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: