Prog 30

I didn't update the blog last week. I had a couple of wisdom teeth removed and was under the weather for several days - it's hard to enjoy comics when you're feeling miserable and every time I opened a comic I was taken out of the moment by the constant painful reminder of what had happened in my mouth. But, I'm back on board this week and happy to report that once again I am ready to drift off into the world of 2000AD for the next hour. Such welcome relief. 

Prog 30

17 September 1977

The late 1970s and early 1980s were crazy about jump jets and Invasion is consistent with the times with this week's story centring on a Volgan jump jet. Invasion has been on a good run recently, but there is a couple of cliches in this week's story that I can't overlook. With Bill Savage leading the Scots into the Highlands, and the appearance of a Volgan jump jet, the first page could have been drawn from a number of war comics of the era, and even the way they beat the jump jet feels like something I have seen before. We have a further cliche as Bill leaves two injured men behind at the pass, two men who will fight to slow the Volgans as Bill makes his escape. This is a trope we have seen in many war movies, and even though I enjoy it, I still think that Invasion can be better than this. Not every issue is going to be innovative and thought-provoking, and this is an inoffensive issue that stays safe within the genre that it had previously challenged.    

Rating: 5.5/10

Best Line:  "Leave us to hold the pass - we've had it-"

This is the best Judge Dredd I have read. True, we're only 30 issues in, but this one stands head and shoulders above all that has come before. The first panel and the opening line are brilliant, and the story has me lapping up every word, every nuance and every panel from the first page to the last. A mysterious man calling himself Judge Dredd returns to earth after twenty years on Titan, and soon enough we learn his back story. He is Rico, and he is bent on killing Judge Dredd. It is Dredd who explains more to us, Rico is his clone and the two of them trained together when they first became Judges. But while Dredd went on to preserve law and order, Rico became corrupt and began taking bribes. It was Dredd who caught him, and as punishment Rico has spent twenty years in the penal colony on Titan, waiting for his chance to come back and get revenge. In a final standoff, Rico is killed by Dredd, who then carries him out. There are too many great panels here to describe, and the plot carries far more emotional weight than my brief description. The panel of Dredd carrying Rico's body while proclaiming "he ain't heavy, he's my brother" is just one hefty moment in a story full of them. Every page has three or four panels worth mentioning, and by the final page, I felt like we had been on quite a journey with the characters. The artwork combined with the story is a powerful alchemy and I have no hesitation in rating the story as highly as I do. My first ever 10/10, and deservedly so. 

Rating: 10/10

Best line:  "I'll make it..! He-He ain't heavy, he's my brother!" 

Shako has devoured his way through a good number of Americans, and now he is bringing his ferocious appetite to the Russians. Captured by the Russians, Shako is taken aboard a Russian ship where he is in a seemingly hopeless position locked in a cage in the hold. However, there is no accounting for man's ego, and soon enough he is released by one of his Russian captors who fancies himself in a fight against Shako. While it looks like an even contest in the first couple of panels, Shako is not one to be trifled with and soon enough his opponent is dealt to and Shako is in the position we have seen several times already, exploring his new surroundings and eyeing up his next victims. We have seen a similar story play out a few weeks ago when Shako entered the American hospital, and this week feels the same, just with different badges on the uniform. There is no doubt that the story is progressing, especially in light of Falmuth and his KGB equivalent crossing paths, but essentially it is more of the same with Shako loose and looking for his next meal.  

Rating: 5.5/10

Best Line: "The fools! The fools!" 

Dan Dare faces a curious opponent this week. Landing on a desert planet with some of his crew, his sensors pick up lifeforms, but there is nothing to be seen anywhere. It is soon revealed that the planet is the life form as sand rises up and devours several non-essential crew members. Like any good Star Trek episode, it is the redshirts that are killed, leaving the key players fighting on. In this case, Dan Dare and the Bear climb back to their landing craft and smash open the water tanks, using the fascinating-looking astro-axes (nuclear axes - how exactly do they work?) leaving the surrounding ground swampy and ineffective for an attack. Once again, Pilot Polanski appears with his craft, scramble net at the ready, for Dare and the remaining crew to make their escape from the planet. An interesting enough story this week, and certainly an intriguing concept, but the story never grabs me as it should, and I remain an outside reader rather than someone who is enveloped in the story. A nice story, but this week it lacks the x-factor to elevate it to something more worthy.     

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "Yeah--it's made the dry sand into wet sand..quicksand! This planet's never seen water before..and it doesn't like it!"

Steven Spielberg's classic film, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, was released in November of 1977, but here we have John Probe in M.A.C.H. 1. facing his own close encounter two months earlier. In a story titled "Close Encounter of the third kind," John Probe is sent to the wild pine forests of the Canadian/US border where a young boy of the local lumberjack community has seen a UFO crash. After joining a lumberjack team, John uses his special abilities several times, first to prove his mettle, then to save the boy from a falling tree, before we finally get to the crux of the matter - the UFO crashed in the forest. With the boy acting as a guide, John comes across the spacecraft, however, the lumberjacks he met earlier also arrive, threatening to destroy the ship, and John Probe if need be. Another strong episode of M.A.C.H. 1, and when I look at the time it came out, quite prescient. We only see John Probe's abilities a couple of times, and with the story more focused on the character, it is far more well-rounded than some of the ones we saw earlier in the run. We are moving away from the Million dollar man-type plots, and onto something far more interesting as the story continues to evolve. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "A fat lot of good you are. I'm gonna look inside. One hyper kick and..."

Tharg's Future Shocks delivers once again. With a Starship approaching the galaxy's third quadrant we learn that a mighty space battle has taken place, and what they face now is the wreckage from when the aliens tried to take over the galaxy. Approaching the planet from where the aliens came from, one of the crew wonders why they didn't destroy the planet after defeating these war-hungry aliens. It is then that the captain tells us that the planet wasn't destroyed because of its natural beauty, and strange that such a beautiful planet as Earth should be home to such warlike creatures. I like the idea, and it is refreshing to once again look at mankind from an outsider's point of view. We have seen this before, but it still remains fresh and works well for these shock stories. Nothing too dramatic here, but nicely done and once again it rounds out the issue on just the right note.  

Rating: 7/10

Best line:  "Look! A graveyard of dead ships! All destroyed by the aliens that tried to take over the whole galaxy!"

Prog 30 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: ""Anything to declare", huh? How about a heart full of hate for a man. Hate that's kept me alive through twenty long years of hell!"

Best Panel:

Prog 29

 I'm enjoying the flow of the stories at the moment. With Dredd appearing second in the comic, and Future Shocks coming at the tail, the comic seems to hold together much better, and I find it easier to read in this form. I'm surprised that such a tweak should affect my enjoyment of the comic in this way, and like the albums I often listen to while reading I am finding that track listing does matter.     

Prog 29

10 September 1977

I have found the Invasion storylines since leaving London have been most engaging, especially the last few weeks since Bill Savage has been in Scotland. Following up on last week's football theme story, we remain in Glasgow with a story that carries a strong fire theme. The story is clever in the way it picks up this one idea and runs with it through the entire strip. So when Bill Savage and his men come into conflict with ex-convicts armed with flamethrowers, then what better place to fight them than at Glasgow fire station. But it's not as simple as that, Bill doesn't use the firefighting equipment to tackle the flame throwers heard on, but rather he uses the ladders of the fire trucks to fight the Volgans from a position of high ground. The story is fairly conventional from here on out, as Bill and his men defeat the Volgans, then using the enemy tanks take refuge in the Highlands. Thus, the scene is set for some more action next week as this war continues. An enjoyable entry into the canon this week, and the most memorable parts of the story are certainly early on as Bill battles the Volgans around the fire station. After this strong start, and solid middle section, the ending feels a little rushed, but that hardly detracts from the story overall. With a finely balanced mix of action and cleverness, once again Invasion gets us off to a strong start. 

Rating: 8/10

Best Line:  "Let's go- leap out an' land among 'em!"

We have a very interesting Judge Dredd this week. The striking image of a Klansman lets us know right from the start what this story will be about. With a Klan called the Neon Knights dispensing their own form of vigilante justice on robots, it is easy to draw parallels to the world we live in. It may appear all too obvious, but it is a point well made and remains true to Judge Dredd's character and the world he lives in throughout the story.  When a robot is destroyed in the street, witnesses deny seeing anything when approached by Dredd. Some express sympathy for the Klan, making Dredds's task all the more difficult. Things become personal when Dredd's robot, Walter, is caught out late at night by the Neon Knights, leading to Dredd storming their headquarters to dispense some justice of his own. The story climaxes when it is revealed the leader of the Neon Knights is part cyborg himself, and his hatred of robots stems from self-loathing. One can easily imagine this story written in another context, with robots substituted for people of colour, and the Neon Knights Klan replaced with the Klu Klux Klan. At first, I was worried that this might be a clunky story, shoehorned into Dredd's world, but it fits well with what we have already seen in Dredd, and every character rings true to what we have already seen from the story. It doesn't feel quite as good as some of the more inventive Dredd stories I've read, but it is an interesting twist that kept me on the hook throughout. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line:  "Prepare to taste the vengeance of the Neon Knights, Dredd!" 

If we had a most improved player, it would be this week's Shako story. The capsule in his stomach returns to the fore of the story, Falmuth is back, and we have a new player on the field later in the story. After a curious start, with Shako eating lemmings, Falmuth returns to the fray (misspelt in one of the captions as Flamuth), with his dog team pursuing Shako. We get the required dose of action as the dogs attack Shako, and there are some of the typical animalistic panels we have come to expect as Shako takes them on. The final page is where the story once again takes a leap in its development as Shako is unexpectedly saved, by Russians no less. This throws the hunt for the capsule within Shako into a new light and gives the story a new impetuous which I look forward to seeing developed further in the coming weeks. I had previously complained that I was becoming bored with Shako, but this issue has me reinvigorated and eagerly looking forward to the coming weeks. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best Line: "Don't shoot, ya lame brain! He's movin' too fast. Hit that capsule in his stomach an' half of America will die! Including us!" 

Dan Dare's mission to the Lost World sees his crew in action for the first time, and they don't disappoint as each of the key members is given a chance to shine in the story. Last week we meet Pilot Polanski, and this week he is the first to the fore as he pilots the ship near an asteroid and an abandoned vessel. Dan Dare and crew board this vessel, only to find themselves attacked by a fantastic swarm of aliens, all gliding in on their solar-powered wings. They look great on the page, and the art captures how my mind imagines them. As Dan Dare fits them off, he is saved first by the shooting of Hitman, and then by the brute strength of Bear, as both characters prove their worth in the heat of battle.  However, it is pilot Polanski who has the final say in the battle, as he pilots them out of trouble, before destroying the asteroid the aliens make home. I enjoyed meeting the cast of characters last week, and seeing them at work in this week's strip lives up to my expectations. Hopefully I future these characters will be developed further beyond their abilities alone, but for now, the story is simmering away nicely, and building on the back of a strong issue last week we are looking at a potentially great story.    

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "It'll sure as hell make 'em dizzy - okay, guys, hold on!"

With a missile launch imminent, and the Russian early warning satellite knocked out of commission, M.A.C.H. 1. has his work cut out for him this week. And with his enemy, Tex, still fighting on with his second heart, we are deep in the action from the start. Most of the story follows John Probe's battle with Tex, and it is only once he is finally defeated with a knife through his second heart, does John have time to turn his attention to the I.C.B.M. This he deals with by flying the shuttle and knocking it off course and back to where it came from. With the missile destroying the plotters, and the shuttle crashing into the sea, we are left with John Probe once again left to soliloquize on his survival and the situation he has just dealt with. This three-part story has given us many high points, but somehow this third part has managed to top all that has come before, and the final panel is quite poignant given all we have seen leading up to this. The elongated form of the story worked much better for my tastes, and the story was fully fleshed out with added nuances and a back story. If we continue with longer stories such as this, I will be very happy indeed.   

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "It means I die...but that's the way it's gotta be. It's just my life against countless millions!"

There is a strong Planet of the Apes influence in this issue's Tharg's Future Shocks. Two astronauts find themselves on a strange planet where they enjoy the hospitality of two aliens who speak their language. They are amazed to find a planet similar to earth, but we find in the final panel that they are on earth, not an alien planet, and mankind is now a zombie race due to germ-warfare.  "God damn you all to hell!" as another man might say. I do enjoy this tale for what it is, and the artwork has a good feel to it, especially the design of the aliens. The final reveal was too familiar for me though, and overall it merely gets a passing mark 

Rating: 5/10

Best line:  "I still think we should have told them!"

Prog 29 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: M.A.C.H 1

Best Line: "Not just for you, Walter. I did it for my fellow judges, too - who died upholding the law that protects robot and human alike!"

Best Panel:

Prog 28

Change is afoot. Harlem Heroes is gone, and it seems Judge Dredd has been promoted up the batting order to appear as the second story in the comic. Sure, it's only small things, but I like the feel of this one already. They say a change is as good as a holiday, so I expect that by the end of Prog 28 I shall be feeling fully recharged and ready to face the outside world. 

Prog 28

3 September 1977

Last week I commented that this current Invasion storyline draws heavily from World War Two, and this is mirrored this week in the opening artwork as we see Volgan half-tracks approaching the ghetto's wall. It is a picture that could have come from any number of war comics from the last fifty years and is instantly familiar. So too is the image of Bill Savage leading the Scots into battle, charging at the Volgans and exhorting the ragtag soldiers to follow him. After the first battle, we meet the sacrificial lamb of the story, former footballer Jock Steel. As soon as I see him on the page I mark his card, he has all the traits of those that become cannon fodder for Bill Savage's war against the Volgans. He's down on his luck, has a specific skill, and by the end of the comic he will have found redemption in his sacrifice. Sure enough, it comes to pass, with an ambush on the Volgans at Hampden Park when Jock Steel saves Bill from a hand grenade with a selfless kick that ultimately costs his life. Like all good soldiers, he dies with his (football) boots on. Despite its familiarity, I greatly enjoy this story. Perhaps it is because of this familiarity in its story arc and imagery, that gives me comfort food in this cold harsh world it is creating. Next week promises more of the same, as we see Volgans in black uniforms bearing a death's head badge. Another image we have seen in the past, and I know that no good will come of it.    

Rating: 8/10

Best Line:  "He's kicked it away - what a kick!"

Judge Dredd is in the building. Normally appearing last in the comic, I am happy to be able to catch up with his story early this week. With Rookie Giant seeking to pass his final test, he is taking responsibility for a kidnapping situation at the Harlem Heroes stadium. This story focuses on Rookie Giant throughout, and Judge Dredd himself only takes a peripheral role until the final page. We get some nice callbacks to the Harlem Heroes comic as Rookie Giant uses a jetpack to confront the hostage takers, and demonstrates that he's a chip off the old block with some pretty fancy flying himself that sees him eventually hurl a bomb for his first and only air-strike, thus saving the day. The story moves along at a good clip, and I enjoy the nods to the Harlem Heroes history weaved in and out of the action. My favourite part of the story though is the final page when Dredd finally steps forward. As he prepares to dispense justice on the spot, Rookie Giant is forced to draw his weapon on Dredd and do what is right by the law, rather than sentence them on the spot. Dredd breaks into a smile, and the story breaks open to reveal that this is his final test, he was prepared to sacrifice his future to defend the law. This scene is the heart of the story, and as much as I enjoyed the action earlier in the story, these panels are where the true story lies. Different from last week, but a great way to round out this two-part story, and once again I rate it highly.    

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "Air-strike! My first and last!" 

I think I am getting bored with Shako. I love seeing a big bear eat people just as much as the next man, but right now it feels like we're on an endless conveyer belt of people eating episodes and the fact that he is carrying a deadly capsule inside his stomach has become secondary. This week the capsule is mentioned, but the attempts to capture Shako are feebly and ultimately futile as once again the hunters become the hunted. The artwork remains at a high level and holds my interest far more than the story itself, and I feel like Shako as a story is running out of steam at the moment. Perhaps next week will be better, but for now, the story is treading water. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Best Line: "The brute's blocking the other end of the pipe - trapping me in here!" 

Dan Dare is back! It has only been a few weeks since we last saw him, but I have missed him. The first thing I notice is we have a different artist, Dave Gibbons. Of course, Dave Gibbons is one of the most well-known comic artists in the world, but his style is different from the earlier Dan Dare and the strip is no longer full of detail and flourish. Gone is the psychedelic feel, and it is now far more focused on the storyline. The other noticeable thing is that Dan Dare himself seems to have changed. He seems rougher somehow, and less the daring space pilot we saw earlier. This week we see him putting together a crew for a mission to Lost Worlds, a place that is at one point compared to hell itself. Needing the roughest and toughest, Dare assembles a group of what my mother would call "wrong 'uns" for this mission. Trawling through the bad side of town, he encounters  Big Bear, a hard-drinking and hard-fighting brute of a man, Hitman, a man who has a gun frozen to his hand and is quick on the draw, and Pilot Polanski, a man who lives up to his name with flying skills aplenty. This is the meat of the story, as Dan Dare encounters each man in their natural environment and lures them to the space dock the following morning. I find it interesting that Giant Bear is wearing a CCCP patch, and drinking vodka from a bottle adorned with a hammer and sickle. In Dan Dare's world, the USSR has lasted all the way to 2177, while in our time it didn't even make it to the end of the century. Little things like this excite me, and I make a mental note that I really should get out more. Overall, I'm treating this as a different Dan Dare from what we had earlier. Dave Gibbon's art gives him a different look and feel, and even the world he is in seems more grounded. The story is promising, and I am already warming to the bunch of scoundrels he has assembled for his mission. Positive feelings throughout, and I look forward to seeing what will follow.   

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "...but if there's trouble ahead, I've got a legion of devils right behind me!"

M.A.C.H. 1. is just as crammed filled with action this week as it was last. Last week we had the first part of "Planet Killers" as John Probe took off in the Space Shuttle with Tex, a man who is intent on killing him. This week we find out why, as Tex jettisons John Probe, and then uses the shuttle to attack a Russian space station, all so that he can launch a missile that will start World War Three. This involves several pages of action and fighting, and there isn't a panel to spare as the action comes at us fast and furious. John Probe joins the fight, seemingly defeating Tex, but still facing the prospect of trying to stop the missile from space. This story plays to the strengths of John Probe, and we have a lot of cases of him using his special abilities. The only downside is his battle with Tex, a man who can match him for strength. After a struggle, John gives a final effort, and this is enough to beat him. It doesn't feel like he did anything special, just tried harder, to overcome this obstacle. This aside, this is another gripping instalment, and we are well set up for the finale in next week's issue.   

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "Heck! He's cut my suit!"

Tharg's Future Shocks is only six panels this week. The story it tells is one of a 100-year war, told from the log book of a combat flier. The first five panels lay out the story of combat pilots fighting robot-controlled aircraft that are no match for their training and ability. The final panel is where we see these highly trained pilots, a chimpanzee and a tiger, and we learn that they have been trained by man to fight their war, only for mankind to have become extinct leaving them to carry on fighting. Short and sweet, but an intriguing concept, the more I think about this story the more I enjoy it. First reading I found it slight, but it is a slow grower and another good entry for Future Shocks. I also like having Future Shocks finishing off the coming, I don't know what order the stories will be next week, but this feels like the right place for it. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line:  "Those transistorised dummies had no chance! Ain't no-one flies better than me!"

Prog 28 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Fail me if you like. I've always admired you, Sir, but I won't stand by and watch you break the law, drop the gun! "

Best Panel:

Prog 27

 I am constantly surprised by the variety of 2000AD. Every week I have a favourite strip and no one story dominates throughout. One story may be weak one week, and the next week it is back to the top of the pile as the stories jockey for position in my mind. This is well demonstrated this week with several stories that I found to be poor last week bouncing back, while others I rated highly go down in my estimation. It all makes for a fun read and something to look forward to each week as the comic twists and turns its way through the corridors of my mind. 

Prog 27

27 August 1977

The plot for Invasion could have been straight from a World War Two history book as Bill Savage and Silk find themselves dealing with a ghetto that is about to be liquidated. The ghetto in question is in Scotland where the Scots find themselves walled in by the conquering forces. Having a recognisable event from a war that was only thirty years previous at the time is clever and lends the story an air of authority and realism. It was already gritty and dirty which pushes this realism right in my face, the plight of the Scots made all the more dangerous from what we know from history.  Quite how Bill Savage will deal with this situation is unclear, the story laid out here is one of him gaining knowledge of the ghetto and then finding a way in to warn its inhabitants. Low on action but gripping nevertheless, this week's episode pulls the reader deep into the world of the Volgan invasion with Bill Savage standing alone as a beacon of hope.  

Rating: 8/10

Best Line:  "I don't know who y'are Jimmy - but y'are not wanted here!"

Harlem Heroes feels as if it's been approaching the end for a few weeks now, and it proves so in this issue as the story wraps up with an almost happy ending. We last left the action with Ulysses Cord in the clutches of Giant and squealing about the smoking jetpack. We pick up straight from there as he publically incriminates himself while thinking the jetpack is about to explode due to his doing. From here it is just a matter of wrapping up the story and tying up any loose ends, which in this case means winning the game and the tournament we have been following for the last six months. No surprise to see the Heroes come out on top, despite the tough play from the opposition it was only ever going to be one result, and suddenly we are at the end of the story. I have had my ups and downs with Harlem Heroes, but overall I have enjoyed it. I am always disappointed when a story ends, often the ending descends quickly upon us and any potentially climatic conclusion is swiftly dealt with. Such is the case in Harlem Heroes, and once it was clear that Giant knew what was going on with Ulysses Cord the ending was inevitable. I shall miss the art style of Harlem Heroes, this was always one of the most distinctive features of the strip and it has consistently been a favourite. However, a final tag promises the return of the Heroes, so I look forward to perhaps seeing these characters again in future. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "So what's left? What we gonna do now?"

It is business as usual for Shako.  Once again he is an unstoppable force as he chews and claws his way through another episode. This time it is a hospital bearing the brunt of his attack, and in particular, we finally see Nurse Hatchett meet her match. However, she does not go meekly and remains true to her character, giving plenty of steely resistance before she meets her demise.  There is not a lot of plot this week, it is very much about Shako feeding himself at the hospital. It does have some nice touches that elevate it from a mere gorefest, in particular, I enjoyed seeing a character who looked very much like John Travolta get eaten, and any panel with Nurse Hatchett was worth the price of admission. Not the strongest episode we have seen of Shako, but there was enough here to hold one's attention until the end. 

Rating: 5/10

Best Line: "No smelly animal is going to frighten me! Turn the machine up past the safety mark..." 

This is the best I have seen of  Tharg's Future Shocks so far. Sure, we're only three stories in, but this one appeals to me on many levels. I find it matches the first two stories for cleverness, but in this case, the twist betters what has come before and has an added touch of humour which elevates it from what we have seen before. Aliens are arriving on earth, proclaiming to come in peace(as they always do). There is debate at the highest levels about how this should be handled, and while one minister insists we should crush them, the government scientist recommends talking to them first. The fateful day of the alien landing comes, only no one can find the spacecraft, despite the aliens insisting they have landed in a forest on the edge of Heathrow. It is here that we see the story for what it is, the aliens are in a tiny craft, and are just about to be accidentally crushed underfoot. From a fearful opening, we reach a humourous conclusion and one that feels right for the story. Plenty more future shocks to come, but this already is one of my favourites. 

Rating: 9/10

Best line:  "Heathrow is surrounded, Prime Minister. If these aliens are hostile, my tanks will crush them as soon as they land!" 

M.A.C.H. 1. picks up the baton from the highly rated Tharg's Future Shocks and delivers a high-octane story itself which I find equally enjoyable. I have long waited to see John Probe pushed further in these stories and I get my wish this week with a multipart story titled "Planet Killers". John Probe is finally up against someone his equal, and with a story spanning several issues we are in for a treat. John is sent to the US to fly the space shuttle with an American pilot - Tex McArthur. His name is hyper-American, and he has a personality to match, although there is more than meets the eye with this chap. Tex McArthur has secretly been murdered and replaced with a doppelganger who is imbued with similar powers to John Probe. It doesn't take long for the action to start, as John has an intruder at night - who he only just manages to fight off. The next day as the shuttle takes off, John has his suspicions that it's Tex, although we'll be waiting until next week to see how that plays out. Phew, a lot happened in this issue. We saw Tex McArthur get murdered, the arrival of John Probe in the USA, his first encounter with Tex's doppelganger, the fight at night and then the shuttle taking off the next morning. Page-turning gripping action throughout, and I finally feel like MACH 1 is living up to its potential. Only time will tell if part two is as good as part one of this story, but it may well be the first story I turn to next week.  

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "I was trying to swat a fly!"    

Harlem Heroes is finished, but its dirty fingerprints are all over Judge Dredd. Dredd is taking a rookie under his wing, a rookie named Giant. Yes, it sounded familiar to me too, Giant is the son of the Giant we know so well from Harlem Heroes. It is down to Dredd whether or not he passes, and they are out on the streets together chasing down trouble, this week in the form of Futsies. Futsies, as Dredd explains, are people who suffer from the illness "future shock." Unable to cope with 21st Century living they go on mad killing frenzies. I find this relatable, and comparable to the rise in mental illness we have seen in recent years as people struggle with the pressures of modern living. Dredd and Giant find their man soon enough, but things don't go well as Giant accidentally shoots Dredd in the face. Saved by his helmet, Dredd takes down the Futsie himself, leaving Giant to do the sentencing. Once again Giant fails, recommending prison while Dredd chastises him, explaining that this man has an illness and needs medical treatment, not a prison sentence. Again, this resonates with our modern living, and I find this strip very perceptive about modern life. It is no mystery who I should give credit to for this, the creators are listed on the first page, cleverly disguised as cadets on the '79 honour roll. Meanwhile, Giant is given one final chance to redeem himself in the final panel, as a call comes through for a kidnapping case. Great to see this story given a multipart treatment, like MACH 1 before it, and it gives the characters more time to breathe and develop through the pages. I also appreciate the fact that it ties into Harlem Heroes, expanding the world with something we are already familiar with. A fine ending to this week's comic, and the groundwork is laid out for an equalling compelling issue next week. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line:  "One more mistake- just one - and I'll have that half-eagle badge off you quicker than your pappy scored airstrikes!" 

Prog 27 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Tharg's Future Shocks

Best Line: "Don't you even know your basic law? This man is suffering from future shock-he gets medical treatment, not a prison sentence."

Best Panel: