"The Numbers Game" in issue #69? Yeah, I'm sure that's a coincidence.

So I found several more Twilight Zone's in a box, and I can't remember if I didn't blog them before because I didn't want to do a bunch at once, or if they were terrible. I have no recollection of this particular issue, so I guess we'll see now! From 1976, The Twilight Zone #69, cover and lead story by Jack Sparling.

Back in the day, before my time even, I think people were worried about Social Security numbers, being reduced from a person with hopes and dreams and needs to mere information. Some of those people are probably still around now, all their info is probably on the dark web or just Facebook; I wonder if they even remember their concerns? "The Numbers Game" is a future story, where an amnesiac in a totalitarian society is chased by state security and rebels, and doesn't know why, just that he doesn't have a "life number." Given the temp name "Alan Ladox" he's chased around the city by both sides, with only one clue in his head: the number 15285. It's not a life number, what is it? 

Despite the future society being run by computer, it's not completely awful, as the state police on two occasions don't open fire on children or unarmed civilians. That feels more fantastic than anything I've seen in these to date! But Alan puts together several pieces: the government had been trying to hide the number of people that were against it (most arrested rebels were classified as "shoplifters" and such) and he had destroyed "SUMBAR," the head computer...with a grenade, model number 15285. The revolution wasn't completely won yet, but was rolling along.

"A Trip to Limbo" features cruel scientist Evans taking in another delivery of experimental animals to kill, but he blows up most of his lab when he fails to uncork a chemical on a burner. He finds himself trapped, but is dug out in the far-future, by green-skinned men, who throw him in with other humans. They're a rather fatalistic lot, who explain they were mostly extinct, replaced by a "higher order" hundreds of years ago. Evans takes up the task of proving his smarts to the new men, imitating their voices with a crude kazoo. This impresses them so much, they dissect him to see how his brain worked. Like many classic Zone's, bad guys only get to learn lessons too late. (Art by Amador.)

Ed Smith is so average and bland, he's "The Man Who Didn't Exist," seemingly forgotten by everyone. He finally decides to put that to use, robbing banks, surmising he was unrecognizable. But, when he decides to rob his own bank, he pushes too far. Ed ends up taken away quietly, I think so we could hear how he got got; because I kind of figured he'd have to be dragged off screaming "WITNESS ME!" The moral might be that it's a real fine line between confidence and arrogance, and Ed plowed right past it. (Story by Paul S. Newman, art by Frank Bolle.)

Not bad, but not great. Also this issue though; a Hostess Twinkies ad, with the Road Runner...Road Runners? With lines? Wile E. Coyote catches them, but they're saved by...Daffy Duck and Twinkies? And the title of this one is "Helter Skelter"? Feels like six things off-model here.

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So their friendship was circling the drain for two years? That sounds Super-fun to read.

It's not that long in the scheme of things, but seems like a lot of issues. From 1983, World's Finest #295, "Daughters of the Moon" Plot by L.B. Kellog (probably Kellogg), script by David Anthony Kraft, pencils by Jerome Moore, inks by Frank McLaughlin.

We saw the last issue of the series, #323, some time back; but the World's Finest team was having trouble before then; starting the previous issue and with Batman telling the Justice League to blow in Batman and the Outsiders #1. Still, Superman is there for his friend, as he lies dying at Cape Canaveral. Earlier, Batman had been brought in to investigate the destruction of two military satellites; with lead scientist Professor Nakamura, General Armstrong, and astronomer "Karl Hagen," a barely-veiled version of Carl Sagan. Hagen is opposed to putting weapons in space, and seems the likely culprit; but that night as Batman examines the rocket, he is attacked by three costumed women: the Moondancers!

The ladies had a moon-shaped flyer, and a plethora of powers: Harvest Moon introduces herself while growing ten feet tall and tackling Bats; which in some stories I feel like he would somehow be prepared for, but not today. New Moon had a cold beam, but after the rocket is destroyed, Batman is laid low by a gas bomb tossed by Crescent Moon. Batman goes down hard, but as the Moondancers escape, they console themselves that their "advisor" wouldn't have given them lethal weapons. Or would he? Hagen explains to Superman, Batman had been hit with some kind of alien virus, and he could be dead before earth's scientists could figure it out. Remembering all his good times with his friend, Superman races to find a cure; while predictably, Gotham City goes completely off the rails without Batman there.

Superman discovers a new energy source in a comet, and races back to earth to use it in Batman's cure; while Armstrong is virtually drooling at the idea of getting it for military use. Batman is a little embarrassed to be saved by Superman, since things had been strained between them lately. Superman then heads to Gotham, to calm things down there; while the Moondancers are sent to steal the new energy source, under the notion of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide. The groggy Batman is no match for the Moondancers, but joins Superman to go after them, and their advisor: it's Scooby-Doo rules there. Still, the Moondancers had been working towards nuclear disarmament in good faith, and in somewhat of a change, this time it's Batman that lets them go! 

I don't think all of the next two years plus this series had left were all about how Superman and Batman weren't that close anymore...man, I hope not.

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"Exposing."

I don't know if Kaine has run into Shriek before--and I'm almost positive Ben Reilly has run into D'spayre, but not him. Then again, I've probably looked D'spayre up half a dozen times since starting this plotline, and he really doesn't have a ton of appearances? And I weirdly have more than I would've thought: Kurt might have seen him a second time before, in Magik #3 of all places. (Also, Claremont and Byrne created D'spayre: since Jennifer Kale was involved, I was sure it was going to be Steve Gerber.)

 The Brazier of Bom'Galiath is probably still in the Sanctum Sanctorum somewhere collecting dust: Dr. Strange used it to send Eric Masterson to Mephisto's hell in Thor #443, a comic I'm positive I haven't read. Does the Brazier do anything else? Seems like it should, but I don't know, I'm not a master of the mystic smarts or whatever...

And of course, "Die, you chalk-faced goons!" is from Treehouse of Horror VIII's "The HΩmega Man," where in an extended riff on The Omega Man, Homer runs down Johnny and Edgar Winter. It's an honest mistake! For personal reasons, The Omega Man is a favorite, even if it feels too close to home nowadays: he felt completely alone, everything he believed in had fallen by the wayside, and he was surrounded by religious science-hating weirdos who had voted to drink his blood. As true today, as when it was written.

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I have to wonder how many Punisher fans stuck around after this issue, if any.

It's a little weird for that lot, I think. From 1993, Quasar #42, "The White Room" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Andy Smith, inks by Ralph Cabrera.

Quasar was still dead, after Infinity War, and Thanos had released a copy of Marvel Boy--now calling himself Blue Marvel to serve as a pawn. (I don't know that Gruenwald had a great handle on Thanos; and I'm not 100% sure what Thanos allegedly even wanted Blue Marvel to do. In fact, that maybe was the Magus's duplicate Thanos.) Blue Marvel had quantum bands like Quasar, but was childish, petulant, and just an all-around jerk. I'm not sure I've ever read old Marvel Boy comics--there weren't a lot of them--but I wonder, was he a jerk in those? I know he'd eventually be updated into "the Uranian," and be more alien and weird than just a brat. Anyway, Blue Marvel had fought Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) and here fights Hercules, Black Knight, and the Eric Masterson Thor. He does manage to get a shot in on Thor, knocking his helmet crooked so he couldn't see out of it, predating the classic Black Canary twists the Flash's mask from JLA: Year One. He then nearly gets choked out by Captain Marvel, and has to quantum-jump away.

Meanwhile, Quasar himself was in the White Room, seated at a long table, with various other Protectors of the Universe from the past. The other Protectors did not seem to have a concensus on what exactly the White Room was: heaven? A trophy room? Purgatory? Storage? Not particularly spirtually inclined, Quasar believes this to be "a crazy hallucination in the dimension of manifestations," which he had visited in an earlier issue, and was where abstract beings took shapes to appear in this universe. The other Protectors think, there might have been somebody else in that seat before him...

Then, we get to our big guest-star, the Punisher, gunning down some nobodies. He is approached by Blue Marvel, who's impressed that he kills people, without powers, and wants to learn from him. Frank isn't interested, so Blue Marvel tries a more battle-ready 90's look, with a helmet and guns. And in another subplot, on the planet Scadam--from the computer game tie-in Questprobe--Kayla Ballantine, Quasar's girlfriend, destroys the malevolent Black Fleet with the Star Brand. 

Back in the White Room, Quasar is arguing against reincarnation, claiming it didn't make sense from an administrative viewpoint: it would take too much energy to figure out what souls should be brought back as what. He's then approached by the spirit of his original mentor, Eon; who wants Quasar to kill him, saying that would free him...and lessen his own guilt. Quasar doesn't seem to be buying it, and wants to free himself without killing. Next, he's visited by the "Angel of Vengeance," who appears as a more-chiseled version of himself; Quasar's pretty sure that's still Eon, and isn't into vengeance anyway.

On earth, the Punisher finds himself surrounded by a SWAT team--either they had staked out the nobodies he killed, or Blue Marvel delayed him too long, but Frank was kicking himself. Blue Marvel opts to prove himself to the Punisher, by using his bands to just wreck the cops, in about three panels. Frank isn't impressed, and tells him if any cops were killed, he'd be coming for him next. He turns his back on him, and Blue Marvel considers killing him, but is interrupted by Thanos, who tells him someone was trying to free Quasar: stop that. Teleported to the White Room, Blue Marvel blasts the "Angel of Vengeance" apart, then turns his gun on Quasar...to be continued?

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I know I wanted so bad to see a flying saucer when I was little, so I'm glad I didn't get this comic until recently: it would've warped my impressionable little mind. From 1974, UFO Flying Saucers #4, cover by George Wilson.

This was a lot like the issues of DC's Ghosts comic that we've seen here, featuring allegedly maybe true stories, as well as some allegedly true hoaxes. For example, in "The Mississippi Mystery" two fishermen are abducted, examined, and then thrown back like fish that were too small. The men weren't drinkers, and seem to legitimately believe that's what happened, but were they tricked somehow? Or their imaginations ran away with them?

I kind of liked "Aliens Go Home!" from the UFO Casebook, where some strange visitors are driven off by villagers throwing fruit. Another story, "The Kinross Kidnapping," surprised me by really being based on real events, as an F-89 is deployed to investigate a UFO, but disappears over Lake Superior. To date, no trace of the jet or its pilots has been found...but Lake Superior is mighty deep.

Some say flying saucer/UFO stories started fading about the exact same time everybody got a camera on their phone; implying that all those stories were crap that would've been debunked by just one person there shooting video. Which is probably the case, as much as I would personally like to believe otherwise: I'd suggest, maybe we don't see flying saucers as much anymore, because they've pretty much seen enough of us. 

 No credits this issue, but the art is probably Frank Bolle throughout.

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I had to stop watching Night Gallery, to blog this one!

Huh, Night Gallery has never had a comic? Feel like it would be a few bucks cheaper to license, and you maybe have the gimmick of a fancy painting every story. Anyway, yet another Gold Key Twilight Zone today: from 1978, the Twilight Zone #88. Cover by Mike Roy.

"The Meek Shall Inherit..." is the inverse of a Charles Atlas ad, although it starts with the same scrawny kid/sand kicked in his face set-up. Marvin can't seem to accept that his girl Shirley could really love his skinny ass, but then gets slapped in the face with a windblown ad "to develop a super-body!" For five bucks? That's $24.14 in today-money! He sends in his cash, and gets a barbell in the mail, but it seems as light as a toy...but still bulks him up in moments! Marvin rushes to show Shirley, but is too rough in taking her out, then picks a fight over an accident. Shirley leaves, and other girls move right in, but he wants to go apologize. That's when he accidentally tears the door off a taxi; since he was getting even more muscles! He rips the door off his own apartment, then snaps the barbell in half, returning him to normal, skinny but wiser. (Art by Frank Bolle.)

In "Farewell Performance," a jealous actor wonders how one of his fellows was all of a sudden the talk of the town and considered the actor of his generation. Hard work, practice? Nope, magic potion! The up-and-comer had got it from an old woman he befriended, who gave him the potion and said just a tiny drop would infuse him with the "life force of any character he portrays!" He is then killed in the fight that follows, and the jealous one makes off with the potion unseen. That changes his luck, and a series of heralded performances follow, until a producer tells him Hollywood was interested in him, and would decide after tonight's showing of Julius Caesar. He decides on an extra-large slug of the potion, which proves a poor choice considering his role. What a performance! He really acts like he's being repeatedly stabbed to death! At least the cleaning crew has the sense to dispose of his medication afterwards; told nowadays kinda feels like his dressing room medicine cabinet would be stripped bare before the body hit the ground. (Art by Mike Roy.)

There's also a really slight two-pager, "Superstar," but yay, another Hostess Twinkies ad! This time featuring Marvel's Captain Marvel, and that's gotta be Sal Buscema art. Read more!

It sucks I'm never going to see the Capitol Building again without thinking of January 6.

Admittedly, I may have thought of this every time I saw it before: Anyway, today we have from 1980, Mystery in Space #111, cover by Joe Kubert.

This was a revival of the classic DC sci-fi title: the previous issue, MiS #110, had featured Ultra the Multi-Alien and was published in 1966. It still looked like they were in apocalypse mode, though: from 1979 to 1980 DC put out five big issues of Time Warp, which ran with the header "Doomsday Tales and Other Things." Time Warp #5 was on stands March 1980 and MiS #111 June 1980: vile speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if these stories were originally meant for Time Warp, then DC maybe course-corrected from the larger book to standard-size. This is a roundabout way of pointing out the stories here were maybe gloomier than usual for the title, or DC's traditional sci-fi stuff. "Final Warning!" finds an earth ambassador risking his life to get a transmission back to earth, warning of an upcoming invasion...He dies sending it, only for it to be denied unread as "postage due." I...I feel like even in 1980 they should've known that wasn't really how 'electronic mail' was going to work. (Written by Gerald Brown, art by Dan Spiegle.)

In "Viewpoints," a robot in a distant, humanless future looks back through a time viewer at a prehistoric family, and sees itself back in the past. It tries to destroy the machine so it wouldn't get sent back in time, which of course makes it happen; but the humans have something to teach him. It has some dark moments, but gets to a happy ending. (Written by Charlie Boatner, art by Marshall Rogers.)

"Sure Things" is a groaner with the last man on earth, then a sci-fi tale with Jim Aparo art: "The Singling," also written by Gerald Brown. An alien invasion has wiped out humanity, seemingly to the last man; but he's not who you'd think. Hey, the Capitol again, and the Washington Post, being about as goddamn helpful as it is today. I wouldn't even wrap fish in it!

"Once Upon a Time Machine!" is almost a palette cleanser after the rest of the issue, as a young librarian steals a time machine for his research project, into the origins of fairy tales. The beardy jerks at the Temporal Research Center laughed at him, but he wasn't taking no for an answer! But, when you observe a phenomenon you might affect it; especially if you repeatedly affect things, like causing beans to grow a giant beanstalk, or waking an ailing sleeping beauty. Still, is there really magic in those tales...? (Story by Mike W. Barr, art by Steve Ditko.) Read more!