Prog 128

The Tornado stories appearing in 2000 A.D. are still bedding themselves in and we are in the getting-to-know-you-other phase. Some stories I had positive feelings about last week are yet to reveal their true selves and my goodwill from last week is stretched as I wait to see what will develop. Unique characters and absorbing storylines is all I ask, and although we arent their yet, I read on with interest as these new stories continue to grow.  

Prog 128

1st September 1979 

Judge Dredd and a team of Judges are on a crime blitz, carrying out intensive investigations on random citizens' homes without needing a warrant. 

Entering the home of Mr. Sweet, they strip his apartment bare looking for any crime committed. They find nothing and Dredd is suspicious. They have at least cautioned the occupant of every dwelling so far - everybody commits crime sometimes, often without even knowing it. 

Smelling a rat, Dredd orders the Sweet to be put under 24-hour surveillance, and as Sweet heads to his work at the Department of Science, small hovering cameras follow his every move. 

The weeks pass and Dredd is rewarded when they see Sweet passing secrets of the new laser defence system onto a spy from East-Meg 1. 

Dredd gives chase to this spy, who manages to escape to sea. Dredd commandeers a vessel and gives chase, only to see the spy hauled onto a Sov-Blok anti-pollution ship. 

Although he is outside the forty-mile limit, Dredd demands that the spy be handed over, only for the ship to ram him and his much smaller vessel. 

The world of Dredd was greatly expanded with this strip, and the scope of the story being told was thrilling and exciting. The parallels to our own world were obvious, but that is the point of Dredd, and the familiarity gave the story some spice. A Cold War spy thriller, it was enlivened by the dialogue of Dredd and the futuristic details sprinkled throughout. The cover page carried all the aces and the image of Dredd pulling his gun on a large ship and threatening them, demanded I turn the page and read on.

Although the Cold War angle of the story was a well-trodden path, it was the smaller details of the future that thrilled me. In particular, the image of a drone silently observing Mr. Sweet was a panel that struck me and lingered after I finished reading. Although this was written forty-five years ago, it was incredibly accurate. To modern eyes, the sight of a drone observing is nothing new. We see it on the news every day, especially in war zones, and I barely registered it as some great forward-thinking by the writer to plant this detail in here. It lifted the story out of the Cold War era, in which it was written, and planted it firmly in the future with all the associated technology in the story, making it feel believable now that we have seen the drone. 

Yet again Dredd is the flag bearer for 2000 A.D. and its thrilling stories of the future. It seems as though it is my favourite story week after week, and I am beginning to think it's not just my bias, but Judge Dredd is genuinely one of the greatest comics of all time.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "They claim these anti-pol ships are working for the good of humanity - as if the Sov-Blok ever di anything for the good of humanity! Well, they're not getting away with this little number!" 

Blackhawk has been snatched by an alien craft and forced to fight as a gladiator in the galactic sport known as The Games. 

First, he must have a test of combat against the Beast, a massive alien creature that stands much taller than Blackhawk. Despite this size difference, Blackhawk is able to stay competitive using his speed and skill and eventually beats the creature after finding its weak point. 

The director who brought Blackhawk onboard is impressed and hands him a sword so he can kill the creature. Blackhawk refuses, but after the director is snatched by the monster, Blackhawk's hand is forced and he kills it. 

The director is pleased and tells him he has passed another test. However, Blackhawk's lack of humility before his superiors is a problem, and he has a strange metal band placed around his head. The band can inflict a variety of pains under the director's command, and although Blackhawk eventually passes out from the pain, the director notes that he did resist all the way. 

A middling story this week. We are still at the first date stage, getting to know each other and trying to make a connection. I thought I had a handle on the story last week, and this week we could move on to better things. Things didn't quite go as I had planned, and I am still struggling to warm to the story. 

I liked the premise, and the character himself is interesting. However, the story hasn't given us much more than that, and this week's issue mostly concerned itself with ensuring that Blackhawk is well and truly enslaved. 

On the plus side, the images of Blackhawk fighting were top-notch and the art of Belardinelli shone throughout. As well as providing some backbone to the story this also gives me hope for the future. If Belardinelli can weave more of his magic through the story we could be in for some spectacular issues. 

Aside from the fight, we also saw the humanity of Blackhawk come through, and this greatly enhanced the character in my eyes. The fighting looked great, but it was these small panels just after that piqued my interest. It showed another side to Blackhawk and gave us some insight into the character. It was only a brief moment but it did add some complexity to Blackhawk.

Not a great issue by any means but one that dangled just enough carrots to ensure I'll be back next week, drooling like Pavlov's dog.    

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Much as I would like you dead, director...I cannot stand by while a dumb animal slaughters an intelligent being!"

Last week in the A.B.C. Warriors we saw Steelhorn get put in a fusion furnace, only to survive as a new liquid entity known as the mess. 

This week we see the mess get some measure of revenge as he kills the manager of the demob centre, before killing two firemen sent to clean up the mess. 

At this point, Hammer-Stein arrives, and after discovering that the mess is actually Steelhorn, he gathers him up and takes him back to the other warriors where it is decided to keep the mess in a vacuum flask so he can be maintained at the correct temperature. 

The mysterious human officer enters the story and tells Hammer-Stein that although he has recruited the seventh and last A.B.C. Warrior in an unexpected manner, Steelhorn will still be useful for penetrating enemy defences. 

The officer calls them to be briefed on their next mission, but Deadlock tells the others he has already read the tarot cards and knows who they'll be facing - the Devil. 

Although ostensibly about robots, this story dipped into the world of body horror in an outrageous twist. It was unexpected, yet oddly compelling, as we saw Steelhorn become the mess. It didn't work one hundred percent of the time, but it did give us some grotesque artwork that stands among the best in the comic. It also raised a lot of questions about the direction of the story from here, and rather pleasingly the strip ended with a clear indication of where we are going next. 

The team is now complete, albeit not quite as we expected, and the A.B.C. Warriors have a clear goal laid out before them. We have a backstory for each character and they all bring a unique personality and skill to the team. This has taken some time to sketch out, but it has been well worth the journey so far, and I am sure this will pay off in the future as we embrace new challenges with the team that we already know so well.

Although not the best issue of A.B.C. Warriors, this was an essential one, and with all the pieces in place, we are ready for whatever comes next.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I can hardly believe it...once it was Steelhorn, bravest of the brave...and now it's...a mess! But...why is it slithering up my gun barrel?"

Last week we met The Mind of Wolfie Smith and had a quick introduction to the teenager with amazing ESP abilities. 

This week the story takes another step forward as the fugitive that he saw on the run from the police climbs a building and under the command of another powerful psychic force jumps to his death. 

Wolfie gets close to the police surrounding the scene, and reading their minds he gets some sense of what he has just observed. 

Picking up a glove dropped by the fugitive, he gets a vision of a spooky manor, the very one on the address of the situation vacant card he saw in the window last week. 

Catching a bus to the address, Wolfie learns that the staff turnover at the manor is high and that the owner Matthew Hobb is regarded as a crazy man. 

This doesn't discourage him, although perhaps it should, as in the final panels we see him approaching the manor while within a darkened Matthew Hobb watches him and delivers a soliloquy about making Wolfie his servant with a willingness to die, all so that Matthew Hobb can achieve an empire of darkness. 

Creepy and spooky, we know exactly what we are going to get with this story, It set its stall out early, and after meeting Wolfie Smith last week, we now see the world he inhabits is dark and unknown. With shadowy figures lurking in creepy mansions, with plans for world domination, the story is leaning hard into all the tropes of classic horror movies. Although not my genre, I am finding myself enjoying this a lot more than I should.

It's still early days, and I would still like to get to know Wolfie Smith a little better. We know of his powers and his backstory, but we still don't know what sort of person he is. We have seen him strive to do good, but we need some more interactions with others to get a feel for who he is. Next week may provide that as he meets Matthew Hobb, and I hope that the story will blossom from there. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "All I as is...loyalty! The willingness to...die, if necessary...so that Matthew Hobb may achieve his empire of darkness!"

We are straight into the drama of Disaster 1990 as the opening panel shows Bill Savage and the other survivors watching a massive whirlpool swirl around Wembley Stadium where they are trapped. 

While Bill Savage thinking about how they can escape, others are plotting revenge. The other survivors put a noose around Sam Slick's neck, intending to lynch him, only to be stopped in their tracks by Bill and his trusty shotgun. 

From there, it is back to the matter of escape, and the professor who calculates that if they lose all the excess weight, the amphibious vehicle should be able to use the whirlpool to jump over the wall of Wembley.

The plan looks as though it will fail as the walls begin to collapse before Bill manages to get enough speed up. However, they successfully make the jump, much to the surprise of the professor.

It is then that they see that Sam Slick isn't with them, but rather a much lighter tailor dummy has taken his place in the craft, making it considerably lighter. Turning back they see Sam sitting amongst the crumbling walls, raising a glass to them. He has sacrificed his life so they could escape and the final panel sees Bill Savage telling Bamber that sometimes a bit of decency can come to the surface when you least expect it.    

I enjoyed many aspects of this story, yet it never quite gelled for me. Seeing Savage save Slick from being lynched was true to his character, and an early highlight. The thrill of getting the boat up to speed was excellent, and the sense of speed and danger was conveyed well. The final sacrifice of Slick was well done, and a poignant moment to finish. 

Despite all this, I never truly became involved in the story. Slick's sacrifice was worthy of more than it got here, and although it was the best moment of the story, it could have been built into something much more. This was compensated by the understated artwork showing him raising a glass, in an image that said far more than the dialogue. The thrill of Savage escaping looked great, but in the back of my mind, I always knew he would make the jump. This made for an empty thrill, and the sense of peril was missing. 

There was plenty of like here, and if all these parts could come together in a satisfying manner it would easily be one of the best strips in the comic. The beauty of comics is there is always next week's issue, so it's that I turn to in the hope that Bill Savage and Disaster 1990 will give me the story that we both deserve.  

Rating: 6/10

Best Line: "There'll be no lynchin' while Bill Savage's got his shotgun! Back off!"  

Prog 127 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Nothing survives the fusion furnace- hotter than a hundred suns! You ABC warriors won the war - but you've served your purpose...now die, Steelhorn!"

Best Panel: