Prog 81

This week's 2000 AD feels weaker than normal. Maybe I've eaten too much chocolate and I'm crashing, but this week didn't fizzle and sparkle in the way I've come to expect. There were bright spots, not enough to elevate any one story, but they were there. I found the artwork comforting and interesting and it was the storylines were the biggest problem as they failed to fire my imagination. Perhaps the best course of action would be to immediately read Prog 82 and see if the future is any brighter. Before then, here are my thoughts on Prog 81. 

Prog 81

9th September 1978

Sam Slade and Kidd had walked into a strange apartment full of nothing but robots in the last issue of Robo-Hunter. This week picks up this thread as the robot clock and chair debate what they should do with Slade and Kidd.

The debate centres around whether or not Slade is a real human or a sim. A sim is a simulated human sent to trick the robots and right now they're not sure exactly what Slade is. 

A simple test is performed, with Boots the robot stamping on Slade's foot. Slade shows pain, and the robots explain this means he must be a sim, for everyone knows that humans are superior to robots and would never feel pain. 

Slade tries to convince them otherwise, but the robots argue long into the night while Slade and Kidd decide to sleep until they reach their decision. It is an equally long night for Slade, whose dreams are turned into nightmares with robots running the world. 

In the morning the robots are still spilt in their thinking about Slade. The voting has proved inconclusive, and it is decided that only SJI, the first robot sent to the planet, can decide if Slade is a real human.

The strip ends with Slade following Robo-boots to find SJI, while Kidd remains behind as a hostage. 

I enjoyed this week's episode well enough, although the middle of the story felt heavily padded. Almost two pages were dedicated to Slade's dream sequence, and this was too long compared to everything else that happened in the story. On a positive note, I did enjoy seeing the robots discussing amongst themselves, and the way they ignored Slade while they were talking. This week wasn't as funny as previous weeks and lacked the sharpness we saw earlier on, yet it still hinted at such moments and there was an underlying sense of irrelevance. The concept remains as strong as ever, and next week's issue should once again widen the world after all the action this week took place in a single room. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "No use us trying to escape this madhouse, Kidd. I've got a feeling every place on this planet is just the same."

At first, I thought I had missed an issue as I read Ant Wars this week. When we last saw Captain Villa and Anteater, they had just been taken prisoner by Argentinian gauchos and accused of stealing cattle. There is none of that as we begin the strip this week. The strip opens with the ants attacking the gauchos and Villa and Anteater once again fighting for their lives.

The ants make short work of the gauchos, although Villa and Anteater manage to escape by running with the cattle. They make their way back to their car and are soon speeding across the desert towards a garage whereupon they find a payphone and call for help. 

They are still making the call when an ant scout appears on the hilltop not far away, and within minutes the ants have stampeded a herd of cattle towards them. Villa and Anteater shelter in the garage inspection pit, and when they later emerge they find that the garage has been completely wiped out, as has the payphone and their car. 

Facing a long walk to safety, things don't get any better when some rebel guerrillas emerge from the hills and take them prisoner. 

We finish this strip in the same position as last week, with Villa and Anteater taken prisoner by a local group. It does feel as if we are going in circles, and I do wonder what the point was of the gauchos when we find ourselves in the same place one issue on. Villa is talking about getting the rebels on his side, but given the way the strip is going it is just as likely that they will all be wiped out by giant ants next week and this Groundhog Day will start again. I wanted to like Ant Wars more than I do. It's currently too repetitive, and we are seeing the same situation play out week after week as Villa and Anteater find help, only for the ants to attack and leave the two of them the only survivors. Giant Ants is an interesting idea, but the story just isn't working for me at the moment. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Giant ants! Grab your guns, gauchos!" 

Chapter 21 of the Cursed Earth in Judge Dredd, and it opens with plague-torn Mega-City Two where para-medic stormtroopers are fighting back waves of plague-infested victims. 

It's a misleading beginning as the story switches back to Dredd and Spikes, along with Tweak, who are still heading towards Mega-City Two with the much-needed vaccine. 

There are repairs to be made, and Dredd and company have time to kill. As they wait, Tweak begins to talk with Spikes and Spikes expresses surprise at how much of the language Tweak has learned. 

He is even more surprised when Tweak demonstrates his grasp of advanced math, and the rest of the strip has Tweak explaining his backstory and why he is good at such things. 

Tweak has been playing dumb on Earth. He hails from an alien planet, where he was the equivalent of President. A spaceship from Earth arrived one day, and probing the human's brains Tweak and his kind discovered the greed, hatred and war-like thoughts that men carry. Tweak and his council decided it would be best to have no contact with these men, rather than risk what they have foreseen. 

However, this is undone by some of the younger ones who venture out despite the decree. They are captured by the astronauts and taken for examination. So too is their mother who is out looking for them, and at this point of the story, Tweak reveals that it was his children and mate that were taken. 

Sacrificing himself, he plays dumb and is taken by the astronauts, whereupon he is reunited with his wife and children. They are taken back to Earth, and at this point, we snap back to the present as Tweak offers Dredd a delicious rock. 

The strip ends this week with Dredd wondering why Tweak has chosen this moment to tell his story, and can only conclude that it is because he thinks they will never get a chance to tell anyone else. 

I too was wondering about the timing of this story, and why it's now we get all this backstory about Tweak. When I saw the opening splash page I thought this may have been the climax of the Cursed Earth storyline, so I was most surprised to be confronted with Tweak's backstory on the following pages. It was interesting enough, but didn't feel essential in the face of what has come before, and the deceiving first image. Next week should place this issue in a wider context and more sense can be made of it, but for now, I'm scratching my head and wondering what it is all about. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "You've been holding out on us, Tweak. I figure you owe us an explanation." 

A wonderful start to Dan Dare this week, with some splendid art reminding us what peril Dare was in after his ship was pulled into a mysterious alien vessel. Now huddled in a smaller craft with another prisoner, Jebby, Dare can only listen as the primitives outside the vessel attempt to break in. 

He doesn't have long to wait, and soon the primitives have broken through the doors and taken Dare, Hitman, and Jebby prisoner. Dare has been knocked out, and as he comes to he is surprised to see another earthman is with them.

This character is shrouded in mystery. The primitives leave him alone, and he is not much help to Dare as he speaks in riddles, and is confused and befuddled most of the time.

Some light is shed on the situation when they see three bodies frozen in ice that the primitives worship. It seems this other man takes care of these iced figures, and in return, the primitives leave him alone to his own devices. 

Dare, Hitman and Jeeby are afforded no such leniency, and the strip finishes with the three of them on a conveyor belt heading into the unknown with a dark foreboding shape approaching from the inky blackness. 

I have mixed feelings about this episode. The art was excellent, and I find that the work of Goring/Leach matches my aesthetic. However the story didn't appeal to me, and although we met new characters, they weren't clearly defined. Being mysterious doesn't mean being interesting, and I couldn't find it in my heart to care where they came from or what would happen to them. The next issue may lift this fog, with this issue may be a necessary step, but until I have this wider context I'm left feeling untouched by all that unfolded. 

Rating: 5/10

Best Line: "Those cannibals are moving in for the kill!"  

This week's issue rounds out with a Future Shocks that concerns the Tunguska explosion of 1908.  

The story picks up in the year 2000 as scientists have finally built a time machine. One of the first things they wish to go back to is the explosion over Tunguska in 1908  and ascertain if it was caused by a ball of anti-matter or an alien spacecraft.

Two men enter the time machine, and after dialling in the year and time they are duly sent back to the past. The trip takes a mere two seconds, but it is not a successful mission for as they arrive there is a problem with their machine. The machine and men convert to anti-matter and explode over Tunguska, thus becoming the cause of the explosion they wanted to investigate. 

Halfway through the story, I realised what the outcome was going to be. That added to my enjoyment rather than detracting from it. I have long been fascinated by the Tunguska explosion and this strip ticked many boxes for me. Time travel stories offer up all sorts of variations and possibilities and we rarely get a poor Future Shocks Time travel story. Coming at the end of this week's 2000 AD, this was a sweet dessert after some of the heavier material earlier, and we are finishing on a high after the less-than-stellar Dan Dare. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "It works! They're on their way back in time!"

Prog 81 final ratings:

Overall: 5.5/10

Best Story: Future Shocks

Best Line: "No, not me, you stupid alien! I'm trying to teach you! Now you have a go!"   

Best Panel:

 

Prog 80

'Twas the night before Christmas, and Hamish was reading comics. His wife was well pleased, as you might imagine. Still, it keeps me out of her hair as she makes the final preparations for tomorrow's festivities. It feels like a long year, and to be honest, I'm just not in a Christmas mood. Reading 2000 AD from 1978 feels about right for the mood I'm in, so here we are. Merry Christmas. 

Prog 80

2nd September 1978

Nobody puts Sam Slade in a corner and Robo-Hunter is kick-started this week with Sam blasting his way free while delivering a monologue that recounts the story so far.

He and Kidd free the prisoners held at the same facility, but the prisoners have no concept of freedom and remain cowered in their cells.

Sam escapes on a food truck while Kidd blasts away at any robots in their way.  Quickly reprogramming the robot feeder on the truck, Sam adjusts its circuits to respond to his command. It pays dividends sooner than expected as they encounter Robo-cops outside the centre. Sam orders the feeder to smash the robo-cops, before bailing out and watching the carnage unfold. 

They continue on the run, and after having a shoot-out with another Robo-cop they decide to seek shelter in an apartment block where they can plan their next movie. 

Entering the apartment, they find that everything on this planet is robotic, and they encounter a robot chair, a robot kettle and various other robots. The robots argue among themselves about what they should do with these human interlopers and we finish with a low-key standoff. 

As much as I love this story, I'm tired of typing the word 'robot' over and over in this blog. Still, I did it with a smile on my face, much was my joy at the humour through the story. The last panels in particular were most amusing, and it lightened the story that was otherwise just a little stale. If not for the humour it would have been a generic shoot-em-up, and most of the story focused on Slade and Kidd blasting away at robots. This was elevated by the artwork and humour but otherwise, it fell a little flat compared to the previous issues. This is the first time that I have had a negative thought about the story. It is only fleeting, and it had other strengths that made it a worthy read. I hope that next week the plot will throw up some more inventive ideas. Until then, this felt like a placeholder and a necessary step in telling a wider story.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I may look like a coward, but with a blaster in my hand I'm nobody's pigeon!"

Last issue it looked as though the Ant Wars may have been over, but we know better as we saw the Queen's eggs being carried to safety by the nurse ants. 

This issue has a surprising start, with a side story of two Scottish Football supporters trying to make their way home from the World Cup finals in Argentina. There is some chat about the football, and how they are getting home, but it is all irrelevant in the face of the inevitable death they meet once they encounter the ants, now in Argentina. 

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Captain Villa and Anteater are still recovering in the hospital. All news of the ant wars has been hushed up, and there is not a word of it in the papers or television. The only news on TV is about the mysterious disappearance of the two foreign tourists in Argentina, and the news report that Villa and Anteater manage to catch. Both men spot an ant antenna on the ground near where the tourists went missing and this spins us off into the next part of the story. 

Villa demands to be let out of the hospital but is refused - with the doctor instead requesting the nurses give Villa more sedatives. However Villa and Anteater are out soon enough, Anteater disguised as a nurse and Villa as a doctor. 

Flying to Argentina, they hire a car and speed out into the wilds of the Argentinian grasslands. There they encounter some gauchos, the cowboys who ride with the cattle. The gauchos are not happy to see them, and soon Villa and Anteater are tied up and accused of slaughtering cattle, a slaughter that looks very much like the work of the ants to Villa's eyes. 

I was wondering how this story was going to build momentum again after the false ending of last week, and so far it seems to be building well. Moving to another country is a good idea, and gives more scope for a variety of characters to appear in the story. The opening of the two Scottish football supporters was a nice touch and well executed, building a fear of the ants while giving us a time and place. It also slotted it into the real world, and I appreciated the chat about Scotland being knocked out of the World Cup. The story is off to a strong start, and my disappointment of last week's ending is forgotten as once again my fear of the ants takes hold and I need to come back next week to make sure that Villa and Anteater save the world. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Nice one, Anteater. You made a great nurse!"

Judge Dredd has arrived in Las Vegas, and after a fight with God-Judge, Lucky Mutiano, he is forced to take the losers' leap, stepping off a plank atop one of the tallest buildings.

He does make the leap, but not before he sees Spikes at a lower level with a fire escape chute. Falling through the air, he and Spikes have a brief exchange before Dredd grabs Spikes' legs and the both of them glide to safety on the ground below. 

They are taken in by Rudy, a member of the League Against Gambling. Rudy introduces them to the rest of the League Against Gambling where Dredd is hailed as the savior. 

Reading from an old text, the prophecy is laid out - a man in black will come for the east to smite the chief evil-doer and his temple. Dredd has no time for such prophecies but agrees to represent the league in the annual gang fight held by the mafia families to decide who will be God-judge. 

Although Dredd doesn't belong to a mafia family, the fight is open to any judge and he is soon on the street in a car ready to compete against two other judges. In a classic mafia twist, the cars are old-style 1930's cars, complete with running boards, and the judges are armed with Tommy guns. 

The fight goes well, and with Spikes behind the wheel, they have soon eliminated one judge in a flurry of Tommy gun fire. The other opponent proves to be more difficult to dispose of,  and it is only through some skilful driving by Spikes, and a cunning idea by Dredd, that they manage to push it off a ramp and into oblivion. 

Dredd has won the competition, however he is still staring down the barrel of several guns of disgruntled mafia families. Help is at hand though, and with Dredd displaying some strong leadership, the League has provided the muscle to back him up. 

Order is restored, and Dredd is offered the role of God-judge. This he turns down, instead appointing his original rescuer, Rudy to the job. Continuing on his mission across the cursed earth, Dredd leaves Vegas, but his name and this day will long be remembered by the residents. 

Another worthy instalment, and I too will long remember Judge Dredd's visit to Las Vegas. The mix of classic mafia tropes and the futuristic world Dredd inhabits created several memorable images and plot points. Drawing heavily from American culture, this story blended the two well, and although it does this consistently, this was one of the better examples. The Las Vegas plot covered barely two issues, but it did all it had to while giving us a moral comment on Las Vegas and its associated gambling culture. This comment wasn't preachy and did fit in with how Dredd sees the world. It also showed that judges weren't immune to the world they live in, and having a host of corrupt judges and their mafia families made me see Judges in a different light from hereon. The vaccine mcguffin is once again forgotten, but we don't need it as Dredd continues to give us strong material like this week after week, once again reminding us why this comic is firmly considered his. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "If they expect me to commit suicide, they can forget it, I'll die fighting!"

Future Shocks this week is a good one and a story that is simply told. 

Gregg Isaacs is a hardened criminal serving out a long and arduous sentence on the interplanetary prison of Titan.

Upon arrival, he immediately makes plans to escape. Smuggling a pick to his cell, he works ceaselessly throughout the long nights, until he eventually finishes an escape tunnel into the caverns underground. Underneath the planet he makes a dash for it, only to be grabbed by a giant cave-dwelling creature. This he fights off with his pick, and he is soon at the transportation depot. There he steals a ship and is soon free flying off into space. 

It is only then that the twist comes and we see that Isaacs hasn't escaped at all., Instead, he is still in his cell where the doctor has just made a routine medical call. Isaacs has been given a drug that allows him to live out his fantasies for a while. His mind is happy and at ease, and the staff can begin the task of reforming him, a task slated to take twenty years.

I did not see this twist coming, and there is no greater compliment you can pay Future Shocks than that. Everything felt normal, and I found no clues at all in the story until the final panel. The crisp clean art served the story well and lent to the simplicity of the story. It remained unobtrusive, yet did just enough to hold the eye when words didn't suffice. A fine example of Future Shocks, this was a timely strip in an otherwise busy comic. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Ha, this is so easy, I can't think why other guys wouldn't come with me." 

Dan Dare and his ship have been captured by a huge alien vessel using a tractor beam. In the hold, the vastness of this vessel is revealed, with Dare's ship just one of many resting within. 

The damage to the space fort is impossible to calculate, and with oxygen running out, Dare, Hitman, and another crew member venture out of their ship and into the surrounding darkness, 

Dare takes a desperate gamble, removing his oxygen mask, and finds the air is safe to breathe. This small victory is short-lived as out of the darkness attacks some savage wild men. With one crewmember killed, Dare and Hitman find sanctuary when a beam of light appears and a voice calls them to a nearby ship. 

Here they meet Jebby, who tells them that he has been a prisoner here for many many years. He has survived by foraging, keeping the savages at bay with old battery lamps. It seems the primitives can't abide the light, although, in the final panel of the story, he tells Dare that his battery lamp is about done for, and when the savage's next attack they will have no defence. 

This story is a slow burn, and I like the extra layers added to the story this week. Last week the menace felt overwhelming with the scale of the alien craft, this week it has gone the other way, and at times feels almost claustrophobic as the story huddles close to the light. Dan Dare has a different feel from previous issues, and so far I like it more than other iterations. Dare appears a more old-fashioned type of character, more sturdy and serious. The only thing that detracts from this thought is the moment when he rashly took off his oxygen mask. A lowly crew member would never attempt such a thing, let alone a space captain with responsibilities to the crew and craft. A strange decision by Dare and the writer, and I wonder if there could have perhaps been a better way to handle this and overcome the obstacle. That aside, I found this an enjoyable way to round out the comic, and although it wasn't the best in class, it was certainly in the top half.  

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Hurry up! This light'll only hold 'em off for a minute...but we should just be able to get back to my ship! 

Prog 80 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Howeee! That pipe of yours smells worse than the breath of a Mercurial stoat, Jeb!"   

Best Panel:

Prog 79

Christmas is just around the corner, and for those of us here in New Zealand that means summer and a relentless treadmill of BBQs, beach, and beer gardens. Hardly the ideal time to be reading a comic with so many distractions and extracurricular activities. Still, a quiet hour with a comic is a nice escape from the family and I'm sure that if I disappeared for an hour they'd know where to find me - curled up in my favourite chair with a comic in one hand and a glass of port in the other.  

Prog 79

26th August 1978

A magnificent full-page illustration opens Robo-Hunter, giving us a sense of the scale of the problem facing Sam Slade. 

Trapped in a concentration camp for humans on a robot-controlled planet, Slade and his side-kick Kidd are transported to a mobile robot prison. After a battery of tests, the pair are scheduled to be 'recycled' - that is turned in fertilizer and placed in a more conventional prison to await their fate. 

While Slade and Kidd argue over the last cigar, Slade's robot assistant comes up with a scheme to escape. Slade's blaster didn't work against these robots as they are made of some new type of metal, but if they work out what kind of metal it is the blaster could be reconfigured. 

A good enough plan, but first they need to recover Slade's blaster. Here Kidd steps up. Now that he is the size of a small child, he slips through the bars of the cage and makes for the blaster sitting on the nearby table. He makes it, but the appearance of a couple of robots could spell disaster. 

A quick-thinking Kidd stuffs the blaster into his nappy, before playing the part of a child and biting the hand of the robot as it approaches. 

Thinking him nothing more than a child, the robots place him back in Slade's cell, whereupon Kidd pulls the blaster from his nappy and some metal shavings from the robot's hand that he has managed to scrap off when he bit the robot. 

Working fast, Slade upgrades his blaster, before putting it to good use and blasting his way free. With the robot guard dealt to, Sam Slade is back in the game.

Amazing art throughout this story, and it is bookended with two spectacular images. The opening image of the mobile prison is fantastic and is only matched by the intensity and grit of the final image of the freed Slade ready for action. The story that is spun across the pages is worthy of the art bestowed upon it, and once again we have pure comic magic. The tone of the comic is spot on, and the story is instantly re-readable. I can see myself returning to this story again and again, and for good reason. We have yet to have a weak episode, and with a delicate balance between intense drama and humour, this hits all my sweet spots. I'll stop gushing now, but this story is fantastic.   

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "You rat, Slade! I've got as much right to a last smoke as you have!"

A third of the comic is already over as we turn the page to Dan Dare. The Star Wars influence is strong from the first panel as Dare and his ship arrive at the home planet of some of the crew, only for the planet to explode as they arrive. 

There is no obvious cause and Dare begins an investigation. One of the crew members is distraught to see his home planet destroyed and is subsequently escorted to the sick bay by Bear. 

While watching over the kid, Bear is overcome with pain in his head and the thought that he must escape. While several crew members attempt to restrain him, he pulls open an escape hatch, condemning four crew members to a gruesome death as they are sucked out into the vacuum of space. 

The hatch is closed, and Dare finds that Bear has stopped breathing. With the help of Hitman they work on getting his heart beating again and manage to get him breathing just as further trouble arrives. 

A large ship has been sighted on the scanners, and it dwarfs the spacefort. Before they have time to consider their next move, Dare's spacefort is hit by something and all the power cuts out. With no energy the life support systems will shut down, and to add to their problems the spacefort is caught in a tractor beam by the huge ship and slowly drawn inside.

We are back on track after the Mutiny storyline, and once again I am being pulled back into the world of Dan Dare. With a new artist team on-board it isn't as clean looking as some of the previous issues, although this is compensated by a tightly focused story. Things bode well for future issues as Dare and the reader face the unknown. I enjoy these stories most when I don't know what is coming next, and in that respect, this week's issue has delivered. It is hard to judge from the first issue of a new story, and although I'm unsure about the artwork, I still have positive feelings as the story moves forward.

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "He's been out too long...stopped breathing...I must beat his heart to start it again! C'mon Bear, you can't give up on us now! We've been together too long!"

Continuing a satirical look at American culture, this week Judge Dredd arrives in Las Vegas. Pleasingly, Las Vegas of the future is just as bloated with money and corruption as it is today, and there is plenty of material for the writer to work with.

Approaching the city, Dredd and his battle-wagon are attacked by tanks. They fight off the attack and arrive at the city to find that this battle has been heavily gambled on, with several players making good money from Dredd's victory.

Dredd is disgusted, and even more so when he finds the Vegas Hall of Justice is a mega casino with the Judges in on the take. Inside the so-called God-Judge is sentencing those who oppose gambling, with the twist of the sentence being decided on the turn of a card. The God-Judge even has a stereotypical mafia accent to go with his racket, something that makes me both smile and cringe.

When Dredd speaks up in opposition to what the God-Judge is doing he finds himself up against a towering thug named Judge Fingers. It's no contest, and Dredd is knocked out with a single blow. 

He awakes in another part of the building where he finds he is about to take a one-way step off losers' leap, a platform that sits high above the city. A plunge to his death is imminent with little hope of escape.

I am sure this is the seventh or eighth issue in a row where I have written that the cursed earth is brilliant. It has been from the start and continues to be so here. I love the constant mocking of American culture, and the grim-faced character of Dredd is the perfect vehicle for this satire. Las Vegas is amplified in Dredd's world, yet it all screams true and feels like a logical extension of what is there now. The mafia influence in Las Vegas does feel like a 1970s trope rather than the big corporations that run it now, but the outcomes are still the same. Despite having a series of writers and artists, Dredd feels remarkably consistent in its themes and focus and that is one of the great strengths of it thus far. Each week builds upon the previous, with the character and world evolving in scope yet remaining true to themselves and what has come before. This gives the comic a timeless feel, and although there are moments that remind me that this was written in the 1970s, I mostly find this to be eminently re-readable. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "God-Judge! You're nothing but a mafia hoodlum!" 

Rio has fallen to the Ants in Ant Wars, and it's now up to Captain Villa and Anteater to kill the Queen and ensure she lays no more eggs that produce these monsters. 

Armed with some poison from a looted chemist, Villa and Anteater make their way to the Royal Hotel where the Queen is holed up. After killing the ant guard with a poisoned blow dart, they enter the lobby where they see the large shape of the Queen lounging. 

Another flurry of blow darts at the Queen seems to have turned the tide, but after using all their weapons we find that the Queen is actually a group of Ants huddled together as a decoy. 

Now facing a horde of angry ants, our two heroes make a quick escape up the cables of the lift shaft. They are now on the roof, but still facing the same problem as the ants break down the door, leaving no escape route. 

Just at that moment, several ships of the Brazilian Navy appear in the harbour. Seeing them, Captain Villa tears off his shirt and sets it alight to signal them. The Captain of the ship sees that the hotel is swarming with ants and orders the heavy guns of his ships to open fire. 

The effect is devastating on the ant army, and they are decimated on the street and at the hotel. As the navy personnel enter Rio they are shocked at the carnage and the sight of the dead giant ants. 

Villla and Anteater are found alive in the wreckage of the hotel and are soon convalescing at the hospital. It is here that they are told that the war has been won and the ant army destroyed. However, unknown to all, several nurse ants have escaped Rio, carrying with them the precious load of eggs laid by the Queen just before her death. Now it's just a matter of waiting for these eggs to hatch so they start over. 

I was worried that this might be the end of Ant Wars, and the final panel was just the reassurance I needed. Victory over the ants felt too easy and the was a sense of deus ex machine as the Navy ships suddenly appeared and opened up on the Ants. I would have been disappointed if this was how it all ended, so you can imagine how delighted I was when we saw the nurse ants carrying the eggs. This strip still has a chance to go out in style, when it does eventually end. I only hope that it won't limp along from here on in and that there is still a worthy story left to tell. We shall see. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "We can talk things over when you feel stronger - but don't worry. The ant wars are over!"

Prog 79 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Robo-hunter

Best Line: "Uh uh! Smoking is bad for little babies. Give the stogie to Uncle Sammy or Uncle Sammy will have to belt you!"   

Best Panel:

Prog 78

I have started to get serious about this blog, so much so that over the weekend I went to the library and got a book out about 2000 A.D. Thrill-power Overload for those that are interested, and from what I have read so far I cannot recommend it enough. Informative and detailed, I hope it will widen my understanding of this comic I am reading and add some context forty years after the fact. I have put it aside for an hour while I read this week's issue, but I soon as I finish I will be gleefully diving back in. Before then, let's roll back the clock to August of '78.    

Prog 78

19th August 1978

2000 A.D. is adorned with a sensational-looking cover this week, but I'll come back to that later as it doesn't come from the opening story of Robo-Hunter but rather Ant Wars. All in good time, dear reader, all in good time. 

First, we have to experience the paradise that Sam Slade and Captain Kidd find themselves landing in. With an army of robots awaiting them as the ship's doors are scorched off, it is far from paradise, despite the sign welcoming them. 

Kidd looks to Sam to save the day, but there is little he can do in the face of overwhelming odds, and soon both are behind bars and on the way to the experimentation complex. It doesn't sound pleasant, and so it proves as they arrive to find it full of captives, a human concentration camp on a planet run by robots. 

Behind this brief summary, there was a lot of nuance and clever plot points. The robots are imbued with a sense of humour, and their response to Sam Slade's order early in the comic is a sardonic laugh. This sense of humour permeates through the story, with the Robots referring to paradise several times, and in the final panels, we even see some of the humans calling it paradise before manically laughing. Right now Sam Slade is the only sane being in an insane place. The relationship between Slade and Kidd wasn't played out as strongly as the previous issues and a large part of this was due to the time given to show the world they have landed upon and the robot city. This gave the comic a well-rounded feel, and some context for what will come next. We have started with some very strong characters, and we now have a world that is their equal when it comes to interest. Next week the two should come together and the story will really start motoring. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Listen, you overgrown scrap-heap - Robots have got to obey humans!" 

Looks can be deceiving, a lesson we are about to learn in this week's Future Shocks. With an alien craft approaching Earth, the US military is on high alert. Scientists warn the General in charge to tread carefully, there is just as much chance that the aliens are friendly as not. 

The General isn't one to take advice, and when the aliens appear as revolting-looking slugs he takes immediate action, commanding his men to destroy them all, an order they quickly carry out. 

Seconds later a second alien craft appears, different in shape from the first. This time the aliens emerging from the door look like bears and immediately greet the General in English. The General gives them a friendly greeting in return, but the tables are turned when they tell him that the previous aliens are a friendly race, and these newcomers are here to destroy them all. The General has no time to digest this as he is the first to die as the bear-aliens open fire. 

An obvious warning to us all about judging on appearances, this wasn't quite the story I expected from Future Shocks. Given that the story stretched across three pages, I thought it could have been a little more subtle in its message. On second thoughts, there is very little subtlety on the pages of 2000 A.D. and this Future Shocks did what it needed to do as straightforward as possible. Although it may not have appealed to me, there was plenty in the story to commend it. The artwork was clean and to the point, and the story did poke the warmongers in authority in the eye. Not the best, yet it felt entirely in place in this week's 2000 A.D.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Never seen...anything so...loathsome in all my life!"

Dan Dare is fighting for his life as the tunnel he was sheltering in fills with emergency foam, while the mutiny still rages aboard his space fortress. 

It's a short-lived fight, as Dare pulls out his blaster and frees himself from the gel. 

Meanwhile, Hitman and the rest of the loyalists are making for the computer room, hoping to seize control of the ship.  There is a shootout with the mutineers, and it looks like Hitman is about to be shot by Logger when Dare suddenly appears to blast Logger in the back. 

The tide has turned and Haskins, leader of the mutineers, makes a dash for the computer room. He is intercepted by Bear, who we learn has only pretended to be a mutineer, but he swipes him aside and dives for the anti-grav shaft in an attempt to get to an airlock. 

Haskins manages to get to an airlock, and donning Dare's space suit that is nearby, he exits the fortress, making his way to the Eagle craft that is still flying nearby. He has no idea what awaits him, and he enters thinking he has made a clean escape. However, Gunnar Johanssen is still on the craft, and thinking Haskins is Dare he attacks him. While he is doing this he fails to put the ship on autopilot and they both come to a sticky end on the following panels as they are crushed by two meteors in the meteor storm which is still ongoing. 

It is a poetic end to the story given that Pilot Polanski dies the same way in the first episode of the story. Dare acknowledges this, before commanding his men to get the ship cleaned up and back onto their prime mission. 

Mutiny over, we are back to normal for next week's issue. Well, as normal as things get for Dan Dare and his men. Overall I enjoyed this mutiny story well enough, although it did run for perhaps one or two issues too long. Despite running long, this final issue felt like a rush and it concluded quickly. Perhaps some of the fat could have been trimmed from earlier issues to make this one more well-rounded, but it is par for the course in Dan Dare and I seem to recall having similar feelings after some of the previous stories. It was the artwork that did the heavy lifting, with the page layout and the clean lines propelling the action more than the words themselves. A good demonstration of the strength of the visual over the written, this story was elevated by the artwork. I'm often drawn to the writing in 2000 A.D. and Dan Dare is the exception where I prefer the art over the written word. I hope that next week will see a better balance between the writing and the art, although I would happily read anything drawn by Dave Gibbons. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Wait! He'll try to take one that rogue Eagle craft...which means he's in for the surprise of his life!" 

Although he's tied up and about to be operated on, Judge Dredd is still scheming and planning an escape. With his spinal glands about to be removed, Dredd uses the swing chair to catch the evil Doctor Gribbon flush in the jaw with his boots.

Freeing Spikes, they are stopped at the door by one of Gribbon's creations. Dredd is in no mood to mess about and quickly dispatches this obstacle with an accurate scalpel throw.

Gribbon isn't done quite yet and activates some concrete doors that trap Dredd in Spikes. However, Tweak appears just in time, ripping and eating his way through the concrete wall. There is still more drama yet as two green giants block their path, but the appearance of more of Gribbon's creations, this time fighting on Dredd's behalf, intervene and turn the tide. 

Gribbon has one final card to play and drawing a pistol he shoots Dredd in the shoulder. With Dredd prone on the floor it looks like Gribbon has him cold, but once again one of the little pill men appears, throwing himself in front of the gun, jamming it and killing himself and Gribbon at the same time. 

With the building burning around them, Dredd and his cohorts leave, with one final monologue from Dredd delivering a sermon and a pun. 

This is what Dan Dare could have been if the art and story had synced up just a little better. We had a very clever story delivered on a beautiful-looking plate. With humour and satire to the fore, it still carried plenty of grit and delivered a worthy message at the end of it. All these things Judge Dredd does well, and this was a fine example of the type of Judge Dredd stories we have had to date. Excellence in comic form, this was the capstone to a very interesting couple of issues and one looks forward to seeing what comes next. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Drokk it! Gribbon's got a thicker skull than I thought. 

We've had to wait for the whole issue to return to the fabulous cover that introduced Ant Wars. With a newspaper cover hysterically informing us of the Ant Wars, we are well-primed by the time we get to the story. 

We pick up where we left off with Captain Villa, Anteater, and a Brazilian army officer fleeing the Ants in the underground sewer pipes. This seemed like a good idea at first as the larger soldier ants couldn't enter the drains, but they instead found themselves pursued by the much smaller worker ants. 

They do offer some resistance, and there is a skirmish between the ants and the three refugees, the outcome of which is decided by Anteater and his jungle skills. 

Back on the surface, the three men find cover while they consider their next move. They observe the ants turning multi-storey blocks into huge ant hills and decide that the airport would be the best place to find help. 

Arriving at the airport, they find it guarded by yet more ants. They wonder what the significance of the airport could be to the ants, a revelation soon to come. Seeing an aircraft coming from the sky, the Brazilian Officer pulls a pistol on Captain Villa and Anteater, telling them there's only room for one on this flight. However, as he runs onto the runway to meet to meet the plane he is shocked to find that it is a flying Queen ant. There is no time to escape and he meets a messy end right there on the runway. 

It looks grim for Captain Villa and Anteater, although Villa sees an opportunity with the Queen ant attracting all the giant ants from the surrounding areas, now might just be the time to destroy them all at once. We end with the fateful words "The Queen must die" 

I didn't much care for the artwork in this week's issue, yet there was still enough on the page to have me recoiling in horror. The sight of the Queen Ant coming in from the sky was terrifying, and just the surprise I needed to maintain my interest in this story. It could have easily fallen into a loop of Anteater saving Captain Villa time and time again, and having the Queen Ant arrive was just the wrinkle we needed to keep the story fresh. The death of the Brazilian officer kept things at a dangerous level, and the scene at the airport far exceeded anything else in this week's strip. Ant Wars was hyped for some time before its arrival, and so far it has lived up to the hype in every way. I have no idea what will happen next, and that is the very best way to be. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Those wings! It's not a plane at all!"

Prog 78 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Gribbon learnt too late that man cannot play at being God! His creations had feelings...emotions! He created life - but in the end it was the death of him!"   

Best Panel: