2000ADHD – A Prog a Day – Prog 280

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Welcome to my personal Prog slog through 2000AD. Here, I post daily about my favourite story from each Prog. I started doing this as a means of focusing my attention on something. A hobby, if you will. Something that will bring joy and fond memories for fans as well as draw attention to and hopefully bring in new readers to The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic. I have never read these Progs before. I recall reading some of Flesh at some point in my childhood, knew of Judge Dredd from a PlayStation One game and then the 1995 Movie, Rogue Trooper from the PlayStation 2 Game and had heard of other stories and seen other characters from seeing posts online. So I’m pretty much experiencing most of these stories as an intergalactic virgin. Or something. So if you are an established reader whose loyalty to Tharg has been unwavering, or if you’ve dropped off reading 2000AD, lie somewhere in between or if you are a newcomer to The Galaxy’s Greatest Comic then please let me know via the comments or hit me up on my socials!

Without further ado…

The countdown to Prog 300 begins!

Welcome to Prog 280 featuring ‘Ace Trucking‘, ‘The Mean Arena‘, ‘Rogue Trooper‘, ‘Robo-Hunter‘ and ‘Judge Dredd‘, published on 4 September 1982.

Cover Art Robot: Ron Smith

Alright, stop. Check out the cover and listen. Otto Sump  is back with his brand new invention… On this weeks cover.

My pick of the Prog is: Judge Dredd

Script Robot: TB Grover

Art Robot: Ron Smith

Lettering Robot: Tony Jacob

Otto Sump just can’t catch a break. After winning Sob Story back in Prog 132 he went on to create Ugly Clinics which became targets for terrorism and his business was shut down (Progs 186-188) he has moved on to the food industry. Food, as we know, is scarce given the population of Mega-City One (despite the massive cull as a result of The Apocalypse War) and so he had the idea of turning disgusting ingredients into nutrition allowing super affordable meals. And so Gunge is created. Needless to say, this is frowned upon by the Moral Health Committee who protest against Gunge to which they were advised to protest legally and end up being comically arrested for obstruction but the Iso-Cubes can’t cope with the number of arrests and another option needs to be explored. Public opinion, in a rare turn of events, is in support of the Justice Department’s actions but they need to find a way of balancing the books in terms of stopping Gunge and also stopping the disorder created by the protesters. And so, in true Justice Department fashion, Otto gets shut down once more but the Justice Department take control of Gunge, re-badge it and as it comes with a Justice Department Guarantee, no ingredients need to be on the label so nobody is any the wiser.

This hilarious twist is all the more brilliant when we see a protester comment on how delicious it is despite the fact its the same product she was trying to have banned in the first place! Absolutely brilliant!

Prog 280 repackaged and slips by unnoticed! Join me on the next one to see who/what grabs the pick of Prog 281.

Florix Grabundae!

Have you read this Prog? If so, what was your favourite strip? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!