2000AD and Starlord Prog 123: Guilty of treason! The hunt is on for Dan Dare!

Dave Gibbons’ provides a full-colour Dan Dare cover.

The Nerve Centre has reader art introducing Tharg’s sister, Marg, who will one day appear in comic form – I had no idea she was a reader creation! Taking pride of place in this nerve centre is a comic strip created by Steve Noble and Kev Sutherland. I had it in my head that Kev would be a regular art droid down the line, but apparently he’ll only contribute a single Captain Klep strip (while still at school) and a Ro-Busters strip in a forthcoming annual. He will go on to do other comics and become a comedian, appearing on TV.

Judge Dredd: Father Earth Part 2 from John Howard and Brian Bolland. Starting as the first episode did, with the Doomsday Dog on the offensive, though this time in the Power Tower instead of a Cursed Earth trading post. Their attack is quickly dealt with by Dredd and the other judges and apparently their plan is foiled when one is shot before they can set off the bomb plunger. Dredd goes out to handle negotiations with Father Earth, purposefully skidding to put dirt in the face of the cult leader. Some Chief Judges think he’s bad at diplomacy – he’s not just bad, he’s actively awful on purpose! Meanwhile the election goes on. For continuity geeks, it appears there’s seven humanoid candidates for the mayoral contest (assuming one sits behind the Robin Day parody presenting the show) plus a cat. I like this subtle humour – I first read this story around four decades ago and I’m pretty sure I never noticed the cat before now! While watching the election, Dredd realises too late what the true plan was – there’s a second bomb in Power Tower, in the auxiliary lava feed pipe, and it’s primed to go off when the moment of the election triggers a surge as millions vote across the city. Thus the Power Tower becomes an artificial volcano.

Ro-Jaws’ Robo-Review! Ro-Jaws reviews The Spaceman and King Arthur. This is a Disney film with a very 1970s British cast. From the title I was expecting it to be a re-skinning of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, but from the review the similarities appear to end with the premise that a contemporary traveller goes back through time to meet King Arthur. (This film seems to be named Unidentified Flying Oddball in some markets). Other than that there’s film news on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Empire Strikes Back and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Special Edition, Director’s Cut, whatever these things were called back then – Ro-Jaws calls it Close Encounters of the Same Kind. From what I can tell the current title is either Collector’s Edition or Ultime Edition – though either or both of those could be entirely different cuts).

Gerry Finley-Day and Alan Willow bring us Disaster 1990. So, recapping the last few week’s of stories – Savage started off in South London somewhere near the Palace of Westminster, went to the Imperial War Museum, headed to whatever the BT Tower was called in 1979 (when this story was published) or 1990 (when it was set) – take your pick – GPO, Post Office, Telecom or BT. After that he went to the Bank of England, this week he’s back to New Scotland Yard, a couple of minutes walk (or swim) away from the Palace of Westminster… Savage and Bamber go on to Harrods – not the most direct route but at least they’re heading westwards. Harrods has been invaded by working class people, trying to scavenge for food but being repelled by upper class Harrods card holders. Savage attempts to defuse the situation with shotgun diplomacy though the conflict is brought to a close by the arrival of some Royal Marines who were on sea training when the floods hit. They confiscate the shotgun and tell him to vacate the department store before they go off to check out a top-security prison to the north. Bill and Bamber head past Admiralty Arch and over the flooded treetops in Hyde Park towards Wormwood Scrubs. Across the silent drowned city, Bamber hears cheering from Harrods and looks through binoculars to see the marines returning though Savage notices that some of the floating bodies surrounding them are those of the marine major and sergeant – the conflicts at Harrods are not over yet. I know a lot of people don’t rate Disaster 1990, preferring both Invasion and Savage, but I still like it (I’ll pretend I didn’t notice how impossible it is to see Harrods from Hyde Park – also that the food hall is on the ground floor and would have been the first bit to be flooded).

After a full-page ad for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (I didn’t know it even got a film release), it’s time for the debut of the next The A.B.C. Warrior, and it’s Deadlock! I’d have first seen him in my all-time favourite series, Nemesis the Warlock, so maybe I’m biased in thinking this is the best ABC warrior? Obviously inspired by the Knights Templar, the heads of these robots are styled after suits of armour and both the real and fictional orders of knights have inspired rumours of occult ceremonies. Their fortress, the Watch-Tower has been brought down to Earth by a Volg-operated meteorite. Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill ramp up the occult imagery as, with Hammerstein and co’s help, the Knights Martial repel the Volgans (though I’m pretty sure the four robots didn’t make that much of a difference). There’s a great shot of Deadlock on his bike (probably called a Death Cycle or something) with a shield not unlike those that will appear in Nemesis the Warlock Book III (the World of Nemesis). Deadlock presides over a war crimes court and war criminal General Karnage is hung. Afterwards, Deadlock offers a challenge to Hammerstein – they fight a tournament, if Hammerstein wins then Deadlock will join the ABC Warriors. If he loses, then Hammerstein dies.

Project Overkill from Kelvin Gosnell has Kenny Harris break in to a USAF base to locate a neuro-surgeon Peter Schaeffer (there’s no explanation of how Harris knows about Captain Schaeffer). At gunpoint Harris convinces Peter to operate on him, no X-rays, pre-med or anaesthetic. Harris blacks out during the operation and awakens to find it successful, with the device convincing the surgeon to help deal with the Overkill computer. Cut to the Overkill ‘boardroom’ and the order is given to kill Harris.

Dan Dare from Tully and Gibbons showing Dare and Sondar in an experimental star-ship without the power to escape. Luckily they do have the power to activate deflector shields, as Sondar discovers, and seconds later anti-grav boost out of trouble. Interestingly, from the view as they enter space, it looks like the SASA headquarters are in Portsmouth… Sondar reveals that when they saw ‘Myriad’ he could detect the smell of a Krulgan – a shape-changing alien, and so it wasn’t really Myriad who convicted them at the trial. As both Treens and humans hate Krulgans, Dare guesses that the alien would have taken refuge in a hive of scum and villainy – the same one, in fact, that he visited to assemble the crew of the Space Fort about two (publication) years earlier – Topsoil! Dare has named their stolen ship Crusader. Dare destroys the sentry satellite to avoid detection, though when they pair take to the streets they don’t bother with any kind of disguise. For reference, Sondar is in the full standard Treen uniform while Dare is in the same clothes he’s worn since Lystria with a glowing gauntlet.

Grailpage: As I was reading Judge Dredd, I was wondering which Brian Bolland page I might end up picking, but then I got to Kevin O’Neill’s debut of the Watch-Tower, Deadlock and the Tower tarot card.

Grailquote: I liked the grim humour of John Howard, narration: “In Power Tower a valve swings open – ” Big Ciril Overseer (as lava spews towards the two robots): “Goodbye, 13!” 13: “Goodbye us!”