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: