Prog 99

Prog 100 is just a week away, and with two stories finishing this week, we should see something new on the pages of 2000 A.D. very soon.  At least that's what I thought until I saw the advertising for the next issue and two familiar faces that will be returning. Still, that's all ahead of us, and first, we must negotiate the final issue of Angel and Flesh. I'm pleased to say goodbye to Angel, although I feel Flesh still has some gas in the tanks and has the potential to run for longer. However, I must admit I have never quite been 100% committed to this iteration of Flesh, and truth be told I won't be shedding too many tears at its demise. The rest of the comic remains as strong as ever, and once again Judge Dredd and Ro-Busters are on top form and delivering great issues every week. Plenty to enjoy here, so let's jump right in.    

Prog 99

10th February 1979

Resisting the urge to turn immediately to the Ro-Busters story, I first catch up with all the latest happenings in Judge Dredd. The insane Judge Cal had fired a shot that sent Judge Dredd and his men plunging towards instant death when we last left them. 

Instant death is what the caption promises, but the story is more nuanced than that and the roadliner plunges through the road below and into an underground river. Judge Cal proclaims victory, and in celebration tells the citizens that for the next 24 hours, all crime will be legal. 

The chaos you might expect never comes, and instead crime drops as the citizens stay home and mourn the death of Dredd. This only pushes Judge Cal deeper into his insanity, and soon he is commanding one of his closest men to die for him. 

The other Judges watching on can see that it will only be a matter of time before they are next, and there is talk of killing Judge Cal, although the only man strong enough to stand against Cal was killed earlier in the strip. 

This brief description merely scratches the surface of a fantastic episode of Judge Dredd. I can't emphasise enough how great the artwork was this week, provided by McMahon. Every panel had a dynamism to it and carried a sense of drama. The faces were etched in emotion, and there was not a single panel that didn't deserve attention and praise lavished upon it. Likewise, the dialogue reached new heights, and in the absence of Dredd, many other characters stepped into the spotlight and gave us some smart lines. I appreciated every turn of phrase, and although I don't want his to be a gushing fan-boy blog, I am dangerously close to it today in the wake of this issue. Maybe a cup of tea will calm me down, so I shall sip it thoughtfully now while I re-read one of the greatest.    

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Judges - Cal has won...I weep - I weep for my city!"

Harry Angel has his plane's computer embedded in his body, and he's going to need it as he faces his greatest challenge so far. 

Orbiting Earth in the British Space Fighter, Harry discovers that the watch given to him by the Squadron Leader is a thermite bomb and that the Squadron Leader is the one behind the sabotaging of the space programming. 

Acting quickly, Harry manages to avoid the worst of the explosion, although the spacecraft is badly damaged. Harry has no option but to escape the Space Fighter and risk a freefall reentry with nothing but his space suit for protection. 

Here the magic of the computer in his arm takes over, and Harry survives the reentry and manages to land on his feet beside a road. 

Timing is everything, and two passing policemen pick up Harry. They don't believe his story, but again the computer makes itself useful as Harry plugs himself into the patrol car and seizes control of the situation. Arriving at the base just in time to catch the fleeing Squadron Leader, Harry leaps from the police car and onto the Squadron Leader's jeep. From there the story rushes to a close with the Squadron Leader crashing into a tree, and then admitting that the Reds were blackmailing him. The final panel is slight, with some low-key banter between Harry and the policemen who gave him the ride. 

Well, thank god that's over. My first thought when I finished was "Ugh" -  although that is unfair given how much I enjoyed some aspects of the story. I never warmed to the characters, or the concept, but I did find the artwork by Pino to be to my taste, and while I winched at parts of the story, the artwork always made me smile. This is a sci-fi comic, and I  expect to see the unbelievable on the page. However, the plane computer embedded in Harry Angel's arm after an accident was several bridges too far for me, and from that point on the story was on the back foot. It never recovered from this flimsy start in my eyes, and as much as it had some great action and artwork to match, it never became something that I felt I had to read. I give one final salute to Pino for his art, but after today I will never think of this story again.   

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Space Fighter? Baled out? Er - I think maybe you better in the car, son! We'll...er, look after you till you get another rocket!

Now for the strip I have been looking forward to most - Ro-Busters. 

The destructive Terra-Meks are approaching the poor part of Northpool, and are about to flatten the city to turn it into a vast aero-space port.  

Only the giant robot Charlie can save the area now, but of him there is no sign. 

It's up to Father Flannigan to resist the robots, and standing strong he steps in front of the robots and tells them they must stop. He points out that they are programmed not to hurt humans, and upon hearing this they stop to consider what has been said. Father Flannigan is right of course, but after some debate, the robots talk themselves past this little issue and are soon charging at the humans with nothing but destruction on their minds. 

As the carnage begins, Father Flannigan directs the fleeing citizens to his presbytery where they can shelter in the underground cave below. While many escape, there are still the inevitable casualties and we see several panels of the robots swallowing cars and people whole.

While the people wait helplessly for their final fate, Charlie sits paralysed watching all that is unfolding. He refuses to disobey his programming and despite his willingness to help, he can't get past this thought. However, seeing the wreckage of people's lives floating by, something suddenly snaps within Charlie and he flies into a rage. Angrily he gets to his feet and walks across the river towards the robots inflicting misery on his community. The strip ends with Charlie confronting these machines of destruction and demanding that they stop, only for the robots to respond with a threat of death to Charlie. 

Last week I wrote nothing but praise for Pat Mills. This week I have the same feeling, but Pat is trumped by the art proved by Dave Gibbons. His style is well suited to these wrecking machines, and the clarity of his line gives them detail without ever being too busy. The same can be said of his work on the human characters, and in particular, the emotion of Father Flanagan came off the page and straight into my heart. This was the first story I wanted to read when I picked up this issue, and it delivered everything I could have wished for with the art and writing complementing each other throughout. What a dream team to have working on the strip, and as much as I enjoyed Ro-Busters previous stories, this one eclipses all that has come before and sets new standards for the comic. Another gushing review for me, but honestly, it doesn't get any better than this. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Charlie...he can hear Northpool dying...he want to help...but he must obey his programming..."

The last story of the week is the final episode of Flesh. The Trans-time fish farming base - Atlantis Station, is sinking while Big Hungry and the other Nothosaurs are wreaking havoc within. 

There is carnage on every panel as a variety of reptiles destroy the station and the men within. Carver comes close to being snatched and is only saved by the intervention of Peters, who wants to bring Caver to justice. 

His rescue is short-lived, and over the page, Carver finally meets his end in the jaws of Big Hungry. 

Peters is still intent on escaping, and as the water rises he makes his way to the time controls. Peters fends off one Giant Scorpion as he reaches the controls, but just after he operates the switches he is grabbed by another and is crushed to death. 

However, his operation of the time controls is successful, and the entire base is shifted through time. It is not a smooth journey, and the Station Atlantis is lost at the bottom of an unknown ocean. Big Hungry has travelled through time too, although he has become separated from the rest of the station, and he disappears into Loch Ness, where he lives to this very day. With these two events, the story ends in a nice bow and all the loose ends tied up. 

I'm pleased to see this story end before it took a dip. I have been up and down on my thoughts of it, and I think now is the right moment for the story to wrap up. Having the myth of the Loch Ness monster and Atlantis explained away on the final page was a little on the nose, yet I found I enjoyed it for what it was. It was clever writing and finished the story in a well-rounded way that placed it in the real world. I wasn't so happy to see Carver come to an end so quickly. That could have been an epic finish, and I felt cheated to see Big Hungry easily grab him and end him in a single panel. This iteration of Flesh has been a lot of fun, and for all my mixed feelings about it, it was better than the first version. It was more consistent, and the story seemed to know where it was going. The cast of characters was larger, and more fully fleshed out, making for an interesting read even when the plot was meandering. The final issue was a strong one, with each character getting a fitting end, and the artwork was just as strong as it had been previously. It was close to great, and although it was very good, it never quite made it to that final grade.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "We gotta reach the time controls - beam the whole damn rig outta here! Come on, man!"

Prog 99 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "The monster? Ha ha! That's a good one, Roy! Everybody knows the Loch Ness monster is just a fairy story!"   

Best Panel: