Prog 9 - Mach 1

MACH 1 is back in the thick of the action in Turkostan, which is in the middle of a bloody Civil War.

What is he doing there? All is revealed on the second page...
Probe grabs one of the soldiers from the destroyed vehicle and gets the information he needs...the whereabouts of the Professor. As he's getting the information, he sees the reflection of another soldier about to 'sneak' up behind him.

Probe spins around and despatches the guy with a hyper-powered bitch slap!
MACH 1's computer brain reminds him of the seriousness of his mission. He must get to the scientist before he can develop a home-made atomic bomb and trigger World War Three!

Probe sneaks into the Black Mosque and breaks into the vault where Nansen is in hiding. After killing the guard with a hyper-powered chop to the neck, he strangles Nansen until he falls into a mild coma, throws the professor over his shoulder and makes his escape!
But it's not going to be that easy. Nansen managed to get a call out to the military, and now three tanks are blocking Probes way. They tell Probe that they will blow him away if they don't let the Professor go. Probe, realises that even he can't fight three tanks...but his computer brain gives him an idea. He puts Nansen in one of the jeeps. Nansen is still out cold. A countdown has begun for Probe to hand over the Professor, but MACH 1 is having none of it. Initially having trouble to start up the jeeps...everything falls into place and Probe goes on the offensive.
As the jeeps reach 70mph, Probe slams one of the jeeps into the pillar causing it to destroy the three tanks...
...and Probe makes his getaway, with Nansen unconscious, in the second jeep.


Run of the mill stuff for MACH 1. I liked that he was back in Turkostan because it adds some sort of continuity to the strip.

His banter back and forth with his computer is getting more interesting for me. He seems to be always reming his brain that he's human and has a right to get angry, tell jokes etc. The machine is constantly reminding him that he can't consider himself human anymore because of his hyper-powered body and mind.

One thing does puzzle me though...why would the tanks fire on Probe if Nansen is so important? Oh well, it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the strip...just struck me as odd.

The script is by the ever reliable John Wagner and the art is by John Cooper. Again, Coopers art is fantastic and really suits the MACH 1 strip.

Prog 8 - MACH 1

Probe sets off to hand over the ransom. His contact arrives on a motorbike. Probe asks where the girl is and the contact tells him that he has only one thing for him and he pulls a gun. But Probe is quicker than his would-be assassin...
Probe asks again where the girl is. He tells Probe where they are keeping her. Probe knocks him out. (Although, it looks like he's breaking the guys neck in this panel...maybe they decided to censor it and have John just 'put him to sleep for a while' instead.)
MACH 1 then disguises himself as the bike rider and drives up to the villa passing a guard on the way. But not everything is going to work out the way he wants it. Two guards ahead of him flag him down. They want to know if he got the money. Probe doesn't stop and drives right past them. The guards now know he's an imposter and open fire.

Inside the Villa the rest of the kidnappers hear the shooting outside. Pilar, they're leader, has Maria by the hair and holds a knife up to her throat.

Probe is going to have to move fast...
and he does...
The bike crashes on top of the gunmen. Pilar is all that's left. Pilar tells Probe to back off or she'll cut up Maria's face so badly that she'd look beautiful in comparison. Probe is having none of it. He tells her to go ahead and while she's carving up Marias face to take note of what he can do to her when she's done. He lifts up the motorbike he crashed into the villa with and crushes it with his bare hands in front of her.
With Pilars surrender and Maria saved, Probes 'mission' is over.
Wow!

This episode was a tough one to leave any artwork out. John Coopers pages are so dynamic and action packed. He did a really fantastics job at making the story flow at a breakneck speed. His page layouts are fantastic for this five and a half pager.

It's a fairly straight forward MACH 1 story. Although, I wonder what happened to the guards that were chasing Probe before he reached the Villa. Seems like a loose end that didn't get tidied up.

No real advancement of Probes character here, it's not the first time that Probe has done a mission for 'personal' reasons, and it's a basic 'paint by numbers' plotline. It's Coopers artwork that really makes this average story shine.

Fantastic stuff.

Prog 5 - MACH 1

Probe is on a well earned vacation and needs to burn off some energy. It ain't easy being a MACH man. Nice Popeye reference.

Later on the beach, Probe is approached by a stranger. The stranger had seen Probes display of hyperpower swimming. MACH 1's computer brain informs Probe that the stranger is Otto Brandt, an illegal weapons dealer and advises Probe to exercise caution because Brandt wants to find out the secret behind his hyperpower.

Brandt is planning a party and wants Probe to join him as his guest. Probe declines. Brandt 'persuades' him to change his mind... Probe agrees to go with Brandt. His computer brain disagrees with the decision and reminds him that with his hyperpower he could have taken out Brandts' goons. Probe responds that every second doing that would have cost more lives.

They board the boat plane. The 'party' starts. Brandt's goons lay into Probe. They beat him. Brandt asks Probe to be sensible...how much more punishment can he take? Probe says that he's not 'one of your old fashioned heroes - I'll tell you everything - If the money is right!'

The guards relax and Probe picks his moment for...
One guard gets blasted out of the plane...
He finishes the other two guards off by hyperpunching them. Hyperpunch equals instant death!

Brandt is now flying the plane. Probe is making his way toward him. Brandt calls Probe a fool, that they both could have been rich by cashing in on his Hyperpower. Brandt turns the plane so fast that Probe is shot out the side. MACH 1 takes it all in his stride and grabs onto the planes float.

Brandt shoots at probe. If he can't have Probes secrets alive...dead will do. Probe responds with a great line...'cos you got me angry in my skull!'
The plane heads inland and Brandt is going to do his best to make Probe roadkill. He flies the plane dangerously close to the ground trying scrap Probe off. But, a truck turns the corner and is heading straight for the plane. Brandt can't pull up in time and...
We leave Probe pondering that his hyperpower is more of a curse than a blessing.

Nice episode because we get to understand what a burden hyperpower can be. If Probe hadn't burned off some hyperpower by swimming as fast as he did, he wouldn't have attracted attention from Brandt, and the holiday makers that were gunned down would still be alive. It wouldn't be the first time that Probe would question the negative effects of having such power.

John Cooper's art is really suitable for this strip. His work has a totally 70's look to it. Cooper would draw a few Dredd stories too, but his work always seemed out of place for me on Dredd. He was way more suited for MACH 1. Cooper is probably best known for his work on Johnny Red for Battle...
and on John Wagners classic cop - One Eyed Jack for Valiant.