I’m writing this episode in the garden because it’s a nice summer’s day and I’ve lit the barbecue. As such it’s being written in notepad and I don’t have internet access. I’m assuming the cover to this prog is be Brian Bolland, but could be wrong. It’s the most distinctive cover 2000AD has had since the first one (and that had a Space Spinner covering up the whirlwind around Tharg’s face) with the letters UFO written large, completely dominating the entire cover. Once you’ve added the standard 2000AD logo there’s barely a sixth of the cover left for a picture of a spaceship, a man, a woman and a car.
The nerve centre is taken up by reader’s reports of UFOs which leads into the final episode of Probe’s latest and last alien encounter.
The Final Encounter Finale! closes the file on MACH One in an extended 8-page episode. We prevously said goodbye to Silk, a long-running character, but this was the first lead character to die in the pages of 2000AD, and one who had been in the majority of progs since launch. I think the willingness to kill major characters and later on the adherence to continuity (without endless rebooting and constantly ending every story with everything in the same state as at the beginning) is one of the things that has set 2000AD apart from other comics, particularly those from the USA. Anyway, on to the actual story – Pat Mills presents the death of Sharpe, then the self-sacrifice of Probe to protect Fred. The official enquiry concludes that Sharpe exceeded orders and endangered Earth, and so Probe’s name is cleared. And that’s it for M.A.C.H.1 (though there is still the MACH 2 robot, though I don’t recall ever seeing that again).
Dare visits an Ice Planet, though first we meet the Space Fortess’ joker, Wise (who we have never seen before – remember what happened last time we were introduced to a character who went on a mission with Dare? They got crushed to death by deep sea pressure). Wise pretends the scanners have picked up an ice cream while sensing the ice planet below and is put on a charge, but just as he’s about to be taken to the brig life is detected. Dare overrules Pilot’s charge and Wise is part of the landing crew. Despite being cut off from contact with the Fortress, two crew members being killed (one before his eyes, the other lost in a chasm and presumed dead) and giant icicles being thrown at the crew as if they were spears, Wise still has a sense of humour (plus a smile on his face).
2000AD isn’t the only sci-fi comic out this week, as shown in a full-page advert for Star Lord No 1, out on the same day as this prog. Strontium Dog, Ro-Busters and Time Quake all get their first mention in the pages of 2000AD.
Judge Dredd The Cursed Earth chapter 4 carries on from The Devil’s Lapdogs, with the town of Deliverance in the midst of attack by the swarm of flying rats. Spikes comes through in the end and saves Dredd instead of deserting him, like we all thought he would – but Spikes is following a law greater than that of Mega-City One, that of ‘bike buddies’. In the end it turns out that the Devil’s Lapdogs were attracted by the sirens which warned the town of their approach – though I wonder why the sirens were installed if they weren’t being attacked until they were there… The Lawgiver (the guy who was in charge of Deliverance, not the gun) is killed by rats when he strays outside to remonstrate with Dredd for freeing some sacrificial prisoners.
Death Planet Part 3: Night of the Animals. Having thought the small mammals had led them to their deaths, Cory notices that they don’t just drink the poisoned water, they also eat berries nearby. It turns out that alien squirrel-creatures physiology is similar enough to that of humans that the berries have the same nullifying effecct on them as it did on the alien mammals. Cory is rude and antagonistic towards Commander Varn for no particular reason, other than conflict is more interesting to read than amiable relationships, I guess? Today’s cliffhanger is that Cory is at the bottom of a cliff while a tidal wave is about to engulf him.
Inferno finishes the prog, story-wise. The game between the Philadelphia Freaks and Harlem Hellcats begins, with Gruber masquerading as Dimples Devine. Mr Chubb has two-way communication with Gruber throughout the game, along with control of a pain-cell and a bomb (which Chubb has to remove a fingernail to activate – can’t he just hold a trigger device in his hand?) This is a real cliffhanger, with Gruber about to aim the ball at Clay’s face as hard as possible
We’ve said goodbye to MACH 1 this prog, but the trail for next prog promises that MACH Zero is back (“with a vengeance!”)
Grailpage: there’s a good selection this week – the cover with the the three letters ‘U’, ‘F’ and ‘O’ taking up over half the cover space; the moment the lights surrounding the landing ground are switched on instead of the lights on the landing ground, revealing the shock troops hiding in waiting; the attack of the Devil’s Lapdogs on Deliverance or the splash page by Belardinelli showing the Hellcats Firebowl and the complete squad are all contenders. But really it could only ever be the death of Probe protecting alien Fred.
Grailquote: Pat Mills, Judge Dredd (thought bubble): “Yes… this one is a survivor, all right… its eyes – full of intelligence… this one is… King Rat!” (though “You – er – look wonderful, Spikes!” was tempting).
Back Prog Hack 