“Planet of the Dead, Part I”
First print date: July 1 1978
Prog appearance: Starlord Issue 8
Writer(s): John Wagner
Artist(s): Carlos Ezquerra
Total episodes: 3
Johnny and Wulf are due to meet someone called McIntyre in one of the empty, dead cities on the desolate planet Circes, on which all life was destroyed thirty years ago in a great war known as The Neutron War. However there is a snag, as the contact turns out not to be a person, but a computer. Johnny is dubious, Wulf dismissive, but the machine tells them it is the sole ruler of City 4, and, well, with all humanoid life-forms having been destroyed, it may very well be right. Ruler it may be, but McIntyre seems to have the temperament of a crusty old man, seemingly straining to hear what is said, and snapping at the answers. It seems the computer is used to being obeyed without question, and these interlopers irritate it.
At any rate, through its adjutant, Crynge, a small robot who calls it “master”, the bounty hunters learn that they have been tasked with hunting down the last twenty humanoid inhabitants of the planet, known as the Jox. These renegades refuse to swear allegiance to McIntyre, and Johnny and Wulf are to capture them and return them to City 4, in order that they might pledge their fealty to the machine. Neither Crynge nor his master know where to find these fugitives, but in order to aid in their location they are given a robot spider called Croll, which has been programmed with all available information on the Jox. In return for carrying out this bounty, Alpha and Wulf may choose one single item from City 4.
The two friends set off, and perhaps surprisingly, it's not long before they encounter the Jox, but as they give chase, and corner two of them who are trying to open a door, and these two turn around, offering surrender, the trap is sprung! More appear on the balconies above and Johnny and Wulf are caught!
Quotes
Crynge: “As legal ruler of City 4, my master is entitled to choose any name he likes. This year it is McIntyre. Last year it was Zxplok the Terrible. Next year it will be something else.”
McIntyre: “What did they say, Crynge? More rudeness, eh? Eh?”
Wulf: “Ach! I hope this spider is not hafing der bite!”
Wulf: “I am not liking this job, Johnny. Vy should ve be helping a computer against people?”
Johnny: “We're sworn to uphold the law, Wulf. And if I remember my history correctly, the city states handed over power to their computers a hundred years ago. Still, I don't like it any more than you do. We'll make our minds up once we've met these Jox and heard their side.”
Tools of the Trade
Infra-Red Torch: On the face of it, a simple idea. Bodyheat leaves a trail behind, if you have the equipment to detect it, and I suppose in a kind of adjustment to the blacklight idea (not sure if that was in use back in the late seventies) the torch picks out the heat traces and shows the footprints to the bounty hunter.
Letter of the Law
Although Johnny, and certainly Wulf, balk at the idea of taking orders from a hunk of metal (especially one that seems to have something of a personality problem) they must, as Johnny points out, uphold the law, and as the city states of Circes handed power to the computers over a century ago (and moreover, since there are virtually no other humanoids left alive now) the two are both duty bound and legally obliged to carry out the instructions of the computer McIntyre.
It's interesting though that Alpha retains a secret caveat on the bounty: he intends to see what the idea is behind the apprehending of the Jox, and if he's not happy that they've actually broken the law, he may change his allegiance. This would of course mean losing his commission (to say nothing of breaking the planetary law, and possibly incurring a reprimand from his own control, though there's no confirmation that this bounty is carried out under the aegis of the S/D Agency. It could be a “foreigner”, off the books, a personal thing done without the knowledge of their employers) but as we've seen, it's not always about money with this bounty hunter.
Return of the Nitpicker!
Yes, I could go on every episode about the times when Wulf uses a “w” sound when it should be a “v” to tie in with his Nordic heritage, like when he says “Someone” when it should really be “somevun”, but that would be tiring, for you as well as for me. So for now just be aware that Wagner (or maybe the letterer) tended to make a few slips in the big Viking's pronounciation. I'm more intrigued with how this huge computer heard of, and got in touch with, Alpha and Wulf? I won't call it a “problem” yet, as it may be explained later, but for now it's a loose end, and you know I hate loose ends...
Welcome to the world of tomorrow!
Which could easily have been the world of today! Neutron bombs were all the rage back in the seventies and eighties: weapons that would kill people but leave buildings standing. Surely the ultimate weapon for any army, particularly one that wished to take a town, city or country without destroying its infrastructure? Thankfully though, they never saw service and we stuck to good old Cruise missiles and the like! On the planet Circes though, it seems they did not learn that lesson, and now the computers, unaffected by the bombs, are the ones in charge of the dead cities on the dead planet.
Laughing in the face of death
It's pretty clever and quite hilarious that the servile robot that issues the proclamations of McIntyre is called Crynge. Also, the link between a trusted chancellor and an old, doddery king is well drawn here. As is ever the case, the real power lies with the servant. McIntyre, though ruler of the city, cannot even hear properly, and needs Crynge to tell him what's going on. Without the little robot, it's doubtful he would be able to do anything.
It's amusing too to hear Wulf referred to as “the fat one” by Crynge. Wulf is a big Viking, but I doubt anyone has dared comment on his weight! Well, not and lived to tell the tale, anyway!
Houston, we have a problem!
Perhaps not a problem,
per se, but Wulf's despairing shout “Ve're dead, Johnny! Dead!” just because they've been outsmarted seems a little defeatist. Surely they've been in worse spots than this? I get that it's there to add drama and suspense to the final panel of the first part of the story, but still, what's he going to do next? Cry for his mother? It's a little out of character, I feel.
Also, how on Earth (or Circes, to be precise) did Alpha and Wulf find the Jox so easily, when they're supposed to be in hiding? There's no long search, no clues followed; it's like they walk out of the palace doors and right into the fugitive aliens!
