I've mentioned other issues of this series that I've bought more than once, and I'm maybe missing one that I probably had, but today we've got one I hadn't read before! From 1985, Conan the King #27, "A Death in Stygia" Written by Alan Zelenetz, breakdowns by Marc Silvestri, finishes by Geof Isherwood.

A dark issue this time around, as a long-standing foe of Conan's returns, even if he isn't referred to by name here: Thoth-Amon. A fisherman and his wife had found his Serpent's Ring in a fish, and thought it would bring them good fortune: hard no there. The ring frees Thoth from the netherworld, and he wastes no time setting up with one of Conan's baron's, the inept failson Maloric. I would've expected him to be a bit more perturbed that Conan had managed to become a king, but he merely watches through his magic, disgusted at the barbarian's happy family life, but seeing potential in Conan's youngest son, Taurus.

Thoth tracks down the ring, but finds the fisherman and his wife murdered, their child seemingly dumbfounded by the loss. Summoning a spirit from the deeps, he is told the ring had been "claimed by one of his own kind,' which Thoth takes to mean a trip to Stygia was in order. In the cursed city of Neethu, within the black hyena sphinx, he finds a gathering of wizards, who have no idea about the Serpent Ring, but are also nowhere near a match for him even as a group. Thoth murders them all horribly, but then laments the impulsive overuse of his magics. He still had enough juice to look through the "mists of time," which mostly catches us up on Conan's regularly-scheduled plotlines, but is blocked from seeing who now had the ring. Furious, Thoth plans to find and kill them, and then Conan; while back at the fisherman's shack, the bodies are found by their neighbors, who are at least grateful the couple didn't have children to leave as orphans...and nearby, the formerly dumbfounded child contemplates the Ring, with evil eyes.

Despite having read so much Conan, I really don't know if I've seen Thoth-Amon that often? Possibly to avoid overuse, cheapening him; although I think Jason Aaron uses him in his King Conan story, as kind of a loser: Conan had become a king, had a family, lived a massively rich life; and what had Thoth-Amon done?

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"Incendiary."

I usually work more full-script than I did this week, we'll see how that goes...Also, I may be fudging a few things, based on what I remembered (or mis-remembered) about our bad guys. For instance, even with the guitar, I thought Hypno-Hustler's hypnosis (which I spelled wrong and had to re-do as well!) was light-based, from the goggles, but it's sound-based. Like Crossfire, who is here for another reason, since I thought he had some stints as an arms dealer; but he and Hypno both use sonic control mechanisms; apparently developed independently, so there may be some professional jealousy. The Dark Avengers Spider-Man, Ai Apaec, was a last-second add here: I'm virtually positive I've never read a comic where he had a line, but he might not be real integrated into modern society maybe. 

 And Kaine! But how--isn't he really--well, we'll see later. But man, Kaine's magenta cape-shawl thing pops, doesn't it? I had bought him earlier and not opened him, then found another cheap at Ross, so here he is.

Oh, and we've seen that Gamma bomb before! It was part of a lot of loose accessory pieces on eBay.

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It's maybe OK to gawk when he's fighting a lion, but embracing his wife...?

Even I'm barely old enough to remember, but Tarzan used to be a prestige gig. Still, there's a right way and a wrong way to do things, and Marvel unsurprisingly chose the latter here. Although it may have been a creative choice as well! From 1977, Tarzan #2, "The Road to Opar!" Adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar by Roy Thomas, art by John Buscema.

Tarzan was returning home with a guest, Jules Frecoult, whom he had saved from a lion. But "Jules" was really Albert Werper, a Belgian deserter who had killed his commanding officer and fell in with some bandits who wanted to be rid of Tarzan. After Jane recounts Tarzan's origin to him, Albert eavesdrops on the couple--not like that! Well, at least not like that right away: Tarzan tells Jane, their finances back in England had gone bust. Probably due to foul play or dirty deeds, sure, but that left Tarzan forced to come up with quick cash the only way he could: a trip to the lost city of Opar for some gold. Jane knew it was dangerous, probably least of all because the city's queen La wanted Tarzan for herself; but the trip gives Albert an idea--to kill Tarzan after the trip, to steal the gold as well? Yeah, look at the big idea man. I'm sure that'll go well for him.

Despite the prestige of Thomas and Buscema, Mark Evanier noted they were kind of barking up the wrong tree there: Tarzan was more popular in the foreign markets, and they didn't want adaptations, but that's what Thomas decided they should do. The foreign markets also wanted something like the Russ Manning version, while Buscema wanted to do a Joe Kubert-style. Even the number of pages wasn't right for the overseas sales! But, as we've seen, Marvel would keep trying to squeeze that square peg in a round hole for over two years. Which still seems like a bit of a run, considering Star Wars would've just come out, and sci-fi would've been bigger than big then. Still, it feels like whenever anyone gets the Tarzan license, the first thing they want to do is the origin yet again, when maybe they should do something newer. Read more!

Maybe that was a load-bearing hour...

My Youngest lives in Arizona right now, so he doesn't have to mess with time-changes, but I'm not sure I mind it: I was going to say I usually start work when it's pitch-black out, but looking it up, the average sunrise time around here is 5:09 AM. But, it's still overtime season, which I'm not loving: I'm not putting in the max, which feels like leaving money on the table, but I'm there long enough that my brain is fried after. So fried, I didn't read a lot last week; but we did get to a few! From 2021, Children of the Atom #5, written by Vita Ayala, art by Paco Medina, color art by David Curiel.

This was a mini-series, set during the Krakoa era, but despite the name, the kids of the new super-team Children of the Atom weren't mutants. They had found alien tech, which with some trial, error, and after-market touch-ups; they managed to create identities resembling X-Men. They spend a good chunk of the run trying to figure out how to get to Krakoa, since the teleportation gates would usually only take mutants; but they get captured by Orchis. More specifically, Dr. Barrington and the U-Men, who seemed like white supremicists that still wanted to steal mutant powers to improve themselves. Fortunately, one of the Children, Daycrawler Nighty-Nightcrawler escaped, and returned with several real X-Men! (The kid's costume made his hands and feet look like Nightcrawler's, but were really normal.)

Also in continuity at this point, was "Kamala's Law," basically forbidding teenage superheroes; so while the X-Men are grateful for the assist and flattered by the imitations, Cyclops also tells the kids to hang it up and go home. (Which is a load, since Cyke had been one of the original new Champions; which meant he had been a teenage hero himself, twice!) But one of the kids, Gimmick, is given an invite to Krakoa, since she was developing mutant powers of her own. Which then puts her in the awkward position of living la vida Krakoa, or staying with her friends...(Spoiler: she would appear again later!)

 I got five of the six issues from the dollar bin the other day, and it's fun, with probably more teen angst and drama than has maybe been in the X-books for a while. 

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I came back across these in a box, and tried to remember if I'd blogged Starstream's adaptation of 'Who Goes There?' That was from the first issue, and I'd also blogged the fourth issue. Two to go, then, so best get started! From 1976, Starstream #2. Cover by Ron Miller.

The opener, "Night of the Storm," probably inspired some jokes in Futurama: in a future where humanity has been extinct for centuries, robots have an elaborate, thriving society. But, sometimes they need to unwind a bit, and some opt for a bit of hunting, made sporting by "reducing their faculties," deactivating functions like night-vision and flight. While stunning a deer is exhilerating for one, another finds tracks: human tracks! But were they even real...? (Written by Dean Koontz, adapted by Wallace I. Green, art by Frank Bolle.)

"The Brain Traveler" finds a starving artist, abducted by a tycoon, intent on extracting information from the artist's brother. The artist's dead brother. Slight, but some interestingly odd imagery. (Written by Arnold Drake, art by Al McWilliams. This was maybe one of the few in this series that wasn't an adaptation!)

I've read a bit of Larry Niven, but this was new to me: "The Flight of the Horse," although the original title "Get a Horse" is more accurate: a bumbling future researcher is sent back in time, to recover a horse for some bigwig jerk's kid's birthday party. Surprise, it doesn't go smoothly. (Adapted by Allan Moniz, art by Jose Delbo.)

"Collecting Team" seems ridiculously unsafe, but back in the days of safaris and "bring 'em back alive" that's how they thought spacemen would roll: a crew sent to bring back specimens think they've hit the motherlode, on a planet teeming with creatures. More than could be explained by evolution...and someone keeps sabotaging the ship! Does someone on the crew want to stay, or is there another explanation? (Written by Robert Silverberg, adapted by Steve Skeates, pencils by Giorgio Cambiotti, inks by Mario Pedrazzi.)

Arnold Drake gets another original here, with "The Utopia Tree." Sent from an earth besieged with strikes and shortages, a mineralogist finds a tree that can create seemingly anything?  But what will the people of earth ask of it, after everyone has one? (Spoiler alert: earth is full of selfish dickheads.) Art by Jack Sparling. 

Finally, "The Phoenix Planet" finds more explorers, one of whom plans to mine an energy source from a planet wrecked by wheat blight brought by earlier colonizers. But the planet has dangers--and natives--that they might not expect. (Written by Mary Schaub, adapted by Arnold Drake, art by Jose Delbo.)

I might have to get to the remaining issue sooner rather than later! 

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I was going to say the CW's Legends of Tomorrow did this, but then again I think the Flash did as well: occasionally, for narrative purposes a character's arc might be over and they could be written out, but the show slotted the actor or actress over to another role, seemingly just because they liked having them around. Today's book has long been in development for a TV show, and I wonder if they might not do the same thing--in fact, this very issue does as well! From 1987, Strikeforce: Morituri #13, "Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye..." Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by Scott Williams.

The remnants of the first and second generation Morituri team was heading back from Jupiter in a stolen Horde ship, having taken the fight to them against orders. Adept had absorbed a ton of scientific data from the Horde, but also knew she was on the way out, that the Morituri effect was killing her. From space, they can see that a sizable chunk of Canada was on fire: their base, Morituri Mountain, had been blasted by the Horde. Back on earth, Commander Pogorelich was given command of the new Morituri, third-generation class; after the death of previous leader Commander Nion. The press conference for the rookies is called off, as they are sent to arrest their predecessors.

The first-gen batch lands in Detroit, although Adept had already passed. (She doesn't explode, as most of them had, and seemed to have died relatively peacefully.) When the authorities try to arrest them, Aline slaps down a cop and gets shot, but the crowd sides with them, and they escape in the cops' flyer. Talking it over at an old factory, the remaining five are divided as far as next steps: a court-martial wouldn't mean much, they were all already dead; but were they above the law? Before coming to any conclusions, they are attacked by the rookies, one of whom had been the actor portraying their old teammate Vyking in the holo-movies, now with powers himself! While the rookies seemed to just be doing their jobs, some of the originals are a little put-out, feeling their sacrifices weren't being respected; so some feelings are hurt during the fight. Eventually, the rookie Wildcard, who could copy the powers of nearby other Morituri, melts down--the Morituri process would kill inside of a year; they weren't guaranteed any stretch of time--but Aline thinks he absorbed her death, which might have bought her some time.

After that, and the usual momentary freakouts from a couple members, the fight was over; and the first-gen agrees to come in, while both sides have seemingly bonded over Wildcard's--and their own impending--death. As they are taken away, Aline asks to see Adept's body, but it had already been taken for autopsy.

Also this issue: the far more cheerful behind-the-scenes story, "How Peter & Brent Create (and Destroy) Strikeforce Morituri" (Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by Scott Williams.) Together, they work on the grueling process of character creation, with Brent doted upon by Shanna and Zabu from his time on Ka-Zar, and I love Peter considering his Chris Claremont poster. Carl Potts guest-stars, to yell at them that the book was late, but this was a double-sized issue! Be cool, man. Read more!

"Flameproof."

I don't think I've read a ton of the more-recent stories where Dragon Man has been part of the Future Foundation, and far more intelligent than his earlier appearances. Which didn't stop me from ordering his figure! Especially since I, like most people, missed his earlier Fantastic Four figure: I think that was from the same wave as the Impossible Man that we've seen here a few times, but DM was gone by the time I got there. Read more!