Invasion!: 'The Prince', Part 1

NAME
Invasion!: 'The Prince', Part 1

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 37

DATELINE
5 Nov 77

PAGE COUNT
4

REPRINTS
Extreme Edition 3 and Invasion!

SYNOPSIS
Savage finds himself babysitting a high profile son and heir.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First appearance of Prince John.

INFORMATION
British Naval submarines deliver arms to the Resistance.

Volgan Patrol Jets are equipped with black box voice recorders.

BILL SAVAGE
He and Silk supervise a delivery of arms from a Royal Navy Submarine. It transpires that Prince John is aboard. The Volgans attack and sink the submarine, but not before they are destroyed themselves. Savage and Silk swim to safety and rescue the prince.

OTHER CHARACTERS
PRINCE JOHN
Son of King Charles III and heir to the British throne. He smuggles himself aboard a submarine bound for Britain. When the submarine is attacked he swims to safety and is rescued by Savage and Silk. Savage nicknames him Sunbeam.

DEATHS
At least six. We see four British submarine crew, two Volgan pilots and three Resistance men perish in the fight over Prince John.

BEST LINES
Savage: "Name's Savage, your 'ighness, an' you may be a prince, but I'm a king!...King Bill the Volg killer! An' first chance I get I'm packing you safely off to Canada!"

WORST LINES
Volgan naval officer: "What?! None of those bodies is the prince - He must be ashore in hiding! Rush up Special Divisions at once - now is our chance to get our hands on the British heir!"

How are you certain he's still alive? Also "Rush up" sounds awkwardly British.

CATCHPHRASES
"Vlasta!" is back, but this time it's joined by "Strovnak".

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: Gerry Finley-Day
Artist: Carlos Pino
Letters: Tomas Frame

REVIEW
This is an interesting start. Prince John seems like a deeply annoying character in the making, but an interesting predicament to saddle Savage with nonetheless. The Volgan pilot who recognises the heir to the throne even in the heat of battle seems more than a little unlikely. As does the naval officer who is absolutely certain Prince John made it ashore. How do you hide a member of the British royal family on a submarine full of British sailors?

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