#prog 12

2000AD Prog 12: 14-May-1977

Invasion! #12

This week Bill liberates a train of civilians headed to a death camp and turns the train into a bomb.

Flesh #12

The battle begins in earnest as the dinosaurs make it through the defenses and the spiders make their way up through the floor. The dinosaurs are held off with a perimeter of fire. It all happens a bit too fast, and the sheer number of beasties are causing some very, very crowded panels. 

Meanwhile, Reagan and the Controller--who resembles the Leader from Hulk comics crossed with Grand Moff Tarkin--argue over whether feeding the enemy rancid meat was the right thing to do, since Reagan is convinced it’ll increase their hunger rather than placate them. The Controller is only interested in keeping production up even with dozens of T-rexes trying to get in. Damn bureaucrats. 

Harlem Heroes #12

Looks like the roster shake-up didn’t last. Sorry, Dredd.

The team to beat this week is the Flying Scotsmen, continuing the troubling tendency for the teams to be national stereotypes. Because a game can’t start at the beginning of an issue, we get some padding as the Heroes enter an educational simulation detailing how aeroball came to Scotland. Also one of the Heroes picks a fight with one of the Scotsmen, that’ll be important later, probably.

Nerve Centre

Looks like I’m not the only one who wants the folks in the letters column to fight  each other. I gotta say, though, that I can’t help but quibble with Buchanan about the Dare artwork--it’s by far the most enjoyable part of any given installment. Had he picked at the writing, I’d be on his side for sure. 

I wonder if folks were actually sending Tharg plastic cups.

Dan Dare #12

Mostly place-setting this issue as Dare arrives in Britain--which is now a giant flying park--and meets Rok, a dog-alien from the planet Wolf-4 (naturally.) Rok is interesting because he’s the first completely alien being we’ve seen thus far that isn’t evil. Of course, this is because he’s based on a friggin’ dog, not something completely unknown like the Biogs are. Remember, folks: things that are unfamiliar are evil. 

Meanwhile, Mekon amasses his army, which mostly consists of boarding a ship, shooting a dude, and loudly declaring that he’s in charge now. Verath, the guy in charge, has two heads--one dumb and one smart. It’s the smart one that has no issue with losing command, while meanwhile the dumb one is outraged. Somehow I feel like the writers have that backwards.

M.A.C.H.1 #12

This week, the Americans try to prove that they’ve outdone MACH1 with a laser-tank. The laser-tank, naturally, get hijacked and it’s up to MACH1 to prove good-ol’ British ingenuity can top anything.

Except...y’know...MACH1 gets sent on infiltration and retrieval missions. He’s a spy. That’s his whole thing. Yeah, laser-tank makes him look ineffectual in terms of sheer firepower, but that’s not hard, MACH1′s got no built-in weapons. So what’s being proved here? On what metric are MACH1 and this thing even remotely comparable? Are they gonna send a giant tank that shoots lasers into enemy territory as a spy?

Judge Dredd #11

Is it possible to do a robot-rebellion story without it coming off as pro-slavery? If it is, Judge Dredd’s not working especially hard in that department. One group of robots declares “Call-Me-Kenneth says it’s right for slaves to kill their masters,” and I can’t really argue with that.