Prog 45

 We are close to 1978, but not quite there with this issue from New Year's Eve 1977. The future is almost upon us, and this issue contains several visions of the future which we have now seen with our own eyes. We still don't have Judge Dredd on the streets dispensing justice, but the driverless cars of Future Shocks are with us, and a reader's drawing of the watch of the future is pretty close to another handheld device we all carry. So, let us turn the page and have a look at the future as imagined in late 1977.    

Prog 45

31st December 1977

It's been some time since we saw someone suffering from future shock on the pages of Judge Dredd, but as Dredd sees the calendar turn over to 2100, we have our first Futsie case of the century occurring on the moon. 

Overworked Arthur Goodsworthy has until midnight to complete his paperwork in the office, or faces having his contract terminated and quite possibly his life. After a marathon session at his desk, Arthur completes his work with seconds to spare, only to have it all undone by some overzealous revellers. 

He snaps, and after clubbing a couple of his co-workers, he takes to the streets for mindless vandalism. It is now that Dredd enters the story, and after being approached by Arthur's son, he takes matters into his own hands. 

Displaying some empathy, he takes Arthur into custody and then sees off two of Mr Moonie's thugs who arrive to derive retribution from poor Arthur. Justice dispensed, and the right people dealt with, Dredd's final panel has him thinking that its time to deal with Mr Moonie himself.

The artwork in this issue was top shelf, and it was amply matched by the storyline which held my attention throughout. It's always satisfying to see recurring topics appear on these pages and the reappearance of future shock strengthens the back story no end. I also appreciated the humanity displayed by Dredd. He may be an ass-kicking tough guy, but his response to Arthur and his mental health was commendable. Last week's issue was flat, but this time out more than made up for it. The little touches were great, and I was delighted to see "Buzz Aldrin St" on the page. 

This is one story that has aged well, and with the promise of a showdown against Mr Moonie next week, it continues to deliver. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "I guess it's no good asking you to come quietly!"

The first four pages of Invasion are dedicated to a bank raid by Savage and co and are little more than an excuse for a series of clever puns and explosions. It is all very entertaining, but the story starts properly after this as we return to the Volgan perspective.

In the Volgan Security Headquarters, the Marshal is unhappy with Colonal Kasov, head of security. Kasov reports that Rosa Volgaska, the former colonial we met some time ago who wrestled with Nessie, is still in the dungeon but wishes to speak with the Marshal. 

Brought before the Marshal, Volgaska bends his ear to a plan she has thought up while being held in the dungeon. The Marshal is enthused by the plan, and Volgaska demonstrates her intent as she chokes Kasov with her bare hands. 

With Kasov dead, she regains her place as Colonial, and in the final panel promises to finish the resistance once and for all. 

The first half of this story was exhilarating, yet shallow when it came to the actual plot. The Volgans were mere pawns in the bank raid, cannon fodder, as Savage flexed his wit. I was most entertained, but quickly forgot it when we returned to the nitty gritty of the story in the back end of the strip. The appearance of Rosa Volgaska was well-timed, and although I don't like her as a person, she is a great character and should prove to be a good foil to Savage and his team. She is far more dangerous than we have previously seen, and the panels as she chokes Kasov give us a good indication of just how driven and deadly she is. The scene is set for a showdown, and a character like Volgaska will bring the very best out of Savage.

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Too slow, Volgs! How's this for the worst traffic violation ever?" 

The last issue of Dan Dare ended with his ship being tricked into making a hyperspace jump back to the planet Grawl. That plays out on the colour pages of this week's issue as they come out of their Hyperspace jump and straight into the trap laid by the Dark Lord, they have jumped directly in the path of his secret weapon and soon enough everyone on the ship is under control of the Dark Lord and Starslater empire. 

On the planet's surface, Dare is unaware of this, and he and the Grawl slaves are still protected behind their visors. However, as the secret weapon fades, they remove their helmets, and Dare calls his ship to come in and land. 

That it does, but it begins to open fire on Dare and his new army. Accessing the ship through a secret hatch, Dare is confronted by his own men, and he realises that they are under the control of the Starslayers. He puts up a fight but is captured, and the ship takes off for the Starlsalyers planet. It is here that we leave the story this week, with Dare's ship being ordered to slow down before they come down to their deaths. 

I have mixed feelings about this week's episode. I enjoyed it, but it never got under my skin like some of the previous issues. The colour pages were a joy, even if not much happened on them, and even once we switched to black and white the art continued to be a highlight. The story is fine enough, and I am beginning to think it's just me. If I could sit down with the story now, I would give it the classic 'it's not you, it's me' speech. I'm just not ready for this plot and don't want to settle down with it. Nor do I want a whirlwind romance. I just want to spend some time with it and get to know it better. That may take a few weeks, so I'm going to take some hours, and perhaps re-read this a few more times before next week. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "It...it's the Slayer's secret weapon! We...we been suckered..! Turn and.." 

This week's Future Shocks is set in the present (1977) and is about driverless cars - a subject that doesn't seem quite so futuristic from 2023. 

It does feel very much like a 1977 story, as in the first panel we see a Morris Panda car. The story that follows isn't quite so quaint as the policeman comes across a terrified man. 

The man relates his story, he had been recruited to build a fully automated computerised car. With a small team, they built the car easily enough, but on its maiden drive, the car electrocuted the driver and then attempted to run down the others that worked on the car. Yes, the car is alive and trying to kill people. 

The police officer returns to his car, only to find that the rogue car is communicating with his vehicle via the police radio, and within seconds he has been murdered by his own car. 

The story ends with the engineer being killed by the Ferrari he helped build before the Ferrari and Morris drive off together to go find more humans to kill. 

This wasn't a short sharp shock and ran for several pages. While I enjoyed the concept, we are now in a world of driverless cars and the premise doesn't seem as scary as it may have been thirty-five years ago. However, the story was well told, and with the artwork, it remained a compelling read. In 1977 I would have rated it extremely high, and even in 2023 there is plenty to enjoy here.

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "C,mon, Sweetie - let's go find some more humans!"

We have a hunter vs hunted storyline in this week's Mach-1, as Sharpe of the secret service hunts down Mach zero, Mach-1's out-of-control predecessor. 

Sharpe is making for Mach zero's house, convinced that he will try and return there. He is confronted by Mach-1, and Sharpe gives him fifteen minutes to speak with Mach zero and make peace. 

It does not go well, and Mach zero and Mach-1 fight, with all their super strength on full display. The fight is unresolved, but Sharpe can no longer wait and orders his men to shoot to kill. 

I had been looking forward to the confrontation between the two hyper men, but I found myself underwhelmed when it eventuated. There was less talking than I expected, and although I knew there would be a fight, it was not as intense as I expected. Elsewhere, the story is progressing nicely, and we had another Frankenstein call back as Mach zero saw his reflection in the water. The angle with Sharpe still hasn't been fully played out, and I have every hope that this story will improve rapidly in the coming weeks. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "no! Zero show you what trust means! Trust means killing and now Zero kill you!"

We are in the midst of a real detective story here in Inferno, and last week's clue of a ticket from the Crystal Maze casino leads the hellcats to that very casino. It is quite a sight and its weirdly wonderful geometry dominates the first page of the story. Zack sums it up best with his "Wow! Freakin' far out, man!" comment.

In their hunt for clues they meet the manager Cullen, but when shown a photo of Charlie Vance (who left the clue of the gambling chip), he claims to have never seen him before. But by chance, they are offered a photo of their visit by the casino photographer, and taking their chance they ask if he has photos of all the visitors to the casino in the last few weeks.

He does, and sure enough, they find a photo of Vance meeting the very same Cullen who claims to have never seen him before

We don't get long to digest this information, Moody Bloo is just about to make trouble with a game of indoor inferno in the casino. He destroys the game, accidentally of course, but this escalates as he also destroys a droid bouncer sent to escort him out. 

In the confusion and smoke, Cullen makes a break for it. The Hellcats pursue him, but find themselves in a hologram meteor show. It's dramatic but ultimately harmless, that is until we see an unknown hand about to switch it from hologram to the real thing.

I loved the detective aspect of this story, and it worked well throughout the strip. It was more Scooby Doo than Sherlock Holmes, especially in the final pages, but overall I was hooked on every word and every panel. This is not what I expected from Inferno, and I am enjoying it far more than the sports action of previous weeks. If we can continue this for the next couple of months I will be a very happy man indeed. 

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "So either Cullen forgot that he spoke to Vance...or he was lying when he said he'd never seen him before" 

Prog 45 final ratings:

Overall: 8/10

Best Story: Inferno

Best Line: "Wow! Freakin' far out, man!"

Best Panel:

Bonus:

Prog 44

 It feels like a long week, and picking up this Prog feels like a relief. It has only been seven days since I read the last one, but I'm struggling to recall what happened. No doubt it will come back to me in a flash once I start reading, but for now, I'm starting from zero.    

Prog 44

24 December 1977

This week's Judge Dredd is very much a story of two halves. The drama lies in the first half, and the second is merely a humour-heavy Christmas message. 

There is humour in the first half to be sure, the opening panel we see Walter still on the moon and shopping for presents as the artificial snow falls. With a song on his lips (and lisp), and gifts in his arms, we are instantly dropped into the Christmas mood. 

But this isn't the season to be jolly, as Walter finds out soon enough as he is kidnapped by Geek Gorgon. With Walter his captive, Geek Gorgon is seeking vengeance upon Dredd.

Dredd is a man of action, and although Geek Gorgon is armed with his favourite weapon, a chopper that looks like an oversized meat cleaver, Dredd is determined to get Walter back. 

We don't have long to wait, as just over the page Dredd smashes through the side entrance of Gorgon's hideout. Gorgon retains the upper hand, with Walter being wired with explosives, but as he attempts to chop Dredd's head he finds Dredd has taken precautions, a length of flexisteel wrapped around his neck for protection. From here, victory belongs to Dredd.

The story then runs for two extra pages, as Walter gives his gifts to Dredd. There is laughs a plenty with some of the items he has given as gifts, and this part of the story is much lighter than the first half. Walter is disappointed to find that Dredd hasn't got him a gift, but Dredd is playing it cool, and as the story ends he delivers his gift to Walter, a tap dispenser - just what any self-respecting robot needs. 

This feels like a Christmas story shoe-horned in, yet I can't help but enjoy the humour in it. The opening scene played well to my sense of humour, and the series of gifts that Walter gives at the end is the visual equivalent of a Dad joke. I could ask for a more dangerous villain, or perhaps more action, but this is a Christmas story in the Christmas issue, and as such, it did it's job. Not an ordinary story, but then again Christmas isn't an ordinary day. 

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "A new dwink dispenser tao! You were just teasing Walter. Walter is so happy! He will scwew it in now"

We are still travelling with the circus for Invasion, although it looks like our days are numbered at this location. 

The story starts sedately as we are once again introduced to Bill Savage and his band of men, but things warm up as the circus owner turns collaborator and reveals Savage's location to the Volgans.

With the circus stormed by Volgan, Savage is split from his men and finds his way to the big top. This leads to the set-piece action scene as Savage fights the Volgans from the trapeze. He puts up a good fight, but the circus owner proves adept with a whip, and captures Savage with a lash around the neck.

A truck exploding through the side of the tent is the most eye-catching panel of the comic and drives us to the conclusion of the story as it is driven by Savage's colleagues. Rescued, they drive the truck hard away from the circus, smashing through the supports of the big top as they plough their way out leaving the Volgans fumbling in their wake. 

We have seen several stories of collaborators and traitors in the first 40 Progs, so the idea isn't new in this issue of Invasion. However, the setting provided a point of difference, with both Savage and the villain using the surroundings and providing an entertaining take. The best panel of the strip though was undoubtedly when big Nessie ploughed her truck into the tent. Explosive and dramatic, it is hard for me to move past this image, and after I finished the story, it was this part of the tale that stayed with me. 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "Ain't *gasp* that nice - ye're bringin' a lump to me throat"

Dan Dare is still alone on the planet Grawl, while his space fortress hides in another part of the Starslayer empire. With the Grawl slaves taking up arms against their overlords, it seems Dare has swung the advantage in his favour with a new army at his command.

However, the Dark Lord of the Starslayers still has a few tricks up his sleeve and sends his secret weapon towards the planet. As it shimmers in the sky, weakening all those that look at it, Dare and the Grawls don protective helmets with face visors, protecting themselves from this strange light. 

Dare's space fortress contacts him, and he asks that they remain far away. With the Starslayers jamming the transmission, this message is lost, and copying Dare's voice pattern, they transmit their own version of the message, telling the pilot that the ship is required as soon as possible and to use a hyper-space jump to approach Grawl. 

Still plenty to play for, as they say, and the story could go anywhere from here. The first page was a highlight, with Dare fighting should to should with the Grawl slaves, all in glorious colour, while the real wrinkle in the story came in the later pages as the plot deepened. I was a fan of both parts of the story, and I can see the story continuing to unfold panel after panel. With the story still expanding, I am well and truly along for the ride, and even if this wasn't the best Dan Dare story I have read, it had enough steel to it to make me wish there was more. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "I have pulled it off pilot..we've got a bunch o'guys on our side that make Bear look like a nine-stone tweaking!" 

Last week's MACH-1 story put me in mind of Frankenstein, and that thought is reinforced this week as we move further down that path. With Mach Zero on the loose, he only has two things on his mind, kill Sharpe, and find his son. 

It's not his son he finds though, but rather just a nearby boy who is in need of help. Saving him from some local bullies, he returns the boy to his mother, but the mother assumes that Mach Zero has done some harm, and he is cast out. 

The rest of the story is dedicated to the rage of Mach Zero as he fights off the military in their attempt to recapture him. 

There is no Mach 1 in this episode, marking it out of the ordinary. The Mach Zero story is strong thus far, and one senses that it will be even stronger once the two face each other. This story did a good job of building the humanity of Mach Zero, something we weren't privy to in the last episode. At first, I found it jarring to have the information that he has a son dropped on us in the first panel, but the rest of the story builds nicely upon this, and by the end, it felt as if the balance had been restored. I could quibble that the story is a little derivative, drawing from both Frankenstein and the Incredible Hulk, but it is a universal story, and one that works well in this context and is well told. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Boy being hurt, mother - Zero save him!"

Inferno is dominated by the game we saw last week. Starting from a point of chaos, the Hellcats improve as the game progresses, and by the time the game wraps up, they are displaying good teamwork, inspired by the teamwork of Giant and the former Harlem Heroes. 

The overarching plot appears in the final panels as they speak of clearing themselves from the match-fixing scandal. Junk hands Giant a clue he found in Vance's office before that fateful last game, a gambling chip from The Crystal maze, and as they look upon it we close out this week's issue. 

Not a lot to say about this week's issue. It focussed solely on the game, and the game itself was all about team unity being built as the game went along. I was pleased to see the return to the larger story appear in the final panels, although it has been several weeks now and I had almost forgotten about it. An entertaining story in terms of visuals and the game, but apart from that not a lot here for the lovers of a good story. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Best line: "No way, Cash! I never took orders from punky kids when I was a lawman, and I ain't startin' now!"

 

 Prog 44 final ratings:

Overall: 6.5/10

Best Story: Mach-1

Best Line: "Take the strength of fifty men- mix it with enough hate for a hundred-that'll give you the man called - Mach Zero!"

Best Panel:

   

Prog 43

 No Future Shocks in this week's 2000AD. Instead, a couple of stories have extra room to fill out their plot. It's no bad thing, and overall this is a very strong issue. It's always good to see these stories with a little extra meat on their bones, and there is plenty to digest in the coming pages.   

Prog 43

17 December 1977

Judge Dredd on the moon reveals itself as an old-fashioned western in this week's 2000AD. After cheating death twice last week on the moon, the story settles down this week and places Judge Dredd firmly in a setting that could be anywhere in the wild west. The title says it all - "Showdown on Luna-1"

Dredd is quickly sworn in as a marshall, before taking a stroll around town to get his bearings. With some gun-toting ranch hands heading for the local saloon, Dredd senses trouble and quickly follows. 

What we get next is a series of movie tropes, and anyone who has seen a western in the last sixty years would be familiar with the following scenes. 

Dredd takes on the troublemakers in the saloon, coming out on top, before taking to the street where he faces a showdown. Quick drawing against a robo-slinger, Dredd is the underdog, yet comes out on top with his years of training, and a moment of insight as he throws off his badge that the robot's homing darts are targeting. 

The final panels see Dredd musing upon who is behind all this, with all clues pointing to C.W. Moonie. 

What I have left out of the above is the killer humour that is liberally sprinkled throughout the story, and the cleverness of placing a western story on the moon. Every panel has a smart idea and little nod towards the genre it is stealing from, and I found myself reading this story three times to pick apart every nuance. It is no mere pastiche of the western genre, but rather a multi-level celebration of the genre. It doesn't quite feel like a Dredd story, but it is good at what it does and is most enjoyable from beginning to end. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Come down and face me, you no-account earthie! I've ordered your grave on Gravity-boot Hill!

Silk and Savage are still hiding out at a small circus as we begin this week's edition of Invasion.  As the Volgans arrive they hide in the barrel of a howitzer, while Prince John is hidden under the table of Big Nessie, who is now disguised as a fortune teller. 

None of our heroes stays hidden for long, and as Prince John is discovered Savage and Silk break cover and open fire on the Volgans. It's a short battle and soon they are faced with the dilemma of what to do with the four prisoners they have taken. 

Luckily, Savage has a solution, and we end the story with the four Volgans placed in a cage with a Gorilla, unable to cry out for help lest they wake him and face his wrath. 

This story felt a lot shorter than the five pages assigned to it. Although not action-packed throughout, it moved at a steady pace, and the story was given time to marinate in its own juices. It wasn't complex or thrilling, but it did entertain me, and I applaud it for that. Not my favourite story this week, but another steady entry.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "I-I see a tall dark stranger come into your life! He means ill for you and your men!"

While Judge Dredd drew inspiration from westerns of old, Dan Dare also takes from a story we have seen before, that of Gladiators rising up against their masters. 

Still pursued by the Star-slayers, Dare and his crew arrive at planet Grawl. After losing two good men at the last to planets, Dae takes the responsibility himself of travelling to the planet's surface. 

He arrives at a large stadium, where the enslaved people of the planet are fighting as gladiators. Dare is quick to see the potential of having them join his fight, and he inspires them by taking on the Starslayers himself. They are roused by the sight of Dare fighting, and we end the strip with the Grawls taking up arms against the Starslayers. 

This looks like it may be a one-sided fight - the Grawls are merely armed with swords, while the Star-slayers have all manner of modern weapons. Whatever the outcome, entertainment is guaranteed for the reader. This story is well set up for the next issues, and this week laid out what to expect. The gladiators look great, and there was a particularly good panel introducing them which gave us some idea of what to expect. Overall, a solid introduction, but next week will be when this idea fully develops. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Watch, you tame freaks--watch a real fighter's death--taking on your real enemies...taking on the Star-slayers"

MACH 1 is jump-started with an attempted assassination at Buckingham Palace dropping John Probe straight into the action. With his unique abilities, he is able to see the sniper before he can go about his murderous ways, and quickly deals with him. 

This is a false start, and after reporting to Sharpe and complaining, Sharpe accidentally reveals that John Probe isn't the first MACH-man. 

From here on the story spins off in a completely different direction as John Probe disappears from the pages and we focus solely on Sharpe and this revelation. A visit from a new financial controller is a neat way to frame this backstory, and as he quizzes Sharpe on his expenses, Sharpe is forced to take him into his confidence and gives him a guided tour of a secret facility. It is here that we meet MACH Zero, an earlier iteration of MACH-1, with all the same powers. The only difference is MACH Zero has no control and is kept chained up in a vault far beneath the ground. 

MACH Zero is bitter about his treatment by Sharpe, and this rage after Sharpe visits leads to him breaking his bounds and going on a rampage on later pages. Smashing out of the vault, he seeks vengeance upon Sharpe. 

This coincides with the final panel of the story, John Probe once again appears in Sharpe's office, reading through his secret papers about MACH Zero, with the thought that perhaps he could help him. 

A much more involved story than we have seen previously, this is the plot line I have been waiting for as Sharpe's schemes come to the fore and Probe on a collision course. This is really a tale of Frankenstein's monster, and the reader can't help but be sympathetic to MACH Zero. He wasn't quite as scary as I would have wanted, but his power is amply demonstrated. If Probe can find him, their awesome power together should be something to behold, that is if Probe can convince him to join his side. I'm very pleased with all these backroom dealings, and the way the story was framed with the financial controller, and even if I'm still waiting for the payoff the storytelling delivered on all fronts this week. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "A lift five hundred feet underground? What have you got down there, Sharpe? King Kong? Hah, hah!"

 Chaos abounds in this week's episode of Inferno. From the first minute of their game against Shafer's Sickles they are up against it as the Sickles stop them from coming out of the pits with their motorcycles. 

The rest of the strip tells the same story, as the Harlem Hellcats take a beating on every page. Smashed into the dirt, miscommunication, and shooting each other on the field, all Giant can do is look upon it all in despair in the final panels. The Hellcats were promised an alley fight, and they certainly get that here with every panel featuring bone-crunching action.

Another strong issue for Inferno and we are finally getting to see these new characters in action. It is still messy, and the roles are yet to be clearly defined, but we can see that the story will work at untangling the current chaos over the next few weeks. This week is a sketch of what is to come, and while I didn't enjoy all of it, I do appreciate that the next few weeks could potentially be much better. A string end to this week's 2000AD, and much more to come in the next issue, 

Rating: 6.5/10

Best line: "No good little gutterhounds - the kind of filth I had to deal with when I was a lawman. I'll teach 'em to bend the rules...every last one of them!"

Prog 43 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Mach-1

Best Line: "No, no - not the shotgun- it- it is Savage!" 

Best Panel:   

Prog 42

Christmas is coming! Prog 42 is dated 10th December 1977, just two weeks before the first Christmas I can remember. I was only four at the time, so there would be no 2000AD stocking fillers, but rest assured Santa took care of me. Let's roll back the clock and see what else I missed in the build-up to Christmas 1977.  

Prog 42

10 December 1977

 Judge Dredd leaves Meagacity-1 this week as a new story arc begins in new surroundings. Sent to the moon for six months of Luna duty, he is angry to find that Walter the robot has stowed away in his luggage. Walter just couldn't bear the thought of being away from Dredd for so long. 

The shuttle trip to the moon is eventful, with a Killjoy Destructor Missle (great name) fired at the shuttle as it approaches the surface. Taking charge of the situation, Dredd takes the missile head on, before jettisoning the cargo container which the missile destroys instead. 

This isn't the only attempt on Dredd's life, and after arriving on Luna-1 and making his way to his accommodation, the ever-faithful Walter discovers a small robot in the closest. The robot explains that he has been provided to be Dredd's robot servant, but he quickly reveals his true intention and attacks Dredd with an axe. Dredd avoids the axe, and as he questions the robot it goes into self-destruct mode and we finish the strip with Dredd tossing the exploding robot out the window before pondering who he is behind this. 

All the pieces are in place for another great story here. The new setting is good, but it's the plot and the humour that holds all the thrills for me. Luna-1 is well described, we get a couple of panels of backstory about it, our first view of it, and the people Dredd will be working with, add to this feeling of a colony in the wild west. The humour mostly comes from Walter, but it drips from every page, even when Walter isn't present.  Walter is always going to be funny, but there is much more to the story than just him. Judge Dredd looks great, reads well, and is the perfect start to this week's issue. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "Well, get rid of him. It's bad enough with one of you" 

Future Shocks works as a palate cleanser after Dredd, and at a page and a half is just the punchy break we need before diving into Invasion. 

Dan Aulnick has built himself a mail-order time machine, and plugging it into a wall socket gives it a quick run before tea. Arriving back in  10,000 BC he is confronted by some unfriendly locals, but as he tries to leave he realises there is no power point to plug into and he is standard. 

Short, sweet, and with a nice little twist, this is all I could ask. Not enough time to be perfect, but it's well-worked and fits perfectly after Dredd. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Well, that's it. My first time machine finished and ready to go. If I hurry, I've just enough time for a quick visit to the stone age, before the wife wants me back for tea." 

I've never been one for circuses, so it is with some trepidation that I read this week's Invasion storyline. The circus is crucial to the story, as Bill and his team arrive in the city at the same time as the circus. 

They find that their safe house isn't so safe, and seek refuge in the circus, first losing themselves in the circus crowd, before settling in to watch the show under the big top. As the show starts, they are spotted by a Volgan officer and they quickly make their way out back. 

It is here that we get the biggest twist in the story. As the Volgans confront them, the bearded lady suddenly appears behind them and takes a hand in the situation. Cracking a couple of heads, Savage and his men are saved, but there is something all too familiar about the bearded lady. It is someone we have met before, and removing the beard we see that it is Big Nessie, a woman we previously met in the guise of a professional wrestler back in Prog 33. Here she takes a shine to the young Prince, much to the delight of Bill Savage who finds humour in the situation. 

I may not like circuses, but I liked this story. There was a lot packed into the pages, the escape for the safe house itself was a page of action, and it was a close-run thing before Savage escaped into the crowd. Every panel looked good, but none caught my attention like the very first panel when we see Bill Savage staring off the page at us, it's certainly one for the album. Like Dredd, there was plenty of humour mixed in with the action, and the story left me feeling good. The last two issues of Invasion have a different feel from the rest of Invasion. I liked this one much more than last week, and I'm curious to see where they will take us next.  

Rating: 8.5/10

Best line: "Okay, Bill - you an' skinny Silk into me stall fast! I'll carry the little love!"

I was looking forward to seeing Dan Dare lead the insectoid slaves into battle against the Starslayers, but it is the Starslayers who seize the initiative, their tanks ambushing Dare and his men in the first panels of the story.  

The attacking tanks seem to burst from the page, leaving Dare and Hitman scrambling to fight back. Both acquit themselves well, Hitman destroying a tank using his shooting skills before they both team up to destroy the other two tanks.

Tanks dispensed with, the battle is won, but the surviving Starslayer sends a message back to their leader telling him that they have been defeated on the planet drone. 

With Dare's location revealed to the Starslayer leader, the secret weapon once again comes into play, a bright light appearing in the sky and all the insectoids falling under its spell. Hitman too is succumbing, but before he does he knocks Dare to the ground and places a Starslayer helmet on him, thus saving Dare from a similar fate.

We finish the story with Dare waking to find that Hitman is in a trance after sacrificing himself to save Dare. With two men now lost in a trance, Bear and Hitman, Dare reiterates that he won't stop until the Starslayer Empire is wiped out. 

My feelings about this story are mixed. It didn't have any real depth to it, and the major battle felt slight, despite Dare and Hoitman fighting the awesome power of the tanks, it felt like they defeated them all too easily. The insectoids were underutilised, they looked the most interesting on the page, yet we hardly saw them in battle. Despite all that, I enjoyed the story, with Dan Dare looking heroic in every panel. The tank's first appearance was eye-catching and kick-started the story, and this was the high point for me, along with the final panel of Dan Dare. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "Look--the bugs...they've stopped moving...staring at the sky! What's happenin'?"

The first page of part 3 of the MACH 1 Death Ray story is entirely taken up with the launching of the cruise missile that will feature throughout this week's strip. It may not show John Probe, but it reminds us of where we are with the story.

We see John Probe on the following page, his Voshkod pod dangling beneath a parachute as they land near the target area for the cruise missile. Once again, I am frustrated that Voskhod is spelt wrong, "Voshkod" instead of the correct "Voskhod," this has been an ongoing issue throughout this story and my eyes always catch on the word when I see it. 

We see Probe in action immediately, as he seizes control of the situation, and the Russian cosmonauts, before springing from the capsule and taking to his heels.  Running too fast for the Russian scanners to track, he is soon one-hundred miles away and contemplating his next move.

His next move is decided for him as he sees a Russian cruise missile flying over some nearby hills. He doesn't get long to admire its flight, as a shot from a ground-based death ray shoots it out of the sky.

Peering over the hilltop, Probe sees that he has stumbled upon a secret base and the earth-based death ray. This leads us to the second part of the story, after destroying the death ray in space, now Probe must destroy the deathray on earth. 

The action comes thick and fast from here on in. Slipping into the base, Probe takes out the scientists behind the ray, and then takes control of the death ray itself to destroy most of the facility.  With the death ray itself about to detonate all that is left is for Probe to escape. 

This is the part of the story that I am not happy about. Seeing the cruise missile that was fired from the US sub, John Probe leaps on top of it and pulling off an access panel, rewires the missile - sending it a thousand miles out to sea with Probe as a passenger. Landing in the sea, near a US vessel, soon enough Probe is back home. 

Sharpe isn't pleased with John Probe working for the US, and in a terse exchange hands him a thank you note from the USAF before kicking him out of his office.  

An uneven story, and although it had its moments, my overall feeling is one of disappointment. I suspend reality when reading these stories, and happily accept all of John Probe's abilities, but seeing him riding the cruise missile after all that has come before was a bridge too far. Maybe I'm having a bad day, but I just didn't like what I was reading on the page. The first two parts of this story were solid, and I was hoping for a spectacular finish, but this was a tepid ending to what could have been a great story. Still enjoyable enough, and I have to accept that my high expectations were unrealistic in the face of what was delivered.

Rating 6/10

Best line: "Your Ruskie friends know something went wrong with the mission but they won't know how wrong till they peel this can open - so you just keep quiet - savvy?"

There was a mysterious figure descending upon the Harlem Heroes when we last saw them in Inferno, but he doesn't stay mysterious long. It is their old team-mate, Louis Meyer, now merely a brain living in an android's body.

With Louis onboard, they continue to put together their new team. Two more arrivals are their former teammates from the Washington Wolves. They then venture into the bad part of town to recruit another former teammate, and with a full complement of players that submit their teamsheet to the league, under the new name of "Harlem Hellcats"      

Starting from the fourth division they work their way up, and the first opponents they face are the Sickles, who from the outset look like a pretty rough lot. Just how rough, we'll find out now, but if there play like they look then the Harlem Hellcats are in for a heck of a fight. 

Now that the team has been rebuilt I expect this story to quickly move forward. Even though this week was all about the new team being put together, there was still plenty to enjoy. All the new characters look great, and they have some fearsome members on their team now. Likewise, the opposition looks suitably mean and gnarly, and one can feel that next week will be full of bone-crunching action. A good base to start from, next week should be great. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line:  "Here it is, boys! Our acceptance into the inferno league...under the name of 'Harlem Hellcats'!" 

Prog 42 final ratings:

Overall: 7.5/10

Best Story: Invasion

Best Line: "You saved me from bein' burnt back there and now I'm repayin' you...besides, the men...need you...someone to...lead 'em...go beat those Starslayers for me, Dare!" 

Best Panel:   

Prog 41

 Laptops can be so frustrating. One minute they're working, the next minute you come back with a cup of tea to find the screen blank and nothing you can do will encourage it back to life. A lesser man might have thrown it out the window, instead, with head down, I traipsed back to the store where I brought it, with their promise to repair it under warranty within five days. Five whole days, what is a poor boy to do? Resourcefully, I have pulled out my old computer, which my wife has been encouraging me to throw away for the last five years, and managed to resurrect it into a workable condition. Painfully slow, at least I can work to my self-imposed deadline of one blog post every week, before 5pm Sunday.  This isn't supposed to be a job, but sometimes it feels like it. 

Prog 41

3 December  1977

I didn't enjoy Judge Dredd last week, but this week's issue is far more agreeable to me. It may be because I'm reading it on a larger screen. Or maybe because I am drinking a gin instead of my obligatory cup of tea. Whatever it is, this is a storming episode, and I fall straight into the story. As you might recall, Dredd and the other Judges are endeavouring to stop the opposing gangs of Muties and Spacers from racing their 5000-mile bike race. It looks fantastic on my bigger screen, and I take my time as I cast my eye over their beautiful machines. A large part of this can be attributed to the artwork of Brian Bollard, and his hard and solid artwork is a contrast to the shakey lines of some of the earlier Dredd stories. Hard and solid is also a very good description of Judge Dredd, and he proves to be both as he confronts the leader of the Muties as he strives to reach the beacon, which serves as the finish line, first. Five pages and we always knew that it would come to this, and so it comes to pass as Dredd takes his opponent head-on and emerges victorious as the leader of the Muties dies just inches from his goal. Judge Dredd sees this as a deterrent to all future races and says as much to Judge Giant who joins him at the finish.

This is not a heavy Judge Dredd story, nor is it infused with humour that drips from every panel. Rather, it is a simple tale of right verse wrong. A simple tale it may be, but the artwork elevates it to another level entirely, and I don't think I have ever been enraptured by such artwork before in a Dredd story. Brian Bolland is a revelation to me here, and I will be seeking out anything he draws in future years. But here in the present, I lean back in my chair. The sun is going down, and so's my drink, and all is right in Megacity-1. Thank you, Judge Dredd. Thank you, Brian Bolland.   

Rating 8/10

Best line: "Muties rule, OK!"

Those dirty Volgs, not only are they hunting down Prince John and Bill Savage, but they are also hunting anything that moves on Prince John's family estate - Balmoral. In this week's edition of Invasion, Bill Savage and his men find themselves seeking shelter on the estate grounds, and after wiping out a mob of Volgans, Prince John leads them to a spot he considers safe, a secret cave behind a waterfall where he and other children of the Royal family used to play. Ammunition is low, and although the secret cave contains shotgun shells, they are all blanks. That's not enough to deter Savage, and when the Volgans throw a deer's skull through the falls, he loads it into his shotgun and using the blank cartridges blasts it into the Volgans as he storms out. Caught off guard, the Volgans find Savage and Silk snatching up their weapons, and the fight is over before it has begun, with Savage emerging victorious. 

I read this story twice. The first time I thought it was good, the second time I thought it was better. The idea of blasting deer antlers into the Volgans seems preposterous, but it is all part of the story and the second time I read it I get over myself and enjoy it for what it is. This story is all about a resourceful Bill Savage adapting to his environment and using whatever is at hand to defeat the Volgans. In this case, it is the deer antlers, and I must admit that on the page it looks great. Overall, the story was self-contained, with a solid beginning, middle and end all executed over five pages. It may not be as incendiary as some of the other Invasion stories, but it burns brightly in its own way and seeing the Volgans suffer at the hands of Savage always fills me with a warm feeling. Maybe I'm not right in the head, but I like it. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Best line: "s' right! And this devil brought his horns!" 

This week's Future Shocks is interesting in that there is no dialogue- the whole story is told through captions. And the story that the captions tell is as follows: A starfreighter on a four-year flight accidentally brings back to earth a mouse-like creature called a runt. They eat all the grain on the ship, and when they arrive on earth go on a rampage, eating everything in sight. Nothing can stop them, but just as it looks like humanity is doomed, and mankind is next on the menu, the runts keel over and die. It seems they have eaten too much and ate until they burst. We are left with a moral to the story, "You can't eat people if your eyes are bigger than your belly"

As much as I like Future Shocks, I can't claim to be a fan of every story. The good thing is they are so short, and there's always another one coming along to my taste. This one was definitely to my taste, and I appreciated the story it was telling. I found the fact that it didn't have any dialogue appealing and we never took the view of a single character. An interesting idea, and well executed, this worked well for the format and overall left me feeling positive about the experience. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "You can't eat people if your eyes are bigger than your belly" 

Dan Dare is still evading the forces of Stayslayer, and we begin this week's strip with his ship hidden behind an asteroid as an opposing vehicle glides by. Bear is still in a trance, and attempts to alert the enemy vessel, but is restrained by Dare's men. 

Approaching another slave planet, this time Drone, Dan Dare and his crew meet with an insectoid race and asks them to join the fight against Starslayer. There is hostility to begin with, but once Dare outlines who he and his men are, they agree to join the fight. The deal is done, but in the final panel, we see Darklord of the Starslayers promising to set traps for Dan Dare on all the slave panels. 

This episode did not advance the story along very much, but it sure was pretty to look at. Yes, Dan Dare has encountered another slave planet and potential allies, but their conflict remains in the future for now, and in this episode, we merely got our first look at them. Likewise, there is talk about the traps that Dark Lord threatens to set, but we won't see them until next week. So, the future looks like where it is at, until we arrive there I'm going to rate this average.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: " ...and is it not better to die with honour than die in shame? We shall contact the other hives!"

Mach 1 was the story I was looking forward to most this week after last week's space adventure had let us delicately poised. There is not long to wait to see which way the wind blows, Probe's ship is destroyed in the very first panel. Left floating in space, he fights off one of the Russians from the Voshkod pod, then using his hyper-strength forces his way into the capsule. From here it is a simple matter of toppling the death ray weapon out of orbit, before considering how he's going to get the Voshkod capsule down. He quickly learns that the vessel is controlled from the ground, and he is programmed to come down in the central USSR.  To make matters worse, one of the US submarines that were on high alert is out of range to be recalled by the US government and is at the moment firing a cruise missile at the very area that Probe is about to land in. 

I didn't enjoy this week's story as much as last week, I'll be honest. The action looked great, I especially enjoyed the panel where Probe smashes one of the cosmonaut's helmets, but the rest of the story left me cold. I wanted to like it much more than I eventually did. Despite Probe's best intents, it felt like the story unfolded around him, and even though he put up a good fight, he was just along for the ride. There is still the third and final part to come, so the story may redeem itself in my eyes, but for now it seems this middle section has sagged. 

Rating: 5/10

Best line: "Eat glass, Ruskie!"

Giant, Slim and Zack were accused of accepting bribes in the final panel of last week's issue of Inferno, and we join them this week as the verdict is handed down from the Inferno Assoction inquiry.  The Heroes are found not guilty, on account of not enough evidence to convict them. They are free, but a lot of people aren't happy about it, and it appears they have been blacklisted from every other team.

The second half of the strip picks up considerably, as the outcasts decide the only solution is to form their own team. They immediately find a suitable team member as they stumble across some condemned sky-flats and a bike-scramble race through them. Leading this scramble is the yellow-helmeted Rip Venner, who is both ruthless and fast, two key attributes for this sometimes deadly sport. 

He also has a back story, having been thrown out of the Justice Judges, for being too hard and mean. A proposal is put to him to join the newly formed team, but he gives a non-commital response leaving the three heroes to wonder what they can do from here. 

What they do next is find a stadium to compete in, and they have one ready-made that springs to mind - their old aeroball stadium.  They have two panels to reminisce before a figure with a jetpack drops upon them, identity unknown - I'll have to wait seven days to find out who it is. 

Not a lot happened in this week's strip, yet a lot of groundwork was laid, and there were some plot hooks which quietly drew me in. The scramble race looked great, and it was the perfect introduction to Rip Venner, I hope we get to see him much more in the coming weeks. Elsewhere, I enjoyed the final page in colour, and I hop that this will be a feature further utilized in the coming weeks. This week's comic has been strong throughout, and Inferno was s solid ending. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "That guy's a mad hat on two wheels, and whats the point of raising our own team? We ain't even got a stadium!" 

 

Prog 41 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Best Line: "Ya gonna hafta ram dat heapa junk ya ridin' ringth inta me!" 

Best Panel:

Prog 40

I have now read 40 issues of 2000AD. That's a milestone that I should be celebrating. But I have the lingering thought that perhaps I should tap into the vast pool of patience, which I don't have, and wait until Prog 52 before I get too carried away with myself. It seems the right thing to do, so maybe I am actually getting older and wiser. So, the celebration is on hold, let's cruise our way through Prog 40.

Prog 40

26 November 1977

Judge Dredd feels different this week. I can't quite pinpoint why, perhaps because it had reached such heights recently, while this week is grounded in a more recognisable world which doesn't quite give the story the same edge. With the gangs of Megacity embarking on a 5000-mile motorbike race, it's up to the thin blue line to maintain justice in the face of the harder criminal element. The Judges begin their crackdown well, but a rookie error by a young Judge gives the bikers the break they need and using a riot shield as a ramp they jump over the police line and onwards towards freedom. How the judges will respond we'll have to wait until next week to find out. 

This week's story is laying the groundwork, but as menacing as the biker gangs look, I just didn't feel the sense of danger radiating from them. Already this feels like a foe that Judge Dredd will easily dispatch with and as such I'm not fully invested in the story. Great setting and premise, but just not the hook I need to keep me turning the pages.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "When was the last time you saw a dentist, creep?"

After a break last week, Future Shocks returns with a two-page story. There's not a lot to tell here. Two space prospectors are probing asteroids with a laser probe in search of gold, lead or chromium. While the older prospector tells the younger of how wild things used to be in the old days, they soon find themselves facing the unusual as their probe spits open an asteroid.  This is no normal asteroid, but rather a giant space egg, and what emerges is a fearsome-looking space dinosaur who immediately squawks "mother." What happens next is purely in the imagination of the reader, as this is where the story ends for us. 

An interesting little story, but it was slight, and the final reveal did not wow me in the way that some of the previous shocks have. I enjoyed the artwork, and the brevity of the story definitely worked to its advantage. This story is exactly what we expect from these stories, and delivered no more or no less than what we expected. Average, but in the very best way.

Rating: 6/10

Best line: "And even asteroids with heads and claws! When you've been out here as long as I have, you'll know they exist!"

Prince John remains the main driver of the story for this week's Invasion. With the exiled British government in Canada keen to get him off the British Isles and back to safety, a plan is hatched, with the Royal Navy feinting on two fronts while a lone destroyer approaches the coast where Savage with be waiting with the Prince. It is a fine plan, but unfortunately, the lone destroyer is rumbled after being spotted by a high-flying Volgan Spy plan. The enemy aircraft acts quickly, launching a missile that takes out the destroyer. 

But, as luck would have it, the destroyer manages to get its own missile off before it is hit, and this missile shoots the aircraft out of the sky. A passive observer until now, Savage finally has a part to play, in this case shooting at the Volgan aircrew as they come down with their parachutes. It is a close thing, but Savage manages to shoot all eleven of them, despite them returning fire with their own pistols. We finish with Savage sending his own message back to Canada, next time there's a rescue attempt he wants it on his own terms. 

An unlying theme throughout this story was the constant jargon used by the military and Savage's own message is delivered in a similar fashion - "W.T.S.S' - Wait Till Savage Sezs. 

The Prince John storyline still has some legs left in it, and while he didn't have a large part in the action, he was certainly the key figure behind what is happening. The story didn't grab me by the scruff of the neck, but it did gently draw me in, and I steadily worked my way through the strip, rather than eagerly flip through the pages. It was Bill Savage's expression that I enjoyed most, and the artist Mike Dorey did a great job with his maniacal facial expression. Bill Savage is a dangerous character, and this is reflected well on the page. Invasion isn't at its best here, but it is not far off it, and with a couple of tweaks I would have rated this story much higher. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "More fancy lingo but 'ol Bill smells Volgs- though I can't see none" 

Dan Dare is still on the planet Minian, but it is Bear who carries the story for the first two pages. Bear is working with the Minian slaves and preparing them to rise up against their oppressors. However, Dark Lord, the Star Slayer leader, activates the shining star. As it appears above, the slaves all fall to their knees. Not so Bear, and he is soon singled out by the Star Slayers. 

Back at the ship, Dan Dare is making emergency repairs when battalons of Star Slayer troops appear, led by a zombie-like Bear. It becomes a battle of survival for Dare and his crew, and they make a good account of themselves, before the ship lifts off slightly, creating a cloud of dust and providing Dare with a chance to grab Bear from the chaos and get him onboard. 

With the ship repaired, they make their escape by the skin of their teeth, but the final panel reveals that Bear is still in shock from whatever happened. With Dan swearing to find out what's causing this, and smash it, we are well-primed for whatever will come next. 

The action in this week's issue wasn't as thrilling as the previous one, and the artwork felt smaller, there weren't so many large panels or faces dominating a single panel. The story is moving along well, which I appreciate, but overall it felt like we dropped a gear in this story. Dan Dare's colour pages always give it an extra push, and at the end of the day, those pages were my favourite in this story. 

Rating: 7/10

Best line: "And there's nothing handier than an astro-axe!"     

"Mach 1 - Death ray" - now that sounds like a story I would want to read! And so it proves, this story is right up my alley for a number of reasons. 

When an American spy satellite is destroyed by a laser weapon, John Probe is called upon by the American airforce to investigate. The CIA and Probe's own employer have launched their own secret investigations, so he is working against his own department. Of course, in the business of secrets, there are no secrets, so Sharpe is immediately aware of Probe's movements and intentions. 

On the aircraft with the American General Logan, Probe and Logan are knocked out by coffee spiked with barbituates. Waking up, they find themselves tied to their chairs and facing two of Sharpe's operatives. Thinking quickly, Probe breaks a window, and the guns are sucked out the window, giving him and the general the upper hand. 

Flying to Edwards airforce base, Probe is loaded on an X-15 research vehicle, and launched from under the wing of a B52 he climbs high to the edge of space where he comes upon the wrecked satellite. He also comes across a Russian-manned Voshkod capsule, and a death beam weapon aimed directly at him. 

One of my great passions in life is reading about the space race against the Russians, and the manned missions of the 60s and early 70s, so this story appeals to me greatly. I loved seeing the X-15 get some time in the story (long before he walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong used to pilot an X-15), and the space action was top-notch. The only part of the story I didn't like so much was when Probe and the General drank the spiked coffee - the woman serving the coffee looked just like Tanya from the previous story, and I did briefly wonder if Lozano/Canos could only draw one type of woman. It matters little, the rest of the story looked great, and I liked that we saw Probe use his powers only sparingly. 

I was caught up in this story from start to finish, and Probe's issues with Sharpe are coming to the fore in each advancing story, no doubt things will come to a head on that front in the future, but for now, I'm loving where we are and what Probe is doing in space.

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "All systems green, Probe. Rocket engines have ignited and you're on your way!"  

A lot happens in Inferno this week, which is a pleasant surprise as after seeing the first panel of an exploding bike I was beginning to wonder if Inferno was just going to be week after week of crashes and carnage as the story slowly and steadily crawls along. I needn't have worried, the story moves rapidly through this week's strip and after an initial panel showing a fiery crash, the game is abandoned and the remaining members point an accusing finger at Charlie Vance for tampering with the salt gum. 

A cornered Vance pulls his weapon in the face of such accusations and then makes a run for it. Escaping to the copter park, he climbs in a helicopter, but as he pushes the ignition switch it explodes in a ball of flame - it seems a saboteur has been at work and Vance will tell no tales. 

The final page is in colour, which is a nice way to finish, and as the investigation continues, the remaining three heroes are found to each have five thousand dollars in their bags (planted by Vance) and the accusing fingers now point at them for accepting bribes. 

A lot of information is packed in the panels throughout the story, and this is certainly ending the comic on a high note. With the background figures still unknown to the three Heroes and they themselves facing accusations, we still have some way to go with this story. The on-field action has always looked great, but the story was far more appealing to me in this strip, with intrigue and conflict taking place away from the field of play. Next week we should hopefully get more if the same, and if we do I will continue to rate it highly. 

Rating: 8/10

Best line: "Seems it ain't only the salt-gum that gets sabotaged around here" 

Prog 40 final ratings:

Overall: 7/10

Best Story: Mach 1

Best Line: "Well, the CIA are after Logan, and I'm after you!" 

Best Panel: