This one probably falls under three times, but I think I bought it three times from the same dollar bins because of the Alex Ross cover! From 2019, Captain America #8 (712), "Captain of Nothing, part II" Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, art by Adam Kubert. 

I bought it three times, sure, but I'm not sure I had read it until now, which makes me wonder when did I last read Cap regularly? Around Cap #600? Ed Brubaker had a long run, and we checked out his last issue some time back, but that was from 2012, and it feels like there's been about 40 separate runs since then? Rick Remender/John Romita Jr., Mark Waid was back for a minute, then Captain America: Steve Rogers, which I think was 19 issues of him becoming Hydra Cap for Secret Empire? Which leads up to this one, per the lengthy "Previously..." section: while Hydra Cap had been taken down, not all the fascists appear to have been rooted out. Thunderbolt Ross--non-Red Hulk here, at least so far in the story--had sent Sharon Carter on a mission that might have been a trap, then turned up dead, with Cap as the prime suspect. Instead of going on the lam to prove his innocence, Cap had turned himself in voluntarily, and was now at the Myrmidon, which would probably be best described as a privatized version of the Vault, run by...a pardoned Baron Strucker? Were there a lot of really sketchy pardons in the Hydra Cap era?

No, Cap explains: Strucker had sold out when Hydra's power began to fade, turning on them for a clean record. To further put him over, and show his dominance over his prison, Strucker displays for the whole prison him beating the tar out of the Wrecker. He's trying to show everyone, if he can beat the Wrecker until he cries like a little girl, what can he do to Cap? Meanwhile, Sharon has a meeting with New York's mayor, Wilson Fisk: she knows Fisk knows Cap was innocent, and manages to extort some info out of him. Still, Fisk does have a closing burn: at that point, America trusted him more than Cap. Back at the Myrmidon, rec time for Cap involves a minor scuffle with the Wrecking Crew's Bulldozer and Piledriver, who act like they have the moral high ground on Cap: this is probably due to Marvel's sliding timeline, but Bulldozer had served in the Army, probably during Gulf War, and felt betrayed by America. Piledriver mentions Rick Jones, who had been "inspired" to death in Secret Empire: that was Cap's fault, for building up a rep "more trusted than Jesus." Geez, when those two are clowning on you...(Bulldozer is the one in the Bane-like face mask, was he a biter? Piledriver is rocking the Guile hair.)

The behind-the-scenes conspiracy continues, as Alexa Lukin has Hydra Cap released from secret prison but then seemingly throws him to Selene. (Who isn't referred to by name this issue!) And Sharon Carter reviews the Kingpin's info with her crew, which fingers the Foreigner for Ross's death. I can't imagine anybody really thought Ross was dead, which makes me wonder if this wasn't just Kingpin trying to take out a rival: we've seen their rivalry before. That and Foreigner looks really generic here, rather than like Patrick McGoohan circa the Prisoner; and it still references his ex-wife Silver Sable, which I maintain was meant as a joke! 

Granted, this was part 2 of 6, and I'm coming in real cold; but by itself this wasn't a real satisfying comic. Which seems indicative of why I haven't read Captain America regularly in so long: it feels like I have to read forty issues to get anything out of it.

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So the story goes, when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were working on Amazing Spider-Man, when it came time to unmask the Green Goblin, that Ditko didn't think it should be someone they had seen before, but Lee thought it if was Harry Osborn's dad Norman, that would be more dramatic. That story may or may not be true, but you shouldn't assume every masked character is someone you actually know. Like today's book! From 2001, Universe X #8, story by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, pencils by Doug (Dougie) Braithwaite, inks by Bill Reinhold. 

I've mentioned before, I haven't done a big re-read of the Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X epic for some time; but I keep picking up random issues out of the cheap bins. Could I put together another run of it? Doubtful, that'd be like 40-some books total (if you stick to the original!) and includes #0's, #1/2's, specials...This issue, the Earth X narrator Aaron Stack joins up with this title's narrator, Kyle Richmond--Machine Man and Nighthawk, although neither are near their classic looks! They go after Isaac, the Gargoyle, who had betrayed Kyle to Mephisto in exchange for getting to feel again; but Mephisto tells him, "you could always 'feel' guilt, Isaac."

The current Daredevil was an unkillable, um, daredevil; a circus performer who may or may not have been anyone we actually knew. (At this point, anyway; someone might sub in later!) New York City was basically a colossal riot today, but DD is lamenting the lack of his audience; when he's approached by Ransak the Reject, who was looking for Reed Richards, since he could cure the mutations that had been caused by the Terrigen Mists. Which I don't think would help Ransak; who, like Harvey Dent in Dark Knight Returns, was convinced he was hideous. Ransak doesn't have his usual pal Karkas here, to keep him level. The NYPD, which included Peter Parker and Luke Cage, was all that stood between a colossal mob of mutates bent on destroying the "Human Torch" built by Richards, that was designed to cure humanity. A paunchy, accountant-looking Iceman maintains ice walls around it, while wondering when his old pal Warren became so gloomy...and unstylish. Daredevil confronts "Mr. Church," actually Mephisto, and his Church of Immortus. DD refuses to join, because he wants them to kill him; Warren sees the crowd tear him apart but is unable to help.

There's a brief aside to Wakanda, where Mar-Vell's group asks the Black Panther for the Cosmic Cube: the Panther's Earth X mutation is a rare miss from Ross, since it's just T'Challa with a realistic panther head. Back in Latveria, the reunited Reed and Sue Richards may not have much time left together, as the mob of mutated humanity attacks, and the Tong of Creel is there as well, intent on reassembling the Absorbing Man. The Thing's cheerful kids, Buzz and Chuck, try to defend them; but Creel's head and Doom's time machine are both gone. Ransak the Reject arrives in time, with the "Monster Generation," mutated humans who wanted to be un-mutated. 

Re-checking the reading order, the Beasts special was next: it's a dark one!

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Here it is, your moment of Xen:

I've been meaning to get back to it for several years now, but I haven't sat down and read all of Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X in a while; even as I seemingly, slowly continue to randomly put together more of another run of it. (Got a cheap-but-readable Earth X #0 the other day!) From 2002, Paradise X Special: Xen #1, plot and cover by Alex Ross, plot and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Steve Yeowell, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz.

I had to double-check a reading order for this, since there were several specials, and I wasn't sure where this fell. Also, I couldn't remember the order of the main series, and I forget there was the Marvels X prequel series from 2020, which seems like something I should be more interested in? But I kind of think it was maybe six issues of "here's where everything goes to crap and there's no stopping it," and I don't feel like getting into that? Anyway, if all of Earth X had proper numbering, prequels notwithstanding, like maybe triangle numbers like the Superman titles used to have; this would be like #41 out of #56? So, pretty deep into it, and yet there are a ton of characters this issue that readers would not have spent a lot of time with previously; as well as a few that had been involved to various degrees for much of the run.

Doctor Strange was back from the presumed dead, and gives a lengthy recap to the Xen team; most of whom openly disagree with their Lord Sunfire about this whole deal: when the Terrigen Mists mutated everyone on earth, public opinion swerved hard on earth's superheroes for their perceived failure to stop it. Strange had devoted himself to trying to figure out what happened, and didn't notice problems closer to home: Clea stabbed his body while he was in his astral form, but she had been turned against Strange by Wong, who had turned to Mephisto, seemingly in frustration over being a servant...and maybe over what his mutation had done to him. Mephisto's aid came with strings, though: the devil couldn't risk Strange's actual death, so Wong was forced into servitude maintaining Strange in a coma-like state, until discovered by Bruce Banner. Clea had been turned, with "unbridled lust" for Loki; and later Thor had banished her to Asgard: Thor and Loki had learned a lot of unpleasant truths about their father Odin, and themselves. Wong was killed by Adam Warlock, after his mutation had been revealed.

Loki and Thor advise the heroes, they can't let Odin find them too quickly; but with Strange and Xen go to Jotenheim; under the assumption that Odin wouldn't keep Clea in the city, since her magic could break the illusion of Asgard. They are set upon by Frost Giants, and Strange ponders why Xen was even a team: they weren't all Japanese, and he knew who Tao was, but didn't know why he wore a mask. The flaming Tora gives a brief origin, telling how Jim Hammond had helped her control her powers. But, this little journey had taken longer than the last few pages had indicated, and back in Japan the ghost of Fin Fang Foom is tearing up the place, while the Stark-created Seven Silver Samurai try to save the world. In Asgard, Odin feels betrayed by Mephisto, who says he's not the devil Odin knew. (Best of my recollection: "Odin" had been a storyteller, given power, to spin Asgard and the other realms besides 'Midgard' into being, setting himself up as the All-Father. Mephisto had a long game in mind; and Thor and Loki were rebelling against the roles Odin had forced them into.) While Xen fights the Warriors Three (who may have always been imaginary, creations of Odin) Tao speaks with Thor, letting him know hey, he's knows what it's like to have a villain for a dad.

Thor is distraught over the deaths of his old comrades, and Loki yells at him: none of them really "died," Odin just moved them around like pieces on a game board. At the world tree Yggdrasil, Strange tries to sense Clea, mentioning he couldn't stand to project his astral form anymore: Clea was with the Warriors Three and Balder...in Hel. Thor and Loki call foul, that Odin was changing the rules. Odin appears to them, Time Bandits-style, a giant, glowy beardy face. Thor falls back into his old role, but Loki resists, and threatens "Pops" that if he could convince Thor that Asgard was a lie, he could convince the other gods, so release Clea or else. Odin obliges, but Clea isn't overjoyed to see Strange: first, she thinks it must be a lie, or a torture, but says she'll "play along" after Strange calls her "wife." And it's brutal: Clea points out, Strange never treated her as his "wife." Strange has to admit that's true, but he's changed...no sale. Odin proclaims, someone had to take Clea's place in Hel: Loki agrees to, but Odin has no intention of letting him "poison" his realm, and takes Thor instead; sending everyone else back to earth, to the middle of the Foom/Samurai fight.

Counter-intuitively, Strange returns the ghost of Fin Fang Foom to its body; giving them the means to kill it finally. Some of Xen are still steamed with Lord Sunfire, and while Clea had supported Strange there, she didn't do it for him. Thor returns to Loki, since their plan had gone perfectly: Thor had freed all the "dead" Asgardians from Hel, even Hela. The returned Asgardians rejoice, while Odin feels his control slipping away... 

Hmm, this ends with a blurb for Paradise X #3; maybe this was issue #40 outta #56? The Foom/Samurai battle could've been a whole special by itself, too. Still, such a dense read; although I'm not positive much of Xen appeared in the rest of the run.

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The "every comic is someone's first comic" guys' collective heads would explode at this one.

It's been a few years since I've done a complete re-read of this story, but of course I'll grab cheap ones on the fly. When else are you going to see Alex Ross paint the Micronauts er, Rann and his rebels? From 2001, Universe X #5, story and cover by Alex Ross, story and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Dougie Braithwaite, inks by Garry Leach. 

This would be 20 or so issues into the Earth X saga, a post-apocalyptic tale of the Marvel universe; or Continuity Porn: the Series! I mean that in the most loving way possible, even though they did my boy Nightcrawler dirty...today, we're tying into Micronauts #35, Fantastic Four Annual #5, and Incredible Hulk #140, among others, and that's just three pages in! The trick of this series was taking threads from across the Marvel Universe that were not in any way, shape, or form planned; and making it seem like a vast tapestry that was absolutely designed to fit together.

Along with the secret history of the Microverse and the return of some of its most famous denizens, we see the fate of the Man-Thing, and the funeral of Captain America, who died protecting the child Mar-Vell. After delivering the eulogy, the new Redwing--Wyatt Wingfoot--rails against Mar-Vell, wondering how his "cosmic consciousness" couldn't see that coming. Loki also visits the currently female Thor, albeit without a nose, claiming he was still choosing his new form. And the Tong of Creel, a cult intent on putting the pieces of the Absorbing Man together, recovers another piece as they manage to get past King Britain, the Iron Avengers, the Union Jacks, Medusa, and more.

Finally, X-51 confronts the blind Uatu--not for the first time in this series, I don't think--since he's realized something from listening to Kyle Richmond and the Gargoyle. (The latter pair were the narrators/framing device for this series, as X-51 and Uatu were in Earth X.) X-51 takes a little stroll on the moon, to the Supreme Intelligence...

Since Marvel had lost the rights to some of the Micronauts owned by Mego, there are a few redesigns here: Biotron and Microtron are reinvented as Neutron and Proton, with Neutron having a more toy soldier-like appearance. I think his head is supposed to resemble a Queen's Guard helmet, but it looks more like Kid of Kid 'n Play. They had a new Acroyear type, Spartak; named after the Acroyears' homeworld in the comic; as well as an Ant Man and a Spidra girl.

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Completely unseasonal Hodge and the Podge.

1. I accidentally turned on my local news--in my defense, I thought a game was on--and learned traffic was clogged by people camping out and lining up for crappy chicken sandwiches that you could probably make at home and not support a homophobic chain. I know times are tough, and maybe I shouldn't begrudge people their fun, but...they don't deserve the support, and it's a massive waste of time. I think I may have to go literally anywhere else tomorrow.

2. Of course, I didn't even notice them putting in that restaurant I won't name when I was in that neighborhood at Target the other day; picking up the new Cyborg Spider-Man and Negative Zone Spider-Man! They're both pretty neat, although the Negative (Dog's Eye-View) Spidey is missing a key accessory: while he comes with multiple hands and a negative slice of pizza, he doesn't get the partially unmasked head to eat it! Cyborg gets a webline, but really needed a donut: in the issue where he gets the metallic cast, it's free donuts that convinces Spidey this is a good government agency.

3. I didn't do any Black Friday-type shopping this year; but I didn't really need to, since a lot of stores have spread it out over the course of the month. At Wal-Mart I was able to pick up a pile of movies on the cheap, and we once again see what I'm willing to pay cash money for if I didn't see it in the theatres. Starting with Joker, and...eh. I may be coming down hard on that one since I managed to avoid spoilers until the day I watched it, when some slackjawed incel posted the scene with De Niro as a reply and completely missed the point that the Joker was the bad guy. De Niro as much as calls him a crybaby drama queen, which admittedly seems to be how he's often portrayed nowadays. I liked Birds of Prey better, even though it's so much Harley Quinn's movie that it didn't really need the others. I would've preferred more of just random Gothamites coming after her to settle their grudges: they did not like her! Also, blowing up Axis Chemicals is a big statement, but probably would've poisoned the eastern seaboard...Along with those, I picked up the first season of Doom Patrol and Watchmen, the last couple Spider-Man movies, Doctor Sleep, a season and change of Doctor Who, Bumblebee...and yet, all I seem to watch is reruns of MST3K and Ultraman. Well, sooner or later.

4. I can't believe I hesitated picking up these guys: Boss Fight Studio's Sam and Max! Because they are smaller runs, they're a bit more expensive than a Marvel Legends, but they're nicely done and come with a satisfying amount of extras. Is it weird that they're sold separately? I simply can't see someone buying one and not the other.

5. Alex Ross has done a ton of Timeless variant portrait covers the last couple of months. The only one I intended to buy was the Nightcrawler one, which was on Excalibur #13, in the middle of the X of Swords event, and...man, that was not for me. Betsy, the former Psylocke and current Captain Britain, is jobbed out by the undefeatable...whoever. The other issues of that I've flipped through have been the Apocalypse Show, and no thanks. Still, I did pick up some other Ross covers, which got me the last couple issues of Avengers with Moon Knight and Khonshu vs. the team; a pretty solid Daredevil; and an okay Fantastic Four. That I picked up with the Thing cover; you would've had to buy the same issue four times to get the whole team! Scam. Othen than that, I got the recent Giant-Size X-Men: Tribute to Wein & Cockrum, with a ton of artists redrawing Giant-Size X-Men #1. Hmm, I got the Cockrum cover; I might have to scan that later.

5. Hopefully he's got it by now: I sent the Master of the Mystic Smarts, PTor, a Doctor Strange themed spinner rack! Let's put the template here:

These are usually a lot of fun to put together; this time with a ton of the good doctor's guest-spots.

6. Between COVID and the weather, I'm not sure if I'm going back to Montana this Christmas. That would kind of suck, but it might free my folks up from having to spend the next month up there. Ah, we'll see.

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I was thinking it had been a bit since I had blogged any non-Marvel/DC book, but we had a Bongo comic recently. Well then, when was the last Flash Gordon book I blogged? Eleven years ago? And it's not the first picture at the link? Maybe we'll double down today: from 2013, Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #9, "Chapter Nine: Coronation" Plot and script by Eric Trautmann, co-plot, art direction and cover by Alex Ross, pencils by Ron Adrian, colors by Slamet Mujiono; and from 2015, Flash Gordon #8, "Stuff of Legend" Written by Jeff Parker, art by Evan Shaner, color by Jordie Bellaire.

Zeitgeist was a bit of a greatest-hits approach, taking elements from many different iterations: for example, Klytus, from the Flash Gordon movie, had a major role in the series and this issue. Both Ming and Klytus had been captured at this point, and while his various allies were on the verge of turning on each other, Flash has a conversation with Klytus about Mongo and what it would take to live there: absolutely no mercy. He doesn't think the earthlings are up to it, but there's no way he would be able to even conceive a different way. Still, even captured and missing an arm, Klytus still seems to hold a lot of cards, including his wife, who was leading a team from Mongo against the Nazis back on earth.

Forced to work with Klytus, Flash has a surprising announcement made: since he defeated Ming, he could take over...or name a regent to govern in his name. Dale Arden is named Empress of Mongo...a decision that Ming may raise an eyebrow at, but did it play into his hands? There was only one issue left, so he must've had something going.

Zeitgeist had been set in World War II, back when the original newspaper strips had been published; the Parker/Shaner version seemed to be set present day, but Ming may have rendered much of earth's technology useless: TV and computers weren't working, so newsreels and newspapers were back in business. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov return to earth this issue; with tales of Mongo and new science for rebuilding society. Only Flash seems downbeat: he was a little worried he would be seen as "too valuable to lose" and grounded, and they hadn't finished the job on Mongo. Weary from the interview circuit, Flash considers finally answering "the question they always ask," regarding his nickname. Which is somewhat more gloomy than usual, I believe.

Before their rocket can be put on a pedestal at the museum, Dale and Zarkov know Flash is their direction, and they head back into space, arriving to save Vultan from Ming. Flash impales Ming, who isn't concerned: in fact, this justifies his "practice of never appearing physically outside (his) domicile." The Ming-duplicate melts down to an eyeball and speakerbox, very retro.

This was the last issue of this series, but a new number one was forthcoming as part of Dynamite's King books with the Phantom, Mandrake, and Jungle Jim in a shared universe. (There was a Prince Valiant book as well, but I don't know if it would've tied-in.) At a glance, looks like those maybe ran four issues a piece and then a crossover in 2016-2017 that huh, got Prince Valiant in there too. I don't know that Dynamite still has the King licenses, though, and neither does Doc Shaner. While they have a variety of licensed titles, Dynamite also recently opted to publish a dire-looking Comicsgate related book. That decision may have burned a lot of goodwill; since I wouldn't want to be tied to those hatemongers.
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Even I could parkour, if I had footapults!

Well, maybe not. I started reading Astro City with the first issue, but there was a stretch in there where it was mini-series, The Dark Age, four series in total. Crud, I thought I had all those, but now I think I'm missing at least four. Still, the other day I did get an issue out of the quarter bin that I know I somehow missed! From 1997, Kurt Busiek's Astro City #11, "Serpent's Teeth" Written by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by Will Blyberg, cover by Alex Ross.

Street level hero Jack-in-the-Box (no, not that one) is in a pretty good place the start of this one: newscaster girlfriend, good job designing toys, and a rambunctious fan club in the Trouble Boys. But said girlfriend is interrupted before a big announcement, as Jack has to take off to fight--the Box! (No, not that one either.) He's a twisted, cyborg mockery of Jack, but claims to be his son; as does another arrival, Jackson, who has gone in a more Wolverine direction with his cyborgery. Box had a jack-in-the-box themed puppet/robot arm, that was kind of cool. Both had come from the future, and been fighting a war on crime, but since daddy wasn't there for them, they had both long since gone off the rails into insanity. Jackson strikes me as more crazy, since he had based his entire philosophy on his dad quoting Bugs Bunny.

Box and Jackson team-up for a patricide attempt, but with the help of some Trouble Boys Jack-in-the-Box is able to defeat them. Still, their angry glaring convinces Jack they aren't lying about being his son, and he races home to his girlfriend...who had been waiting to tell him she was pregnant. I've had the next issue since it came out, and I know it was a riff on legacy heroes, but I almost think the current Jack--Zachary Johnson--was himself a legacy. Yep!
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Six or eight reboots, they might catch up to the Legion.

It's the nature of any science fiction story set in the future: after a few years of science marching on, it can start to look a bit dated. Computers and communicators and fashions start to seem clunky and antique. The alternative, I suppose, would be for the future to be in constant flux. Like today's book! From 2015, Guardians 3000 #5, "Just Like Old Times" Written by Dan Abnett, art by Gerardo Sandoval, color art by Edgar Delgado, cover by Alex Ross. (Oddly, I hadda scan that cover into the GCD; I'm always surprised when that happens.)

In the year 3014, the Guardians of the Galaxy are fighting a guerrilla war against the Brotherhood of the Badoon, a fight they had previously won! The timeline having reset, they may have fought that battle multiple times; as evidenced by their new team member Geena Drake, an earth girl who somehow sensed the temporal distortions. This issue, while in battle with the Stark--not the aliens that got Tony Stark's tech this time, as seen in the 90's Guardians book, now they were full-on robots--half the team is saved by Star-Lord. Who is still Peter Quill, but with his original helmet and Ship, in the future! Kinda cool. The other half is saved by the sudden return of a teammate they don't remember: Nikki Gold! Maybe they don't recognize her because she isn't rocking her usual flame-hair do, like she has on the cover. She also has the Captain America, or maybe a Captain America: it shares the name with the Guardians' original ship, but was a different model; underscoring for the heroes that the timeline was super garked up, to use the technical term. (Further evidenced in that Vance had Cap's shield and the star-logo communicators; both of which I think came in the 90's book, long after the Badoon were defeated.)

Hell, I'm pretty sure I have some of the rest of this series from when Hastings went down; and there are still a couple issues missing on the GCD as I write this! I want to say Marvel gave it a shot--the Ross covers are a bit more than the company has done for other titles--but it ran right into Secret Wars. I know there was some miniseries activity with the future Guardians team then, but not much now.
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Sometimes I'll buy a quarter book (or dollar, more likely nowadays) even if I already have it, if it's too good to leave behind; or if I might not have read it before but might have. Today's book was more of the latter than the former: from 2003, Battle of the Planets: Mark #1, cover and art direction by Alex Ross, written by Munier Sharrieff, pencils by Edwin David, digital inks by Erik Ko.

The leader of G-Force has his vacation interrupted by an ambush from Red Impulse, the "United Armed Forces covert air strike force." But it's not an attack, more like an initiation: their leader, Colonel Cronus, was missing and presumed dead, and they needed a new boss. Actually, the Impulse's second, Major Maelstrom, suspected Cronus might've survived, and needed Mark's help to find him. It's a quick adventure yarn, with some spy action, piloting, and punch-ups. Finding Cronus, Mark is thrilled to get to fight alongside his hero, even though the rest of the book he's been badmouthing his MIA deadbeat dad...who of course, is Cronus.

I'm actually 90% sure I had this issue, but didn't have the one-shot for Jason. And looking it up, Princess got a six-issue solo mini-series; which goes a bit towards showing who the most popular team member actually was.
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Ah, nothing like a satisfying conclusion. No, I mean nothing like a satisfying conclusion.

I had actually intended to re-read this series one of these days; but found a cheap copy of the last one. And now I can't remember if this was intended as a mini-series from the start, or if the writing was on the wall and the bloom off the rose by this point...From 2003, Battle of the Planets #12, "Destroy All Monsters, part 2" Written by Munier Sharrieff, pencils by Wilson Tortosa, cover and art direction by Alex Ross.

This was of course based on the classic cartoon, which was a dubbed and edited version of the original Japanese Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman. Five teenaged ninjas with bird costumes and individualized weapons and vehicles are earth's only real line of defense against the invading alien Galactor. That's breaking it down to its most basic elements, but the series is still much beloved to this day by old men who watched it in the 70's fans and influenced numerous other series: any Power Rangers thing you see with five team members probably descended from here.

The title page proclaims "The Explosive Conclusion!" and there is a good chunk of action to be had here; but there's also a lot of open plot threads. More than just leaving the door open for a sequel, like followup was all but certain. And yet I think this was about it, and I'm not sure why: it may have gotten the ball rolling for more profitable DVD sales (I bought the box set with Jason figure advertised in the back!) or the license cost may have been more than Top Cow was willing to pay. I didn't think this was a bad little series, since I fall squarely into the target audience for it, but wish there was a bit more closure here.

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Three big D's would be too many for a logo, I think...

Depending on who you ask, the former Shocker Toys GBJR Toys may be getting some figures out soon. At one point, they were going to put out a series of Golden Age figures based on public domain characters like the Black Terror and the pre-Marvel Daredevil. So, I was excited to take a look at Dynamite's version of the character, the Death-Defying 'Devil #1, plot and art direction by Alex Ross, plot and script by Joe Casey, art by Edgar Salazar. With nine variant covers! The "'Devil" may be to differentiate him, or abbreviate from "Daredevil," I suppose.

This was a spin-off/follow-up to the earlier Project Superpowers, which apparently was required reading, since this issue doesn't spell it all out for you. A number of super-heroes, like the Black Terror and Green Lama, had recently returned after disappearing decades prior; and an older man is appalled that one of them is wearing a costume he recognizes. It's implied the older man was one of the 'Devil's band of kid sidekicks during the war; he also looks like an angry Don Rickles.

As the older man takes steps towards taking down the 'Devil, the titular character is fighting the terrorist organization known as the Claw. Their operatives seem to come from anywhere and everywhere, and may in fact be brainwashed or mind-controlled puppets of something bigger. As the 'Devil and French agent Justine Boulet (who may not have been referred to by name this issue...) question a Claw soldier, the 'Devil is attacked by the Dragon, who wears a costume and wields a boomerang very much like the 'Devil's. But unlike the 'Devil, the Dragon won't shut up, while the 'Devil is unable or unwilling to speak. It's implied (or maybe a red herring!) that the Dragon is the older man, intent on revenge against someone he thinks is an impostor.

Even going in cold, I didn't think this first issue was too bad; but the next two fell into the trap of trying to introduce too many characters quickly, with the Silver Streak and the Ghost. (Not any of the Ghosts you're probably thinking of!) I know Erik Larsen did a version of the character as well in Savage Dragon...but I couldn't tell you which, if either, were closer to the Daredevil's original stories and characterization. Still kinda want that figure, though...

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This probably could've gone in 'Abject Depression Week,' too.

Here's a cheerful bit of maybe revisionist history, from Universe X Special: Cap #1 (Script and story by Jim Krueger; story, cover, and designs by Alex Ross; pencils by Thomas Yeates, inks by John Totleben and Ron Randall.) As the weary Cap and the reincarnated Captain Mar-Vell search for a dimensional doorway device (tying into the old Kirby Madbomb storyline) Cap has more than a few flashbacks, including this one. The Red Skull tells Cap that Dr. Erskine, creator of the Super-Soldier Serum, was in fact a Nazi agent. (This seems dubious at best, but Red Skull asks how the Nazis were able to get access to Allied secret projects: because most of them were actually relocated secret Nazi projects.)

In another flashback, Cap kills the Skull, then quits the Avengers, feeling that he could no longer serve as an example. Shortly thereafter, most of the Avengers were killed in a battle with the Absorbing Man; leaving Cap wondering if it would've been different if he'd been there. After everyone on earth was mutated, and the alien mind-controller known as HYDRA attacked S.H.I.E.L.D, President Norman Osborn asks Cap to lead his forces; Cap refuses. Shortly after that, the Helicarrier goes down, and Nick Fury dies.

The image of several Fury Life-Model Decoys running out of the crashed Helicarrier is a good one, isn't it?

Cap finds a final message from Fury: the new HYDRA was created by Osborn, and when Cap turned him down, his friends became targets. Later, in the first Earth X series, Cap is forced to kill the new Skull--a mind-controlling sociopath, who was a young boy. So, Cap's kind of a wreck at this point; as he and Mar-Vell are surrounded by lunatics in Revolutionary War garb. (Again, a tie-in to Madbomb.) And Cap doesn't see a way for both him and Mar-Vell to get out of this one...

I've had this issue for some time, but got a spare at the comicon. I haven't sat down and read the whole Earth/Universe/Paradise X run in a couple years; but I love how it manages to take some forty-plus years of Marvel comics and thread together unrelated events into a cohesive whole. That said, the series is often less than uplifting.


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Shortlist: In case I don't have enough plastic...

Over the last few years of collecting action figures, I would have to admit to being pretty fortunate in terms of characters I want, being made into figures, as if just for me. A Scud figure? Enemy Ace and Blackhawk? Heck, there's even three different versions of Jonah Hex that you could buy! Tons of characters that may not get the respect they deserve on the comic racks, but I'm thrilled to have on my shelves.

But have I got every figure I want? Obviously not! (And what would I do if I did, take up knitting?) No, there are still reams of characters, big names and niche properties alike, that I would love to see made into proper action figures. (For our purposes, assume I mean in about the same scale as Marvel Legends or DCUC, with a reasonable amount of articulation...and priced less than it's weight in gold.) So, every Friday for the next stretch, we're going to take a little look at my personal Shortlist.

Today, one of the few figures that I would buy a bronze version of: from Astro City, the Silver Agent:

Without having the back issues next to me, I almost think you see his statue before you see the Agent himself, and it's implied from the start that his ending is not a happy one. Introduced in 1995, it would be fifteen years before his full story would be told...maybe.


Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson would take inspiration from a number of sources for the Silver Agent, in particular, from Captain America. As you might suspect from his name, he's designed to be an almost archetypal silver-age character; except I'd have to say his chainmail armor would've been a bit too intricate for the printing then.

From a company called Toy Vault, Astro City's Samaritan and Confessor would get action figures back in 1999; but that's just scratching the surface. Still, an Astro City movie is currently in the works, so maybe eventually; although then it would come down to what Busiek can get crammed in there. (Hopefully, it doesn't take the path of Wanted: taking a superhero comic, and bleeding all the superhero elements out of it for the movie...y'know, I say that, but I think I honestly prefer the movie of that now.)

This Shortlist is something I've had in mind for a while, but now I'm putting a name to it. Still, over the last couple of weeks, you probably could add Elric, the Shadow, more characters from Planetary, and Claw the Unconquered. There will be more...
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Earth's Greatest Heroes...and Green Arrow, for some reason...

My Wife, the Youngest, and for good measure my parent's dog, have all been sick the last couple of days. I've cleaned up more vomit this weekend than a roller coaster operator on St. Patrick's day...

So, of course I'm running late on what I laughingly call 'content,' but I did get to read all of Justice today. It's not bad by any means, but it's not as essential as Kingdom Come or even as out there as Krueger and Ross and Braithwaite's previous collaboration, Earth X and it's sequels.


Still, I did enjoy it, even though not unlike Frank Miller, you can very clearly see the line where Alex Ross stopped reading new comics...tough break, Firestorm. Maybe some more on this later, but I gotta take care of the family, kay?

Panels today from Justice #8, Story by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, script by Jim Krueger, art by Doug Braitwaite and Alex Ross. Read more!

The one about the Blazing Skull.

Every so often, when Marvel makes a movie or licensing deal, a news article will point out that Marvel's library of characters is said to be upwards of 5000, which is pretty impressive, until you start to think about the actual list. A lot of that could be taken up by supporting characters alone. That sounds foolish, but you try and publish a comic with Debra Whitmore as a character and see what happens. (She was a love interest in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, and also appeared in the cartoon. Any day now she'll appear in Ultimate Spider-Man so Bendis can do something horrible to her, no doubt.)

Still, Marvel does have some neat characters that are well underneath the radar. Some of them are ideas that might not deserve or be able to sustain their own comic, but might work well in another format, like Blade. Who would have thought that could carry three movies and a TV show? Don't get me wrong, I liked the movies just fine, but in his first appearance he was wearing what looked like green scuba goggles. Nightvision goggles my arse.

Others are characters who should appear in one-shots or the occasional period piece. Which finally brings us to today's book! Midnight Sons Unlimited #9. This book was intended to be a showpiece/inventory burner for the "mystical" characters at Marvel: Ghost Rider, Blaze, Morbius, maybe Dr. Strange. The only reason most people would remember this particular issue, if at all, was because it had an Alex Ross cover.

The cover features lesser known characters the Destroyer, the Blazing Skull, and Union Jack. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how and why Alex Ross did the cover. Inventory piece from before he got big? For fun? As a favor to the creative team? Boat payment due? Love letter to the work of Roy Thomas? Did he do the cover first, and the writer had to punch out a story based on it? That last one seems particularly unlikely, but maybe. Dan Slott wrote the main story, and James Fry did the pencils. Fry I was familiar with from his work on DC's Star Trek books. I like his style, kind of cartoony, but still good for likenesses. And Slott would go on to bigger things, as he's currently the writer of She-Hulk, the Thing, and GLX. I must underline that this was a quality package for a book that was primarily a dumping ground for unused Man-Thing short stories.

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, as a total Marvel nerd, but I'm really not that familar with the Blazing Skull or the Destroyer. A version of the Skull appeared in Gruenwald's Captain America and another in the last Invaders series; the Destroyer is the one with pinstripe pants and not the one from Thor; and I think they both appeared from Rick Jones' head during the Kree/Skrull War years and years ago...and that's all I've got, honestly. The cool thing is, Slott writes this up in a way that it doesn't matter if you've ever heard of these characters before, without having to eat up more pages than needed with exposition and origins. Tricky. It's something you notice when done wrong, more than praise when done right.

January 1945: A band of Nazi spies attempts to set up a transmitter on the Statue of Liberty, only to be stopped by the Blazing Skull. Skull looks like Ghost Rider, but in a red, mystery-man style costume of the period. The ringleader escapes in a plane that would be way to big to be inconspicuously landed next to the statue, or to take off quickly, but let's just say Skull is busy tying up the Nazis while rappelling one-handed.

The Skull's secret identity is Mark Todd, reporter for the Daily Globe, one of those comic newspapers that seems to have a circulation of 15 million, and like four employees total. Based on the Nazi's captured codebook and transmitters, he finds the next strike will be at a club in London; which gives Mark time to recap his origin on the plane ride over. It involves "Subteranean Skull Men" and "The burning Mask, which eventually became part of my own face!" but Mark doesn't seem really bent out of shape about it. Weird stuff happens.

Crashing the club, Mark is stopped by Lord Brian Falsworth, who's organized a fundraiser party that night. Mark convinces him that the club is a target pretty easily, so it's evacuated before a buzzbomb hits. The destruction is being filmed by armored Nazi the Iron Cross, (who looks so much like Iron Man you wonder what Tony's dad did during the war...) who has an old-style movie camera mounted on his shoulder.

Long-time Marvel readers would recognize Falsworth as Union Jack, who helps the Skull fight off Cross, and they recover the camera. And exchange information about their powers.

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