Prog 89

An outstanding episode of Ro-Busters casts a long shadow over everything else in this issue. On any other day, I would have enjoyed these stories more, but Ro-Busters was so good that everything else felt weak and flat in comparison. Judge Dredd is shaping up nicely, Ro-Busters is on an all-time high, and everything else is still in the early stages of building towards something. Hopefully one day it will all come together in a blockbuster episode, although even firing on half its cylinders I'm still finding 2000 A.D. a powerful ride. 

Prog 89

4th November 1978

Judge Cal is manoeuvring in the background, and it's Judge Dredd who is paying the price on the front lines of this week's issue. 

Large pieces of the plot are pushed into position in the first panels as Judge Clarence Goodman, Chief Judge of Mega-City One for the last forty-three years, emerges from a rejuvenation clinic after his monthly treatment. Surrounded by several masked men with knives, Judge Goodman speaks with authority - telling them to put the knives away. It doesn't end well, and Judge Goodman is surrounded and stabbed by the men. 

Judge Dredd races to the scene but finds that Judge Cal's SJS men are already there, and they tell him directly that he's not needed. Dredd has little patience for such talk and pushes his way to Judge Goodman's side. Looking at the Judge's wounds, Dredd is surprised that he is still alive. Goodman pulls him close, and unseen to the SJS slips something into Dredd's hand in his final moments before dying. 

Back in his apartment, Dredd watches the news where Judge Cal has now assumed the position of Chief Judge. Looking at his clue, Dredd sees that it's a button of one of Judge Cal's SJS men. Already the pieces are falling into place and Dredd can see the big picture. 

Striding purposefully from his apartment, Dredd little suspects that he is being watched by a sniper, one of Judge Cal's men. A single shot to the head cuts Dredd down. In the following panels, we see that he has survived for now, but there is only a one in a hundred chance of him making it through. 

A Justice Central, Judge Cal is ruling with a hand of steel. He is gripped by madness, and it is apparent that he has become unhinged. Seeing that Judge Quincy is missing a button, Cal orders him to strip all his clothes and forces him to do his duties in only his underwear. Leaning back on his chair, Judge Cal looks at himself in the mirror, telling himself that there are some changes to come. He is Chief Judge now, he is the law. 

I am getting strong "Mad Roman Emperor" vibes from Judge Cal and I love it. I also love this permeates throughout the story, with the stabbing of Judge Goodman drawing from Ceasar's death at the hands of Brutus and his men. It is beautifully done, and I am well and truly cloaked in this story as we move forward. The page when Dredd is shot looks sensational, with captions that capture the depth and severity of the moment. It is a fantastic page that gives Cal's madness a deadly edge and points to what is to come. A great way to start this new branch of the story, I already sense that this may be one for the ages, and I will read on with interest to see where this madness will lead us. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "He won't be so dangerous with a bullet in the head!"

We were learning more about Hammer-Stein's war memoirs in last week's Ro-Busters, and this week we pick up right where we left off with Hammer-Stein and the blind Sergeant who hated him fighting off a Volgan attack. 

They repel the attack, and the blind Sarge tells Hammer-Stein that he hates robots almost as much as he hates Volgans. Luckily he can't see Hamemr-Stein and is unaware that he is a robot. There is little time to dwell on this as Hammer-Stein fights his way towards a vehicle on skis, and with the Sargeant by his side, they take off across the snowy landscape. 

Unfortunately, the Volgs have holed the fuel tank, and eventually they have to abandon the vehicle. It is then that Sergeant Kowalski feels the cold of Hammer-Stein's arm and the cold of his face. Before the Sergeant can say the words, Hammer-Stein tells him that yes, he is a robot. 

Kowalski reacts angrily and tells Hammer-Stein to get away from him. Hammer-Stein points out that he has saved the sergeant's life, but Kowalski grabs him by the neck to strangle him. Hammer-Stein points out that he is wasting his time and furthermore you need a special spanner to unscrew his head.

This is interrupted by the sound of the Volgan army on the move. A huge Volgan offensive is underway under the cover of the blizzard. The Sarge can smell it, and his attitude to Hammer-Stein changes. He tells Hammer-Stein to record it all with his photo-memory cells, and they have to get this information back to base. 

With the Volgan forces filmed, the pair begin to make their way back. However, Volgan tracker troopers are on their trail, and coming up fast. 

In classic war movie style, Sarge tells Hammer-Stein that he will only slow him down and that Hammer-Stein should go on without him. He goes on to say that he won't let himself be taken prisoner by the Volgans and pleads with Hammer-Stein to shoot him on the spot. At first, Hammer-Stein refuses, saying there must be another way. But Kowalski issues a direct order, a direct order that no robot could refuse. 

Hammer-stein has no choice but to comply, and he shoots Kowalski dead on the spot. The story ends with Hammer-Stein trudging off into the snow, with a simple marker serving as Kolwalski's grave. 

This story was fantastic. It had many great lines in it, and the final pages contained some of the most poignant panels we have so far in 2000 A.D. It was sensitive and moving, surprising me in its depth after the previous few weeks. It may have drawn heavily from the war stories we have heard all our lives, but it was fresh and new in this different setting, and with the robot showing humanity there was an extra wrinkle of complexity. The writing was superb, delivering a tight plot, some great dialogue, and adding new layers to the characters. I was impressed with the change in the story after my first introduction to the title it looks like we are heading in the right direction for many more stories like this. The final pages stayed with me long after I put the comic down, but I will be returning to this again and again. I could choose any number of lines or panels as favourites as they are all first class and it is tempting to put the whole story here and say "This is what I liked best"  

Rating: 10/10

Best line: "Guess I was a bit soft - in those early days...I learnt a lot from that Sarge...like war is the dirtiest thing that can happen to a human...or a robot" 

We know exactly what to expect in Flesh this week, with the opening page showing the powerful sea monster Big Hungry attacking the small mini-submarines of the trans-time fisheries.

After seeing the power of Big Hungry, we jump back to Claw Carver and Svenson on the hunter sub 'Thors Hammer.' It's not a happy ship, and Svenson is currently whipping Carver and threatening to kill him. However, Carver talks his way out of the situation, pointing out that Svenson is a pirate, a gangster, and totally dishonest, just like Carver. Not only that, but Carver has a billion credits in gold stashed and working together he could make Svenson very rich. 

Svenson is interested, but they are interrupted by a distress call. It's the trawling sub 'Horatio' who is reporting three mini-subs destroyed. Thor's Hammer races to the scene of the call and finds that it is Big Hungry who is causing the chaos. 

Thor's Hammer manages to stay out of harm's way, but the Horatio isn't so lucky and the trawler net comes crashing towards them. Hitting the Horatio's stern, it holes the submarine, leaving the men with a fast-sinking ship. 

As the strip ends, Svensin is facing a crucial decision. Should he go in and rescue the survivors, or should he instead follow Carver's advice to kill Big Hungry and go for the gold?

Whatever he chooses, I know next week will be a good one. Carver is well and truly embedded in the story now, and his machinations are paying off with Svenson wavering in his decision. The first page was impressive to look at, although its place in the plot didn't become apparent until a few pages in. Aside from the first page, the most impressive panels were mid-story as Carver and Svenson revealed their true selves. There was some cracking dialogue and it was a joy to read their interaction. They are both rogues of the highest order, and after we learnt more about their activities I was surprised to see Svenson pause in his decision in the final panel. With the story now set in its course, the next few weeks should prove to be most interesting and I don't want to miss a thing as we learn more about what Caver has in plan and whether or not Svenson will go along with it. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "It matters 'cos you're a pirate, a gangster and totally dishonest - just like me, pal. Us villains have got to stick together, eh?" 

Future Shock's this week is merely a page and tells a simple story. A child is playing with his blocks and making an interesting building, He thinks it looks good, and as his parents call him away he decides to leave it there. We can plainly see that it is Stonehenge, and the caption tells us that people are still finding it interesting today. Over the page, this is confirmed with the caption telling us it is Stonehenge. 

Nothing is mentioned about these giant beings, and this story left me with a lot of questions. It wasn't as clever or sharp as other future shocks, but it had its own soft charm - mostly due to the artwork. I read it, I enjoyed it, and I will never think of it again. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I'm going to leave my blocks there - I reckon they look really good!"

On the pages of Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha is currently locked in combat with his good friend Wulf. They are in the Wolrog penal battalion, where Wolrog Sergeant Kark has them fighting for survival and a place in the battalion. 

Luckily for both involved, the fight is suddenly stopped by Major Mox who tells Sergeant Kark that they are both excellent fighters and it's better for them to both die for the glory of the Wolrog Empire. 

Over the following days, the battalion is whipped into shape by Sergeant Kark. He takes a dislike to Gronk, and Johnny is forced to step in to protect his friend. It looks as though there will be a fight, but at that moment the battle against the Sandorian nations is about to begin. Johnny and Wulf watch on as the Wolrog ships destroy the first wave of Sandorian ships before being told to prepare themselves for battle. They will be targeting the planet Nykos, and all life must be destroyed. 

With only ten minutes until the battle, Johnny and Wulf don't have much time to plan an escape and a way of stopping the Wolrogs before they annihilate the entire galaxy. 

Not as good as previous episodes, this slowed in pace this week. The fight that started the strip was promising yet was cut short. So too was the conflict between Johnny Alpha and Sergeant Kark. It was just reaching boiling point when it was put aside and we moved on to the next big thing. That big thing is the battle, and there should be no way to avoid this, we definitely see some thrills and hard-hitting action. I'm looking forward to seeing this story go up a gear, and after treading water the last two weeks its time to get into the flow of the story. A lot hinges on next week, and hopefully, it will finally live up to its artwork. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "They both put up an excellent fight, Sergeant Kark. To kill one now is wasteful...let them both die for the glory of the Wolrog Empire!" 

Prog 89 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "Would a human have done the same? Maybe...it didn't make it any easier"   

Best Panel: 

Prog 88

This week's 2000 A.D. features a stupendous cover, imagining the story of Hammer-stein as an action movie. Featuring a roll-call of credits, and highlighting some of the action within, it does a splendid job of whetting my appetite for what lies nestled in the following pages. Ro-Busters doesn't disappoint and lives up to this top billing, even displacing Judge Dredd in my affections, for this week at least. It's not the only story to steal my heart in this issue, we have several strong contenders, and although Dredd isn't as good as previous issues, the other stories more than makeup for the weaker Dredd entry. 

Prog 88

28th October 1978

The final panel of last week's Judge Dredd had Judge Cal telling us there's only one man good enough to catch Dredd, and that man is Dredd, all the while showing us Dredd in a wooden container. This confused me somewhat, and from this panel, I assumed Cal had already caught Dredd. How wrong I was, and this week as the man hunt for Dredd continues we see that Cal was showing us the robotic Dredd who is also hunting for Judge Dredd. 

The opening panel makes it quite clear how the story will go this week, with an image of Dredd punching Dredd filling the whole page in bone-crunching style. We no longer have Gibbons and Bolland on art; McCarthy and Ewins provide us with this enticing image. 

Over the page, the story loops back and we see the manhunt that led to this moment. The streets are full of Judges, with every building in the city being searched. Under a dark underpass, Dredd is pulling the strings of his best informer -  Max Normal. Dredd explains the situation; how he has been framed by a robot who looks like him, and Max is quick to tell Dredd that there is one robot engineer, Chick Parker, who was running up bad debt on the gambling tables but suddenly paid them all off last week. 

This is all the clues Dredd needs and an hour later he has found Chick Parker. However, he has found him too late and Parker is already dead - murdered by the very robot that Dredd is hunting. 

Dredd is face to face with the cause of all his problems, and facing down the barrel of the robot's gun, he is quick to realise that the robot is like him in every way. Dredd drops his gun, knowing full well that the robot won't shoot him in cold blood. This gives Derdd a chance to lash out with his boot and escape into the robotics factory.

The two combatants continue their battle in the factory, with Dredd seizing the moment by switching on the scrap magnet. The robot has little chance as he is pulled to the ceiling. He hangs there barely a moment before the magnet swings around and drops into an open furnace. 

Dredd attempts to save something of the robot for evidence, but comes away from the scene with only the robot's damaged head remaining.   

Presenting the head at Justice Central, Dredd is found to be innocent. However, there is still the mystery of who accessed Dredd's file to obtain the information to program the robot. Dredd's final comment that there is a traitor among them tells us this still still has some way to go with more intrigue and action to follow. 

This wasn't the story I expected after last week's blockbuster. The intensity was dialled back and although the story had action and adventure, it felt lightweight after what came before. Perhaps it was the change of artists that gave the story a different feel. There wasn't the same detail in some panels, while others didn't capture the action in the same bold way as the last issue. Whatever it was, it felt like a sharp turn after last week.  Dredd has consistently been the best strip in 2000 A.D. and it feels strange to be reading it and not have any real sense of danger, or impulse to turn the page. It meandered this week, and although the story moved constantly forward, it was a noticeable drop off in quality. Still, with a traitor to be found, the story should deliver more next week, hopefully back at the high standard of the previous issues.

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I'm Judge Dredd! I'm the best!"

I have enjoyed getting to know Ro-Busters the last couple of weeks, but this time we have something a little different as we dip into the back story of Hammer-Stein.

The story begins with Hammer-stein having a funny turn as memories of his past flood his head as his memory tapes overload. Reliving his past, Hammer-stein becomes the centre of attention from his surrounding robots. While Ro-jaws complains about the distraction, Mek-quake rolls forward and tells Hammer-stein he would like to hear more about his past and his role in the war against the Volgans. 

Hammer-stein obliges him, and the rest of the strip takes place on battlefields of the past. We see Hammer-stein when he first arrives in the army and the distrust in which the men regard him. None more so than the tough Sergeant Kowalski that he is assigned to. Kowalski treats him with contempt, forcing him to run behind the troop carry and making disparaging remarks at every turn. 

A sudden attack by killcopters changes the story dramatically, with all the human soldiers being killed in an attack, except Kowalski. Kowalski may have survived, but he is blinded, and as Hammer-stein comes to his aid Kowalski remains oblivious to the fact that Hammer-stein is a robot. 

Hammer-stein drags the injured Sergeant through no-mans land, and all the while Kowalski continues to talk to Hammer-stein as if he were a real human, although some of Hammer-stein's answers to his questions leave Kowalski a little perplexed. 

The story ends with the odd couple running into a Volgan patrol. The final panel is a doozy, with Hammer-stein and Kowalski firing their weapons at the Volgans, with Hammer-stein giving the blinded Kowalski instructions on where to aim.

This story is completely different from what I have previously experienced with Ro-busters, a strip I'm still feeling my way into. With a contrasting look and feel to last week, I'm not sure if this is authentic to the ongoing story. One thing I am certain about is that I greatly enjoy this story. There is no denying that it does lean heavily on the war comic tropes that I am so familiar with from my years of reading Battle, nevertheless, it has a spark to it. A large part of that is due to the dialogue. We have the snippyness of Ro-jaws earlier on, before setting into the hardboiled speak of Kowalski as he came to grips with the battle situation. Hammer-stein's dialogue remained lowkey in the mix, before the final panel which saw the strip fully embrace a classic war comic look and sound with Hammer-stein extolling the Sergeant to fire over to the left. A well-balanced book, I shall read on eagerly to see if this is the future way for Ro-busters storylines.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "No junk heap rides in Sergeant Kowalski 's wagon...you wanna make it to the front - ya get there under yer own steam...robot!"

Claw Carver is the centre of attention from the first page of Flesh, and features on almost every panel after. We first see Carver in the crew mess, complaining about the quality of the food served onboard the Atlantis. Carver is also causing trouble with his crew mates, arguing with one of the captains, Captain Svenson, and using his claw to good effect. This draws the attention of Chief Hawkins, who tells them both to cool it before sending them back to their respective areas on the station. 

Carver later makes a name for himself as another thousand-ton load is brought on board. A large shark breaks free from the net and causes havoc when it lands among the men. Claw sees this as an opportunity to impress Grouse, and leaps into action. With a large harpoon in hand, he straddles the shark, before plunging the blade and ending the fight before it barely begins. 

Grouse is impressed by what he has seen and tells Carver he can draw an extra month's wages. Carver negotiates this into a transfer onto one of the killer submarines, a move that sees him reporting to Captain Svenson, the man he clashed with earlier in the mess hall. 

We finish the strip with a reminder of what awaits us as we see Big Hungry, the unusually large Nothersaur, following the stench of man, and still seeking revenge for the death of his offspring.

Great to see Carver get plenty of time on the page here, and we get a fantastic view of what sort of character he is. Seeing him arguing in the mess hall was a nice snapshot of his prickliness, while the calculating way in which he fought the shark gave us further insight into the type of games he plays. The artwork remained busy, but there was room for the action to breathe when the moment required. The mess hall was full of details, but once Carver took on the shark, that was all there was on the page. It made of an interesting read, and the most important aspects of the story were always highlighted. The confrontation with Big Hungry is still being built up, although the longer it can be put off the better - I would hate for a story this good to peak too soon. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "And I know I don't like men who wear jewellery! Met another rude man with an earring once - they call him 'One-ear Jake' now!"

On the pages of Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha and his companions have been captured by a Wolrog Battlecraft and press-ganged into a penal battalion. They are now on the man-made planet of Rog where they meet their new commander. 

Sergeant Kark is their new commander, and from the first panel we see him, it is apparent that his the blood and thunder type, his words being shouted at us from every panel from here on in. 

To weed out the weaklings, Sergeant Kark commands each recruit to fight another to death. The first selected refuses and is immediately struck down by Sergeant Kark. There is no further resistance, and one by one the battles rage and one by one the men die. 

Unfortunately, next Johnny Alpha and Wulf are chosen to fight each other. Wulf refuses, stating that he cannot fight his friend. However, Johnny is far more cold-blooded, and gourds Wulf into fighting, based on the thinking that at least one of them will survive to carry on the struggle.

Wulf is all power, while Johnny demonstrates his quickness. The fight is even, but eventually, Johnny is knocked off his feet, and we end the strip with Wulf standing tall over Joghnny and seemingly about to strike the killing blow.

I can't imagine the killing blow will fall, but I have enjoyed the wild ride that brought us here. We got a feel for the type of people the Wolrogs are and gained some insight into the friendship between Wulf and Johnny. We also see that Johnny is a schemer and a survivor, which lays the groundwork for his survival, presumably, over the coming weeks. Once again, it all looked great and the artwork did justice to the story being told. I am not yet ready to say it out loud, but this might just be my favourite story in 2000 A.D. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "J-Johnny...Vy you do that...?"

Future Shocks features a time-travelling story, needless to say, with a twist.  Instead of travelling into the past, this story deals with time travel to the future. 

The story begins as we have seen plenty of times before - scientists have built a time-travelling machine and are seeking recruits to man it. After an arduous process, there are two final candidates, Farren and Shelvin. 

It is Farren who is selected for the first flight, but Shelvin spikes his drink the night before leaving himself as the only one available to make the first flight. 

Shelvin is thinking of fame and fortune as he enters the capsule and the scientists dial up the date he will be travelling to, sixty years in the future. The ship is sealed just as Shelvin has the thought that sixty years into the future will be beyond the bounds of his life span. 

And so it proves, with the final panel showing us when the capsule has returned to the present with the aged, and now very dead, Shelvin at the controls. He may have got the fame he wanted, but it isn't the sort of fame he can enjoy. 

A great little story and a delicious twist to finish with. We knew what we were going to get with Shelvin's thoughts on the page before, but the final image was spectacular and brought the story to the perfect close. In the few pages we saw plenty of insight into the character, and Shelvin's death felt right for what we saw from him earlier. A fine example of a Future Shocks story, and it put a bow on a most enjoyable issue.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "just think...you'll be the most famous man alive!"

Prog 88 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Strontium Dog

Best Line: "Why? 'Cos I can't stand yellow rats like you! You're a coward, fat man - I've always known it-"   

Best Panel: 

Prog 87

The new stories from Starlord are bedding themselves in nicely, and it feels like now we have a group of stories that can look Judge Dredd in the eye. This week we get to know these stories a little better, and with the foundations laid, they are beginning to advance. In light of this, the Dredd creators have raised their game, and the Dredd story this week is the best in the comic. I was wondering how some of these changes would shake out, and now I can see the comic is better than ever. 

Prog 87

21st October 1978

Judge Dredd kicks us off in grand style, and with both Bolland and Gibbons handling the art duty I know we are in for a rare treat. 

What follows more than lives up to expectations, with Dredd being shipped off to Titan, having been found guilty of a crime he didn't commit. Things look grim for Dredd as we see the ship take off, and a heavy guard standing over a chained Dredd. However, Dredd is not a man for self-pity, and working himself up into a rage, he somehow manages to snap the chains that bind him before delivering a knockout blow to his hulking guard. 

The shuttle returns to the spaceport, with Dredd holding a gun to the pilot's head all the way. After a dramatic, two-page, crash landing, Dredd springs from the shuttle and commandeers a taxi, rapidly disappearing from the still-shocked security of the spaceport. 

At Justice Central, Deputy Chief Judge Cal is calling on every Judge in the organization to find Dredd and bring him in. The biggest man-hunt in Mega-city history follows, with no stone unturned, or bag unsearched, in the hunt for Dredd. 

That night at Cals's private office, one of the Judges is reporting that Dredd still hasn't been found, he is just too good for the rest of the judges. Talking to himself, Judge Cal pulls a key from a secret compartment of a bust of himself he has in his office, and unlocks a large box in his room. In a final twist to this week's issue, the box contains the body of Dredd, and Cal gloatingly tells us there is one judge good enough to capture Dredd -himself. 

I have read many good Dredd stories, and this week's issue is just as good as anything that has come before. The art was insanely good, and the action at the spaceport looked spectacular. Any one of these panels deserves to be a poster, and I went back three times to enjoy these pages before moving on to the rest of the story. Likewise, Cal's private quarters were visually stimulating, and we learnt a lot about the character from the visual cues in his office. A poster of himself, next to a poster that looked suspiciously like Adolf Hitler, spoke volumes, as did the bust of himself displayed prominently behind his desk along with a large mirror. The art went hand in hand with the story being told, and the pages flew by under my hand as I read enthralled. It wasn't all perfect, and I found that Dredd snapping his chains to be a weak point in the story. It did free him quickly to move on with the action, although I would have preferred a more cerebral solution. Snapping chains with brute strength felt like a cheat, but it was understandable to keep the story swiftly moving. Once again Dredd has fired this week's issue out of a cannon, and if the rest of the comic is as good as this I shall be very happy indeed.

Rating: 9/10

Best line:  "Get the name of that pilot!" 

I greatly enjoyed my first introduction to Ro-Busters last week, and I look forward to seeing how their rescue of ten humans trapped in a rail disaster will go, especially as they only have enough oxygen for nine of them. 

With Ro-jaws left to decide which of the humans will be denied oxygen, a trial begins. One by one the humans are called forward to plead their case. Each has a key witness, their robot, and as a robot cannot lie we learn far more about each character from their robot than we do from their own words. 

The humans prove to be a motley lot, and each has numerous faults. Mike Morgan, caring for his sick boy, is worried about what his robot Harold will reveal. Thinking quickly, he remembers that the second law of robotics states that robots must protect their master. With this thought in mind, he tells Harold that if he tells the truth, both he and the little master will be hurt. 

This ruse works well, and Harold spouts forth all manner of information about the pair, all of it positive. Ro-jaws is happy with what he has heard and tells Harold that he may step down. However, at that moment his little master sits up and tells the assembled crowd that it is all a lie. He commands Harold to tell the truth, and soon all is revealed. Mike Morgan is a bully and has an evil temper. He often beats the boy, and when Harold steps in Morgan turns his temper on him. This is why Harold wears clothes, to hide all the damage that has been inflicted on him by Morgan. 

Mike Morgan is infuriated by all of this and goes to strike the boy. Harold moves quickly to protect his charge, grabbing Morgan by the neck. With Morgan falling down dead, the two threads of the story are neatly concluded. Now there is enough oxygen for the remaining survivors, and the subplot of the bullied boy and robot is wrapped up. 

Harold and the boy walk off into a bright future, and Ro-jams comments that he's a sucker for a happy ending.

Me too, Ro-jaws, me too. The story was loaded with heavy themes, yet we managed to come out of the other end with an ending that had me smiling despite myself. I don't know what is to come with Ro-Busters, but this seems to be a good introduction. The smart robots, a dash of drama, and a classical happy ending make for a fine mix that I find myself attracted to. It is all done at the highest level, which makes it seem easier than it really is. Reading the story here, I feel I might try my hand at creating comics, although I know that I could never achieve a simple story such as this told half as well. I know plenty of other people have been similarly inspired, with this a great demonstration of the craft of comic creation. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I'll tell them, Harold...about his evil temper...how you stop him beating me up...so he takes it out on you instead...and he laughs as he sees you suffer!"

Last week we were introduced to the world of Flesh (book two), a world where 23rd Century man has travelled back in time to harvest the monsters of the sea. 

We ended with a time shuttle arriving over the ocean, with passengers unknown. That doesn't stay the case for long, and we quickly learn that the solo occupant of the craft is 'Claw' Carver, a man we know well from the first iteration of Flesh. 

With a fortune in gold he looted from his former base, Carver only has one concern- the safety of his treasure. Taking his boat ashore, he is soon looking for somewhere to stow his gold. We get an idea of the type of man Carver is when he encounters some smaller dinosaurs. Putting his claw to good use, he soon vanquishes these dinosaurs and stashes his fortune deep in a cave. Job done, he turns his attention to a trans-time vessel coming towards him across the sea. 

He is swiftly taken aboard the vessel, with the crew expressing concern that the Big Hungry is coming soon. Any questions about what the Big Hungry is are explained in the next panel as the crew tells Carver that it is a Nothosaur that has been attacking the fishing fleet. More importantly, we learn that it was his cave back where Carver had just been. 

Big Hungry makes his appearance in the following panel as he emerges from the water. Attacking the ship, he tears the gun turret to shreds before disappearing back into the sea. 

The boat arrives back at Atlantis Station, which we first saw last week, and Carver has a chance to tell his story and how he came to be here. He is also introduced to the station controller, J.M. Grose, who tells him on no uncertain terms that they are unable to lend Carver a time shuttle so he can get to the 23rd Century. Not only that, Carver is also told that he will have to serve a standard six-month tour of duty, and then he can pay his own fare back to the future.

As Carver is walked back through the station he is shown what happens to those who try to steal a shuttle. Looking on as a man receives twenty lashes from the electro-whip, Carver tells us that he has no intentions of trying to escape, he will be a model deckhand and wants to be Mr. Grose's friend. 

Meanwhile, back in the cave where Carver has left his gold Big Hungry has returned. Discovering that his offspring has been killed, Big Hungry becomes enraged, and with the smell of man, and specifically Carver, in his nostrils, a reckoning beckons. 

We are still building the story in this strip, but now all the major building blocks have been moved into place. We have been introduced to the world, Carver has arrived on the scene, and we now have his nemesis, Big Hungry, introduced and motivated for revenge. All looks good for the future, and next week the sparks should begin to fly. I have been impressed with Belardinelli's artwork thus far in the strip. His dinosaurs look fantastic on the page, and he has created the fabulous Mr Grouse whose face contains so much expression, all of it anger. We aren't there yet, but everything is primed, and next week's issue should give us a much better indication of where the story will go from here.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Come on, little fellas. Come to your Uncle Claw! Your cave ain't big enough for you and ma gold..." 

Strontium Dog had me excited last week, and this week it continues to enthral me. 

Johnny Alpha and his crew have been captured by a Wolrog battlecraft, and offer no resistance in the face of such overwhelming odds. The captain of the battlecraft informs them that while most of them will become slaves in the factories of Rog, some of them will be selected to serve in a Wolrog Penal Battalion. 

Needless to say, both Johnny and Wulf are selected to serve in the battalion. Gronk isn't so lucky, but Johnny intervenes and points out that he is a brilliant medic, and would be useful in the battalion. The Wolrog agree, and all three of them are assigned to the battalion. 

The final panels of the story show us the big picture and exactly how these battalions will be utilised. The Wolrogs are a warrior race and have been fighting the Sandorian nations for control of the galaxy. They are always in need of new troops and this is where the penal battalions come in. We finish the strip with a full-size picture of the Wolrog fleet approaching the man-made planet of Rog. With a fleet of 1000 battlecraft, and 8000 smaller vessels, the Wolrog fleet is the greatest war fleet ever assembled.  The planet Rog sits at the centre of this fleet, fifty miles across, with its slave factories belching a steady flow of the terrible hardware of death. 

I rated this story highly last week, and that continues this week as the scale of the story increases. Once again it is that artwork that draws the most applause from my corner, and I could look at the work of Carlos Ezquerra all day, every day. Every panel contains an unease that has me carefully treading through the story and waiting to see what comes next. The story has barely begun, and already it's the first thing I want to read when I open 2000 A.D. Hopefully this isn't just early hype, and the rest of the story lives up to this strong start. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "It's a human ship, again, Captain. Hrrrr...no-good, weak-kneed race!"

Prog 87 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Don't worry, I've got nothing to declare----except my innocence!"   

Best Panel: 

Prog 86

Starlord has arrived, and with a host of new stories to refresh and revitalise the pages of 2000 A.D. I must admit, I wasn't sure what we were going to get with this issue, but each of the new stories has exceeded all expectations, and I feel like a kid again - I can't wait for the next comic to see what happens. I have a couple of new favourites and will be watching expectantly to see what evolves with each story. The future is bright and it's here now.  

Prog 86

14th October 1978

Before we get to the excitement of the new stories, we begin in familiar territory with Judge Dredd leading off this week's selection of finely curated tales. 

Dredd is back where he belongs, Mega-city, as is Brian Bollard who is taking on this week's art duties for Dredd.  The first image conjured up by Bollard is a striking one, Dredd is on trial for murder and the twisted face of a lawyer tells us now is the time to decide if Dredd is innocent or guilty. 

Obviously, a quick flashback is needed to explain how we got into this situation, and over the page we are obliged with a couple of pages of backstory. Dredd has returned from the Cursed Earth as a hero and is greeted with a parade worthy of such a feat. However, not everyone is happy to see him back, and Judge Cal, Deputy Chief Judge and head of the feared JSJ Squad, tells Dredd he wants to check over Dredd's expense claims as they are far too high. 

Luckily the Chief Judge intervenes, and Dredd is sent home to rest after his arduous journey. At home, he receives a warm welcome from Walter the robot, and his housekeeper Maria. Dredd is too tired to take time to enjoy their hospitality and slopes off to his room for a well-earned sleep.

That night in the offices of the Mega-Times, the city's leading daily video-journal, an angry Dredd appears at the door. Waving the latest edition in the shocked journalists' faces, Dredd berates them for putting a celebrity wedding in the headlines while relegating Dredd's heroic deeds to the bottom of the page. 

Excuses are made, but Dredd is in no mood to listen, and instead pulls his blaster, leaving two dead in the wake of this sudden violence. 

An hour later Dredd is pulled from his bed in his apartment, and put under arrest. This brings us back to where we started and with overwhelming evidence, including photographic evidence, the trial is quickly concluded with Dredd being found guilty and sentenced to twenty years on Titan. The story finishes this week with Dredd looking forlornly out of the window of the shuttle as it transports him from Earth out to the outer reaches of Jupiter. 

I enjoyed the Cursed Earth immensely and wondered if this new story would live up to it. It more than lived up to it, and I am already captivated by the new story rapidly unfolding before our eyes. Brian Bollard made every scene memorable with his bold art, and we had a range of characters and expressions giving backbone to a story well written. We also had some great decisions in how to draw each scene, and parts of this week's story were just as good as anything you might see at the cinema. A strong follow-up to the Cursed Earth, this story allayed any fears I may have had about a drop in quality. The Cursed Earth set the bar high, and so far Dredd has picked up the baton and run with it. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "It was Dredd all right. I'd recognise his voice anywhere. A hero he called himself. I'd call him a stinking murderer!"

Ro-busters joins us from Starlord and the opening salvo of the story is a flashback to fill us in. 

Ro-jaws, formerly programmed for cleaning sewers and unblocking drains, is the bad boy of the team, with bad language and behaviour to match. At the other end of the scale is Hammer-stein, a war droid with a storied career and medals to prove his worth. 

Both met at a second-hand Robo-mart, and were destined to be destroyed when fate intervened in the form of Howards Quartz, the human boss of Ro-busters. The two robots are quickly recruited to the international rescue team, and our story picks up from here are the two robots arrive at the scene of a train disaster.

Carrying oxygen for the carriages buried under rubble, it is Ro-jaws who proves his worth, digging into the pile of rocks. It is a short-lived rescue, another landslide buries the pair, and Ro-jaws starts over, eventually burrowing into the train below the rubble. 

A motley crew of humans await rescue, and the strip introduces each of them to us. The robots are carrying oxygen for nine, and there are ten people, meaning that one of them faces a certain death. A lively debate follows, and we get to know each human a little better, as the robots leave them to make their decision on who will miss out. 

While the humans debate among themselves, the two robots go to the luggage department, ostensibly to find Harold, the robot charged with serving one of the young humans, Master Tim. Harold is quite something to behold, dressed as a human with a suitably jolly bow tie and obsequious demeanour. 

Return to the main compartment with Harold in tow, the robots ask if the humans have made their decision. They haven't, although they have made one other very important decision. They have decided that the robots can decide who lives and who dies, and in particular, they want Ro-jaws to make the decision. 

Hammer-stein is horrified, and as we close out the strip he tells the humans they are making a terrible mistake, a comment that is borne out by Ro-jaws triumphant yell that Judge Ro-jaws rules. 

I was unfamiliar with Ro-busters, although was aware of its pedigree with Starlord and the high esteem it is held by 2000 A.D. readers. It's early days for me, yet I can already see that this is an entertaining strip. No surprise to see Pat Mills's name on the credits, along with Dave Gibbons, and the pair have given me a fine introduction to the world of Ro-busters. Funny and clever, it has the hallmarks of a Pat Mills story, and I particularly enjoyed the two contrasting characters we have here with Ro-jaws and Hammer-stein. The dialogue between the two is fantastic, and we learn a lot about the two characters just in the way they speak to each other with their casual banter. I still have a long way to go with this story and I can't wait to see what will develop between the characters, and of course which human will be selected to sacrifice themselves. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Be brave, Humans! This is your chance to die a hero's death! I want one volunteer.

It's a warm welcome back to Flesh, with a new thrill centred on fish farming. Travelling back in time, man is harvesting vast quantities of prehistoric fish through a massive fish-farming station named Atlantis. Hauling in a thousand tons of monstrous fish from the deep, the station quickly processes them into fish fingers of all things. These fish fingers are then beamed forward to the 23rd century to be consumed by modern man. 

It is a hardened bunch of men who work on this process, and life is cheap as we soon find out with a Tanystropheus appearing in the catch and quickly gobbling up one of the workers. The rest of the team reacts immediately swiping its head off with a nearby axe. Further carnage has been avoided, but J.M. Grose, boss of Atlantis station, is far from happy and orders all pay and privileges to be stopped until they can replace the dead man.

He promises that his ship will suffer no trouble, he will settle for no sloppiness at all. However, little does he know that trouble is indeed on the way, and a few days later we see a time shuttle appear in the sky above the Atlantis, although no one knows where it has come from or who is within. 

A nice little reboot of Flesh, and I like what we have seen so far. The prehistoric fish look fantastically grotesque, and they have already amply displayed that they are not to be messed with. I was pleased to see Balardinelli back with his artwork, he has been missed, and I felt his style suited the world that was created here, especially his rendering of the Atlantis station. Like Ro-busters, it is only early days, but already I am wrapped up in this new world and ready to see whatever comes next. It's made all the better by the fact that whatever comes is likely to be spin-chilling and deliciously scary. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Wish you'd worry 'bout grading the produce, Big Olaf - if any grisly ol' predictor slips through, the chief'll bite our heads off! 

We finish the comic with a story that will become famous on the pages of 2000 A.D. - Strontium Dog. 

Strontium Dog is another story imported from Starlord, and as such we have a brief page to introduce the characters and premise of the story. In the wake of the war of 2150 there is a side effect due to the Strontium 90 present in the fallout of the nuclear weapons. An entire class of people has been infected and warped, leading to them being shunned as mutants. 

Unable to join normal society, the only route for most of them is to become a bounty hunter. They soon prove to be the best type of bounty hunters, and the galaxy fugitives learn to fear the name Strontium Dogs. 

The hero of our story is Johnny Alpha. Paired with a normal partner named Wulf, they are to be feared. They also have a third member, a timid alien named Glonk who looks like his name sounds. 

Early in the story, we see what makes Johnny Alpha special, and pursuing some fugitives he emits alpha rays from his mutant eyes, easily sighting his prey through the walls. There are four men in the room, but Johnny only has eyes for one, and using a time bomb, he blasts the other three two hours into the future. Of course, the planet has moved on, and the three are left in a vacuum.

Taking Ratface as their prisoner, they point their astroliner towards Earth, a journey slated to take sixteen days.  Three days in and a shot across their bows jolts them out of their peaceful journey. A ship two miles long appears, telling them they will be taken on board or face annihilation. With little choice, Johnny Alpha and Wulf resign themselves to their fate. It is only once their ship has been taken in that Johnny Alpha realises that they have been captured by a Wolrog warship, the Wolrog being the galaxy killers.

There is so much that I like about this story already, and from this first appearance I can tell that will be great friends in future. I love the concept of the story and the characters, but especially I like the look and the feel of the story. The artwork, courtesy of Carlos Ezquerra,  has the feel of an independent comic, and the story feels old in my hands as if it existed long before I discovered it. I'm telling myself to relax, it is only the first issue I have read. This isn't the first time I have fallen in love at first sight, and I have to remind myself what happened all those other times I gave my heart so easily (spoiler: it didn't end well). Still, this is my favourite of these new stories to appear, and I am overjoyed with how the Starlord stories have lifted the flagging 2000 A.D. It has taken on a new lease of life, and I for one are completely sold in the direction we are heading. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Resist? It - it'd be like a pea-shooter against an H-bomb! 

Prog 86 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Belt up! I'm in charge now! Judge Ro-jaws rules oaky!"   

Best Panel: