Ro-Busters: Ro-Jaws' Memoirs, Part Four - Upstairs And Down Sewers

NAME
Ro-Busters: Ro-Jaws Memoirs, Part Four - Upstairs And Down Sewers

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 AD & Starlord Prog 96

DATELINE
20 Jan 79

PAGE COUNT
6

REPRINTS
The Best Of 2000AD 83 and The Complete Ro-Busters.

SYNOPSIS
Ro-Jaws is rejected by the robot resistance, but welcomed into the arms of Annabel.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First real indication of when the initial Harlem Heroes story is set.

INFORMATION
(This strip begins in 2065 AD and features a sequence two years later in 2067.

Robots have been replacing humans since the nineteen seventies.

In 2067, Match Of The Day is a TV show that broadcasts Aeroball games.

RO-JAWS
In 2065, he leads George Washington and the other members of the robot resistance to freedom and decides to join them. They reject him. Two years later, he meets Annabel, who convinces her step-father to buy him and welcomes him into her home. They become great friends.

OTHER CHARACTERS
GEORGE WASHINGTON
He was first activated in 2030. In 2065, he is shot with a high explosive shell and later dies.

ANNABEL B
Young girl. Her father died and her mother remarried. In 2067, she meets Ro-Jaws and convinces her step-father to buy him. They become great friends.

MR π
Robot butler. He doesn't approve of Ro-Jaws.

DEATHS
One. George Washington dies of wounds caused by a high explosive shell fired by the secret police.

BEST LINES
George: "Leave me...save yourselves!"
Ro-Jaws: "Daft nerk! No need for John Wayne stuff! Into the really deep sewers! No-one will follow us there!"

WORST LINES
Resistance member: "...May he rust in peace!"

CATCHPHRASES
Ro-Jaws calls George a "nerk" and Annabel apparently picks up habit and uses the word herself.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
In 2067, Ro-Jaws and Annabel watch a Harlem Heroes Aeroball match featuring Giant, Slim and Artie Gruber, but it's not clear whether this is the game in which Gruber was injured or one of the altercations depicted in Harlem Heroes.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
The subtitle obviously references the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971-2012). Ro-Jaws mentions John Wayne (1907-1979), American actor and star of The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and True Grit (1969). The other members of the Robot Resistance borrow their names from Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955), Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1653 until his death and Napoleon (1769-1821), Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1814. Match Of The Day is a BBC TV show which has been broadcasting highlights of the day's football matches since 1964.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: Pat Mills
Artist: Mike Dorey
Letters: Steve Potter

REVIEW
Ro-Jaws' Memoirs gets better and better. The rejection of Ro-Jaws by the Robot Resistance is an excellent moment. Annabel is easily enamoured with Ro-Jaws, but after Old Scratchey, Mad Jock, Ginger and George Washington presents him with his best Hammer-Stein replacement yet.

Next Prog: The Final Part Of Ro-Jaws' Memoirs!