Helltrekkers

[Dash Decent]

Helltrekkers or Hell Trekkers?  The 'T' is capitalised like the 'H', so I suppose it's two words, though printed with nary a crack of light between them.

An enjoyable wagon train adventure, with death and disaster lying around every turn.  The trek travels through a variety of interesting and deadly locations, including Sauron Valley, which seems to be practically on MC1's doorstep.  (I was pleased to see woolly mammoths are alive in the future.)  I'd love to see how all the different locations fit together on Funt's detailed map.

Wagner & Grant give us fantastically fun character names as they always do - Sprightly Golightly, Uncle Spug Bugner, Ike & Mike Van Dyke, Hannibal Hubble, Bub Hemmingway, and Chick & Shick Mountbatten, to name just a few.  As usual too there are the bad eggs inside the group, here the Nebb family, with two of their sons looking rather Clockwork Orange/Angel gang-ish in bowler hat and captain's hat.  That's what you get for naming your child Judas, I suppose.  When another character refers to them as 'blockbillies' one wonders if they grew up in some remote scruffy corner of a block, rather than simply in the flat next door.

The Haynes style manual cover is beautiful to behold, and I love that the radwagon model numbers on the back is a handy list of the wagon train families.  There's another list inside but this one is super convenient to check mid-story.

Inside, the reproduction is mostly sharp, but there are a few places, particularly dark, crowded action scenes, which have blotchy blacks murkifying the surrounding detail.  I'd love to mention some examples but there are no page numbers, which loses Rebellion a star.  Most pages are in black and white, but there are some colour pages, including the opening spread, following how it was originally published.

There are a few inconsistencies.  At one point a character helps shoots at dinosaurs through an open window.  Everyone outside is togged up in anti-contamination suits, due to the high levels of radiation, but nothing happens to the open-window lady.  Meanwhile there's another guy trying to do the trip in an unmodified mo-pad and suffering the consequences.  No one ever offers him a spare radwagon, even though they have to torch every one they have to leave behind.

There are a few ongoing gags: a Chinese family who don't want to be bothered, ever; a man who gets engaged at the drop of a hat, and a mutant crab child who likes clamping her dad's nose.

Every instalment starts with a little blurb like "Ten days into Hell, and there was no turning back!"  Having grown up on the IPC/Fleetway funny comics, I kept expecting them to rhyme, a la Buster etc - "Ten days into Hell, and things still aren't going well!" - but they never did.

A great example of the different types of story that can be told in the world of Judge Dredd, and who doesn't like these excursions into the Cursed Earth?  You just know things are going to go bad anytime we head out there.

[Colin YNWA]

Cool write up.

Covered in the lastest Mega City Book Club too which is a great listen as ever.

[GoGilesGo]

Great points Dash, and great timing. I think you posted this a few minutes before the Mega City Book Club episode dropped, with Eamonn and Peter chatting about the same collected edition.

Totally agree that this is the most fun Alan and John likely had with character names. They are endless and even more fun than the amusing number / name pairings in Harry on the High Rock.

There are a few ongoing gags: a Chinese family who don't want to be bothered, ever.

One of my abiding memories from first reading this aged 13 was of the Koosh Family. That's the way to do it I thought to myself every week; never, ever open the door until you get to where you are going. Such a pity they had to be spoiled by the ridiculous chinglish "Okay, go way. Not bother again until we leach New Tellitolly." Jeez.

Every installment starts with a little blurb like "Ten days into Hell, and there was no turning back!"  Having grown up on the IPC/Fleetway funny comics, I kept expecting them to rhyme, a la Buster etc - "Ten days into Hell, and things still aren't going well!" - but they never did.

Ah come on, there are some corkers in the NEXT PROG strap lines in the final panels:

A Taste of Wayne
A Farewell to Hemingways
That's your lot, Spot
Tyrannosaurus Wrecks

[nxylas]

One of my abiding memories from first reading this aged 13 was of the Koosh Family. That's the way to do it I thought to myself every week; never, ever open the door until you get to where you are going. Such a pity they had to be spoiled by the ridiculous chinglish "Okay, go way. Not bother again until we leach New Tellitolly." Jeez.

Thank goodness Wagner and Grant never went with the original idea of making Ace Garp Asian (and human). Imagine a lead character who talked like that.