Over the years, we've briefly glanced at the other three annuals in the "Lifeform" crossover:
Punisher Annual #3,
Incredible Hulk Annual #16, and
Silver Surfer Annual #3, but I couldn't even recall if I had read the missing second chapter here. And it's got a
fifteen page Fatboys story, and I realize why I probably kept my two dollars in my pocket.
From 1990,
Daredevil Annual #6, all stories written by Gregory Wright.
The Lifeform plot continues, at least tangentially, in all of the stories. In the lead, "Predator," reporter Ben Urich works on the case in his best clipped-delivery narration, while Daredevil tries to stop the mutated and insane George Prufrock. Who is also super-infectious, which seems like it would be more of a hazard to somebody who led with his fists like DD. Prufrock, and later an infected cop, both seem to see a lot of angel-demon hallucination imagery, which is probably always a problem when DD's around. Urich's source was a scientist, that wanted the virus to save himself...somehow; but Prufrock is seemingly killed again. Which just means he'll bubble back up in the next annual. (Art by
2000 AD great Cam Kennedy.)
Next...ugh, the Fatboys. I don't know if somebody thought the world really needed a street version of the Little Rascals, but here we are. I swear they've shown up in 14 annuals by this point and they always suck, hard. One of them claims he could've taken the Lifeform, but skates away screaming with the rest when it lurches out of a dumpster at them. This, and the lead, also feature Jet and Spit, the Wildboys; who only barely beat the Fatboys as my least favorite recurring characters possibly in anything. And there's a junior varsity skate gang in this, the Tunnel Teens, between the youthful shenanigans of the Fatboys and the cliched thuggery of the Wildboys, but they don't seem a match for either. Hate this, hate them. Even Daredevil seems less cool for having to be in this one. (Art by Gary Hartle and Mike DeCarlo.)
Slightly more interesting: Thomas Sutton on "Innocent Bystander?" Daredevil warns a cop not to touch the Lifeform's severed arm, but he gets infected. That's okay, he was a rotten cop--on the take--and a rotten husband, with a wife and a mistress. Both of whom show up in the hospital, as he strokes out screaming about the pit: they're just lucky not to get infected themselves. Sutton's art is great, there's just not enough there to work with.
Lastly, the...not-so-charmingly titled, "Two Schizos," with art by Michael Bair, pits the Lifeform against Typhoid Mary. Both of them have multiple voices in their heads, you see...yeah. The Lifeform opts out of eating Typhoid, since it thinks she's "beaut-i-ful," but she sets him on fire a bit. Only the influence of Mary stops her, which leaves the Lifeform to search for other food.
Well, at least I can confirm I've read this now? That's...yeah.
Poor George. After looking back at the last chapter you posted from SS Annual#3 it really struck me how sad the ending to the story was, but how there's always been potential for another writer to bring Lifeform back in a sequel of sorts that hopefully would give him/it a proper ending to his/its suffering.
ReplyDeleteThen again, maybe Lifeform's plight might've already been solved by the entire MU being rebooted after Secret War, who knows.
Yeah good point about who seemingly ineffective a guy who mainly solves fights with just his fists (and feet and billy clubs...) probably would be against a walking, infectious petri dish on two legs.
I can also see why you're not a big fan of these "Fatboys" characters. They really do come off as poor successors to the Yancy Street gang don't they? Thankfully they seem to have largely been forgotten to the sands of time.