2000ADHD – A Prog a Day – Prog 1

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I posted on Twitter (not ‘X’) and, afterwards, realised my blog could be used as long-form is probably better for this and also, I’m paying for hosting and not using it so why not resurrect it?

It’s been a VERY long time since I last posted on here and I guess I’ll do my own little ‘Damage Report‘ before we get into it.

For anyone who has followed me for a while, I was battling with the symptoms of ADHD (undiagnosed but on the waiting list). Well, a few months have passed and the latest development on that is I may be skewed more towards autism as opposed to ADHD but nothing has been ruled out as I’m only two sessions in to the lengthy diagnostic journey and have many, many months to go. So, after trying to rebuild my comic collection and because reading novels doesn’t agree with my limited attention span, I decided to try and delve back into 2000AD – I’d read random issues throughout my childhood but not much has stuck with me so my knowledge is that of a “dum-dum”.

I recently watched Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD and that was the catalyst in firing me up. But, and this is why I figured I’d include a mention to ADHD/autism, I can’t start something part-way in. I know there are videos and posts out there advising on “jumping-on” points as well as specific progs to do just that. But I have to go back to the actual start.

So we kick this off with Prog 1. Published on 26 February 1977, Prog 1 features ‘Harlem Heroes‘, ‘Flesh‘, ‘Invasion!‘, ‘M.A.C.H.1‘ and ‘Dan Dare‘. I’m not a big sci-fi fan – mostly when it comes to space; I was never into things like Star Trek and so on (as a Kid I’d only ever scene bits and pieces of the original series and its movies and a bit of The Next Generation because I was too lazy to change the channel after The Simpsons finished…) Being born in the eighties, a lot of things go over my head or don’t resonate as much with me as they could. So Dan Dare and M.A.C.H.1 are not favourites of mine. At this juncture, anyway.

‘Invasion!‘ is a cheesy romp that takes me back to playing Killzone and Resistance: Fall of Man. It’s also a testament to how we, as a species, generally allow history to repeat itself albeit the players may be different.

‘Flesh‘ is probably the most memorable 2000AD title for me (aside from ‘Judge Dredd‘) – dinosaurs! And time travel.

But my favourite from Prog 1 is the ‘Harlem Heroes’. Clearly based on the Harlem Globetrotters but in the future where they don jetpacks and play this sort of hybrid sport of basketball/rugby/American football called ‘Aeroball‘. I have never seen all of Rollerball which is a clear inspiration for this but it also kinda reminds me of ‘Blitzball’ from Final Fantasy X – my most favourite mini-game from any game ever and I am mightily pissed that Square (now Square-Enix) never made it into a spin-off.

My aim is to not spoil any of the stories just in case anyone ever wants to embark on the same journey as me and experience these for the first time or if you’ve forgotten and want to take a trip down memory lane so I’ll keep it brief: the Harlem Heroes seem to be a well established and well performing team, but tragedy befalls them in this Prog to set the tone for what’s to ensue in future progs.

And thus, ‘Harlem Heroes‘ is my highlight from Prog 1.

In terms of the Prog as a whole, there’s a lot going on. Each page is incredibly busy and, at times, tends to overwhelm me at first glance so I have to spend a bit of time on each page to let it all sink in and register. I think this is very much because the only other recent black and white comic series I’ve read is The Walking Dead and the pages are not as heavily loaded with content but then again, is that more of a product of it’s time back then? I ask this rhetorically but I have actively avoided looking at any of the newer Progs so I have jo idea how they are laid out and paced compared to “the olden days”.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and come back for the next one! I’m fully aware that due to the nature of the ADHD symptoms I experience (quite heavily and excessively of late) that I may struggle with the schedule of a post a day but seeing as I’m trying to read a prog a day, half the battle may already have been won. It’s then setting time aside to put this together.

Florix Grabundae!