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...?"
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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:
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