Harlem Heroes, Part 14

NAME
Harlem Heroes, Part 14
(according to Wikipedia, this is the third part of a strip also known as 'The Flying Scotsmen')

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 14

DATELINE
28 May 77

PAGE COUNT
4

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

SYNOPSIS
Louis inspires the Harlem Heroes to come back from a six nil defeat and play to their strengths.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First appearance of Buck and the last strip before the Harlem Heroes appearance in the 2000 AD Summer Special 1977.

INFORMATION
In aeroball, double air-smashes are not permitted. Players may hit one another, but not hold on.

The half-time score is six air-strikes to the Flying Scotsmen to the Harlem Heroes nil. The final score is six all. No aeroball team has recovered from such a score deficit before.

The World Aeroball Championship is a knock-out competition which does not permit a draw. Games ending in a draw will be decided by a sudden-death fly off contested by one player from each team, first to score wins.

GIANT
He accuses Slim of turning the first half into a brawl.

SLIM
He scores at least one air-strike.

CONRAD KING
He scores at least one air-strike.

ZACK HARPER
He scores at least one air-strike.

OTHER CHARACTERS
LOUIS MAYER
He has been watching the game and has a plan for victory. He tells the team to play with the skill and improvisation of the Harlem Globetrotters.

BUCK
He is Sammy's replacement, Buck scores at least one air-strike, the Harlem Heroes' sixth which is the equaliser and just before the time-out buzzer ends the game.

ANDY
He is the Flying Scotsmen Number 5.

DEATHS
None.

BEST LINES
Red: "Let's get on wi'it, Giant! Ye've been hittin' me so hard, mon, ah'll swear ye were born in the back-streets of Glasgow!"
Giant (avoiding contact): "Thanks, Red...but I would want you to get the wrong impression!"

WORST LINES
Slim: "Okay, okay! Cut the jive and spell it out!"

CATCHPHRASES
The Flying Scotsmen fans still love to shout "Scotlaaand!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Slim (and presumably Louis) mention the Harlem Globetrotters.

MISTAKES
Louis' plan is a bit thin: play differently to the way that currently isn't working.

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
The Harlem Heroes coming back from six-nil is impressive. I like that newcomer Buck gets to score the equaliser and it's nice to see Slim getting a bit more to do, but still the strip now feels as though it is missing something when it concentrates on aeroball and the conspiracy subplot recedes.

Don't Miss The Next Prog Of 2000 A.D.
There's Plenty More Aeroball Action To See!