Prog 82

I know I shouldn't have, but I was looking ahead in my pile of comics here and I see changes coming in the next month. Big changes, and hopefully good changes. I am enjoying where we are at with 2000 AD at the moment, but I can't help but think that things could be better. It remains to be seen how things will pan out in the coming months, and the only thing I can guarantee is that I'll be here every week devouring it all. 

Prog 82

16th September 1978

Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter, is on his way to meet SJI, the first robot on Verdus, in the hope of proving that he is a real human and not a simulation. He is being led by robo-boots, and the pair of them are worried about the police hunt that is currently searching for them. 

Their first confrontation with the robots looking for them comes shortly after, and  Slade blasts his way out of trouble. However, the numbers are overwhelming and it's the robo-boots that offer a means of escape.

Strapping on the boots, Slade is off on a wild ride. The boots are too fast for him, and he cannot keep his balance. This doesn't deter the boots, and they continue to run, dragging Slade along with them.

Even so, they eventually find themselves surrounded. The boots have one last ditch solution, this time leaping off the platform with Slade still attached and onto a ledge on the building opposite. 

After all this excitement, Slade tells the boots that he will stick to using his own feet from here on as his way costs him too much blood. This decided they take a taxi the rest of the way to the robot record office, where they hope to find the whereabouts of SJI. 

The robot clerk is suspicious and it takes some smooth talking to extract the information they need. The clerk however continues his unwanted observations, and it takes Slade's blaster to finally silence him. Thus we end the strip this week with Slade and Robo-boots taking a taxi to the location given and Slade pondering on his chances of ever seeing Earth again. 

An uneven start to this week's comic, and as much as I like Sam Slade, I never feel fully engaged with this opening story. Sure, there was humour aplenty - always a good thing, but the rest of the story left me locked out and looking for a way in. I just couldn't get invested in this interaction with the clerk, and it felt like a break in the momentum as we searched for SJI. The characters remain the strongest part of this strip and we just need a story worthy of them. It is still early days, and I expect it will get better in the coming weeks. We shall see. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "You would have to bleed, Slade!"

I never thought I would save this, but I found this week's Ant Wars to be silly and could find very little joy in reading it. It retreads similar storylines we have seen week after week and adds nothing to the overall story arc.

Having been captured by revolutionaries in the hills of Argentina, Captain Villa and Anteater are freed at the appearance of the giant ants. Talking the revolutionary leader around to his point of view, Captain Villa watches on as the revolutionary army lays an ambush for the approaching ants. 

The ambush exceeds all expectations, and as the men stand over the bodies of their defeated foes, Villa is dispatched to find civilization and a newspaper reporter to capture the moment. 

While he is gone, further giant ants appear, also carrying dozens of cocoons of Queen Ants. The ants overwhelm the forces approaching them, with the Queens busting out of the cocoons and flying away. 

Villa returns to find nothing but dead bodies and empty cocoons and it's only through the appearance of Anteater, who has survived by hiding, that he is made aware of what has unfolded.

We end right back where we started, with a swarm of Ants flying towards the foothills of the Andes. 

I had hoped that after the false finish a few weeks ago the story would find a new wind in its sails. It hasn't, we find ourselves becalmed on this hollow storyline. For the last three weeks, I feel as if I have read the same story over and over, and any joy I may have had in the first reading has now vanished in the face of this repetition. I don't think that things will change in the future. I will keep on reading, but only with the secret thought in my heart that I hope it all ends soon. 

Rating: 4/10

Best line:  "What..? Other giant cocoons like the one we've got! The column was carrying more than one queen ant!" 

Judge Dredd had better be good to make up for the story I have just read in Ant Wars. It starts well enough with Tweak continuing his story from last week, and some impactful imagery gets the story off to a strong start. 

Tweak is held by human scientists, who are astounded to find that although he has great intelligence, he looks and acts dumb. Little do they know that is all part of Tweak's plan to sacrifice himself to be with his mate and child and save his planet from further human interference.

Although the scientists have no further interest in them, the rest of the story takes a more depressing route, as Tweak and his family are sold into slavery. It's not long before the slave owner's daughter becomes distressed at the non-compliance of Tweak's children, and he pulls a pistol to deal with them. In the fields, Tweak's mate senses something bad is about to happen, and she runs to where the slave owner is about to shoot her children. It is all for nothing, for he shoots all of them dead together. 

The rest of the story Dredd knows, Tweak buried his family under a pile of stones and joined Dredd and his mission. At this juncture, real life intrudes and Spikes brings us back to the current moment, telling Tweak and Dredd that the land-lander is not repaired and ready to cross Death Valley. 

Before they head off Dredd asks Tweak why he told him about his sacrifice and planet - after all, Dredd could easily report the mineral farms on his planet and have it torn apart by mineral ships. Tweak's reply is simple - he trusts Dredd. 

Dredd presses him further, asking why he told Spikes too. Tweak's answer to this is far more interesting, he tells Dredd that Spikes will die in Death Valley. Dredd is silent on this, but wonders if Tweak's race can really see into the future. 

With their conversation over, Tweak returns to Spikes, who is now scheming to get a slice of the action on Tweak's planet. Waving a contract under Tweaks noise, Spikes offers a fifty per cent split on any profits that can be made on his planet. After some cajoling, Tweaks signs the contract, asking Spikes if that will make him happy. 

With Spikes cock-a-hoop about his future fortune, they head into Death Valley with Spikes on the lead bike, punching the air with an enthusiastic cry. 

My feeling is much the same as Spikes as we head into the next issue. Tweak's story was a shade too long, but it raised the stakes for what will come and added a weight to the story that is hard to shake. It is all ahead of us now, and everything has been beautifully lined up. The artwork was outstanding in this issue, and even when I tired of Tweak's story I still found myself digesting every line on the page. There were moments when I did wonder if the story would sag at this stage. However, the final page exceeded all expectations and we finished on a high that demanded I read the next issue as soon as possible. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Listen, Tweak old friend. What you need is a business manager to protect your interests."   

A grotesque start to Dan Dare, as we see him facing death at the jaws of a hideous-looking creature. This time there is no escape and a group of savages surround him and his two companions, forcing them towards the creature whereupon Dare is swallowed by the monster. 

Meanwhile on the Space Fort, Bear has finally come out of his coma. Quickly filled in on all the happenings, Bear decides to leave the ship, sensing that he must find the kid he was with earlier who may well hold the key to this mystery. 

Leaving the fort, the first thing Bear discovers are the dead crew members of the previous search party. Taking care to avoid the savages on the prowl, Bear manages to reunite with the kid. The kid then tells Bear that he has been receiving telepathic messages from someone alive on the ship, and they have been guiding him towards them.

On a lower deck, the monster that swallowed Dare and his friends is now opening its mouth, and three capsules containing Dare, Hitman, and Jebby, tumble out. They're still alive, but can only watch on helplessly from within their capsules. 

It seems the monster is a piece of machinery, although the primitives aren't aware of it and use it to sacrifice intruders. Before Dare can piece any of this mystery together he is interrupted by lights in his capsule and the sense that his brain is on fire. This pain quickly passes and soon the capsules begin to move through a large well-lit room. 

The strip ends with the three men being released from their capsules. It seems that they are in a large exhibition room with various species on display, although there is already a human in a cage and Dare and his men are rejects of this exhibition.

This story became a lot more interesting with this issue. Finally, the storyline has caught up with the artwork and delivered a thought-provoking and highly readable issue. There is plenty of mystery and the story doesn't feel rushed at all, giving the reader plenty of time to marinate in the riddles to be solved. We now have a two-pronged attack on the storyline, with Bear and the kid coming from one angle, while Dare and Hitman come from another. Both offer different perspectives on the mystery, and pleasingly neither has enough information for me to work out where we are going with this. I love a good mystery, and this story has plenty of that. With much of the story still in shadow it looks like it will be some time before we know more. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "What gives, Dare? You reckon we been chosen for exhibits in this stinkin' zoo?" 

We have a Future Shocks to fill the final page and a half of the comic. The tale it tells is true to the genre and is simply told. 

Lawrence Carmer falls from an ocean liner and is drowning at sea when an alien spacecraft appears and beams him from the water. It seems he saved, and the aliens themselves tell him that they mean no harm. However, Lawrence observes that it is like a zoo, and the aliens confirm that it is so, they have been collecting specimens from across the galaxy. They reassure Lawrence that he will be placed in an environment just as they found him, so he will be comfortable in his normal element.

This isn't quite as good as it sounds, and the story ends with Lawrence being placed in a goldfish bowl full of water. 

Par for the course for a Future Shocks. A brief set-up that tells us all we need to know, and over the page a payoff in a single panel. It was all well done, and although it's not a favourite story I did enjoy it and its brevity. It was a full stop on the issue rather than an exclamation mark, but felt right for what came earlier in the issue.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "There is a chamber for you, too. You will be much more comfortable in your normal element, I'm sure."

Prog 82 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Dan Dare

Best Line: "Oh, no. Pooor Spiiiiikes. But itttt didn't really matter if he heard. He will diiiie in Death Valllllley. It is very sadddddd."   

Best Panel: