I don't get this title, but writer Mike W. Barr would use it again for an issue of
Mantra! From 1985,
Batman and the Outsiders Annual #2, "Dissembler at the Wedding" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by David Ross, inks by Dan Adkins.
This was the wedding of Rex (Metamorpho) Mason and Sapphire Stagg, after a few hiccups; like a duplicate Rex showing up at the altar and kidnapping Sapph, and poisoning everyone there. Late arrival Bruce Wayne is able to save them, then change to Batman, and has to clear the usual suspect: Simon Stagg, who never approved of Rex seeing his daughter, but had got poisoned with everybody else. The gas was the handiwork of an old foe of theirs: Tremayne, a traitor scientist from
Brave and the Bold #58, Metamorpho's second appearance! Tremayne had lost Sapphire's mother to Simon and never got over it, so had built a new mantis-robot and "
chemical mimic shape-shifter "Even Steven" to help him get Sapphire instead. He was pretty old and seemed more than a bit senile, but, he was on the ball enough to hire help against the Outsiders: the Masters of Disaster! Neither Tremayne nor Simon seem like a catch, even if they were probably both rich. Sapphire looked like her mom and was gorgeous but a bit soft. Her standing up to Tremayne and saying she wasn't her mom, was like a Spider-Man lifting a heavy thing moment for her.
The Masters had faced the Outsiders before, maybe a couple times by now; and the youngest, Windfall, seemed soft on Halo. This time around we learn why: Halo resembled her dead mom, who had been killed by her sister, New Wave. The team couple, Coldsnap and Heatstroke, are distracted at a crucial moment by a junked solar battery, which they think they can use to cure their condition: their powers hurt each other, so they could no longer touch. Unfortunately for them, Katana and Batman assume they're up to no good, and trash the machine, and them. Rex fights his way past the mantis-robot, then faces Even Steven, who copies not only his powers, but his love for Sapphire: Steven sacrifices himself, taking Tremayne with him.
Long-suffering unfrozen-caveman lackey Java fails to stop the Masters from escaping, while Rex wants to call off the wedding, feeling he couldn't put Sapphire in any more danger. Simon, who probably wasn't turning over a new leaf here, has to admit this one wasn't Rex's fault, and his element powers had saved her. The couple is finally wed; although there was a subscription ad for the Batman-less Outsiders, so there wasn't a ton of time left: Rex wouldn't survive to the end of the series, but would be back in
Invasion! and
Justice League Europe.
I don't know why, but for some reason I initially had him confused with Chilblain, the guy who killed Captain Cold's sister pre-Phew52 reboot.
ReplyDeleteI see he's made various appearances here & there in different forms of media, from comics, to role-playing games to cartoons, but was never again paired w/ Heatstroke following CRISIS.
There was a decent amount of time left- the regular series lasted about half a year of new material and the Outsiders lasted another 2-3 years after that. Plus, like you said, Rex was back for Invasion! and JLE not long after.
ReplyDeleteMasters of Disasters had faced the Outsiders plenty of times by this point, practically to the point of being arch-enemies. Kobra was more of an arch-enemy after this point and the Masters (except for New Wave) basically called a truce after the next fight.
I've said it before and I'll say it again- BATO is a vastly underrated series.