"The End" Week: Savage Avengers!

There was a moment there, when Marvel was losing or not renewing the Conan license, and we weren't sure if the new books from Titan Comics were going to be good. Rest assured: they're great! Titan's even brought back proper, black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan, and they're expanding their lineup with Solomon Kane and a lesser known Robert E. Howard creation, Dark Agnes de Chastillon. (She's a bit of a replacement for Red Sonja, maybe; they don't have the rights to her.) Definitely recommended, but let's look at the tailend of the barbarian's time at Marvel: from 2022, Savage Avengers #28, "Coda" Written by Gerry Duggan, art by Patch Zircher, color art by Java Tartaglia.

Previously, Conan had been allied with Doctors Doom and Strange, and Kang the Conqueror; in order to prevent Kulan Gath from taking over the world. Kang brought Conan back in time, to kill Gath as a young boy, before he picked up magic; but Conan has a better idea. He kills Gath's enslaver, freeing him, then teaches him the way of the sword instead. Gath is game: he seems genuinely invested in the idea of freeing other slaves, but Kang suggests to Conan, this might not be the mercy he thinks it is.

Gath receives an invitation, by talking crow, to meet with Sorcerer Supreme Mekri Ra, either "as friend...or as foe." The journey's long and treacherous, but allows Conan to train Gath up more. Gath enters Ra's tower, but Ra teleports outside to wait with Conan: this was a test only for Gath, and he faces Shuma-Gorath, who says Gath could defeat him, with the right weapon, giving him the opportunity to retake magic. Gath refuses, choosing to die as a warrior; but is then spit outside by the tower. Both Conan and Ra are pleased, and take their leave of Gath, as Kang picks Conan up...but doesn't take him back to the future! Conan is steamed, since he thought Strange owed him riches or whatnot (Conan was not above being super petty on occasion) but Kang's like, nah, I don't need the competition. He had seen multiple futures for Conan (one is a nod to either Bloodstone or Vandal Savage, or both!) and decides to wrap that up now.

Conan gets the drop on Kang, saying his sword was not in his collection; although it's up to you if you think he'd be able to stab Kang through his force-fields and armor. Kang says he was going to "let you retire in this land of stabbing and gout," but if you want to die, well...Conan gets on top of Kang, and demands to be taken back to the victory feast at Doctor Doom's. Kang agrees, that sounds nice...and spoilers after the break!

Kang returns to the future, alone, dropping onto the middle of a table. He gives a version of what happened, makes reassurances that Kulan Gath wouldn't return, but that Conan had wanted to return to his own time, and Kang of course did him a solid. Doom and Strange don't seem to buy that, but Kang returns to his "citadel of solitude" Kangstantinople. (Formerly Istanbul, presumably.) He surveys his trophies, smiling: of course he had Conan's sword, as well as his crown. And now he notices, written on that sword, in English: "This isn't over."

Kang acquiesces, returning Conan to 2022. But, he wouldn't stay there long: before the year was up, with a new roster, Conan would be returned to his own time again in Savage Avengers #5 (Legacy #33). Conan would be forced to stay behind, so a mystic doorway could be opened to get rid of Set. The rest of the team would be sent to 2099, for five issues with Punisher and Doom 2099, vs. Ultron and an army of Deathloks; wrapping up in 2023's Savage Avengers #10, "Deus Ex Machina" Written by David Pepose, art by Carlos Magno, color art by Espen Grundetjern.

The Savage Avengers were Anti-Venom, the Elektra-Daredevil, Cloak and Dagger, the Black Knight, and Weapon H. (The latter, a man turned into a Hulk/Wolverine mash-up.) They also had a Deathlok, but not the usual one: it was Miles Morales, trying to prevent his terrible future. Despite his distrust of the Deathloks, Punisher 2099 Jake Gallows sacrifices himself to save Miles; but Ultron brings him back as a puppet to use against Doom 2099. The other heroes fight Ultron's Deathloks, and work through their little plotlines: while attracted to Flash Thompson, Dagger gets back together with Cloak. (Are they usually a couple? I think it really varies from writer to writer...) Leading the other 2099 heroes, Elektra gets to belt out the classic "Avengers Assemble!"

Jake resists Ultron, and Miles finally stops him with a web, that stops him to create a paradox: the Watcher returns Miles to normal, explaining he had caused this mess, the act of observing having affected the results. In the future, Jake buries Ultron's head in a graveyard, where no one would find him and bring him back; and the Savage Avengers are returned to the present. They kinda know they're going to go their separate ways, but Fin Fang Foom appears, so maybe just one more time... Read more!

More of this sounds dirtier than anything actually there...I think.

I keep grabbing random issues of Marvel Comics Presents from the quarter bins, and we saw the previous issue a couple years back, but I read the series for quite a while: I know I read all through the Black Panther serial, and that was like 25 parts? (It ended with MCP #37; and I would've kept going for the Excalibur serial, which...enh.) Picking this up, I almost thought I messed up the numbering, though. From 1993, Marvel Comics Presents #133.

In "Alone Against the Coven," a vacation isn't in the cards for Wolverine, as the Coven plans on sacrificing him to maybe bring an age of enlightenment. Or darkness. Maybe enlightened darkness? Vex, Satyr, and Fetish don't give Wolvie too much trouble, but Blood Shadow puts him down for the count; and he wakes up, manacled to a recurring foe in that book: Cyber! (Written by Dan Slott, art by Steve Lightle.) I don't know if I've ever known Cyber's origin, or if he was ever given much more characterization than "dick who's pretty cocky Wolverine can't immediately kill him."

The previous issue featured the conclusion of an Iron Fist serial, so I wasn't expecting to see another one start for him here! He's not on top of his game, but manages to step it up after his recent return from the dead. Still, coming up, a rematch with Sabretooth! Who didn't seem as ridiculously swole as he would usually be around then, this was after Jim Lee redesigned him. ("Depths of Despair, part 1 of 4: Opening Gambit" Written by Tony Matias, pencils by Fred Haynes, inks by Jeff Albrecht.)

Ghost Rider and Cage would probably agree, they don't seem like a good match; but their serial continues with "Heart and Soul, part 3 of 6: Emotional Rescue" Written by Karl Bollers, pencils by Freddy Mendez, inks by Malcolm Jones. The killer Darklove is seemingly in both of their heads; with Ghost Rider seemingly unable to change back into Danny Ketch. There's also an odd sequence where Cage is talking to the press, and a guy shoots him; seemingly just another excuse for his shirt to get shredded. Did I miss a lot in the one chapter of this I haven't read?

Lastly, it's Cloak & Dagger vs. a vampire, in "Nocturnal Cravings" (Written by Chuck Kim, pencils by Walter McDaniels, inks by Greg Adams.) The vampire pushes Cloak too far, to the point that Dagger has to defend her...why, though? She gets him to leave her to Doctor Strange--yeah, 'cause he'd done a bang-up job there--and as usual, Cloak wonders if he might go bad. Read more!

I should just keep an eye out for the rest of this series, since I remember one issue I read when it came out, but haven't seen it since. It wasn't this one, either, but since it's here...from 1987, Strange Tales #8, featuring "The Black Tear Drop" Written by Terry Austin, pencils by Brett Blevins, inks by Bob Wiacek; and "If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Terry Shoemaker, inks by Randy Emberlin. Cover by Kevin Nowlan.

We saw the next issue some time back, and I may have been harsh on Cloak as a dumb kid; but this is pretty traditional. We've seen the Hulk and the Thing do this multiple times: cured, but their low self-esteem drives them back to their "disease." In this case, Tyrone is having nightmares about the dark hunger that was inside of Cloak: their powers had recently changed, and Dagger was able to use her light to keep him as plain Tyrone 24 hours a day. But his stutter had returned, he was struggling in class, and felt like a failure compared to Dagger, where he had been her equal as Cloak. This leads him to Mr. Jip's shop, who gives him "the obsidian cube...(which) shall grant your heart's blackest desire." He takes it, returning to Cloak, and Dagger does not understand, nor want to, and she quits.

The Strange story is a bit of a wordy one, as Stephen has found a journal of the Ancient One, his master, which is not filled with glowing praise for him. In fact, it read as if he felt Strange followed him too closely, instead of "(fighting) his own way along the paths of magic." I'm not positive that journal wasn't a plant to damage Strange's confidence, but he also stops reading there! Maybe he proved the Ancient One wrong later. Kaluu also arrives, having been freed when the Book of the Vishanti was destroyed. Kaluu presents his own spin on events, arguing that while he may have committed a bit of evil here and there, didn't the Ancient One let a number of atrocities happen, that he could have stopped? Stephen may claim to not be a black magician; but Kaluu asks, is any action really "pure"? I don't think Strange is snowed by him, but still needs something to stop the world from dying, and is forced to team up.

The title of that one is probably from the works of psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp, which probably doesn't mean what you would think. Probably. If you meet the Buddha and think you can take him, well, who am I to stop you? Read more!

I don't usually scan the covers, but rest assured, that's what sold this one.

Seriously, check out the link for the Carl Potts cover: from 1987, Strange Tales #9, featuring "The Luminous Lady" Written by Terry Austin, breakdowns by Brett Blevins, inks by Bob Wiacek; and "African Genesis!" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Terry Shoemaker, inks by Randy Emberlin.

Per the GCD, this was the first appearance of Mr. Jip: we saw him back when we checked out the X-Men chapter of Atlantis Attacks, but the GCD seems to think he would go on to be "a major villain." Uh-huh. Cloak had lost his powers, and worried he would lose Dagger; so he took them back from a mysterious figure who said he could pay later...man, kids can be dumb sometimes. Cloak again "became the cursed mad custodian of darkness," but Dagger, who only wanted a normal life, was not thrilled with him and left. Now, the creepy darkness inside of him (which may or may not have been a separate entity, referred to as the predator) needed to feed; and while he was absorbing the city's light, he needed the "living light" of souls. So this month's guest-star, Dazzler, isn't as much help as you'd think!

Cloak has just enough willpower left to keep from feeding on the innocent Dazzler; but is then beaten by Night and Day, who seem to have powers not unlike Cloak and Dagger's, and who turn Cloak over to Mr. Jip. Meanwhile, with most of their supporting cast insane and feeling like she needed to talk to a "clear-thinking, always together, functional adult," Dagger goes looking for Spider-Man. She may be barking up the wrong tree there, but she finds a different guest-star next issue...

Meanwhile, Dr. Strange is in Africa this month--an Africa that looks like the American image of it circa the eighties and probably doesn't really resemble reality, even before we get to the creepy temple that seems to be harvesting the locals. Strange was not at the top of his game here: he was trying to stop an evil he had inadvertently released, but seemingly no longer had access to 'white' magic, only dark. His new trainer, Kaluu, berates Strange for not working with the tools at hand, but also seems suspicious as all get out.

I didn't read this regularly when it came out, but I remember an issue where the two features crossover; and Strange has to, for whatever reason, reverse-psychology Dagger to save Cloak. "Let him die, Dagger! It's for the best!" Hopefully we'll see that issue at some point here.
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