Prog 134

It's been a funny old week, and I am in desperate need of some peace and quiet. The thought of sequestering myself away with some old comics for the next hour is appealing and just the thing I need to get away from the real world. You know things must be bad when the world of Dredd, A.B.C. Warriors, and Disaster 1990 look more appealing than the world we live in, but such are the current times.

Prog 134

13th October 1979 

I love a good mystery, and a good mystery is exactly what Judge Dredd has on his hands this week

A mysterious cut-and-paste message arrives at Dredd's office. Signed "The Invisible Man," it tells Dredd that the author intends to steal a piece of art from the gallery, and gives a precise time and day this will happen.

Despite Dredd's best efforts and an abundance of foam, the Invisible Man makes good on his promise and the art piece is duly stolen.

Another letter arrives, this time to arrange a money drop. The Invisible Man is demanding ten million credits, or the city will be sorry. 

Dredd goes along with the money drop but sets a trap. However, the Invisible Man is too fast for Dredd, and although the bag only contains a radio beamer, the Invisible Man manages to snatch it without being seen, while eluding Dredd and his army of judges.

The strip ends with another note arriving, telling Dredd that the Invisible Man will make him the laughingstock of the city. 

If there's one thing I love more than a good mystery, it is a good pasted-together note. We have three in this story, and their mere existence says more than the actual words on them. They lend the story an old-fashioned air of mystery and, despite the story being set in the future, the sight of these hand-pasted notes was a familiar throwback to the past and a well-known genre.  

The actual mystery itself remained unsolved by the end of the strip. Dredd remains a long way from solving the case, despite the amount of resources (and foam) he has thrown at it so far. I'm not sure how I feel about Dredd facing an unseen villain. Although I like the mystery of it, it does depower the crook when we don't know who or what he is. It would be nice to perhaps have a panel showing things from his end, or perhaps I am just trying to bend it back to something I have already seen and I'd be better off enjoying this tale presented in a different way 

Like the hand-pasted notes, seeing our world appear on the pages of Dredd gave the strip a humour-laced edge. The art gallery and the artefacts in it were an early highlight. The first piece of art we saw, Bellini's E=Mc2, was superb and was made even better by Dredds droll comment on art in general. There was plenty of action after this comment, but it remained the most impactful panel in the strip, and the one I will remember most.   

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Looks like an old twisted coat-hanger to me..." 

When we last saw Blackhawk, he was clubbed to the ground by the evil troll Zog. This week, we leap forward in time, as Blackhawk awakens in a strange vat filled with a vile fluid.

Smashing his way out, Blackhawk finds the director near at hand. Blackhawk learns this is the healing vat, filled with healing fluids to restore any warrior. 

Blackhawk returns to his quarters and meeting Ursa he joins him in more training. Ursa introduces him to Snikka trees, trees that spit out seeds like deadly weapons. Together Ursa and Blackhawk fend off these seeds, but one missile catches Blackhawk off guard and he reacts with fear - ducking under the seed and letting it strike Ursa. 

Ursa bites it off his arm and tells Blackahwk that he recognised the look on his face. It was the look of fear, and one common to those who have been in the healing vat. Ursa warns him that the vat saps your courage, and is a bad place. 

Blackhawk knows he is correct, and over the page, they encounter a visitor bringing forth a creature to challenge the director's gladiators. Blackhawk watches as the mask is removed from the creature, and the drone brought out to fight it dissolves before their very eyes. 

The director tells the challenger that no gladiator could face that, and he refuses the challenge. However, Blackhawk strides forward, telling them he will accept the challenge. He knows he must find his courage and if he dies at least it will be bravely.

Belardinelli's art is a great match for the aliens he depicts, and it's hard to imagine an artist better suited to drawing the weird and wonderful creatures that Blackhawk faces. This week it was the Snikka Trees, and they were imbued with an unease that spilled over into outright fear as Ursa demonstrated what they were capable of. They seemed to leap off the page under Belardinelli's direction and gave a good sense of their speed and motion. 

We didn't see much of the next monster Blackhawk must face. His face was hidden beneath a mask, but we did see his awe-inspiring power and it was enough to instil fear into not only Blackhawk but also the reader at home. I have no idea how Blackhawk could fight such a being, and although the story was an out-and-out cliffhanger, it was certainly enough to draw me back next week. 

Blackhawk has settled into a steady rhythm in the last couple of weeks, and I find myself enjoying it much more. It doesn't feel as rushed, we are getting to know Blackhawk better, and the the monsters he is fighting are more considered. Each week's challenge is greater than the week before and there is the sense that we are steadily moving onwards and upwards. How much further we can go remains to be seen, but for now, I am enjoying what I read, and am happy to continue on this journey.  

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "But Ursa catch seed first! Good game, eh, Blackhawk? Good practice for real chop-chop!" 

We have a Flesh crossover with the A.B.C. Warriors this week with a dinosaur storyline appearing on Mars.

Mike Molasses is taking part in a manhunt on Damnation Island. Riding his Tyrannosaur, he and others of the bored jet-set are hunting a young man. The hunt is successful, but as the dinosaurs devour their prey they lose control with the smell of blood. Mike Molasses is thrown from his mount and can only watch as the dinosaurs go on a rampage, eating the other rich kids before making their way to the mainland. 

At this point, the A.B.C. Warriors are brought into the story. Mike Molasses is punished for his cruelty with the harshest penalty available- death at the hands of Deadlock. 

His father pleads his case, but the robots are ruthlessly efficient and coldly tell him that his son got what he deserved. 

Shortly after the Warriors set out to capture the other dinosaurs, using some female dinosaurs to lure them. Meanwhile, Mike Molasses' father is planning revenge, eyeing Blackblood as a warrior who could potentially betray the others.

The first time I saw dinosaurs on the pages of 2000 A.D. I loved it. The first iteration of Flesh was an enjoyable laugh and although the second one wasn't as quite as much fun, it did have an excellent villain. I'm not yet sure how I feel about dinosaurs appearing A.B.C. Warriors. Until this point, A.B.C Warriors has been excellent in its world-building. We have seen different landscapes on Mars and met a variety of Martian characters, Suddenly seeing dinosaurs in the same setting was somewhat jarring and a little unnecessary. Far be it for me to question the writers, but surely there was some other type of large Martian creature that could have been used here, and then gone on a rampage. We don't necessarily have to see dinosaurs again, especially connecting directly back to Flesh, and it did feel out of place on first reading. 

That said, I did enjoy the general direction of the story. Seeing the Warriors dispense frontier justice and executing Molasses helps strengthen the view that these are emotionless robots and offsets some of the humanity of late. I have been a big fan of that humanity so far, however, a slight course correction in this regard will only help the moments of humanity shine brighter in the face of a tough mechanical world. 

The final panel of the story was the most important. Hearing that Molasses' father intends to turn Blackblood into a traitor excites me, and I am more enthusiastic about this than the main dinosaur storyline. How or when this happens I don't know, but I assume it could be as soon as the next issue. I shall try not to skim over the dinosaur plot to get there, but the two will go hand and hand, one acting as a hand brake on the other and slowing what could otherwise be a thrilling story,  

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Why did those robots have to kill my baby..? Michael was such a good boy...such a good boy!"

Wolfie Smith is surrounded by stuntmen who think he was somehow involved in the accident that has left their colleague Simon Trent in hospital. Before Wolfie can explain himself, he is caught by psychic forces emanating from the nearby rocks, and through his body, a message is delivered to the gathered men to leave this place. 

With this message, Wolfie's face contorts and becomes clay-like. The men try to attack him, but he easily throws them aside. Tara Lawson's voice brings him back to the moment and the spell is broken.   

However, Wolfie is told to leave by the group of extras that witnessed what had happened, and Wolfie is left to explain to Tara how the stones possessed him. He tells Tara that it is some sort of warning, and something diabolical could happen. 

Even as he speaks, events are unfolding as a storm brews on the film set. J.R. the director thinks it will add to the atmosphere. Seeing a costumed character coming toward him, J.R. is impressed with the costume, little realising that it's not one of the actors, but rather something far more dangerous. 

I am surprised that more questions aren't being asked of Wolfie Smith. He seems to have got off lightly for the trouble he has caused so far, helped in no small part by the strange forces at play. Tara is the closest to him, yet she readily accepts what she has seen and what Wolfie has told her. 

This helps accelerate the story, and we are moving quickly forward without any obstacles. Wolfie has experienced the forces present and fought off the men who doubt him, and now it seems he has some thought of empathy for the forces. This isn't stated explicitly in the script, but there is a nuance to the later panels that Wolfie doesn't feel the forces are against him per se, more against anyone present. 

This should play out in full next week, and we already have a sneak peek of what I store. The costumed figure in the final panels is pitched just right and embodies everything I would expect from such a strip. The character has an air of the unknown about him, as well as a quiet menace. The art of Vano is perfect, and the final picture is worth a thousand words. Wolfie takes a break next week, but I shall be most interested to see what Vano can do with the material when he returns. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "I am...the messenger! The warning..!"

Disaster 1990 is moving north as Bill Savage, Professor Bamber, and their old army dukw, make contact with a new group of survivors. 

These survivors are armed, and their land is fortified with barbed wire fences. Savage and Bamber are led through these fences and after a confrontation with some of these survivors, they are introduced to the Archer, the biggest landowner in the area and the leader of all the hill farmers who have rallied together. 

Bamber tells Archer that they propose a policy of mutual assistance between the hill farmers and the Oxford community, but Archer rejects him outright, telling him that it's every man for himself and they will stick with other isolationist ways. 

Savage speaks his mind, which leads to a scuffle and Savage and Bamber are escorted back to their vehicle and told to leave. However, there is one final drama as Archer's two sons vandalise Savage's vehicle right in front of them. Shooting it with shotguns, they then attack the vehicle with axes, before forcing Savage and Bamber to jump off the cliff into the water. Swimming back to his vehicle, Savage clambers aboard telling Bamber that they ain't leaving till he's had his say. 

A change of scenery has done Disaster 1990 a world of good. This week's story feels fresh and exciting, and Savage has finally encountered a dangerous and believable opponent. Archer is portrayed as a powerful leader, while his two sons add danger and menace to the proceedings.

It's hard not to read this without considering the wider political landscape. Archer is pursuing isolationist policies, and although he is in a position of power, it does seem short-sighted in this flooded world. In 2025 it's easy enough to project this forward into our times as we see similar politics play out over a variety of matters. I'm sure it's not written with that intention, and like any great art, the baggage that that observer brings with them is just as important as what the artist has shown us. 

The artwork did a fine job of demonstrating the power of these new survivors Savage has encountered. Not only are the men armed and dangerous, but the perspective chosen for each panel reinforces this feeling. While they smash Savage's vehicle, we find ourselves looking up at them, making them loom large while the reader feels small. It's all very clever, and part of the joy of this comic. 

I have long waited for an issue as good as this one from Disaster 1990, and have been rewarded with a story that shows off serval aspects of Savage's character and the world he lives in. He has a worthy adversary, and as the strip ends Savage is in a losing position. He will overcome, and I only hope the story doesn't rush to that conclusion and we get several more weeks of Savage versus Archer. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Hallo, big man. We been admiring your vehicle an' we reckon it needs a little cleaning up!"   

Prog 134 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Disaster 1990 

Best Line: "Who understands art? At least it keeps the citizens happy..."

Best Panel: