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: