Prog 95

A beautiful autumn day here, with the sun shining and barely a breath of wind. There is a small part of me that feels guilty sitting inside reading comics on a day such as this, but sometimes a guy gotta do what a guy gotta do. This week's comic looks intriguing, with Judge Dredd still pitted against Judge Cal, while on the pages of Flesh, Peters and Carver are still squaring off. We also have a new story appearing, Angel, and I look forward to reading something fresh and exciting. I am sad to see Strontium Dog leave us for now, but I look forward to a future return and hopefully a much stronger storyline. 

Prog 95

13th January 1979

Judge Cal still has a firm grip on the citizens, and with the entire population set to be executed, Judge Dredd must formulate a plan fast.

Judge Slocum is the man tasked with expediting the executions, and this makes him the target of Dredd's master plan. Snatching Slocum from the streets, Dredd tells him that he must stop Judge Cal and the executions or face the wrath of Dredd. Furthermore, Dredd already has a plan on how to stop Cal. 

This plays out on the following page as Slocum reports to Judge Cal that his precious Judge Fish has died. He tells him that it is surely a sign that if the people die, so do the Judges. 

Judge Cal agrees and the executions are stopped while he prepares a funeral for Judge Fish. Cal is expecting millions to turn out on the streets for the funeral of Judge Fish but is severely disappointed when he finds the streets deserted. Once again his anger comes to the fore, and we close the strip with Judge Cal promising to make the citizens suffer. 

A couple of twists and turns here made the story more interesting than I had expected when I picked the paper up. With Dredd avoiding direct confrontation and playing around the edges of Cal's world was an interesting concept, and the death of Judge Fish was just what I needed to see. It once again drew on the mental instability of Judge Cal, and Dredd's opportunity to exploit this weakness. Although sad to see Judge Fish go, I greatly enjoyed his cameo, and applaud him for the part he played in the story. I thought this story was coming to a close, but each week another layer is added, keeping me intrigued and gratefully picking up each new issue with an enthusiasm to see what happens next. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I'm glad I spared you! Glad! Because now I can make you all suffer"

Part three of Ro-Jaws memoirs, and Ro-Busters begins with the striking image of Ro-Jaws and Ginger being released from the robot prison. 

On the streets, they find that robots aren't welcomed anywhere and are generally shunned by society. This is made quite clear when Ginger accidentally bumps into a human, causing a mob to form and the threat of being wired up to the street lights imminent.

Help is at hand, as one of the humans steps the mob back from the edge of violence. The aptly named George Washington defuses the situation with some hard facts about the limits of the law, and the two robots are freed. The two robots and their savoir quickly leave the scene before things get worse, and once they are safely away from the crowd, the human reveals that he is actually a robot himself. With plasti-skin and synthi-hair he passes for human, but is really an android robot - A7000/L series. Furthermore, he is a member of the robot resistance, preparing for a time when they will rise up and take their rightful place in society.  

Leaving George Washington behind, Ro-Jaws and Ginge head to the robo-exchange in search of work. There isn't much to be had, although we do see a robot being sent to Ro-Busters, while Ginger wrings his hands and tells us that it is a fate worse than prison. 

Eventually, our two chums are sent to work at a removal firm. Neither is well suited to the work, and the owner decides to keep only Ginger on, while Ro-Jaws ends up working as a grave digger. 

Ro-Jaws is a good digger, but not particularly sensitive to the relatives of the dead bodies he is burning. However, this is all just fluff and the real story ignites over the page. 

Ro-Jaws witnesses the android robot George Washington taking part in a bank robbery. Aided by other resistance members, the money is to be used to buy guns, although they are barely out of the bank before a platoon of robot police arrive at either end of the street, blocking all escape routes. 

Both sides are prepared to fight to the death, when suddenly Ro-Jaws appears at Washington's side, pointing out that there is an escape route through the sewers. Leading the robot resistance into the sewer, Ro-Jaws tells them they're safe down here as he knows the sewers like the back of his shovel.

A lot to digest here. Before I started reading 2000 A.D., I thought it was a well-loved, serious science fiction comic. What I didn't know, and what no one ever told me, was that it was so funny. For all its serious themes, most stories have a humourous aspect, with some displaying this humour more overtly than others. Ro-Busters is such a story. I was smiling again and again at the scraps of humour littering the page. The way Ro-Jaws speaks is obviously always funny, but just as amusing is the way they interact with the humans, and the way that the familiar is bent to fit into this world. The Robo-exchange was sadly all too familiar, but did make me smile at the recognition of it. In the same way, serious themes were pulled into the story directly from the real world and situations we would recognise. The saving of the robots being lynched, and the way the crowd heckled George Washington with the epitaph, "robot-lover" was frightfully close to modern history, although perhaps having the android named George Washington was a little on the nose and a step too far for me. Apart from that, I appreciated what Pat Mills was doing with his writing, and I found the strip to be trying something more than what we saw in boy comics at the time. This would have been quite forward-thinking in 1979, and as we saw in previous stories by Pat Mills, his views on society are to the fore of all that he is creating. Ro-Busters isn't perfect, but it is the first story I want to read next week.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Never mind my platis-skin! I've got to go. Just remember, brothers - though everywhere mek-men are in chains...one day we will be free!"

 

Flesh begins with an underwater battle between Big Hungry and the giant Scorpians. It is not something I would want to get involved in, but Carver and the crew of his submarine venture a little too close to the action, their gunner firing a torpedo that sends both the monster and machine reeling. 

Far above the sub sits the accompanying trawler. Carver orders the trawler to drop their nets. This they reluctantly do, and Carver's plan is revealed as the net drops to the bottom of the ocean, enveloping Big Hungry. 

With Big Hungry trapped, Carver orders the sub back to the island with gold, not waiting to see if Big Hungry survives. This proves a mistake as Big Hungry fights off the other creatures and escapes the net. 

On the island, Carver puts his claw to good use, killing a lizard dog while his crew search for the gold. It is Issac who finds the gold, but Carver ruthlessly strikes him with his claw and kills him. This action is seen by Peters, who confronts Carver. This develops into a fight, and while the pair are struggling with each other they fail to notice that emerging from the sea behind them is Big Hungry. 

The opening fight with Big Hungry and the giant scorpians was impressive,  although the meat of the story was this final fight between Peters and Carver. The first image of Big Hungry and the giant scorpions set the scene and lured me into the story, but this proved to be a red herring. As much as I enjoyed it, it wrapped up all too quickly, while the real story rapidly unfolded as Carver and his men took centre stage. It made for odd balance, and by the end of the story I was satisfied that we had seen enough of both Carver and Big Hungry to make the story well-rounded. Both are reaching their peak rage and although Peters is in the mix, it's the struggle between Carver and Big Hungry that I am desperate to see play out. That must be close now, and we have finished on a great cliffhanger to take us into next week.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "That does it, Carver, you rotten creep! I'm taking you back to Atlantis station, on a charge of murder!" 

This week's Future Shock's tells the story of Arnold Quigley-Jones, a leading astro-physist working for the government.

Quigley-Jones is offered a job in America but turns it down, citing too many roots here in Britain. 

Later he is shot with a weird green light, and several days later he has a compulsion to suddenly leave the family home. He wanders into the woods where a spaceship waits and again a green beam is shot at him. 

He is taken onboard and passes a barrage of tests. The aliens find that he is suitable, and offer him a chance to explore the stars, an offer he gratefully accepts as a scientist eager to learn more of the universe. 

However, they remove his brain and place it in a robotic suit. He is unable to talk, and we find that he has been taken onboard to become their janitor. The strip ends with one of the aliens remarking that there was very little intelligence on Earth, and this was the best Earth was capable of providing. 

I have mixed feelings about this story. I liked the art and the concept, but by the end of the story, I felt, well, nothing. I didn't care for the main character, nor what happened to him. There was an underlying sense of unease in the story that I did appreciate, but it never built into actual fear or dread. Maybe it would have been better if it was shorter, or indeed longer, but as it was it was neither here nor there and it left me cold. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "I can't talk - can't let them know! Why have they done this to me?"

A new story ends this week's 2000 A.D. - Angel. We meet Harry Angel of the RAF  in the very first panel of the story as he flies his F-20 plane at 27,000 feet. 

The aircraft is highly advanced, with an array of electronics in the cockpit, and it can practically fly itself such as the technology available. However, it's not infallible, and a partial electronics shutdown sends the plane tumbling from the sky. 

Harry Angel refuses to eject, and with a school building dead ahead he struggles with the controls in an attempt to avoid disaster. Disaster is averted, and the plane misses the buildings, although Harry and his aircraft crash in a shattering explosion nearby. 

Harry wakes up in the hospital a few days later, where the staff are amazed that he managed to survive. Although he has survived, he has not come away from the accident unharmed, and he now has some of the electronics from the plane embedded in his arm and shoulder. Not only have the electronics smashed into his body, but they have also linked up to his nervous system. 

An incident with a life support machine and the patient in the next bed reveals that Harry Angel has taken in the knowledge of his plane, and the plane's computer is now part of his body. This means the computer now thinks that Harry's body is the plane, and as a result Harry's coordination, reflexes, muscular control, everything, has increased by several hundred per cent.  

The doctor asks Harry to go to the Advanced Medical Test Center for further testing. Just as Harry leaves the building he sees the President's Air Force One plane taking off. Harry can't explain it, but he knows the plane is going to crash. He quickly climbs into the passenger seat of a nearby Harrier jet, and ordering the pilot to take off begins to issue specific instructions to the pilot. 

The pilot expresses concern that the plane can't handle the stress Harry is putting it under, but Harry tells him that the computer in his arm says they'll be OK, and they must take this action to save the President's plane. 

Although a new story, there wasn't anything here that we hadn't seen before. Already I am getting strong MACH 1 vibes from the plot, although MACH 1 was far more believable to me than a man ending up with electronics embedded in him after a crash. This disbelief greatly detracted from the rest of the story, and although I wanted to like it, I found it hard to move beyond this opening premise. It is only the first issue, so there is still time for me to get on board, but my overriding thought is why have we given up on Strontium Dog for something like this that retreads familiar territory. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "What...what have you done to me? Those...things on my skin..?"

Prog 95 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "We'll sell our lives dearly - fighting for freedom from cruel humans! "   

Best Panel: 

Prog 94

I have been sick most of this week, and could barely prise my eyes open to look at a comic earlier in the week. However, with the arrival of Saturday morning, I feel considerably better, and as soon as I have my cup of tea I know I will be once again ready to face the world. I'm probably not in the best mood to be reading comics, but as I get older I'm rarely in a good mood anyway so who's going to know the difference. 

Prog 94

6 January 1979

The first thing we see in this week's Judge Dredd story is the hordes of Klegg descending upon the hapless citizens of Mega-City One. Before we learn more about these alligator-headed monsters we must go back to Dredd and his attempt to overthrow Judge Cal. 

Dredd's rebellion is going well, with many of Cal's men overpowered. Riding into battle on captured bikes, Dredd and his men help wherever they're needed, even taking time to enforce law and order on common looters,.

Judge Cal is unperturbed by this, and even as Dredd and his men surround the Hall Of Justice, Judge Cal remains calm and aloof. We learn why soon enough as the sky darkens and it begins to rain monsters. These are the Kleggs, a reptile-type monster whom Cal has engaged to help beat Dredd. They are a fearsome race and fight for the joy of killing, and a payment of only meat. 

With Dredd and his men beating a retreat, Cal appears to inform the citizens that he has sentenced the whole city to death. The strip ends with Dredd and Giant watching the announcement on a TV screen and wondering what they are going to do about it.

Led by Bolland's signature art style, this is a classic Dredd strip with all the things we have come to love about it present and correct. The strong lines of Bolland were the first thing to catch my attention, but as I got deeper into the story other facets of the Dredd universe began to vie for my attention. The humour was strong and direct, keeping me smiling in the face of what otherwise was a grim story. Dredd was strong, although not all-powerful, and remained a man struggling against overwhelming odds. Pitched against him, the Kleggs looked fabulous, and I was intrigued by their appearance from the very first panel. Judge Cal's use of them added an edge to the story and gave Judge Cal a far more interesting weapon than an army of Judges. As usual, it was Judge Cal who got the best lines, and although I despise his tyranny, I can only hope that we see plenty more of him in the coming issues. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Now, I want things carried out in an orderly manner, Report to your execution stations in good time. No barging or rowdiness in the queues. And bring a book in case there is a delay. That is all."

Ro-Jaws continues his amazing life story on the pages of Ro-Busters. He is still in the robot prison where we last saw him, and this week we are introduced to two of his robot companions.

The first of these robots is Mad Jock, a butcher robot from Glasgow. He is inside for turning his previous master into little meat pies. Then there is Ginger, a taxi robot who accidentally killed his master after tumbling into a river. The three robots plan an escape, with Ro-Jaws distilling fuel for Jock to use for the break. 

Mad Jock manages to make a solo escape, only to be captured. The last page shows the consequences of this escape, with Jock now an obedient robot after, what one can only assume, is a very intense punishment. 

A brilliant story, and although I have given it the same rating as Judge Dredd, I feel it just pips that previous story. With additional characters stepping forward, some of the attention is taken from Ro-Jaws - no bad thing as although I enjoy his character, a full strip of him can become grating. In particular, Mad Jock stood out with some of the best lines in the story, the best panels, and of course the best moments of the story with his escape and recapture. All of this pushed the story forward and gave us some sense of the danger faced and the peril that may lay ahead. All of it was well crafted, and by the time Mad Jock had been captured we already had enough of a connection to the robot to feel bad about all he had been through, and how he must be suffering now. I don't know what comes next, but I can only hope that Mad Jock is somehow involved and can provide a foil for Ro-Jaws. All this story drama was bolstered by brilliant artwork that gave a heavy feel to the prison, a darkness to the tale, and, at the right moments, a dynamism to the action. More like this next week, please! 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Aye! If I had my way - they'd all go into pies! If only they hadna taken away ma knives..."

In the bowels of the Trans-time Corporation's fishing plant, Peters is suffering through a double shift after being set up by Carver. It's a colourful start to Flesh and gives a sense of the scale of the operation Peters is caught up in. 

On deck, the rest of the crew is carrying out repairs to the crane used to haul the catch aboard. They are attacked by Pterosaurs, a flying reptile that doesn't usually venture so close. Two crew members are killed dramatically, and the rest of the crew becomes fearful that the appearance of the killer scorpions may have upset the other creatures around them.

Big trouble is brewing, yet it doesn't seem to bother Carver,  who insists on taking out a trawler and hunter-killer sub to recoup some of the loss of production they have suffered.

His hand-picked team surprisingly includes both Peters and Old Ben and they find trouble soon enough as they come across Big Hungry and some giant scorpions in a fight to the death. 

A great last panel, and we had a steady upward journey towards it throughout this week's strip.  The opening pages with the Pterosaurs attacking the sailors set a high bar and gave us an insight into this brutal world, before the strip set course for the final voyage that brought us to Big Hungry and the Scorpians. Although not afforded a full page, there was enough room for us to witness the enormity of the event and build anticipation for what I will assume will be a fantastic double-spread to kick off next week's story. Sometimes Flesh flounders a little with its meandering storylines, but with an array of frightfully looking monsters, there is always a sense of dread on the page and some intense action to carry my attention and keep me turning the pages. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Hell, the beast's gone crazy!"

Man versus wild is the theme of this week's Future Shocks, with a lone figure pushing his way across the icy wilds opening the story. Watched on by hungry wolves, he struggles to get back to his settlement before sunset, his sledge heavy from a day of hunting. 

The wolves attack, and after a struggle the man manages to get to his canoe, whereupon he quickly moves downstream to his settlement. 

In the opening panel, Tharg told us this week's story is from our own world, and in the final panel, we learn just where in our world this is. The hunter arrives back at his settlement, which is not in Northern Canada as you might suppose, but rather at the Houses of Parliament in London. With the arrival of the third ice age, things have changed, and although the wolves neatly got him in Battersea Park, the hunter has returned with food for all. As Tharg says to round out the story, maybe it's worth thinking twice before complaining about the weather. 

Nobody talks about a coming ice age any more, but I remember in the late 1970's it was all the rage. It's hard to believe now, but I recall my friends worrying about it when we were at primary school. I enjoyed this icy tale. Although the icy hunting scene offered nothing new, the final panel of the arrival back at a recognisable landmark made it all worthwhile and gave the story an extra kick. I should have seen it coming, but I'm glad I didn't and it came as a nice surprise. A good taster of what Furute Shocks should be, and I liked this more than I expected. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "They nearly did. They attacked me in Battersea Park. It's a wide, lifeless pace now. I won't go there again in a hurry!"

Johnny Alpha and Wulf have planted a nuclear bomb inside the Wolrog planet of Rog, but before the two heroes of Strontium Dog can make their escape a troop of Wolrogs catches them in the act. 

Johnny is fast with his blaster, but there are too many of them and all Johnny and Wulf can do is run for it.  It looks like they have evaded the Wolrogs, but unfortunately, Wulf's foot becomes caught in a narrow recess. Johnny refuses to leave him, despite the Wolrogs rapidly approaching them.

Things take a surprising turn as an explosion suddenly blasts all the Wolrogs. The source of this blast is the ship that had dropped Johnny and Wulf on the planet, and Johnny and his friend quickly get on board to make an escape. 

The Sandorian Commander engages maximum warp, and the ship is gone in an instant. It's not a moment too soon as the planet erupts, killing everything within a thousand miles. 

The Sandorians would like to reward Johnny with this ship, The Shadow, but Johnny regretfully declines. The vessel would be recognised everywhere it went, and as a bounty hunter, he would prefer to keep a low profile. He may have saved the universe, but as he says in the final panel, this time there is no charge.

A fitting end to this story arc, although perhaps a little too convenient having the spaceship turn up and save the day just when all looked lost. Once again I enjoyed seeing the friendship between Johnny and Wulf, and this really held the story together in the face of some hum-drum blasting action. The ending was notable, and gave us a great idea of what sort of character Johnny Alpha is. It made me more curious about his story, and although I didn't warm to this storyline it did give me a desire to read more. This was my first encounter with Strontium Dog, and from what I have read here I like it well enough, although I feel it has hidden depths and can only get better when it returns. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "...this time there's no charge" 

Prog 94 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "I mean... what harm have animals ever done to us robots? But I had to put somethin' in the pies....so when my master went missing, the police got very suspicious!"   

Best Panel: 

Prog 93

Work has been hell this week, so I am most pleased to see people suffering far worse on the pages of 2000 A.D. Thank goodness I don't live in Mega-City One, or in a world inhabited by giant scorpions such as we see on the pages of Flesh. I certainly don't have as many worries as Johnny Alpha does in Strontium Dog. All in all, life is pretty good, and after reading this week's comic I shall return to work tomorrow in a new frame of mind and with a far more positive attitude.

Prog 93

30th December 1978

After a small break due to industrial action (is there anything more 70's than industrial action?) 2000 A.D. returns the week with the opening Judge Dredd storyline reaching boiling point. 

Dredd and his handful of men are battling back against the evil Judge Cal, and have seized control of the broadcast studio. Beaming his message directly into the homes of millions across Mega-City One, Dredd calls for the people to arm themselves and join him on the streets. This message hits home, and we are treated to the sight of crowds of people appearing on the streets brandishing various weapons. 

Although in the bath, Judge Cal does not take this sitting down, literally, and standing in his bathtub he commands every Judge out into the street to destroy the rebels, while proclaiming that the whole city is condemned to death. 

The streets become a battlefield, and Dredd can see that without proper weapons too many good people are dying. Taking matters into his own hands, he crashes the armoury and begins to distribute weapons to the people, a timely place to wrap up this week's strip.

This feels a little disjointed coming after the break for industrial action. The first few panels are a recap, with some of the previous lines from the last issue reappearing as a reminder of where we were with the story. The story took a page or two to hit its stride, and once we were up to speed things greatly improved. We had some humour in Judge Cal and his bath, especially the sight of him standing (although there were tactically placed bubbles to preserve his modesty). There was also humour as Dredd called for the people to rise up, and the aptly named Judge Schmaltz crying as Dredd finished his speech was a nice touch that I enjoyed. We finished with battles raging in the street, and with weapons being handed to all I expect we will see much more in this vein next week, while Dredd edges closer to a final confrontation with Judge Cal. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Don't get up, citizens. I prefer you on your knees!"

This week in Ro-Busters we are treated to the first installment of Ro-Jaws memoirs.

Things start well enough and we meet the young Ro-Jaws when he was a new sewer robot. Tasked with eating all the muck, Ro-Jaws excels at his job, catching the attention of his human master and gaining an introduction to the Minister for the Environment, Sir Neville. A polite Ro-Jaws is thanked in person by Sir Neville, and Ro-Jaws takes pride in the meeting. 

However, Ro-Jaws begins to change after falling in with a homeless man named Scratchey. Scratchey saves Ro-Jaws when Ro-Jaws becomes stuck while unblocking a drain. From this point on the two become first friends, sharing food and conversation for the next few pages. 

One night Ro-Jaws finds Scratchey sleeping in the pouring rain after having been moved up from his usual spot under the arches. Seeking shelter for his friend, Ro-Jaws takes him into Sir Neville's house, telling Scratchey that Sir Neville is a good friend of his. 

After helping Scratchey change into some of Sir Neville's clothes, they indulge in a large meal before falling into bed together for a well-earned sleep. They are rudely awakened by Sir Neville and his wife returning from the opera. Sir Neville and his wife are horrified to find a sewer robot and a homeless man sharing their bed, and before we know it the odd couple are thrown out into the street, with Scratchey being loaded into a van to be sent to a home, and Ro-Jaws dispatched to the to Robot Interrogation Police (R.I.P) to be re-trained in obedience. 

We end with Ro-Jaws telling the reader that this was when he realised there were two types of humans, those that hurt others, and those that are easily hurt, and this was when he began to change. 

This is a typical Pat Mills story, loaded with social commentary and man's treatment of others. The brief moment of Scratchey telling Ro-Jaws that he had been moved on from his usual spot under the arches was telling, as was the treatment met out to the pair at the end of the story. It harkened back to the Mach Zero story we saw several months ago and touched on many of the same points. Aside from the deeper message in the story, the surface-level story of Ro-Jaws and his journey to the foul-mouthed cynical robot he is now was well told and still has a way to go. We should be seeing more of this transformation across the coming weeks, and if it is given as much time and care as the Hammer-Stein story we previously saw then it should make for a satisfying story arc. We are off to a strong start, with Pat Mills stamping his authority on the story and setting sail for another satisfying edition of Ro-Busters.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Please Guv...can I have some more?"

Giant scorpions from the bottom of the sea provide the main thrust of this week's Flesh story, and the opening panel of them emerging from the sea is deliciously scary and instantly has me questioning if I want to turn the page.

It's well that I do, because things only become more intense from here on in, with thrills and skin-crawling action on every page. In the brig of the sub, Peters is still chained up (you might remember him from several issues ago and the way he stood up to Carver). Peters is about to taste the laser lash but decides that now is his chance to make a break for it. Fighting off his captors, Peters escapes to the deck only to find all hell breaking loose as the giant scorpions attack. 

Peters strikes one with the laser lash, biding time for an escape, only to find that one crew member is still on the shore. While Peters jumps overboard to grab this straggler, the rest of the crew desert him and the sub pulls out into the ocean. 

With an impressive panel showing the scorpions advancing on Peters and old Ben, it looks like all is lost, but a second later the scorpions stop advancing and instead turn their attention to the sub. 

The following panels are brutal and are not for the faint of heart as the scorpions attack the men on the surface and those trapped in the sub. 

Peters and Ben escape the base on a makeshift raft and make their way to Atlantis station. There they receive a shock when they find Carver already there and manipulating the master of the station. Peters finds himself helpless as old Ben has now lost his mind and can't support Peters' story, the final panel sees him wondering what else Carver could possibly unleash on them next. 

Great stuff through and through, mostly due to the fact the scorpions are a fantastic threat and looked wonderfully scary on the page. Nightmares are now guaranteed for me tonight. The story advanced at a quick pace, with the scorpions adding to the story rather than acting as a distraction. Normally I would complain that there wasn't enough attention on Carver, but he did appear at the key moments at the end and wasn't required to drive the story earlier in the strip. The art was tightly focused on the scorpions and felt a lot tighter with a singular purpose throughout the comic. There were several notable images, although my favourite was when the scorpion approached Peters on the beach. It gave us a good sense of the scale and heightened the peril he was in. This is a new high point for this iteration of Flesh, and the standard has now been set for all that follows. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "That scum Carver! He'll rot in hell for this!"

We haven't had a Future Shocks for a few weeks, so I was surprised to find one tucked in the pages of this week's comic. 

In the year 1984, a time capsule is buried for future generations. Time marches on the world is ravaged by war. However new civilizations arise from the ashes, and in a distant future the world has reached a time in which the horrors of war are no longer known. 

The time capsule is found, and although the professor and his friend are eager to open it, they are advised to leave it unopened. 

The professor disregards that advice and late at night opens the box and is pleased to find the papers within use the same language as he does. Unfortunately, the box also contains germs and bacteria for which they have no cure. The professor and his companion die where they stand, while the caption tells us that Professor Pandora would have been better to leave it as was.

Oh yes, Pandoras Box, very good, we get it. A nice idea, and with some fine art, this was almost too clever for its own good. It felt like a lot of work just for some clever wordplay. I liked it as it was, although it didn't feel essential and I mostly took pleasure from the artwork. A typical Future Shocks, enjoyable, but not substantial.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "There- I knew that there was nothing to fear. Why those old fools have forbidden the study of the twentieth century. I'll never know!"

Strontium Dog Johnny Alpha has been rescued by a Sandorian attack cruiser and is now been told of the Sandorian plans to fight back against the Wolrogs. It seems the Wolrogs have all their supply dumps and arms factories in one place - the planet Rog. They have a stealth craft that can get in close to the planet, all they need is a pilot willing to take on the mission.

All eyes are on Johnny Alpha, and although Wulf is dead against it, Johnny decides that have little choice and they have to do it whether they like it or not. 

The stealth ship works as expected, and soon Johnny and Wulf plant a nuclear weapon inside a repair hatch on the planet. Things aren't quite as good as they seem, and we finish the strip with Johnny looking up to see four Wolrog soldiers watching him.  

This was a well-paced story and although my description was brief, the story flowed easily across the pages allocated to it. Nothing was hurried, and we were treated to panels of Johnny and his friends talking about the decision before they decided. The journey to the Wolrog planet was also unrushed, and again we had almost two pages of them flying to the planet and evading the Wolrog forces. This slower pace gave us much more time to digest the brilliant artwork of Carlos Ezquerra, always a joy and time well spent. Not as dynamic as some other stories in this comic, but a pleasant way to wrap up a great issue.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Vot you say? US?"  

Prog 93 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Flesh

Best Line: "Blimey! This robot has been well programmed"   

Best Panel: 

 

Prog 92

Hard to believe that a month passed since I last updated the blog. Things have been fast and furious here, with an urgent trip to Tokyo for a family matter. I thought I might have time alone with my comics, but it wasn't to be and I find myself now back in rainy New Zealand playing catch up. It was a shock to pick up this week's comic and reacquaint myself with the storylines, I had to read through twice to remind myself where we were, and perhaps my overall opinion of this week's comic suffered from the brief break in continuity on my part. However, I'm back into the swing of things now, and my eyes are already glancing across at next week's issue.  

Prog 92

25th November 1978

The insane Judge Cal has become Chief Judge of Mega-City One, while Judge Dredd has escaped into the city. In the first pages of this issue, we see Judge Cal assert his power with a range of brutal panels showing his Judges cracking down on the city's citizens. 

This insanity peaks when Judge Cal has his goldfish proclaim a new law, a series of bubbles from the fish's mouth, before enforcing it with the death penalty for those who don't obey. 

Meanwhile, Dredd has linked up with a group of wounded Judges, all of whom are prepared to join him in resisting. Preparing to fight Cal's Judges, Dredd tells his men that the other Judges were once good, and they can be good again. With this thought foremost in his mind, he commands his men to shoot to wound. However, they can kill if they must and without hesitation. 

Dredd and Giant lead the way, and after a couple of skull-cracking pages, we see Dredd and his band of Judges preparing to take control of the broadcasting. As Dredd rightly asserts, take control of broadcasting and they can raise an army of millions. 

This plot is moving in the right direction, although this week I found I had reservations about the art. It felt slight for the story being told and apart from the final image of Dredd staring out at the reader, there was very little for me to get excited about. On the other hand, the story took a leap forward with Dredd and his rag-tag band of men engaging the enemy and offering some resistance. We saw just what an evil bastard Judge Cal is in the first panels with his crackdown on the citizens, and it was stirring to see Dredd give some backbone to those too weak to fight back. Things are coming to a head, and with some strong art next week we should be reaching the pinnacle of this story soon. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Today we fight other Judges. I don't know what kind of hold Cal has over them, but they were good men once - and they'll be good men again!" 

On the pages of Strontium Dog, Johnny Alpha, Wulf, and Gronk escape the Wolrogs using one of the Wolrogs' nuke-torps. 

The Wolrogs don't take this lying down, and open fire from their main blaster and blow the planet that Johnny Alpha is behind to smithereens. 

It's a serious mistake, and Johnny and his friends make an escape in the debris, while the Wolrog responsible pays for it with his life. 

Twelve hours later, our heroes come across a battle between the Wolrogs and a Sandorian attack cruiser. Johnny has only one thought, to help the Sandorians. He and his crew quickly don vacuum suits and exit the ship, leaving it on a collision course for the Wolrog vessel. The Wolrogs realise what is happening all too late and they are destroyed in the resulting blast. 

Satisfied, Johnny watches on as he floats nearby with his crew. Safety is near at hand as the Sandorian ship approaches, intending to pick up Johnny and thank him for saving the situation.

A low-key episode this week. On paper, it sounds exciting and action-packed, but that didn't translate onto the comic page and I felt we cruised through the story this issue. Johnny escaped, a planet was blown up, and the Wolrog ship was defeated, but none of it felt terribly important or dramatic. It was a soft read, and even the art felt slight. Not to say I don't like Johnny Alpha and his adventures, just that this story stayed in second gear and didn't deliver the same level of high-octane drama I have become used to.    

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Send out a catcher. Whoever they are, I wasn't to shake their hands."

Flesh has taken a turn, with the conflict onboard the fishing vessel put to one side as the much larger scheme of smuggling tourists from the future using Trans-time Corporation's time travel shuttle is revealed. 

Carver quickly cuts himself in on the action and sees the time shuttle as his opportunity to escape with the gold he has hidden. While the tourists are out on a fishing trip, Carver makes for the cave where he has stashed the gold. 

It doesn't go to plan, the tourists are attacked and killed by Big Hungry, while Carver finds that the gold is no longer where he left it. 

The situation worsens in the final panel as we see the blood in the water has attracted giant scorpions, and next week Carver and his men will have to face this new menace. 

The best panel of the story appeared early and showed one of the tourists harpooning a prehistoric fish. The rest of the story never came close to living up to this, and it fell flat on many levels. We saw the machinations of Carver, but he wasn't the main focus. The giant scorpions at the end weren't as threatening as one might expect, mostly because we never actually see them. We are given a glimpse of their claws coming out of the water, but that is all there is. The scenes of Big Hungry attacking the tourists were good, although once again it felt rushed and could have been stretched out longer. However, one can't complain too much with the story moving quickly forward, and the giant scorpions next week should be a sight to behold. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "It don't take much to bribe some guys to get us to a time shuttle, and it takes even less to interest some suckers in taking a trip to the past!"

I'm sad to see that this week is the final part of Hammer-stein's war memoirs in Ro-busters. It starts with a grim scene reminiscent of the First World War, with Hammer-stein crouched in a muddy trench with other soldiers. The detailed art is spot on, with many references and signs that could well be drawn directly from that conflict. 

Hammer-stein's comrades are still present, and we are reacquainted with Harrison who thinks he is an aeroplane and is now sporting a propeller hat. In a nice touch, he has a Biggles book in hand, something that greatly appeals to me as I collect these books myself. 

A new officer arrives and instantly takes a dislike to the men, and rest assured, the feeling is mutual. In the best traditions of trench warfare, he sends the men over the top to seize Hell Fire Hill, little caring about what will happen to them. 

Needless to say, they are decimated, with eighty per cent casualties reported. We see the death of several of Hammer-stein's comrades, with Baby-face the first to fall, followed soon after by Sergeant "Country" Joe.

However, with Hammer-stein immune to the flamethrowers deployed against them and fighting with a furious inner rage, the battle is won and the hill is taken. Later the officer tells them that the hill is no longer of strategic importance as they broke through further along the line. 

After this, we learn that the men were pulled out of the war, and from here on it would be robot armies fighting.

At this point, Ro-Jaws interrupts the story and we are abruptly brought back to the present. Ro-Jaws says we have heard enough of this war rubbish and it's time to move on to something else. A timely appearance by their human secretary, the beautiful Miss Marilyn, moves us forward, calling for Ro-jaws and Hammer-stein to come help move her desk. The story finishes this week with the robots doing as asked, and Ro-jaws just about to tell us his memoirs.

I'm a sucker for a good war story, and I enjoyed the images of the soldiers preparing for battle in the trenches, and the various tropes that were drawn in. The snottty officer, the young men falling, and then the revelation that it was all for nothing, has been seen before, yet it still remained powerful in this abridged form. This particular story could have been spun across three issues, but even as is I appreciated every panel. This story is just three months before the appearance of Pat Mill's Charley's War, a story that sees him mine the same material in a far richer and in-depth environment. This is a nice pointer towards that, and I can't help but wonder how far Pat was down the track with his writing of Charley's War when he wrote this issue. I have no idea what Ro-jaws memoirs will entail, I can only hope that it is every bit as good as Hammer-steins and just as rewarding.

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Er- it seems the hill is no longer of strategic importance- we broke through further along the front. However, you put on a fine show, men. I take back what I said..."

Prog 92 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Ro-busters

Best Line: "Take broadcast control and we'll have an army of 100 million!"   

Best Panel: