Prog 104

I don't know where this weekend has gone. One minute I was drinking beers and watching football, and the next minute it's Sunday evening and I'm wondering how to begin this week's blog post. I read Prog 104 a few days ago but never found time to come back to it until now. My first impression was this is another strong issue, with Judge Dredd leading the way as we stampede through five different stories. Sam Slade and Robo Hunter are finally reaching the heights I hoped they would achieve, and once again the character is back to how I remember him.  Ro-Busters, Dan Dare and Strontium Dog all deliver, with each story in an early stage but steadily building week by week. It may be Sunday evening, but I am energised by this week's issue and the prospect of facing Monday morning suddenly doesn't seem so bad. 

Prog 104

17th March 1979 

Judge Dredd and Fergee are about to get heavy in the first panels of this week's comic. Bursting through the window of Dredd's apartment, they catch the Kleeg mercenaries billeted there by surprise. A brief and surprisingly intense fight follows, with Dredd and Fergee emerging victorious after some skull-cracking action. 

With Dredd's robot Walter saved, it's time for some running repairs on the robot before Dredd outlines the next part of his plan. He needs to get into the Hall of Justice, and Walter is a key part of his plans. 

Walter phones in a report to Judge Cal, telling him that Dredd has just appeared and raised hell. Although Dredd is assumed to be dead, Cal can't take any chances and dispatches his Judges to the scene. 

Out on the road, this team of Judges encounters Dredd and his stolen patrol-wagon. Dredd guns his way through their cycles and continues up an incline. At the top of the incline, Dredd and Fergee leap from the escape hatch and gleefully watch on as the patrol-wagon rolls back through their pursuers. 

Things quieten on the Dredd side of the story at this stage, as he and Fergee slip back into the sewers. Meanwhile, in the Hall of Justice, things are intensifying, with Juge Cal's madness clearly on display. This culminates in the final panels, as he calls for a sign, before demanding that Dredd's robot be brought before him to face his wrath. We are left with one final image of Judge Cal standing over Walter with axe in hand, while Walter tries to find the courage to speak up. 

Another strong episode, with a great mix of action and plot. Things advanced nicely this week, and after an explosive opening few pages, we saw the wider plot emerge as Judge Dredd began to enact his plan. The fight with the Kleggs, and then Cal's Judges was eye candy and mixed intensity with a sense of humour which balanced the story. We have several strong images of Dredd, but we equally saw as much of Fergee, which was a treat I greatly enjoyed. The final image of Cal standing over Walter the robot wasn't as big as I would have liked, but nevertheless, it was a memorable one that closed the strip in style. A larger size would have put an exclamation point on this week's issue, but even as it is it is still the best story this week, and once again leads the way for 2000 A.D.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Dredd...alive! Just when I have the city in my grip! Just when I have squeezed the last ounce of hope from the people - their hero has returned to them!" 

Robo Hunter is back and we are one step closer to resolution as Sam Slade slips through the maintenance ducts in a quest to meet up with Big Brain. 

After a small diversion in which he dispatches a couple of low-level robots, Sam finds himself in a vent overlooking Big Brain's quarters. From here he observes Big Brain meeting a couple of religious robots and witnesses how powerful Big Brain is.

He gets a further demonstration of this soon after, as Big Brain calls for Sam Slade to be removed from the vents. Seeing that the jig is up, Slade crashes into the room. Slade is able to handle the low-level robots, but Big Brain is out of his league, and after an awesome display of Big Brain's mental prowess, Sam Slade is caught upside down and helpless. 

He is still able to tell his story, and Big Brain is intrigued enough to gather an assembly of robots so Slade can explain himself further. This gathering goes rather well, and after explaining the situation and the fact that he is a real human, Big Brain sees the errors of his way. Eventually, it is all too much for him and his mind snaps, leaving him speaking like a little girl.

Slade is hailed as being a human, and General 1 of the First Army pledges his allegiance to him.  General 2 is a hardliner, and sees things differently, telling all who listen that his troops will fight him to the bitter end. With a civil war brewing, the story closes this week with a robot army cheering on King Sam to lead them to victory. 

This is much closer to the Slade we saw in the series' first run, and with his snappy dialogue returning I am won over. Like last week, we had a touch of the real world satirised, with the appearance of two religious advisors. They were obvious caricatures but still provided fun, and I especially appreciated some of the dialogue between them. Paired with the return to form of Sam Slade, this made for a stronger issue than previously seen. I do fear for the upcoming civil war, and this may see Slade once again slip back to a bit part role. I hope he remains as strong as he is here, and his dialogue is kept to the fore. This is the strongest part of the strip, and shouldn't be neglected for the wider tale. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "That's S-L-A-Y-E-D to you, creeps!"

It's a welcome return for Strontium Dog, and rather pleasingly it starts with two colour pages. 

Johnny Alpha, along with his colleagues Wulf and Gronk, is heading into Sharpsville town. He is on a search and destroy mission, tailing another mutant known as Fly's-Eyes Wagner. 

After an early encounter with the local police, in which Johnny ends up speeding away from two of them, the trio soon find a road-train the same as the one that Fly's-Eyes jumped. As Wulf pulls their vehicle alongside, Johnny makes the jump across to the road-train, and as he delivers some back story he begins his search. 

It doesn't take long before we see some action, with Fly's-Eyes coming at Johnny from behind, only to find himself eating the butt of Johnny's gun as Johnny senses him coming. Johnny has the upper hand, and pointing his gun at Fly's-Eyes he tells him to surrender. However, Flys-Eys has a lucky break as the two policemen from earlier in the story reappear and take a shot at Johnny. This gives Fly's-Eyes the upper hand, he leaps from one carriage to another, before quickly undoing the coupling and leaving Johnny on a rapidly toppling road-train. 

It's still early days, but the story is heating up nicely. We had conflict early on, before we got to the meat and potatoes of the story. The groundwork laid down in the first few panels was paid off, and we also got to see the villain Johnny is up against. Plenty for him to deal with and lots of action scattered across the pages. Not a lot for Wulf and Gronk to do in this issue, but they are close enough to the action that they will get a part to play next week. Things can only get better from here on in, and next week we should see the story go from a simmer to a boil. Just as long as I don't have to type the words "Fly's Eyes" over and over, I shall be happy.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Gosh, Mr Johnny, Sir - look at those signs! The peoples here doesn't like you mutantses!" 

Dan Dare has lost his memory and believes that the Mekon is really Lord Drakyl of Nyrene, while Dare himself is a Galatctic Law Enforcement Officer. Together they are landing on the planet of Lystria, where the Mekon hopes that Dare will recover the Crystal Of Life that will save the Mekon. 

Stepping off the ship, Dare strolls boldly into the swamp, while the Mekon's men hold back in fear, fear of the waters that cover most of the planet. This fear is well-founded, as seconds later Dare is caught by two Toadmen. It is only the intervention of the Mekon that saves him, as he is worth more to the Mekon alive than dead as they search for the crystal.

However, one of the Mekon's men isn't so lucky and is dragged into the waters by the Toadmen, never to be seen again. 

We then have a page of the Mekon explaining the origins of the Crystal Of Life, before the story closes with the team coming across the shrine of the Crystal Of Life, giving off a light that gives everything the appearance of being splashed with blood. 

A few new wrinkles in the story have me interested on several levels, and the story delivered an ever-expanding universe in this week's stip. We still have the overarching story of Dan Dare and his memory loss, along with the quest for the Crystal Of Life, his interaction with the Mekon, the Toadmen of this planet, and the small matter of the Thaxians. Plenty of loose threads and I look forward to seeing some of them pulled tight and bringing the pieces of the story together. A lot of moving parts, and although none of them is holding centre stage, they all have flashes that keep me reading along. The artwork of Gibbons' was a strength here, and I liked his images of the Toadmen and Dare's first encounter with them. This won't be the last we see of them, and this first appearance has set a high standard and instilled enough fear on the page for me to worry about what awaits Dare. We still aren't firing on all cylinders, but getting better week by week and the future holds plenty for me to explore. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "They were almost the last thing I saw! In heaven's name, man! Why didn't you tell me that those abominations existed!" 

This looks like the end for our two favourite Ro-Busters, as Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein are the first to be added to a list of Robots that Quartz plans on destroying to claim insurance money. 

With Ro-Busters going out of business, Quartz still has plenty of irons in the fire, and we can see a thorough list of companies he's involved with in the opening panel of this week's strip. 

While Ro-Jaws continues to give his mate Ginger a tour of the facilities, we learn that unknown to the robots the bomb has already been placed onboard their ship the Preying Mantis. 

As the robots enter the ship, Marilyn appears, sad in her heart about the fate that awaits them. Pulling Ro-Jaws aside she explains the nefarious plot that has been put in place. He listens to her story, then bravely boards the ship, telling her that they'll make it out - somehow.

The story ends with Marilyn in tears as she watches the ship take off, her thoughts on how much she will miss them, and how she hopes they will survive and start a new life. 

We saw a musical overlay used to great effect before on the pages of Ro-Busters, and the same device was employed here, although the impact was lesser and it didn't have the same impact the second time around. The music played as the robots prepared for take-off rose to a crescendo in the final panel, but apart from the tears of Marilyn, I felt very little. It's not because I am cold-hearted, but because I felt I was being manipulated, and without being invested in what was happening elsewhere on the page I remained detached. The tour of the Ro-Busters facility didn't seem related to what was happening in the greater plot and was an unnecessary distraction that stole some of the emotion away from the final scene as Marilyn came to say goodbye. Ro-Busters has tread similar ground before, and I know it has more to say, I just hope next week it will say it. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Mankey Moses! You're pulling my wires!"

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Like I always say, you when you get Slade - you stay slayed!"

Best Panel:

Prog 103

I made a life-changing decision over the weekend. I have decided to sell both my record collection and my comic collection, both of which have been keystones of my life. It's hard to imagine life without them, but the truth is they take up more room than they are worth. I find I am using digital more often, based purely on convenience, and it is now rare for me to read a  comic while listening to a record. Of course, this will not impact this blog, and my 2000AD comics will be the last thing to go - probably in about ten years. In the meantime, I'm reading my way through Prog 103, and enjoying what I see. Not every story is a winner, but we are having a good run of late, and there's nothing better than settling down with a cup of tea and a good comic as the shortest day draws near.   

Prog 103

10th March 1979 

A brilliant opening panel kicks off this week's issue of Judge Dredd as Dredd and Fergee immediately run into trouble upon reaching the surface of Mega-City One. 

Fergee wants to make a fight of it, but Dredd knows overwhelming odds when he sees them, and he forces the reluctant Fergee to run away with him. It's a short-lived escape, and just around the corner, they run into a wall. With only limited options, Dredd comes up with a scheme, and pointing his gun at Fergee he tells him to play along.

As they are approached by one of Cal's Judges, Dredd tells him he has caught Fergee breaking curfew. The judge is fooled by this deceit and as soon as Dredd and Fergee get close enough they fight Cal's Judges and seize control of their vehicle. 

Soon Judge Dredd is back at his apartment and peeping through the window. Within a group of Kleegs have been billeted, and they are busy pushing around Dredd's robot, Walter.

Dredd can't stand idly by and watch his robot get bullied, and the strip ends with Dredd and Fergee smashing through the window and about to get heavy. 

Once again, Judge Dredd stands head and shoulders above anything else in the comic. The artwork is a sensation, we have a bevvy of interesting characters, and the plot continues to twist and turn through the mean streets of Mega-City One. The artwork is the first thing to catch my attention, and each week it seems to get stronger, capturing all the detail of Mega-City One while presenting a clean line that adds strength to Dredd. This week the story focused on Dredd and Fergee, and with the action to the fore there were plenty of impactful panels. It was also a welcome return to the Kleegs, and seeing a variety of characters scattered through the story widened the scope compared to the claustrophobic feel of the last couple of weeks. I wasn't sure about the direction we were heading, but by the end of the strip, I had completely brought into the storyline. The bar has been set high for this issue, and I can't imagine any other story this week will come anywhere near it.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Trouble, old chappe! You want Fergee to get heavy with them?

After the highs of Judge Dredd, Robo-Hunter is a letdown. Sam Slade is on his way to meet Big Brain, and after encountering some basic robots, he finds himself in the gallery of the robot parliament

This Parliament features several politician robots, who would fit in well with any typical political stereotype. Slade is spotted in the gallery, and after taking to his heels, he soon finds himself in one of the politician's private rooms. This politician is a member of the stupid party, and after a brief conversation, Slade manages to outwit him and after a brief rewiring, the robot lets him go. 

This brings us to this week's finale, as Slade is giving a map of the ventilation shafts and begins a long crawl toward Big Brains. 

The story this week was not as funny as last week, and with the rest of the story failing to grab me, I have nothing but disappointment.  Even an extra swig of my tea hasn't made it any better, and there is nothing I can do to save the story from itself. The parliament had the potential to be funny, just as last week's Robopoly game was, but it lacked the extra satirical bite that it needed. The Dredd story is always approaching this from a satirical bent, and as much as this should have been as sharp, it never delivered the punches I was expecting. The nod to the Wizard of Oz was too obvious, and although I appreciated it, I felt it could have more nuanced.  The art also felt frail, and while Dredd was bold and strong on the page, Robo-Hunter remained muted and weak. I like the concept of this story, but apart from some humorous moments earlier, and some nice dialogue, it has failed to deliver. Just like my Dad used to say to me many times, I'm not angry, just disappointed. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "The slightly stupid party demands to know where it will all end. Two Fridays? Two Mondays? Before we know it every week will last a fortnight!" 

The Mekon is using Dan Dare to save him from a slow, undignified death, and with no memory, Dan Dare is going along willingly with the scheme. 

Approaching the planet Lystria, Dare is just in time to witness a Thraxian ship execute some Lystrian prisoners by packing them into an airlock and blowing them into space. 

Although he has no memory, Dare still has his instincts, and his instincts in this case have him opening fire on the Thraxians. 

The Mekon is horrified by this and fears the Thraxians turning on them. His men pull Dare away from the control panel as the second Thraxian ship flees. 

There is some conflict between Mekon and Dare, but the Mekon resorts to his previous ruse, and soon the charade is back in place. Dare is unsuspecting, and they begin to guide the ship down to the planet's surface, aiming for a swamp where, in the final panel, we can see some strange being waiting for them. 

We are still treading water with this story. The art continues to hold my attention, but I am beginning to wane on the plot. There was a brief flare-up in this week's issue, but we are still in the same place as last week and it looks as though it will be next week when the story really leaps forward.  On the plus side, I love the intensity of the Mekon, and every panel he is in is exquisite. The rest of the cast of characters can't come close to him, and he burns so brightly on the page that lesser characters are lost in his glare. Even Dare pales in comparison, and I do wonder if the Mekon wasn't the main antagonist here, would I even bother giving the story as much attention as I do.  This is potentially a great story, and I am just waiting for it to burst into life in the coming issues. Hopefully, that day isn't too far away.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Curse you, Dare. To allay your suspicions, I must again indulge in a sickening display of bogus emotion!" 

Another consignment of broken-down robots has arrived at Ro-Busters. One of these new robots is asking after Ro-Jaws and we discover that it is Ro-Jaw's old robot friend, Ginger. 

Ginger quickly fills Ro-Jaws in on all that has befallen him. After being worked to death, he was taken to the Robot Knackers' yard. Here he was put back together using any old robot parts lying around, and he now has a strange appearance incorporating several types of robots. 

This reunion is interrupted by the arrival of Terra-Mek, who demands that Ginger pay a fee as the newest arrival. Some quick negotiating by Ro-Jaws sees Terra-Mek paid off, and they walk away with Ro-Jaws telling Ginger how quiet it has been lately.

We see exactly how quiet it has been over the page, as Howard Quartz and Miss Marilyn look at a giant profit loss graph, with the arrow firmly pointing down towards a loss. Quartz has a scheme to rectify this, and with no recent disasters, he tells Mariyln that he will arrange for his worst robots to take off in the Preying Mantis, and then blow it up and claim the insurance money. It's a horrible robocide, and Quartz is already formulating a list of who he wants to get rid of, starting with his two least favourites.

No prizes for guessing who these least favourite robots might be. Things look grim for Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein, although we will have to wait a week to see how it will unfold.

A slow start to this story, although the appearance of Miss Marilyn did get my heart racing. Sure, she's only a comic book character, but my word, what a stunner. She was a bright spot on an otherwise drab issue. The return of Ginger is promising, and the final panels signposting what comes next were good. The rest of the story was dedicated to re-introducing Ginger to us and laying down some of the dynamics between the robots. The interactions between the robots carried the bulk of the story, and until we reach the real meat of the story next week, this remained the most interesting part. It should all pay off in future episodes, and this interaction only deepens the world we are in and will give us scope for further development. Slow and steady wins the race, and this week we had the slow, next week should be the steady. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Compared to Ro-Jaws, Ginger - you're almost handsome!" 

Prog 103 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "I shall have to leave the Very Stupid Party. I don't suppose I'll even be able to wear this false nose again. (sigh) That's one of the nice things about being very stupid, Nobody expects very much from you..."

Best Panel:

Prog 102

I was thinking earlier that it is the artwork of  2000 A.D. that elevates it above most comics of its era. Bolland, Gibbons, and Ezquerra are all legends of the comic field, and reading them here one can see them building their legacies in real-time. Looking at other comics in 1979, there is nothing that comes close to what we are reading on the pages of 2000 A.D. at the time, and in the wider scheme of things we can see just how groundbreaking 2000 A.D. was. I am not a fan of everything I read in this week's comic, but the artwork is undeniable, and some of the best you're every likely to see.  

Prog 102

3rd March 1979 

Judge Dredd and his five remaining men are following in the wake of the monstrous Fergee, a dweller in the city beneath the city, as he leads them to shelter. 

The shelter he offers is rough, but with little choice, Dredd and his men make the most of it. A brainstorming session has Judge Giant coming up with a theory that the Judges on the surface have been slowly hypnotised by Judge Cal in their daily briefings. 

It sounds plausible, and it is decided that they will return to the surface, taking Fergee with them. Dredd intends to break into the Justice H.Q. and use Cal's own tapes against him. 

As they arrive on the streets above they are alone, with all the citizens under curfew. However, they soon come to the attention of a patrol wagon. Dredd makes a run for it, dragging Fergee, who is keen to stay and fight, along with him. 

Reading this strip, Bolland is the first word that comes to mind. His influence on the strip is undeniable, and as much as I am enjoying this story, it is the art that I can't stop thinking about. This week we had several striking images and an array of others that just stick in the mind. I may not remember what was said, but I do remember every panel and the look and feel of the story. Fergee is a strong character, and he is well served by the look that Bolland has bestowed upon him. No doubt he would have been a memorable character anyway, but in the hands of Bolland, he becomes the most interesting character on every page appears on, managing to outshine even Dredd in his own strip. The story is showing no sign of slowing down and in a week that didn't feature Judge Cal we still managed to move forward with an issue that built the character of Fergee and his underworld kingdom to new heights.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "What if Cal fixed it so that the computers automatically fed in a hypnotic suggestion - "You will obey Judge Cal" - that kinda junk..."

Robo-Hunter Sam Slade is still trapped in a mobile robotic sewer cleaner, while in the sewer his two robot companions, SJS and Boots, can only watch on helplessly.

Inside the Sewergator, the Bilge Operator robot (B.O.) has challenged Sam Slade to a game of Robopoly, and a chance to escape. However, should he lose, Slade will remain a permanent guest of B.O.  

The game doesn't go well for Slade, as B.O.'s robotic game piece cheats. Slade's game piece is on its last legs (literally) when B.O. is distracted by Smokey Joe outside. 

Taking his chance, Slade quickly speaks to the robotic police on the game board, and a quick bribe later things take a turn as B.O.'s marker is taken in by the police and severely beaten to the point where he can no longer continue.

Slade has won the game, and although B.O. is very unhappy about this, he nevertheless releases Slade, but not before he gives him and his friends a ride through the sewer.

Slade exits the Sewergateor, and after releasing the two robo-policemen from the Robopoly game into the world, he begins ascending the stairs to his final goal, the HQ of Big Brain. 

A fun story that sacrificed the forward movement of the plot for a series of humorous events that were much funnier on the page than I expected. I thought the Robopoly had the potential to be funny, although I had no idea just how funny it would be. I was grinning throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed what I read. Having grown up playing Monopoly with two siblings, the cheating and shenanigans going on through the game were highly relatable, and I could see a lot of my own family on the page. Right now I am not a big fan of Robo-Hunter, although this week's issue has gone a little way towards restoring its value in my eyes. It was funny and found its groove with the extended game scene. A few more as good as this and I would consistently rate it higher, it only remains to be seen if the next few issues will be as fun as this one. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Sorry, chum. Your marker was, er...resisting arrest." 

This week' Dan Dare is a rich tapestry of lies woven by the deceitful Mekon. With Dan Dare having no memory of what has come before, the Mekon gives him a new past, a past in which he is an intergalactic marshall tasked with obtaining the crystal of life and saving a race of people from the plague. It is a complete fabrication, and the truth about the Mekon slowly dying is carefully concerned in the wrinkles of the story he gives Dare. 

Dare believes in the charade, and after several pages of carefully fabricated lies, we finish with Dare about to arrive on the surface of Lystria to begin his mission. 

A slower issue this week, as we stayed closely focused on the bed of lies being laid by the Mekon. We may not have leapt forward in the storyline, but the story was deepened as we saw Dare drawn into this web of lies. Now we are well and truly up to our neck in this plot by the Mekon, and all that will follow this will be based on the backstory laid down here. It is not the most of exciting of issues, but the artwork of Gibbons was of its usual high quality, and the story feels like an essential part of a wider story. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Come, my friend! Perhaps a glance at the remains of your ship will stir your memory...and provide the answers!" 

There is no Ro-Busters this week, but instead, we are treated to an extended Future Shocks.

It tells the tale of a failed sci-fi writer named Alec Trench, who after having his stories repeatedly rejected by 2000 A.D. decides to take his own life by jumping off a bridge. 

As luck would have it, he is beamed about an alien UFO as he is falling and is soon the star of his own wild sci-fi adventure. 

He comes to an agreement with the aliens on board the ship - they can perform their experiments on him for one month, after which they must release him. This they agree to, and soon he is subjected to a barrage of wild experiments that leave him bent, but unbroken,

The month passes, and when he asks for his freedom he finds that the alien one month is worth ten years - he still has a long way to go. 

Following this, he manages to trick the aliens and using their own machines against them, manages to kill them and escape. He intends to sell his story to Tharg and sets the co-ordinates directly for Tharg's office. It is a short-lived escape, for as he beams back to earth he finds that he has set his coordinates wrong, and he is left plunging past Tharg's office and into the ground below. 

He is killed on impact, although Tharg did manage to snatch Alec's story from his hand as he dropped by the window. Alec Trench may be dead, but in a final ironic twist, Tharg decides to publish his story, with the comment that some writers will try anything to have a story accepted.  

I liked many aspects of this story, yet came away feeling unsatisfied by what I had read. The storyline was clever, and I appreciated that the credit card credited the story to Alec Trench. The artwork of Carlos Ezquerra was instantly recognisable and was another plus to the overall story. On the negative side, it did seem to be too long, and I can't help but wonder if this would have been better as a bare two pages. It had great dialogue, and some of this would have been lost in a shortened form, but even so, the story would have flowed smoother in a shortened form. Oddly enough, this is one story that was less than its sum of parts, and as much as I enjoyed the art and writing, I never felt it quite came together to deliver the story it should have been.  

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "H-holy Hamish! I-I must have set the co-ordinates wrong!"

Prog 102 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Too right, chum. He even cheats when he's playing himself!"    

Best Panel:  

Prog 101

Prog 100 came and went so fast, that I felt I barely had time to give it its due. It was a great issue, and it has propelled us forward into a brighter era of 2000 A.D. At least that's how it seems one issue later. Dredd is still firing on all cylinders, Ro-Busters is pulling at my heartstrings, and the return of Robo-Hunter and Dan Dare has given both stories an extra fizz that was missing at the end of their previous runs. I have been sick most of this week (don't get old, kids) but after a quiet Sunday morning sipping tea and reading comics I am feeling restored and once again ready to face the world. 2000 A.D. has proved to be just the tonic I needed.   

Prog 101

24th February 1979

A beautiful image opens Ro-Busters, with the giant robot Charlie standing tall over the wreckage of a vanquished opponent. 

Things are looking positive for the huge robot but over the page he receives a fake distress call from the navy that lures him out to sea.

Charlie's moral compass sends him wading out into the ocean to help those in need, only to find a navy destroyer waiting for him. Their intentions are made clear when they open fire upon him with their guns. Charlie cannot understand why they would do this, and as he stands in shock they fire a second salvo that sends him sinking to the sea-bed. 

The people of Northpool mourn the passing of Charle, and those who planned Charlie's death find themselves ruined as public opinion turns against them. The terra-meks, who had previously destroyed a large section of public housing, are now held as public villains and hunted down and destroyed over the next couple of days. 

As grim as this all seems, there is one ray of light. Beneath the sea, Carlie begins to stir, and as the people of Northpool watch on, he staggers towards the shore. This brings us to the finale of the strip, and as Charlie wades towards the cheering crowds they greet him with a rousing rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone"

It was an obvious play for the heartstrings, but I couldn't help but go along with it and enjoy every moment. A part of me wanted to sigh and roll my eyes as Charlie arrived back to Liverpool Northpool with the crowds singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" yet I found myself smiling and saying "Yes, this is correct." It was an emotional way to end the story, and in a lot of ways the only way this story ever could have ended. Charlie's humanity shone out throughout the run of this story, and although it was about big robots, the human aspect of the story remained at the core right up until the final moments. The story of a robot with a human heart could only end with the humans responding in kind, and a stirring finish such as this, as Hollywood as it may seem, was the right decision. This was only our fourth edition with Charlie, and yet I felt we knew him so well from the start. As I have written in an earlier blog post, Pat Mills did a fantastic job of setting up all the characters in this story and giving them all a distinct personality that quickly let us know who was who and where the heart of the story lay. There's that word again. Heart. This story had a very real one, and as much as the final scene could have been cringeworthy, its heart was in the right place and I walked away from the story with nothing but pleasant memories and a lot of love. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "If ships turn against Charlie, then...Charlie not want to...live no more..."

The evil Judge Cal is holding auditions to find someone to play Judge Dredd in a TV spectacular he has planned. It is a motley bunch who are auditioning, and once they depart, Judge Cal calls in a handsome but retired, show biz actor. This actor has no interest in playing the part, but after some less-than-subtle threats from Judge Cal, he changes his mind. 

Meanwhile, far beneath Mega-city One, Judge Dredd is fighting a frightening denizen of the the underworld simply known as Fergee. While Dredd is unarmed, Fergee carries a baseball bat, and from the very first panel, we see him putting it to good use against Dredd. 

The first blow is a fearsome one, but Dredd regains his feet and responds with a powerful punch that sends Fergee crashing back into the stinking underground river. 

This amuses Fergee, and the toughness of Dredd wins him over. Fergee offers his hand in friendship, and the two form an unnatural bond. 

Taking a body count, Dredd has five men, and Judge Schmaltz, who is lying mortally wondered in their midst. As the men gather around, Judge Schmaltz offers one final speech before expiring. The judges turn back to the matter at hand, only for another sentence to pass from Schmaltz's lips, and as Judge Kelos remarks, he always did like to have the last word. 

After an appropriate Viking funeral, the rest of the men decide to find a secure base and start making plans to strike back. Fergee leads the way, telling them he knows a place, and although the Judges have reservations, they still follow him. 

And once again I find myself typing "Judge Dredd is hilarious" I'm not alone in laughing at these stories, and this one was a fine example with plenty of unusual circumstances and dialogue to make me laugh on every page. This humour is emphasised by the work of Brian Bollard. Each panel is infused with a confident sense of purpose, and the humour is pushed way in front of any darker storylines. The storylines themselves are strong enough for the humour to add to their flavour, and rather than wilting in the face of the humourous aspects, the stories become even darker and deeper. The first pages with Judge Cal were superb, and I didn't think it would get any better, or indeed any funnier, as we entered the Dredd part of the story. I was wrong, and the Dredd and Fergee interplay again had me grinning from ear to ear. Witty dialogue and the death of the aptly named Judge Schmultz were highlights, and my strongest takeaway from this week's story. A sensation run from Dredd of late, I can only reiterate that I never want this Judge Cal story to end. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "It has been a rare and...and wonderful honour to...to serve with you, Judge Dredd! My...my sun is sinking behind the...hills of life, but...but I am...at peace with my...my destiny..."

On the pages of Robo-Hunter, Sam Slade encounters troubles in the sewers of Verdus and he travels to meet the head robot to prove that he really is a human. A mischief of robot rats has caught him, and thinking him to be an impurity are now trying to eat them. 

Thinking quickly, Sam jumps deeper into the water, and the crisis is averted as the rats refuse to go into the water. However, it is a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire as Captain Kidd's sensors detect the presence of a big robot nearby, the biggest he has yet detected. 

This robot reveals itself over the page, and it is a sight to behold. It is a giant Sewergator, a mobile purification robot, just like the robo-rats, only bigger. Looking like a massive alligator, it swallows Sam Slade and Captain Kidd whole before they can do anything.

Within the bowels of the sewergator, Slade is pulled from the water by yet another robot, this one named B.O. and charged with removing impurities.

Having been alone in the depths of the larger robot for fifty years, B.O. has a split personality, and the next few pages are driven by the dialogue he is having with himself. 

Sam attempts to negotiate his escape, although B.O. is reluctant. B.O. is happy to finally have some company and is torn between keeping Slade as a prisoner or dispensing him to be purified. Slade negotiates a third option, and based on the outcome of a game of Robopoly he will either be held with B.O. for the rest of time, or free to escape.  

A better issue than last week and I feel we are edging closer to where the story was in the first run. The dialogue of Sam Slade is more authentic in this issue, and he sounds more like the character I remember from his first run. We also have higher stakes and a better quantity of robot opponents for Slade to face. Gone are the smaller household robots, and in their place the large-scale sewergator. The sewergator is undoubtedly the highlight as far as the artwork is concerned, and we were provided with several pages showing him both internally and externally. It was all great mind candy and captured the imagination of the reader. The interior character of B.O. was a nice addition and added some extra levity to the situation. His way of talking to himself helped fill in his back story and gave us an upswing in the humour as we approached the final panels which were perhaps the funniest of the lot. Stronger than last week, I hope this issue is a signpost of what is to come. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "For cryin' out loud! You're not going along with that, Slade!"

Dan Dare has lost his memory and is being restored back to health by the Mekon, who has plans of his own to use Dare for his own purposes. 

Dare is told that his real name is Marshal Varyan by the Mekon, and as Dare takes in his surroundings he can't help but think that the Mekon looks familiar.

They are interrupted by an attack by a Thraxian Scout ship. With the help of a prisoner onboard the Mekon's ship, a troop of Thraxians are beamed aboard and although they are outnumbered they threaten to kill and destroy as much as they can before they are killed themselves. 

Dare watches as the battle rages about them, and then at a crucial moment when Dare himself looks to be threatened, he acts on instinct, killing three of the Thraxian himself barehanded. 

The Mekon tells Dare that Dare is one of the Galatic Police Network and that he had been sent to help the Mekon fight the Thraxian and reclaim the Life-crystal. Dare has no reason to doubt this and the strip ends with the pair of them looking upon the planet Lystria where the crystal is and the Mekon pondering the fact that he is about to make Dare the most hated man in the universe. 

Another superb episode of Dan Dare that gives us a balance of intrigue and action. Once again it was the art that held my interest the most, and in particular, any panel showing a close-up of the Mekon. These helped give his character further depth of emotion and paired with his thought bubbles, I felt we got a good handle on what sort of character he is and what his motivations are. The same could be said of Dan Dare. He is learning about himself live on the page, giving us an insight into how he thinks he should act. Dan Dare is my lowest-rated strip this week through no fault of its own. The other strips are all running at a high level at the moment, and perhaps my view of Dare only suffered through reading fatigue by the time I reached his story. There has been a lot of talk on the page thus far, and next week that should turn into action as this Dan Dare story is worked into something substantial that I can really grab onto. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You mean...I'm some kind of...law enforcement officer?" 

Prog 101 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "You'll never walk alone!"    

Best Panel:  

Prog 100

Prog 100 is here, and I can't believe how fast these first couple of years have passed. I thought that after several weeks I would lose interest in this blog and that it would fall by the wayside. That hasn't happened, mostly due to the quality of 2000 A.D. rather than my motivation to stick with it. The first couple of years have been uneven, but there has always been enough to lure me back, and one feels that the next year could see it go from strength to strength. Prog 100 sees a couple of returning stories, stories that I have had warm feelings about in the past, and I am quietly hopeful that they will be even better the second time around. You would think that upon reaching a milestone such as Prog 100 I would be looking back, but this is a comic all about the future, and I for one can't wait to see what that future brings. Forget Prog 100, I want to reach Prog 200.   

Prog 100

17th February 1979

It's all going down on the first page of Ro-Busters, as the giant robot Charlie battles against the demolition team of Terra-Meks. 

It's a titanic struggle worthy of its place first in the comic, and after a fearsome battle, Charlie is victorious over Tyranno-Mek. 

Nearby, Howard Quartz - the semi-leader of Ro-Busters, and Ron Murdoch - leader of the Northpool council, watch on.  Howard Quartz is angry that his most expensive robot has been destroyed, while Ron Murdoch is equally distraught about the death of innocent people. Neither will take responsibility; all they can do is watch on as Charlie defends the city. 

Charlie destroys another one of the Terra-Meks and the arguing Quartz and Murdoch find some common ground as they decide to blame Charlie for all the death and destruction. 

Meanwhile, Charlie is now fighting King Konka, the leader of the Terra-Meks. It's another mighty battle, and this time Charlie is victorious through sheer brute strength. 

This is the last straw for Quartz and Murdoch, and they formulate a plan to blame Charlie for all that has happened. Dead men tell no tales as they say, and the key part of the plan is to kill Charlie before he can tell the truth about what has happened. The plan is a simple one - call up the navy and tell them that Charlie is destroying Northpool, then send an SOS out to lure Charlie out to sea where he can be sent to a watery grave by the naval guns. 

The Mills/Gibbons pairing has again delivered a thrilling story that leapt forward with this issue. It didn't carry the emotion and intensity of the previous issue and instead focused on moving the plot forward and setting up the jeopardy for the next week. We also had a large dose of physical action which appealed to a younger audience, as well as the likes of me who want nothing more than to see large robots fighting each other. Charlie looks beautiful on the page and is a fantastically designed robot, carrying an almost human quality about him although he is obviously a large robot rather than an android. The more human characters took a back seat in this issue, yet there was still humanity on every panel as Charlie channelled his rage into action. This episode was worthy of the 100th issue, and I can see why it was the lead story. Beautiful to look at and beautiful to read, this is a great induction to Prog 100. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "You eat city that Charlie love! But it is wrong to eat people's houses! When Charlie finished with you..you eat nothing no more! 

After Judge Cal dominated last week's issue of Judge Dredd, this week we pivot back to Dredd himself as we see what has become of him. 

We last saw Dredd and his road liner plunging into the road. Little noticed by those watching was that it was a new design, fitted with a crash-proof command capsule. 

Dredd and most of his men survive the crash, although they find that they have crashed through the city bottom and are now in the old Ohio River that flows under the city. 

They are not alone down here, and soon a scavenger party of subterranean humans are hungrily eyeing up their vehicle and everything inside it. The capsule is pulled to shore, and looking out at the half-humans Dredd and his men prepare for a scrap.

That fight never eventuates, as the arrival of a larger, and stupider, subterranean named Fergee arrives and sends the other fleeing. Fergee is eager to open the capsule himself, and upon doing so is greeted with a boot to the face - courtesy of Judge Dredd.

Dredd tells Fergee to surrender, but all this does is provoke some angry threats. The strip ends with Dredd about to fight Fergee the old-fashioned way, with fists only. 

Good to see Dredd back to starring in his own comic. Judge Cal was excellent last week, but there is nothing quite like seeing Dredd staring down bad guys and dispensing his own style of tough justice. Seeing him confronting Fergee was a treat, and the first kick was especially pleasing. The art by McMahon was a fine match for the unsettling world that Dredd now finds himself in, and although Dredd looked strong in his interaction with Fergee, the rest of the panels and world seemed to shift and warp around him, draping a veil of darkness across the strip. Judge Cal wasn't entirely absent from the strip, and on the first page, we did see him make happiness illegal, a move that will further push the citizens to take action if and when Dredd gets back. This week saw a couple of extra layers added to the story, as well as a wrinkle with the appearance of Fergee, all building the intrigue and raising the stakes for an inevitable confrontation between Dredd and Cal down the line. It should be a good one, but I'm in no hurry to get there with the story unfolding the way it is. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Kinda dark out there. Maybe we're in hell, J.D. It sure smells like-it!

Well, well, well, it looks like Robo Hunter is making a return.  I enjoyed the first run, and seeing Sam Slade's dialogue on the first page reminded me of what I liked most about the strip. 

The first page of a re-cap of all that had come before, before we are dropped back into the story with Slade being introduced to a variety of robots by SJI, the only robot who has seen a real human and can verify Sam Slade's identity. 

The household robots are eager to please, and do their best to welcome Slade now that they know that Slade is really a human. There is a discussion of why the other robots on Verdus fail to recognise Slade as human, and it is Captain Kidd who hits upon the answer. The robots have been programmed to recognise that humans are superior, but as robots have been upgraded and continually improved, the humans are no longer superior. The robots on Verdus will never meet a human who is superior, and no human will ever be recognised as such. 

With the robots now beginning a door-to-door search for Slade and Kidd, they formulate a plan to meet face-to-face with the head robot on the planet, Big Brain, and present their evidence that they are really human. 

Sneaking through the sewers they are making good progress until a wave of robotic sewer rats come across them and attack Slade as an impurity. 

This is an uneven start to Robo Hunter. We had the recap that, while necessary, also stole some of the early momentum from the first pages. The dialogue that I enjoyed from Slade was lacking, and the fact that my best line wasn't one of his speaks volumes of how far we have moved from the original film-noir feel.  It took me a long time to get back into the story and I'm still not entirely convinced that I am back into the story, it just doesn't feel as good as the previous iteration. For all the faults of the earlier Robo Hunter story, and there were some, the characters carried the day concerning my reading pleasure. There was none of that in this issue, and I put the comic down feeling underwhelmed by what I had read. The potential is there on the page, and I am willing to give it plenty of time, so for now it's just a matter of waiting to see how the next few issues will unfold. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Oh, my poor old joint is so stiff now! If you weren't human I'd be so angry with you Master Sam!"

Another familiar face next is the return of Dan Dare, and his return is much stronger than that of Sam Slade and Robo Hunter. 

Floating through space on a piece of space junk, Dare is barely alive in his spacesuit. In the vastness of space, he is not unobserved, and on the very first page, we see the eyes of the Mekon watching on. 

The Mekon could leave Dare to drift into death, but he instead decides to beam him aboard and make sure of his demise. Once aboard, the Mekon orders Dare to be placed in the memora-thon, where all the tragedy and despair of his life will be dredged up from his subconscious mind. 

Strapped into the chair, Dare's ordeal begins with the machine forcing him to relive the death of his loyal friend Digby. 

It's all too much for Dare, who breaks free of the chair and strikes two of his nearby captives. However, he is quickly surrounded, and it becomes clear that for all his anger Dare has forgotten who he is and where he is. Dare's mind has snapped under the psychic pressure of the memora-thon. Hovering near, the Mekon sees this as his final opportunity to humiliate Dare and have him save the life of the Mekon. 

The return of Dare was welcomed, and the return of the Mekon even more so. This was a fantastic re-introduction of the story, and already a lot has happened on the page that has me worried for the future of Dare. It all builds to the fact that I want to read the next issue immediately, and I can't recommend a story more highly than that. The writing was equally compelling, and several of the panels had captions that were almost poetic in their description of what was happening. All of it made for an evocative read, and when paired with the clean art style of Gibbons, the entire strip was elevated to another level. Ro-Busters may have started off Prog 100 in grand style, but Dan Dare has provided the exclamation point. The future looks bright for 2000 A.D. and with a couple of refinements the next few months should be a thrilling journey.  

Rating: 9/10

Best line: "Compared to Dare, the worms of the Slygian Slime Forests are of noble birth!" 

Prog 100 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Dan Dare

Best Line: "The good times are over, you scum! Dredd is dead! I am your Chief Judge! I demand your respect - I demand your love...and I'll get it if it kills you!"    

Best Panel: