Walter The Wobot: Eisner Block

NAME
Walter The Wobot: Eisner Block

FIRST PUBLISHED
Judge Dredd Annual 1981

DATELINE
1 Sept 80

PAGE COUNT
8

REPRINTS
2000AD Prog 611

SYNOPSIS

FIRSTS & LASTS

INFORMATION
(This strip takes place on a late Friday afternoon)

The Eisner Building is the oldest office building in the Old New York area of Mega-City One. Among the companies using it are Acme Imports and Finglebaum Diamonds.

Plastolene is not a strong substance.

WALTER THE WOBOT
He has bought Dredd a present from Acme Imports in Eisner Block. He climbs into a full lift, which exceeds its weight limit and falls. The emergency stop is engaged and the lift suggests that Walter has a similar circuit to that which needs replacing. He resists, agrees at gunpoint and struggles with Harry for the gun. The lift suggests Walter climb onto the roof and plug himself into the control mechanism. With a little help from the others, Walter climbs out but falls back in again knocking the book out of x's hand. It is revealed to be a bomb, which he throws out of the top of the lift and down the side. The explosion pushes the lift back up the shaft to a pair of doors. Walter makes a citizen's arrest of his fellow passengers using his present for Judge Dredd; a set of manacles. Walter's detainees realise that they are made of plastolene and as one they pull, break them and escape.

OTHER CHARACTERS
MR FINGLEBAUM
Diamond merchant. He gets stuck in the lift. Harry discovers he has been dealing in fake diamonds after a bagful that he stole get crushed in an altercation with Walter. The robot arrests him, but he escapes.

HARRY
He works for Mr Finglebaum. He steals a bag of diamonds and gets stuck in the lift. The diamonds get crushed in a struggle with Walter and Harry realises they are fake, just as Mr Finglebaum discovers he has been stealing from the company. The robot arrests him, but he escapes.

GEORGE
He was in a relationship with Wanda. When Wanda shoots his lover he shoots back, but misses hitting the lift control circuits for Eisner Block.

WANDA
She was in a relationship with George. She catches him with another woman and kills them both. The robot arrests him, but he escapes.

THE BOMBMAKER
He builds a bomb and hides it inside a book, a copy of The Elevator by W. Eisner.

DEATHS
Two. Wanda shoots George and his floozy dead.

BEST LINES
Terrorist (thinks): "What if someone wants to read my 'book' to pass the time?...They'll discover the bomb!"

WORST LINES
Wanda: "...Ancient manacles in his sack!"

CATCHPHRASES
Walter says (and/or thinks) appweciates, awwest, bwave, cwedits, cwikey, cwiminals, cwipes, cwooks, cwush, Dwedd, gwab, lawbweakers, murdewers, opewation, pwesent, pwoper, surpwised, tewowists, tewwific, twapped, tweat, ware, wat, wefuse, wequire, wight nd wotten.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
William Erwin "Will" Eisner (1917–2005) was a comics writer and artist, known for his series The Spirit (1940–1952).

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: G.P. Rice
Artist: B. McCarthy
Letters: P. Knight

REVIEW
This is easily the most impressive, most stylish and most anti-climactic of all the Walter The Wobot strips. The artwork is wonderful from the opening Eisner style title page to the cross-section of the building to reveal inside the lift, the pages are dripping with fifties noir. The ending however leaves a lot to be desired.

The End