Prog 113

This week's 2000 A.D. was an issue of new beginnings and as such I found myself thinking about the potential of each story as much as what was written on the page. Dredd is strip-mining pop culture again, this time digging deeper into the cultural past with a Frankenstein-inspired story. Rick Random is a new story emerging from the chrysalis, and after a slow opening page is already beginning to stretch its wings, while Ro-Busters feels like it is reaching the end of its curve, with a new horizon appearing as it once again engages in its emotional heart. Dan Dare and Strontium Dog both park the main characters and in Strontium Dog it's the world around them that takes centre stage, while in Dan Dare it is some other characters that do the heavy lifting rather than Dan Dare. Not the greatest issue in the world, but certainly an interesting one with plenty of seeds planted to be harvested in future issues.  

Prog 113

19th May 1979 

Judge Dredd begins with a mad scientist using DNA to recreate himself. As he creates a monster I put in mind of Frankenstein, and by the end of the story we learn that the scientist's name is indeed Milton D. Frankenstein. In between, we see the monster come to life, kill Frankenstein's assistant (the aptly named Beaker) and help him dispose of the body. Dredd also becomes involved once some witnesses come forward who have seen Frankenstein and his DNA-man, now named Dennis, disposing of the dead body. By the end of the strip, Dredd has found a set of prints and identified both the dead body and the possible murderer.  

Very early days for this strip and it's hard to gauge how seriously I should take it. I'm unsure if this will be a sprawling epic, or a simple story told across two weeks like the previous Exo-men. The concept is strong and I see potential in it, it all depends on how much the creators are willing to invest in it. There was very little Dredd in the strip, which is perhaps to its detriment, but the story laid out was interesting enough to retain my interest without needing Dredd to appear on every page. This is drawing from familiar source material in regard to a Frankenstein monster, so I shall be curious to see what the creators can do to put a unique spin on it. Given what we have seen before on these pages, I have no doubt that what will follow will be fresh and liven up a story that has become stale with time.  

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "The line between madness and genius is a fine one, assist me with my experiment - and you may decide which I am!"

With the demise of the Robo Hunter strip in these pages, we now have a new story in the shape of Rick Random, Steller Investigator. 

In a story that smells like the premise of Star Wars The Phantom Menace, there are complicated interplanetary trade negotiations in progress, negotiations that become even more complicated when Baron Odana of Guebin is murdered. 

Rick Random is called into action and with his beautiful pilot Vanda Lane he arrives at the Ship Colombia two days later to begin an investigation. 

The investigation gets off to a rough start as Rick Random clashes with Garon Aldo, another member of the Guebin delegation. However, his investigation must continue, and soon he has narrowed the suspects down to nine. 

Late that night, Rick Random hears a noise and leaving his room he finds that the door to the laser waste disintegrator has been left open. Thinking it dangerous to be left open, he bends to shut it, only to be pushed from behind and into the disintegrator. 

Well, that was a short story. Pushed into a disintegrator, that's tough to come back from. I am enjoying what I have read so far, and I am most curious to see how Rick Random will get out of this one. Tharg did say that this story will only be running for six weeks, so fast-moving action should be the name of the game over the coming weeks. I wasn't fussed by the opening page, but things picked up once we met Rick Random proper, and I was quite taken by his co-pilot Vanda - it seems I will never grow out of my comic-book crushes. The artwork also got stronger as the story progressed and the most memorable panels all occurred on the final page. This bodes well for next week, and from these humble beginnings we should see an exciting detective story emerge, something we can all look forward to. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Murder on the Columbia? Okay, Marius - keep things cool till I get there. Sorry, Vanda - I've got to make tracks..."

Strontium Dog Johnny Alpha and friends have arrived at the city of Hate, the second city of Hell, and things are about to get weird. 

First, they see the Gargoyles, the trapped souls of businessmen cursed to forever feed on human flesh. They then meet Mr Moon and Mr Sun, the two mayors of Hate, one for daytime and one for night. These two mayors talk of the daily hate, and soon this hate arrives as Gargoyles drop five tickets from the sky, tickets that guarantee an escape from hell. 

While the populace fights over these tickets, Johnny and his friends see the city transform before their eyes. Mr Moon and Mr Sun are revealed to be merely balloons before Wulf's cup of tea transforms into worms and Fly's-Eyes' handcuffs melt from his wrists. 

Flys-Eyes makes a run for it, but the road transforms into a river, and Johny dives in as he attempts to recapture his prisoner. The consequence of this rash action is revealed in the final panel as we see that Fly's-Eyes and Johnny are being swept towards a waterfall. 

What a wonderfully weird issue that delivered visually while keeping the story moving forward at a good clip. I feel like the characters in the story as the plot shifts and moves around me like the city around them. Nothing is firm beneath the reader's feet and what I thought was the main focus of the story vanishes as the comic continues to morph. We had some images that fired my imagination and had me questioning what I was seeing, and this kept me engaged in the story as I turned the pages. Normally the colour pages steal all my attention, but in this case, the artwork remained central throughout as I got deeper into the comic. Another issue that raised far more questions than answers, and I will definitely be back next week to see how this will wash out.

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Agh! Vulf feel...sick as der cucumber..."

It is the Mekon and Hagnar, leader of the Thraxians, who introduce us to this week's Dan Dare. 

The Mekon is negotiating to join forces, although the mighty Hagnar can't see how a little alien on a floating cooking pot can help him. A display of power from the Mekon and some manipulative chat soon has the pair working together and the Mekon calls on Hagnar to check the monitors around the central spaceport. 

There Hagnar sees Dan Dare and he tells the Mekon that he will deal with him, sending some skirmishers there immediately. 

Meanwhile, Dare and the guerillas are approaching the main entrance to the inner chambers where the crystal of life is kept. They are about to enter when they are attacked by the Thraxian skirmishers, and the strip ends with Dare about to use the claw of Eternicus to defend himself. 

Dan Dare was late appearing in his own comic, and to be honest, it was better without him. The Mekon and Hagnar had the best lines, and the conversation between the two of them stood head and shoulders above anything else in the strip. I temporarily lost interest in the wider story as the Mekon and Hagnar dominated my thoughts, and I could have easily enjoyed a few more pages dedicated to the interaction between the two. When Dan Dare did appear, his role was small and was little more than seeing the location where the crystal is kept and then approaching it. It was only in the final panel that he had any agency, and although this panel looked good, it didn't add anything else to the strip. The best artwork had already come and gone on the previous pages, as too had the best dialogue. It was a strong issue, just not a strong issue for Dan Dare, and would have been better titled "The Mekon and Hagnar"

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "...why should I, Hagnar--warlord of Thraxian host--join forces with a dwarf who floats on a cooking-pot?"

Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein have escaped the P.D. Troopers in a ship called the Saturn Dart, and are now speeding to pick up the rest of the Ro-busters to escape the planet.

The Saturn Dart proves to be a versatile ship, and Gottlieb pilots it out of the underground travel tubes and onto the roads on the surface. From there the story moves quickly with the rest of the Ro-Busters collected and they are soon at the spaceport. On the way, there is a lot of chat about what freedom on the planet of the robots will be like, with Hammer-Stein having aspirations of being made a general. 

At the spaceport, the robots are surprised when Gottlieb takes them airport section. As Ro-Jaw points out, they can't escape in an aeroplane. Gottlieb tells him it is all part of the plan, and soon the robots are queuing up to board a large aircraft. 

Meanwhile, the P.D. Troopers are staking out the spaceport and watching every spaceship being loaded. There is no sign of the robots they are looking for, but seeing the large aircraft easing out of the hanger the leader of the troops realises what is happening.

Out on the runway, the heavily armed P.D. Troops approach the aircraft with evil intent on their minds. The robots can see what is coming, and Hammer-Stein asks for eleven volunteers willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. The response is fast, and the strip ends with these twelve robots jumping from the back of the aircraft and charging the troops. 

Fast moving, this continued the romp that started last week. However, on the final page, the pathos of the story returned and once again this felt like the true Ro-Busters. The excitement of high-speed vehicles racing through the city was fun, but the true heart of Ro-Busters will always be these moments when one empathizes with the robots. The emotion on the page was understated, yet tangible, and I already sense that next week will be one to pull at the heartstrings. Part of me wants to do some research and see how much longer this story runs, but that would completely defeat the purpose of this blog and my weekly reading, so I shall plunge forward, completely oblivious to what comes next and what the future holds. Ro-Busters is back to what it does best and once again I rate it highly. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Hell, who wants to be a General, anyway? This is one mission we ain't comin' back  from, Ro-Jaws - but we'll go out in style!"

Prog 113 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Ro-Busters

Best Line: "When it is learned that the mighty Hagnar single-handedly slew a green-skinned dwarf who floats on a cooking-pot, the whole universe will tremble at his courage and daring!"

Best Panel: