Prog 3 - Judge Dredd

The problem Pat Mills faced with Dredd initially was creating crimes for this Lawman of the Future to deal with. That's why he rejected 'The Bank Raid' script. It was too ordinary a crime for Dredd to deal with.

This chapter, 'The New You' was written by Mills and was McMahons second drawn strip. McMahons first Dredd strip was 'Frankenstein 2' from Prog 6.

From the splash page we learn that New York is now part of Mega City 1. There's a dangerous criminal Scarface Levine...and he's on the run. He reckons that by getting his face changed he'll be able to escape detection from the law. The face change clinics are really a great concept. Wagner would later have some fun with this idea when Dredd has one of his 'moon' adventures. The criminals in that story have their faces changed to resemble classic comedians.

Levine forces 'A New You' face change clinic staff member to change his appearance and minutes later he's back on the streets. But Levine is arrogant. He realises the 'law cameras' can't identify him and decides to pull one over on Dredd. (The law camera have the words 'Police Control' on it, obviously Judges haven't taken total control of the law yet.)Big mistake...Dredd recognizes him. Levine panics and races away. Dredd pursues him.
Another point of interest is that Dredd's bike is now referred to as a 'Lawmaster'.
Dredd manages to jump on top of the speeding vechicle. Levine tries to shoot him off...but he is no match for Dredd and the judge administers justice. Dredd hops back onto his lawmaster before Levines vehicle crashes. Notice Levines face in that last panel above. Initially he was drawn with the bullet going through his head but because of the recent fallout over 'Action' it was censored and the ending of the strip was changed. Dialogue was altered so that Levine was slowly dying from the shot and he would be put into a timestretcher jail instead of just being blown away by Dredd. Dredd explains to Levine how he knew it was him, even though his face had been changed.
and we end with a classic Dredd line.
I say 'end' even though there is one more page. The last page was drawn by Carlos Ezquerra for the rejected pilot 'Bank Raid'. Mills thought that the artwork was so good that it would have been a shame to waste it and it was also on the back page of the comic which would have been in color. So, it would make for a great poster of what Mega City 1 looked like. He wasn't wrong. It's a great piece of art...and it has another classic Dredd line.
You'll notice the kid eating the ice-cream with his mom. From the 'Bank raid' script the kid tells his mom that he wants to be a Judge when he 'grows up' and she says 'Hush Tommy! and for goodness sake don't drop any litter or you may never grow up!'

Another reason why Mills tacked this page on was to give the impression that Dredd's pursuit of Levine was no big deal and he carries on his patrol as if it was nothing new. It's all just part of everyday law enforcement when you're a Judge.

Prog 3 - Dan Dare

The thing from Jupiter goes on a rampage!
Commander Monday wants it dead...Dare thinks otherwise.

He attacks the creature, trying to subdue it...but it has enormous strength!
The strength of a Super-Nova Star!
Dan figures that it's weak spot must be it's 'horns'...so, he pulls on them. Which leads me to the question...how the hell did he know that? The writing is so bad on this strip, it's actually amazing! I'd love to see Frank Miller rewrite this as 'All Star Dan Dare'!

Anyways, Dan's crazy move works and the creature is knocked unconscious. What a stupid place to put a weak spot. They could have picked anywhere, but no, they go for the most visible place...the 'horns' on it's head!
Looks like the creature had an orgasm. Well, so would you if you had your horn pulled!

With the creature unconcious they move it to the medic bay where doctor Ziggy Rodann (Seriously, that's her name!) examines it. She comes to the conclusion that the creature was biologically engineered because of it's strange physiology. The thing has no mouth and can communicate telepathically, it also has a brain three times the size of a normal human and it has built in solar panels on it's stomach that replenishes it's energy!

And it also has...extra muscles. Which leads to our crazy named doctor stating the obvious!Which, again, leads me to another question. How would the good doctor know the muscles are extra if she's never seen a creature like that before?

Dan and Monday decide to find out whereabouts on Jupiter the creature came from but not before the doctor decides to throw an insult at her commanding officer. The next two pages are of Dan, Monday and crew entering a craft to go land on Jupiter. Nothing much happens on the two pages, just descriptions of what type of craft they're using and the strangeness of space...yadda, yadda, yadda!

But we can't leave the strip without a cliffhanger, and the last panel provides it. As the craft approaches Jupiters atmosphere...it's hit by a jovian radio storm!
And that's it till next time.

I can see why Dan Dare was the weakest strip in the 2000ad line-up. It's written so badly and Dare himself doesn't seem to have any good characterization. It's such a disappointment. Even though 2000ad would later try and revamp Dare again with a Dirty Dozen/Star Trek take, and yet again with a Superhero take, it's not hard to see that Dan Dare in 2000ad is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

It would become even more obvious as the strip went on in comparision with other strips.

Prog 3 - Harlem Heroes

Enter The Baltimore Bulls!

Giant has got a full team at last and now they face their first opponents since the road liner crash. What could be a bad sign of things to come judging from the splash page is, an aeroball team is comprised of seven members, yet here, we only see the roll-call of five. Doesn't bode well for the two 'missing' team-mates. Maybe or maybe not. Time will tell.

The Bulls make their impressive entrance and to add an extra bit of spice to the game...the Bulls are an all cop aeroball team!

Zack is obviously on edge because he's playing against a team comprised of cops. Again we're reminded by the fans about the impossible odds the Heroes face.
The game starts and already Zack has lost his discipline.
He breaks formation and crashes into Giant giving the advantage to the Bulls. Just as the Bulls are about to score...Conrad King blocks the shot...but at a price! He has hit the electric prods around the score holes and must spend three minutes in the 'Penalty Pen'.
King is pissed! Zacks recklessness is going to cost them the game!
Giant takes control of the game. He intercepts the ball and goes for an air-strike...but the ball bounces off the rim.
How the heck can they afford such a big screen in the slums!!!

Anyhow, Zack picks up the rebound by kicking a player in the back of the neck and punching another one in the face, all the while hurling insults at the cops!

He shoots! He scores!

But, it's disallowed. Apparently you can do all sorts of violence in Aeroball except kick a player in the back of the neck. It's a dirty foul and now Zack has got the cop team pissed! After the fracas, the game restarts. Zack, eager to please snatches the ball from the Bulls again...but this time he's going way to fast and it looks like he's going to end up kissing the arena floor in a blazing ball of flame!
More predictable and fun stuff from Tully and Gibbons. You could just tell from Zacks attitude in the last chapter that he's going to be a handful for Giant to get some discipline into. And that the opposing team is a team of law enforcers, doesn't sit well with Zack either, considering his run in with the law and the fact his old man is in jail.

Prog 3 - Flesh

We left last issue with young ranger Joe fighting for his life against a Pteranodon. A couple of rangers in an air buggy see Joe is in trouble and shoot the winged dinosaur down. As the creature falls, it lets go of Joe, who hits the ground with just his ego bruised.
But the air buggy crew aren't paying attention, for behind them a massive dinosaur has them in her sights.
The huge tryannosaur she-devil makes easy work of the rangers and their vehicle.
After she snacks down on the fallen rangers, she turns her attention to Joe. Joe can't believe it! After his lucky escape in the air...he is now going to be Tyrannosaur food!

The tyrannosaur has the rookie's legs in her mouth when the calvary arrives in the form of Earl Reagan on horseback. Earls only chance to free Joe from the creatures jaws is to strike a goad into the head of the dinosaur...he succeeds and takes her eye out in the process!
And so...one of the great villains in 2000ad history is born...Old One Eye!

The rookie thanks Reagan thinking that they've killed the brute. Reagan tells him to forget it and that they'd better get moving.

Reagan decides to take a detour to Carver City because Joe's legs are bleeding badly and he needs a doctor. His crew start moving the herd of Alamosaurs towards their new destination.
(What the hell is a 'kronj' town? Looks like someone misspelt 'crazy'!)

Reagan has made a bad error of judgement...he thought he killed the Tyrannosaur pack leader...he was wrong...so wrong...and Old One Eye would be AVENGED!!!
Pretty fun installment with lots of action and the introduction of 2000ad royalty...Old One Eye. Her son and grandson, Satanus and Golgotha, would later give Judge Dredd and the ABC Warriors a few headaches. It's really fantastic that Pat Mills will eventually create a 2000ad 'universe' by tying in Old One Eye and her brood into other strips.

Also interesting is the notion of a city of time travellers set up in the prehistoric period. You just know that that's just asking for trouble down the road.

Prog 3 - Invasion Bonus!

Here's an added bonus! The page with all the info on the Free wallet with this Prog!

Prog 3 - Invasion

What a fantastic 'splash' page! You can tell the artist used photo reference but he uses it so good compared to a lot of artists working in the industry today. He didn't just trace the reference...he enhanced it. There's a huge difference. To see some examples of enhancing photo-reference, check out Eisner nominated artist Steve Bryant's blog.
http://atomictiki.blogspot.com/
Steve is great at showing how to properly use reference without using it as a crutch.

Back to our story. The Volgans are continuing their brutality on the general populace. Savage is in hiding in a room above a cafe watching tv. The face on tv is Simon Creepton, Creepton is the mouthpiece of Volgan propaganda.
As Bill is watching the 'news' a group of men approach the cafe. The leader of this gang is the shadowy figure that was following Savage from last episode. The cafe owner tells the men that Savage is in the room overlooking the cafe.

As they approach the room, Bill notices their shadows under the door. They crash into the room, pull back the bed sheets...Bill isn't there! Only pillows!

Savage has got the drop on them.
The ringleader explains that he is Lieutenant Silk, he's been watching him and he's come to recruit Savage for the resistance. Savage declines.

Unknown to Savage and co, at that same time a Volgan patrol arrives. The cafe owner has turned them in. Bill takes care of them with a little help from Silk and gang.
After the Volgs are wiped out, one of Silks crew tries to grab Savage's gun but Bill jams the idiots hand in the gun barrel. Bill realises how desperate they are to get him to join and he changes his mind...but if he's going to sign up, he wants things done his way!
Not a bad episode. We're reminded again why Bill is so single minded in wiping out Volgans and now that he's part of the resistance, he can take his 'revenge' to even greater extremes.

With Savage now part of the resistance...it's time for some organised bloodshed and mayhem!

Prog 3 - Cover

Nothing much to say about this cover. It's very average...then again, there is a tyrannosaurus eating a cowboy on the cover!

This issue came with another, and the last, free gift. It's a decoder wallet. It was commonplace for british comics to do this. I remember DC Thomson doing the same thing with 'Bullet' and 'Warlord'. Fun gift. At the schoolyard you were either a 'Bullet' or 'Warlord' wallet carrier. Strange rivalry when I look back on it because both publications were published by DC Thomson.

2000ad at the time didn't have a 'rival'. It was the only sci-fi comic I can remember until 'Starlord' came along.