Prog 119

Spring has arrived in New Zealand. A time of renewal and rebirth, and a time of new stories - three to be exact. Not only do we have the thrill of these new stories, but we also have James Bond himself on the cover, with Roger Moore kitted out for Moonraker. A great tie-in, and although we don't get much Moore (sorry, not sorry) within the comic, it was worth it for the cover. It's hard to describe Moonraker as a great piece of cinema, but it was certainly entertaining, and these new stories are all off to an equally entertaining start. There is a lot to like within these pages, so ignoring the beautiful warm day outside (and the cold beer in the fridge) I'm going to jump right it.  

Prog 119

30th June 1979 

Judge Dredd, hyper-cop? That's not quite the title I expected for this story but I will roll with it as this week's issue blasts off. 

Further surprises follow when we find out that although it is a story about Dredd, it is told from the point of view of his Wobot Robot, Walter. Walter is at the laundry cleaning Judge Dredds's clothes. Speaking to the other robot servants there, Walter let it be known how proud he is to serve Dredd. 

Walter starts sharing stories of his time with Dredd, before settling down to tell the longer story of how he came to be imprisoned by Dredd.  

Dredd was called to a hostage situation at the bank, only to be intercepted by Walter bringing his lunch. Dredd's stew is interrupted by the appearance of one of the crooks, and in a flash Dredd is in action, coming to the aid of the hostages. However, one of the women held hostage is overly grateful, clutching at Dredd's leg leading to Dredd falling. The criminals now have the upper hand, but Walter comes to the rescue, throwing a cream pie in the face of one of the robbers. 

This saves the day and the crooks are locked away. So too is Walter, for the crime of striking a human. Laws are laws, and Judge Dredd sentences him to one month in prison for his crime. Walter is locked in with another inmate, and Walter's overly friendly manner and continued love for Dredd is all too much for the prisoner who by the end of the month is pleading for them to free Walter. 

The other robots are impressed by this story, although as one comments, he's glad he's not Dredd's robot. The others agree, with one saying that it takes a very special type of robot. 

An interesting angle for a Dredd story, looking at things from Walter's perspective, and while I applaud the innovation, I don't think it comes off. We are a step removed from the character of Dredd, and without his steel the story is flaccid. I couldn't help but think that telling the story from the robot's perspective was 'borrowed' from Star Wars (which in itself borrowed from Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress), which would have been inescapable at that time. While I wasn't fussed about the way the story was framed, I did enjoy various aspects of it. I liked that we got an insight into Dredd's homelife, and seeing him do little things like eating his stew for lunch was a nice reminder that he is human. This is the second such reminder in two weeks, last week we saw some intimacy with his family, and this added to the humanity of a man who remains firmly hidden behind the mask. Some nice character building here, and although I cringed at Walter Robot, I know that all this background will pay off when we embark on longer adventures. A nice background hum that fills the character without greatly propelling the story forward. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "That robot saved your life - you can't send him to jail! It's inhuman!"

The premise for Disaster 1990 is simple - there has been a nuclear accident at the North Pole, and now the UK faces a flash flood from the melted ice cap. 

The people don't know it yet, and we pick up the action with our old friend Bill Savage as he watches the news on a TV at a diner. There is trouble brewing outside, and a gang of thugs enters, threatening Bill for parking in their place. A fight breaks out, and Savage lives up to his name, striking the gang with one of the tables before all attention turns to the TV and the news that a massive flood is about to hit the UK in the next 60 minutes. 

Racing against the clock, Bill speeds into London to find his mother. He has a near accident and almost runs over a child. He manages to avoid hitting her, but he does write off his truck just as the wave is about to hit.

Grasping the child, Bill runs up the stairs of the nearest house, saving both their lives. Others in London aren't so fortunate, and Bill awakes the next morning to see only the top of the tallest buildings above water. The fight for survival has just begun. 

What a cracking surprise to see Bill Savage back on the pages of 2000 A.D. We last saw Bill fighting the Volgans in the strip Invasion, and he is a strong character who was an early favourite of mine in the comic. Although this story is set seven years previous to the last story, Bill is just how we remember, hard-talking, hard-working and hard-driving. I grinned as soon as I saw his face on the page, and already I had a good feeling about this strip. It's always good to reflect on a date that has already come in gone, and in this case, I remember 1990 well. I was seventeen years old, in my prime, and from what I remember it was nowhere near as bad as what Bill Savage is experiencing (Although we did have some dodgy music in 1990 - Milli Vanilli, anyone?). It is tempting to read the melting ice caps in this story and take it as an analogy for climate change, although from memory in the late seventies we were more worried about a second ice age coming, rather than the polar caps melting. Funny how things change. It's too early to know how this story will go, although it did end with the dramatic view of London underwater, but any time spent with Bill Savage is time spent with good company, and I am very positive as we look ahead to future issues. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Th-there will be major floods in the United Kingdom. P-People are advised to proceed to higher ground immediately. Th-this is because...this is b-because...the flooding will start in one hour's time! Oh, heavens!" 

Next is a new Ro-Busters adventure featuring the A.B.C. Warriors.  We already know Hammer-Stein, but on the first page, we meet a couple of other warriors fighting by his side in the war against the Volgans. There is Joe Pineapples, a robot that doesn't speak much but lets his bazooka talk for him. Then there is Happy Shrapnel, a robot taking the fight to the Volgans with two old Kolt 45s. He's always moaning, but apparently, he has a heart of platinum. 

In this issue, we see these robot soldiers in battle. They are commanded by officers far behind the lines, linked to the action via holograms, radio, and the ability to plug into the robot soldiers. They can sense their feelings, and even experience some of their pain, although this is tempered by a special pain barrier within the robot's circuitry. 

The robots face a gas attack, and the human officers insist they continue moving forward toward the enemy HQ. They fly over the top of the gas, and after crashing through the roof of the enemy's position, Hammer-Stein takes the fight to Volgans. By the battle's end, they take stock of their losses- fifteen rookies killed by the gas, another five killed in the air, and one badly wounded at their feet. 

There is nothing they can do to save the wounded robot, but Hammer-Stein opens him up and finds his pain barrier circuit. With a swipe of his knife, it is disabled, and miles away as the officers celebrate their victory, one suddenly finds that he is experiencing the deep pain of a dying robot. It's all too much, and the human officer drops dead, although the others around assure each other that he will get a medal for his bravery. 

Although it appears to be an accident, one human is suspicious and the strip ends with him pondering if Hammer-Stein is the leader he is looking for. 

Another welcome return, and based on my experiences of seeing Hammer-Stein's back story in Ro-Busters, I already have a good feeling about this story. From what I have seen in the first issue here, it would be very easy to compare this to Pat Mill's other key project at the time - Charley's War. The similarities are obvious, as too are the underlying themes, and I can't help but think of one as I read the other. Lions led by mules is the first phrase that springs to mind, and it's a topic that we have seen Pat grapple with many times on the pages of Charley's War and now here. It's easy to see the cross-pollination between the two, and although they are set centuries apart the themes are the same. So too are the battles being fought, and I was initially surprised to see gas being used on the field of battle in A.B.C Warriors. It drew a line straight back to World War One and helped to emphasise many of the points being made in the comic. The more things change the less they change. Like the other new stories this week, it remains to be seen how far this will be pushed, but with a great writer at the helm, musing on his pet themes, this is another story that promises a lot. This first issue is a cracker, and I guarantee there will be plenty more like it.     

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "I say, Rodney...steady on with the old champers!"

Project Overkill is a great name for a strip and has me intrigued. Pleasingly, the strip lives up to its title and after the first issue, I am already hooked. 

Captain Kenny Harris is piloting an A-300 airbus with 180 passengers when suddenly he encounters severe weather and the engines fail. 

A skilful piece of flying sees him land the craft on a highway, but things take a turn when they exit the plane. A strange convoy pulls up, and a man wearing a respirator mask starts issuing orders for the passengers to be rounded up. Captain Harris questions where they are, and who these people are, but the only response he gets is that this location is a government establishment called Project Overkill, and the place is a secret, their reason is secret, and their identities are a secret.

Harris goes back to the plane to retrieve the flight recorders and is knocked unconscious from behind. Two days later he wakes up five-hundred miles away and hears the news that his plane has crashed in the Colorado Mountains with no survivors. He has questions (and quite frankly, so do I) and the strip ends with Harris vowing to get to the bottom of Project Overkill. 

After reading this strip, I have a lot of questions and a strong urge to read the next issue immediately. Take that as a recommendation. This looks like it may be one to watch, and like the other new stories this week, I am already invested.  We had some good action to start with, followed by intrigue after intrigue. The wheels are well and truly set in motion, and one can only hope that the following issues live up to this one. My one quibble would be how easily the convey leader gave up the information about the project. He said their identities are a secret, as is their location and mission, yet he freely named the project Project Overkill. Of course, Harris can't just go and google it like I can, but still, it is a thread that could be pulled. The striking artwork complimented the plot, and although it was the first image of the plane that caught the eye, my favourite panels came later in the story as Captain Harris was struck from behind. It had a minimalist style that served the moment well, presenting the danger in stark terms. An excellent start, and this will be a story to watch in the coming weeks.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Don't waste your time, Davey- the hails smashed the turbo-fans! We'll have to glide her down!"

I thought Dan Dare may have wrapped up last week, yet here he is once again continuing his struggles against the universe. In the opening panel, we see Dan using the power of the claw to avoid being arrested for treason, and the rest of the strip is dedicated to getting us to this point. 

Dare has lost the Crystal of Life to the Mekon, who is revitalised and stronger than ever. With Sandor by his side, Dare flies back to Earth to give his report of all he has seen. 

He thinks the people on Earth will be surprised to see him after two years, but as his craft enters the atmosphere, he finds that not only are the men of SASA expecting him, but they are also preparing to arrest him.

Dare demands to know why, and the list against him is damning- high treason, murder, space piracy. Even more surprising is the final charge - Princess Myriad of Lystria accuses him of helping the Mekon to steal the crystal. 

A blast of the cosmic claw stuns the soldiers around Dare, and the strip ends with him and Sandor escaping to find a hiding place.

A strong start to this week's story, and a panel that demands we know more. It was cleverly done, front-loading the action before letting the exposition in the rest of the strip explain how we got here. This plotline was a twist I didn't see coming, helped in no small part that Dare left the planet Lystria on good terms. I will be curious to see how Dare came to be branded a traitor, and I expect a lot more backstory to unfold next week. As much as I love the artwork, I haven't always been the greatest cheerleader for Dan Dare. That may change with this storyline, and the way it has unfolded so far has my expectations sky-high. Dan Dare delivered all I could want in this issue, and I am quietly confident for more of the same next week. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "It isn't a welcome home party, Dare! You and that...Treen...have been under arrest since you entered solar space!"       

Prog 119 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: Project Overkill

Best Line: "What we ain't gonna do, Davey, is panic! Put out a mayday - and find us somewhere to land!"

Best Panel:

Prog 118

 “The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”

Not the wise words of my Mother, but rather the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. It's 2500 years since Heraclitus, yet his words still ring true as I read in this week's Tharg column that the next issue will feature three new stories. Some quick math on my part and I realize that means that some stories will be finishing this issue. With Dredd being a constant since the comic began, we will be bidding a fond farewell to Strontium Dog and Rick Random - well a least a fond farewell to one of them, the second I'm not so fond of, and will happily wave goodbye as it pulls out from the station. Some of these stories are ripe, and I can see them coming to a natural conclusion, and some are not quite there yet and I am curious to see how they can be finished in a satisfying manner. I love reading comics, but as I get older I find I am getting harder to please. If they can conclude these stories in a manner pleasing to me, then the writers and artists have done a very good job indeed. We shall see, and in the meantime, there is the thought that next week will bring three new stories. Change indeed, but that's a thought for next week.  !

Prog 118

23rd June 1979 

Judge Dredd opens with a story called Cityblock 2, a natural follow-on from last week's story focussed on a single cityblock. This time we learn that only 13% of the the citizens have work, with robots designed and built to do every little job. For some this leisure time becomes boredom and descends into crime, while for others their whole sense of being is tied into working. 

One such person is Arnold Short and after a preamble about this future life, we see Arnold losing his job as a nightwatchman to a robot. For thirty years Arnold has been on the job, and now he has no idea what to do with himself - his job was his life. 

After seeing Dredd dealing with other problems related to this work/life balance, the story snaps into action as a report comes of a sniper with a laz-rifle. Dredd arrives just in time to save a woman's life and we quickly learn that the shooter is Arnold. 

Without a job, he would rather be dead, and he challenges Dredd from one of the upper levels of the city block. Dredd responds by storming the apartment, kicking down the front door and returning fire. 

Arnold has no choice but to jump off the balcony, but Dredd is too fast and prevents him from taking his own life. 

Arnold is convicted on the spot to hard labour for the rest of his life, an outcome that he is very happy about. He can work away to his heart's content, while in the eyes of the law, he is rightly punished for his crimes. 

Although similar to last week, this was a step up in terms of intensity. The idea of a city block is now familiar, and we turned our attention to another aspect of Megacity life, with a fast and furious story that was far more compelling than last week. The art was a highlight, but without the dramatic tension in the story, it would mean very little. The two go hand and hand this week, and after being lowkey about the last couple of Dredd stories, I suddenly find myself back in his world and eager to see what comes next. I like that the concept of a blissful future where we all work less was turned on its head, and the fact that robots were doing all the jobs meant people were desperate to do something meaningful in their lives. As they say, be careful what you wish for, an automated future may not be the utopia that some dream of. A strong story concept and a firm vision of the future gave us a great platform for Dredd to do his stuff, and this story was a winner from beginning to end.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Sorry citizen - I can't let you do it! You might land on somebody!"

The final episode of Rick Random sees everything wrap up quickly this week. 

Landing on Shoya, Rick and his party find that a coup has taken place. An approaching troop carrier is shot down by Rick, and after shooting the survivors Rick gets Vanda to fly the vessel to carry his commandos to the seat of the action. 

Arriving a Shoya City they fly toward the palace. They come under attack, and Rick and his commandos attack the palace from the ground. Although losing men, Rick fights his way inside and soon he reaches the throne room with Jameela and Exon. They are surprised to see Baron Odana there, as they have already seen him die twice, but here he is very much alive. Odana attempts to kill Jameela, and Exon sacrifices himself to save her. 

Odana attempts to escape down a well in the floor with Rick hot on his heels. Rick wastes no time in shooting him dead before he can get too much further, leaving the last page to tie up the loose threads. 

When it's announced that Odana is dead, the coup effectively dies with him. With the situation back to normal, Rick Random explains that the death of Odana on the Columbia was a diversion and a sleight of hand as Odana was never on the Columbia - only an android built to impersonate him. 

With only the paperwork left to do, Rick bids all farewell as Vanda drags him off for a well-earned holiday.

A muddled ending befitting the story we have seen thus far, with the highlight coming in the artwork of Carlos. It looked starkly different to the previous issues and was perhaps the only bright spot in this damp squib of a finale. The finale had action but lacked any real drama. Rick Random blasted his way into the palace and then shot Odana as he tried to escape. It gave us scenes of people blasting each other but remained linear in its storytelling, and with no further issues to come there were no extra layers added to the story. The final scene of Random waving goodbye as he left with Vanda felt empty, and I couldn't find any joy towards the character as he disappeared. The one panel that was fun was seeing Odana meet his end, and with Carlos on art duties, he did look a lot like Wulf from Strontium Dog as he was blasted, as did another Guebin character later in the story. I used to have great expectations for this story, expectations that have faded week by week, and although I am loath to say it, I'm secretly pleased to see it come to an end this week. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I'll see you in hell for that, Odana!" 

Attempting to escape Hell-World, Strontium Dog Johnny Alpha has made his way to the Black Citadel, where he now faces Satan himself. A wave of demons carries Johnny and his companions forward, bringing them into the Black Citadel for a conversation with Satan.

Satan seems quite amenable to Johnny and his companions, curing Wulf of his gargoyle sting before reverting to his natural form as he explains the world they are in. 

Satan's natural form is human, although an ugly and disfigured human, and Johnny recognises him as Ronald Fiveways, the man who invented the dimensional warp, before mysteriously disappearing.

The next page unravels Ronald's backstory as he explains how a fire in his laboratory left him badly disfigured. Shunned by society and ridiculed for his ugliness, he turned his back on humanity and elected to escape to a completely empty dimension, one he could mould to his liking. 

This dimension became Hell-World, and just as people on Earth made his life hell, now he made a hell for people. In this world he became Satan, creating dimensional traps to bring people here for his own enjoyment.

Johnny gets angry at Ronald at this point, but Ronald has absolute power and there is little Johnny can do. However, Ronald has promised to return Johnny to his own dimension and he intends to keep this promise. There is one more promise he makes, he wants to be Johnny's friend and offers to fulfil any wish of Johnny's. 

Fame and fortune are on offer, but Johnny chooses the nobler option of requesting that the Hell-World be destroyed. Surprisingly, Johnny's request is honoured, and as Johnny, Wulf and Gronk, are warped back home, the Hell-World shatters. 

This just leaves us with the final two panels as our heroes reappear on a busy city sidewalk. Gronk can barely believe they are home, but as a policeman yells at them to move along, Johnny asserts that yes, they are indeed home. 

I'm surprised to see Strontium Dog finish this week. Still, it's hard to image a bigger villain than Satan, and I did get serious 'final boss' vibes when I first saw him on the page. Except for Satan, the story felt low-key as we trundled to a stop, and there was no exclamation point in the story as you might expect. The explosion of the hellworld was small on the page and was insignificant, and so too was the warp back to their own dimension by Johnny and friends. This could have been a bells-and-whistles finale, and after the previous shenanigans of Mr. Moon and Mr. Sun, I expected to see plenty on the page. Instead, we got Satan's back story, hardly riveting, and then he agreed to destroy the world simply because he liked Jonny. This was all too easy, and although it wrapped the story up in a timely manner, it was unsatisfying. I have always liked Strontium Dog, and this final issue did it a disservice. I shall remember Johnny and his friends for the earlier moments in this story, and the delightfully weird world in which they inhabited, and consign this final issue to my file named "Could Have Been Better"

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "You there! Mutie! Move along!" 

 Dan Dare's attempt to reach the crystal of life looks doomed as he continues his battle against the guardian while in the background the Mekon has already reached the crystal. With one final throw of the dice, Dare uses the power of the claw to fire energy into the guardian's power terminal in his heel. This works, and the head of the guardian explodes with an impressive "Thwaaaam!"

With the guardian dead, Dare advances on the crystal, where he finds the Mekon smugly waiting for him. The Mekon has been rejuvenated by the crystal and ignorantly tells Dare that his powerful claw weapon has no effect on him.

But while Dare and the Mekon face off, from beneath the rubble comes Hagnar, bloodied and bruised, but very much alive. Hurling a rock a the Mekon, Hagnar misses, instead striking Dare and his claw weapon. The claw weapon fires a powerful blast, and seeing what it can do, the Mekon makes an escape.

Hagnar wants to pursue him alone, and an argument with Dare about this sees Hagnar punched out by the power claw. Dare rushes outside, but he is already too late and the Mekon has escaped the planet.

The final panels wrap up the story. The Thraxians have crumbled without a leader, and the Lystrians now control their own planet. However their treasured crystal now belongs to the Mekon, and in the very final panel, Dare vows to hunt him down, even if it takes the rest of his life.   

This was nicely done and felt the end of one chapter while giving us a reason to turn to the next. For a brief moment, I thought this may have been the end of Dan Dare altogether, but his final words make it clear that there's plenty of unfinished business here and he'll be back. The first page didn't fill me with hope of this being a great issue as it retrod the same ground we saw in the previous issue, this time with a different outcome. Last week we saw Dare fire a blast into the guardian power socket, and then be blown off his feet in an explosion. This week started before he fired a blast, and when he did fire his blast it was the gurdian who exploded, an explosion that had no effect on Dare. A case of rewriting history there, although sometimes a week can be a long time, and I'm happy enough to forget what I read last week. I enjoyed the look of this comic, and especially the Mekon now that he is restored. Hopefully, we will get more like this in the coming weeks and Dare tangles with the Mekon sooner rather than later. I haven't always been a fan of Dan Dare of late, but this was a solid finale. It wasn't as spectacular as one might have wished, but it ticked all the boxes in terms of action, artwork and plot, and got us to a good point to jump off into the next chapter. We now have a good foundation for Dare's ongoing battle with the Mekon, and I expect the next issue shall pick up from where we are now.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Eat power, Thraxian!"

Prog 118 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "There's no corner of space where he can hide from me! I'll hunt him down..I swear it! I'll make him regret this day, if it takes the rest of my life!"

Best Panel: