Harlem Heroes, Part 11

NAME
Harlem Heroes, Part 11
(according to Wikipedia, this is the third and final part of a strip also known as The Montezuma Mashers (sic))

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 11

DATELINE
07 May 77

PAGE COUNT
4

REPRINTS
Sam Slade Robo-Hunter (Volume 2, Issue 15), 2000AD Extreme Edition 13 and The Complete Harlem Heroes.

SYNOPSIS
Artie Gruber returns and injures Sammy, which inspires the Harlem Heroes to play harder than before.

FIRSTS & LASTS
Last appearance of Sammy.

INFORMATION
Certain shoulder checks are permitted in aeroball.

After Sammy's injury, the Harlem Heroes played on with six players and in the process injured several opposition players. At one point there were only four Montezuma's Mashers in the air. Final score: Harlem Heroes 12, Montezuma's Mashers 0

GIANT
Gruber's voice is familiar to him. Giant scores at least one air-strike. He makes a speech for the Tri-Vision cameras just after the time-up buzzer ends the game.

CONRAD KING
He scores at least one air-strike.

ZACK HARPER
He throws the aeroball at Gruber's face.

OTHER CHARACTERS
ARTIE GRUBER
He steals a jetpack from the Montezuma's Mashers pit and escapes through the roof of the aerodrome.

SAMMY
Gruber punches him in the face and although he receives medical attention it damaged his brain and ended his aeroball career.

DEATHS
None.

BEST LINES
Montezuma's Mashers Number 3: "N-now take it easy, you guys! We had nothing to do with what happened just now!"

WORST LINES
Zack: "How's this, lady?"

Show off.

CATCHPHRASES
None.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
There are no credits printed in the strip itself and so the following are taken from Barney.

Script: Tom Tully
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Letters: Dave Gibbons

REVIEW
This is great. It's a shame that Sammy hasn't been fleshed out as a character before he's written out of the strip. He never even uttered a word. It would surely have had more impact on the reader to lose a more established character. The impact on the Heroes is well realised and the conspiracy against them seems to be shaping up nicely.
As long as the mystery villain isn't Ulysses Cord...

Will The Mystery Villain Get His Way? Or Can The Heroes Rule O.K?