civilization, but when the giant ants entered all that went out the window and all my thoughts became fearful. It's going to take a while to get the image of the giant ants out of my head, and I'm pleased that my bedtime is still some hours away - I still have some respite before the nightmares start. This story has been built up for several weeks now, and I did have reservations about it, especially as Death Planet was rushed and cut short to accommodate it. Now that I have started reading Ant Wars I can see why. With Gerry Finley-Day on writing duty, the story has a pedigree from the start, and I anticipate that this is one story that may live up to the hype. Already the story is packed with information and character across the first few pages, and even before the giant ants appeared it was a compelling read. It may have horrified me, but I'm tempted to pick up the next issue immediately and see what happens. I'm going to be patient, and next week will come soon enough,  especially with some sleepless nights as I worry about giant ants outside my window.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "You! A simple savage yet you killed that creature, when my highly trained soldiers have all been wiped out!" 

On the pages of Inferno, Giant has an android replica of Artie Gruber entering his room while he's sleeping. It's a fast start to the story as Giant first tries to turn the android off with the remote, before being knocked out and carried out into the night by the android. 

The Hellcats become aware of this the following day when the android arrives at their training session and delivers an ultimatum for the mysterious "Syndicate" -  they have Giant as a hostage and the Hellcats must be at the Death Bowl tonight at midnight, or else.

Venner acts rashly and runs at the android who then self-destructs, destroying himself and Venner. The Hellcats have now lost Venner, Eegle, and Cindy, and they realise that the Syndicate will stop at nothing to destroy them all. Despite this, they decide to go to the Death Bowl, a stadium that lives up to its name and looks suitably foreboding in the final panel. 

This story was all about the artwork, and every page was a treat. The story has advanced nicely, yet when I look back it is the art that is most memorable. We saw Belardinelli deliver up some weird, almost psychedelic, scenes in Dan Dare early in the run of 2000AD, but here he deals with something far more sharp and sinister, and I cannot speak highly enough of his depictions of the android Gruber. Last week I complained that Gruber had appeared too much in this story, but in light of his fearsome look and brilliant rendering by Belardinelli I take that all back. My eyes could not help but linger on every image of Gruber, and all thoughts of the plot vanished as my mind focused entirely on the art. Next week looks promising with the Death Bowl, but until then I am entirely in the moment and every panel in this week's issue.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Jupiter's blood...you! It's gotta be some kind of nightmare..." 

I can't decide if this week's Judge Dredd story is clever or silly. I have read it twice, and I'm leaning towards clever, but next week's issue will decide it for me.

Dredd is still travelling across this cursed earth, where this week he becomes caught up in the Hamburger Wars. Yes, I'm glad you asked, the hamburger wars are being fought between the two titans of the industry, McDonald's and Burger King. 

It is a war in every sense of the work, and the opening two pages show the opposing forces facing off against each other in battle. How Dredd stumbled into this is explained over the page as we see Dredd and Spike enter the town of Inbetween. It is here that the trouble starts when Dredd and Spike enter a local cafe and Spike innocently asks for a hamburger.

This upsets the locals, and we quickly learn that the Burger Barons are fighting a war over this part of the country, with McDonald's in the North and Burger King in the South. The town of Inbetween lies in between the two, naturally, and is the only free town left. 

Dredd has little time to digest this information, as Burger King and his burger boys steam into town. Demanding loyalty to his franchise, the Burger King prepares to chain up the locals and take them back to Burgerville. 

It's a case of out of the frying pan, onto the hot grill for Dredd as the sudden appearance of Ronald McDonald and his army becomes open war against the Burger King. 

The fight is on to capture more than just the hearts and minds of the local townsfolk, and the violent battle comes to a head over the page as Ronald McDonald decapitates the Burger King. The victorious McDonald wastes no time in chaining up the locals, including Dredd and Spike, and prepares to march them back to McDonald City. Not only that, but he also burns the town to the ground.  

Dredd and Spike appeal for their freedom, even telling McDonald of their mission, but he tells them that he can't take the risk of them going to the other side and that they'll have to stay McDonald's customers until the war is won. Given that this is a big country, that may well be some time yet. 

It is clever, and I love anything that pokes commercialism in the eye, but I do wonder if this is all too obvious. Sure, satire is obvious, yet I wish they could have window-dressed this just a little more. Despite that, I couldn't help but be impressed by both the cleverness of the story and the message behind it. Dredd is an anti-hero, and anyone who fights back against the relentless march of big business and globalisation is all right in my book. Although this strip is almost fifty years old it is easy to reimage it in a modern context, with perhaps Amazon taking on another business behemoth. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I will wait to see how this pans out before I fully commit to an opinion, but in the meantime, I'm giving it a tentative 7.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You didn't have to burn the town. You won this ridiculous war - you killed the Burger King." 

Mach Zero is still being held prisoner inside an old theatre in London by Cousin George, the world-famous American stunt-man, who has been parading Zero's great strength to show off to the public in a circus-like freak show.

This is about to change, and an army of tramps is on their way to help Mach Zero -on the first page we see them arrive at the theatre. Little do they know that it is an elaborate trap by Cousin George, and they find themselves facing George and a bunch of well-armed men as they enter. George may have the weapons, but the vagrant army has the numbers, especially once they are bolstered by two other groups arriving via the rooftops and the sewers. 

Zero is freed, and George is on the run, but there is one final twist in the tale as Zero is shot at close range by a shotgun. Staggering back in pain, all the hate and thoughts of how Cousin George has mistreated him come to the surface, and we finish the story with Zero promising death to all that have illtreated him, while ominously gripping two columns on the stage.

You don't have to be a biblical scholar to see the obvious Samson parallels in the final panel, and I think we all know what is going to happen next. It has been a joy getting to this point, and just like last week and the week before I am captivated by the art. Mike Dorey is again on the top of his game, and I actually read this story three times, once reading the words, and the other two times just looking at the art alone. A feast for the eyes and this tale of a circus freak show is perfectly captured on the page. I do wonder if next week might be the final part of the story, I sincerely hope not. I never expected to enjoy Mach Zero as much as I have, and the fact that I do love it as I have lies squarely at the feet of Mike Dorey. Splendid throughout, and another stand-out issue. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Lor', how many of these freaks are there?"

The most nightmarish story is saved for last, with Dan Dare facing down Obadiah Crowe, the leader of the colonists on this Garden of Eden planet that Dare has discovered, who has now transformed, unbelievably, into a giant killer worm.

We quickly learn how this has occurred, with the membra-flowers in the woods absorbing the minds of the original colonists. The worms then ate the flowers, thus absorbing the minds of all that land there themselves.

Dare acts quickly, and as the worm snatches at one of his crewmen Dare picks up his weapon and kills the worm with a well-placed shot. 

Carrying the injured crew member, Dare links up to the rest of the men who are now in the remains of the village. They all make for the fort, desperate to get there before the worms so they can fly away to safety. They look like they have accomplished their goal but as they prepare to take off a crewmember bursts in to tell Dare that the worms have come in through the ducts and the whole ship is full of snakes. 

I want these mother f****** snakes off this mother f***ing spaceship now! Dan Dare may not say it, but we all know he's thinking up. Another top-notch cliffhanger finish from Dan Dare, and although it wasn't as scary as the previous issue, the final panel did give me the willies. It's true what they say - in space, no one can hear you scream. The set-up and explanation were convoluted and frankly quite silly, but as soon as I saw those snakes I didn't need any explanation - I just needed Dare to run. An excellent finish to the strip, my fingers are crossed that the next issue delivers on the promises made in this final panel.

Rating: 7/10

Best Line: "A futile attempt, commander...for now your friend dies-sss!"

Prog 71 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Ant Wars

Best Line: "You've bitten off more'n yuh kin chew this time, Ronald! Let's take this town fer th' Burger King chain!"   

Best Panel: