Inferno, Part 28

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NAME
Inferno, Part 28

FIRST PUBLISHED
2000 A.D. Prog 63

DATELINE
6 May 78

This prog also featured Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Death Planet and M.A.C.H.1 strips and a Judge Dredd cover by Mike McMahon.

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
The Complete Harlem Heroes.

SYNOPSIS
Artie Gruber takes the late Dimples Devine's place on the Philadelphia Freaks team ready for their game against the Harlem Hellcats.

FIRSTS & LASTS
Last appearance of Dimples Devine.

INFORMATION
The Harlem Hellcats are about to play the Philadelphia Freaks at home.

GIANT
Giant shares a flat with Zack. They own a coffee-making robot. He has a nightmare about Artie Gruber.

ZACK
He shares a flat with Giant. They own a coffee-making robot. He regards Dimples Devine as the Philadelphia Freak as "the guy to watch".

OTHER CHARACTERS
TORSO
He swapped the ultra-violet ray with a laser blast beam on Dimples Devine's solar-bath bed. He seems to have dropped the Mister.

MR. CHUBB
He likes lollipops. He plans to blow Artie Gruber to pieces while he is surrounded by Harlem Hellcats if he doesn't kill Giant.

DIMPLES DEVINE
Right-flank flier for the Philadelphia Freaks. Giant thinks he has a resemblance to Artie Gruber. He takes a lot of solar-baths, but is killed when Torso replaces his ultra-violet ray with a laser blast beam.

ARTIE GRUBER
He has had cosmetic surgery to appear more like Dimples Devine and assumes his identity once Devine is dead. His brain is still unstable. He seems to have been fitted with an explosive device should he fail in his mission.

DEATHS
One. Dimples Devine lasered during his solar-bath.

BEST LINES
Mr. Chubb (As Mr. Devine burns to death): "Torso, Mr. Devine does not look very well. You did a good job..."

WORST LINES
Zack: "Say, that's the wildest Inferno I ever heard- but it gets results..."

CATCHPHRASES
Dimples Devine lets out an "Aaaaaaaaahieeeeeee!" as he burns to death on the roof.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
Artie Gruber takes Dimples Devine's place in exactly the same way that he took Joe Mugglie's in Harlem Heroes.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Mr. Chubb has lollipops lined up in the last panel in a manner that reminds me of Kojak (1973).

MISTAKES
Zack is decribed as "the 'babe' of the Harlem Hellcats", despite being at least a year older than Teejay, probably more.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
From this part onwards, Inferno has outlasted Harlem Heroes.

CREDITS
Script: Tom Tully
Artist: Belardinelli
Letters: Peter Knight

REVIEW
The artwork on the first page is fantastic and it's nice to get an insight into Giant and Zack's domestic life, but it's a criminal shame that Artie Gruber taking Dimples Devine's place is played exactly as it was with Joe Mugglie when there is absolutely no need. Giant has already noticed Dimples' somewhat unlikely resemblance to Gruber and so the reader could be forgiven for thinking that Artie was already in place, but instead he has surgery to look more like a man he already looks like. It stretches credulity unnecessarily, but still manages to be enjoyable.

Next Prog: Hellcats Vs Freaks