Wednesday 17 September 2014

Disaster 1990!, Part 7

NAME
Disaster 1990!, Part 7

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 AD & Starlord Prog 125

DATELINE
11 Aug 79

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
Judge Dredd Megazine 331

SYNOPSIS
Savage saves the Harrods crowd and the convicts all die.

FIRSTS & LASTS
None.

INFORMATION
Radio Oxford is still broadcasting.

BILL SAVAGE
Fleeing from convicts, Bill Savage orders his passengers to throw their supplies overboard to escape. It works. He instructs two of the Harrods crowd to still down to an underwater garage and open up the petrol pumps. When the convicts return, he shoots the petrol with his shotgun. The convicts are trapped and killed in the ensuing inferno. Razor survives and Savage convinces the others to be magnanimous and allow him aboard the DUKW, but Razor attacks. Savage knocks him out and leaves him to drown.

OTHER CHARACTERS
BAMBER
He discovers a car radio and tunes it into Radio Oxford.

RAZOR
He survives the petrol fire.

DEATHS
At least eleven. Ten or so convicts are killed in the inferno.

BEST LINES
Savage: "You'll do nothin' mate - except burn in hell!"

WORST LINES
None.

CATCHPHRASES
A burning convict screams an "Aieeeeee!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
Another appearance by Finlay-Day.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
One of the boxes thrown overboard is labelled Champagne Vintage '79. The underwater garage has a sign reading: '£3 per gallon special offer', which would have seemed extortionate to a 1979 audience used to paying on average 98p per gallon. In 1990, the average price of petrol per gallon was 213.5p.

CREDITS
Script: G. Finlay-Day
Artist: Pino
Letters: Steve Potter

REVIEW
It's a shame that the Harrods crowd, which splits neatly into toffs and cockneys, aren't better represented. The fact that they need to work together is well illustrated, but we are given next to no reason to care about them. The petrol trap is great, Razor's death scene is a nice exit, the waterproof radio is convenient, but welcome as a means of moving away from Harrods.

Next Prog: Frying Tonight!

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