"The End" Week: Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #42!

Since I'm not sure where I put Star Wars #50, let's check out another title that ended this year: Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #42, "The Secret Weapon" Written by Ethan Sacks, pencils by Jethro Morales and Paolo Villanelli.

This, the aforementioned main Star Wars title, and the most recent Darth Vader series; were all set between Empire and Return; and all ended recently so new books set after Return could be launched. Bounty Hunters had of course featured the big guns, but had also brought back the cyborg Valance the Hunter from the first Marvel run. Valance challenges Jabba the Hutt, not for the captive Han Solo, but for his "secret droid." Jabba had schemed and weaseled, to get a "Megadroid," a superweapon that could've changed the course of the Clone Wars, had their factory not been blown up. He intends to make an example out of Valance, to show that bounty hunters were obsolete, and that extortion payments to the Hutts were about to go up. But Valance wasn't alone...

Besides 4-LOM and Zuckuss, and new hunters Losha and T'onga, Boba Fett was actually in on this as well: although he had made a show of stopping Valance, he also suggests putting him up against the Megadroid, because he didn't want that thing to upstage him. Valance and his crew defeat the massive droid and escape, which leaves the way open for Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca to rescue Han. (Valance and Han were old friends, possibly from when they were in the Empire.) The crew, and other bounty hunters from the series, go their own ways; with Valance rescuing and maybe rekindling an old flame.

I've only read a few random issues of this, but it was kind of charming? Like, it understands it can play with the toys, but each one could be somebody's favorite, so maybe don't break them? Even Dengar, who might be the butt monkey of the book, doesn't get completely killed. Valance gets a solid glow-up, though: despite being a 'borg, I wanna say he used to look like a 70's tough character actor, but is all handsome now! Well, maybe he had some work done...

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"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!

"Methodology."

We're a day ahead, since tomorrow's the Year in Toys! Read more!

"The End" Week: Edge of Spider-Verse #4!

There were a small fistful of new books that I picked up off the racks, because they were the last issues: I want to say I picked up the finale of the most recent Star Wars series, which featured Ben "Kylo Ren" Solo being a little bitch even as a kid. Spoiler: I didn't like that one. And this one I picked up on the strength of its cover, a homage to Star Wars #107! From 2024, Edge of Spider-Verse #4, featuring "The Hard Road" Written by Nilah Magruder, art by Marcus Williams and Eric Gapstur; "The Lizard's Tale" Written by Karla Pacheco, art by Pere Perez and Wade Von Grawbadger; and "In the Crosshairs" Written by Alex Segura, art by Salvador Larroca.

I think there had been a couple of these series, and the stories varied between introducing new characters that might be big going forward like Spider-Boy, or complete fluff. This one might be closer to the fluff side; but in the first story, Spider-Woman (from the Into the Spider-Verse movie) narrates for their kid, explaining their dad was nearly (that universe's) Hawkeye, who had gone at least a bit bad. Next, a Spider-Rex tale, as a small lizard injured in Rex's origin plots revenge, which is stupid, but also doesn't go well for him. (He had lost his tail, but multiple characters point out, he was a lizard, it'd grow back! Settle already.)

In the final story, Arana recruits "Weapon VIII," which maybe might get him out of the brainwashed-weapon gig. Don't love his costume though; and it's colored like Jim Lee-era Cyclops, which doesn't help. Read more!

"The End" Week: Guy Gardner: Warrior #44!

An unnecessary and repetitive fridging, and a bad guy that's killed off for like the ninth time already! If there was a "The End" drinking game that'd be at least two shots, but Guy would probably approve. From 1996, Guy Gardner: Warrior #44, "A Warrior's Passing, pt. 2: The Last Stand" Written by Beau Smith, pencils by Mitch Byrd, inks by Dan Davis.

Despite having a better, non-bowl haircut, Guy was in bad shape here, against Major Force, who had been killed by Guy before. Major Force was working for Martika: I don't know her deal, but he shakes her control anyway, and MF had killed Arisia the previous issue. (Like a lot of Green Lanterns, she would return, but I couldn't say how. Major Force gained infamy for killing Kyle Rayner's girlfriend Alex, who may be the only person whose name we knew that he killed that stayed dead!)

Turning his hands into buzzsaws, Major Force chews up Guy's guts, then kills Martika for good measure. Bleeding out, Guy realizes an organ they hadn't been able to figure out in his x-rays is a back-up heart, and pulls himself together. He blows a hole through MF, then shoves a grenade in his mouth, reasoning that MF had his Vuldarian DNA and could probably regenerate if he didn't. It's an empty victory, even if Guy says his fight will go on.

Then, two epilogues: the first, Parallax shows up to say good bye at Arisia's funeral, with art by Tom Grummett. Then, a jokey Joe Staton page, with Guy fuming over his cancellation. And Phil Jimenez gives a final page, of last call at Guy's bar. 

Pretty sure Guy will get another shot at a series when the new Superman movie comes out; but also pretty sure he's going to be rolled back from abrasive-but-charming to complete, possibly somewhat murdery, jerkhole. Maybe don't take him all the way back, DC?

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"The End" Week: X-Men #41!

This issue had two covers, one of which is a nice Adam Kubert number with a ton of X-Men. The actual comic, well...from 2013, X-Men #41, "Tin Man, part 2" Written by Seth Peck, pencils by Jefte Palo and Guillermo Mogorron, inks by Palo, Mogorron, and Lorenzo Ruggiero.

I think this series started in 2010, with the Dracula storyline "Curse of the Mutants," but this was post-San Francisco, and I'm thinking Nightcrawler was dead for this stretch, so I didn't read any of it? Judging by this issue, I wasn't missing much: today, it's the X-Men versus a new Freedom Force, over a new mutant with power over machinery, Owen. This Freedom Force appeared to be soldiers given implants, and it takes the X-Men a minute to switch partners and fight them to a stalemate, which makes it seem like Storm and Iceman didn't have their heads in the game today. In the end, Storm says they can't make Owen's choice for him, and he decides to become a government stooge. I don't know if he or this Freedom Force appeared again, but there's no personality in any of them, so no great loss.

This title was being phased out, since Brian Wood and Oliver Coipel would get a new X-Men #1 that year, leaning more on the X-Women. If it wasn't for the cover, I wouldn't have even picked this one up, and it's very obviously limping over the finish line. Read more!

"The End" Week: The Eternals #19!

I feel like I've brought this up before, and you guys maybe tarred me for it, but I didn't hate the Eternals movie. It maybe bit off more than it could chew, and I don't know if making them all mostly unlikeable space robots was a great idea; and a little friggin' color wouldn't have hurt...OK, I'm not really selling it there; but one swerve was that Druig--the moody prick with mind-control powers who seems to be living in a Jonestown kinda situation--seems like he's going to be the worst but then turns out to be right about a lot of things? I think the character was maybe a one-dimensional nutbag when first introduced, and um, still is today: he was the bad guy in Chasm: Curse of Kaine, probably as an expedient means of setting up a fight. But with all the later reveals and retcons, was Druig maybe right all along? Maybe we'll see: from 1978, the Eternals #19, "The Pyramid" Story and art by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer.

Druig was one of the "Polar Eternals," and man, I always forget how many of those guys there are? It's like the Inhumans, you always maybe see the same six or eight of 'em, but there's whole cities crammed full of more you usually only see in background shots; even though in the Eternals' case even Druig's little toadie Sigmar would have been crazy powerful. This issue, with Ikaris captured, Druig is free to head out to the "Pyramid of the Winds," where he's going to kick God in the teeth. Metaphorically: he's really gunning to destroy a Celestial! Ikaris is against it, saying the other Celestials would retaliate and destroy everything. Druig uses a little ice-sled vehicle to get to the Pyramid, which I thought was weird, since the Eternals can all fly; but the sled had force-fields to protect him from the Pyramid's "killing wind" defense. Unfortunately for him, he then finds a wall of doors marked with sigils, and didn't know the right one to choose...

Ikaris manages to free himself, and cows Sigmar into helping him: Sigmar had maybe been around the last time the Celestials visited earth, or at least had the gist of what happened, and claims they had fought amongst themselves, with one fatality. The Pyramid had been left behind and secreted by the Polar Eternals, but as they fly to it, a Celestial seems to be headed that way as well. As Sigmar leads Ikaris through the back way, Druig figures out the doors: the one marked with Ikaris's symbol! He finds "a pistol made for a giant's hand," a very Kirby space-gat. Ikaris catches up, and fights Druig, who uses flame-blasts here. Ikaris is at a disadvantage, since he was unwilling to murder his cousin; but Sigmar encourages him to disentegrate that fool before he blows up everything. Perhaps as a compromise, Ikaris disentegrates the space-gun, but the release of the energy therein engulfs and seemingly kills Druig.

Carrying the defeatist Sigmar, Ikaris escapes the collapsing Pyramid, but the energy was continuing to expand and destroy. The arriving Celestial stops it; leaving Ikaris to marvel at "an unconquerable enigma--mysterious and majestic among the creatures of the cosmos!" The final caption box, seemingly from the King himself, wonders if man might eventually gain the status to stand with them, and know their secrets. Which seems optimistic as all get out, today.

Still not sure about Druig's motive for Celestial-murder (Celesticide?) from this issue, but was he maybe right? I know I read a bit of Eternal stuff in their crossover with the Avengers and X-Men, but am vague on the details now. And like we said, Druig just appeared recently: it's not a modern classic, but I did like Chasm: Curse of Kaine. Perfectly readable mid-tier superhero book; and I like the notion of broody grump Kaine having to be the adult in the room, while his nutty 'brother' and his hot goth girlfriend play us-against-the-world. Read more!

"The End" Week: Motormouth & Killpower #12!

I loved the first issue of this book! But, their artist would go on to bigger things; the title somehow squandered guest-stars Nick Fury, the Punisher, Cable, and Death's Head II; and the second-banana somehow got second billing. From 1993, Motormouth & Killpower #12, "Unfinished Business" Written by Andrew Cartmel, pencils by Richard Elson, inks by Ramón Rosanas. 

 Motormouth was Harley Davis, a formerly homeless British teen, who had picked up some powers from Mys-Tech gear. Her sidekick/partner was Killpower, a massive genetically engineered super-soldier with huge guns (figurative and literal) and the mind of a child: he had been sent to hunt her down, but she would teach him to be better than his creators. I found him super-annoying, which makes me feel bad, since he would later get killed off in Revolutionary War, the 2014 Marvel UK event. 

 

This issue, a somewhat homesick Harley had wanted to revisit one of her old stomping grounds, only to find a giant skeletal monster that speaks in cliche panhandler lines. (This was of course from years before, but the overall effect is like them having to fight one of those giant Halloween decorations from Home Depot.) Death's Head II was also on the case, since it was an escaped A.I.M. project; Harley finishes it off by shooting it through the ear. But, she seems burned out by the violence and death. They teleport away, while a mysterious figure says soon she will work for him...which was a teaser for Dark Guard. 

 

A better teaser for Dark Guard? The back-up feature, with art by that series' artist, Carlos Pacheco! It's a slight but fun number, as Motormouth and Killpower bail on a distant planet, after KP insults the local "god," a jerky alien minotaur. The minotaur tries to re-assert itself, but bit off more than it could chew. ("The Prophet" Written by Mathew Hyde, pencils by Carlos Pacheco, inks by Oscar Jimenez.) 

 While they've appeared a few times since, Motormouth and Killpower are probably best remembered for a guest-spot in the Incredible Hulk, with their original artist, Gary Frank. When I was pitching who I would want for a Guardians of the Galaxy book; I wanted Motormouth and Dark Angel: Motormouth would be more fun than Lila Cheney, but Her/Kismet and Dark Angel would overlap, and I think three Marvel UK characters might be a lot...

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"The End" Week: Web of Spider-Man #129!

I'm 60% sure I bought this new, for the Overpower card. I didn't play it, but sure. Aw, no card in today's copy: from 1995, Web of Spider-Man #129, "Time Bomb, part 2: By My Hand, Mary Jane Must Die!" Plot by Tom DeFalco, script by Todd Dezago, breakdowns by Steven Butler, finishes by Randy Emberlin.

This last issue snuck up on me, since it doesn't have "collector's item last issue" all over the cover: instead, along with the Overpower corner tag, there's a logo for "Marvel Spider-Man Group," as this was when the Marvel universe was basically broken out into editorial fiefdoms. The New Warriors had been a de facto Spidey book since adding Scarlet Spider as a member, and they guest-star here; as a post-hypnotic command from the Jackal has turned Peter Parker to kill the person he loves most: Mary Jane. Spidey is more than a match for the short Warriors roster of Firestar, Justice, Speedball, Turbo, and Alex Power; but Mary Jane eventually escapes to the then-deceased Aunt May's house. Surrounded by memories of their loved ones, Mary Jane has faith that Peter can beat "the Jackal's ghost," and he does. Of course, she also had Scarlet Spider in reserve: he held back for her to try and reach Peter.

Next month would be the start of four issues as Web of Scarlet Spider, although Ben appeared to have his Sensational Spider-Man costume before that ended. Man, this comic is packed with tie-in ads for the Fox SPIDER-MAN cartoon, from Fruit Roll-Ups, Eskimo Pie and Welch's; yet in-continuity both the traditional Spidey suit and the Scarlet Spider sweatshirt were about to be hung up for a stretch. Read more!

"The End" Week: Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (180)!

I didn't write these all at once, but I would've had to space them out--so to speak. From 2021, Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (Legacy #180), "Then It's Us" Written by Al Ewing, art by Juan Frigeri. 

The cover event blurb is "The Last Annihilation," and this is the big finish: Dormammu has possessed Ego the Living Planet, and was now a colossal, galactic-level force of destruction. The Guardians are pulling out all the stops, working with both the mutants of Krakoa (they maybe hadn't colonized Mars/Arrako at that point) and Doctor Doom, who performs an elaborate ritual with Drax, Moondragon, Star-Lord, and Groot to drain energy from Dormammu. Doom then sends the heroes off to battle...

Meanwhile, Nova is getting ready for a suicide run, to punch the planet-sized Dormammu in the kisser: Gamora refuses to leave him alone, although she's not the type to say "I love you" but definitely the type to want to be there to say "I told you so." Their moment is interrupted by Rocket, who arrives with a big gun and a bullet of anti-magic mysterium from Krakoa. Star-Lord and Groot arrive, with Star-Lord and Nova powering the bullet, and Gamora taking the shot. She playfully accuses Rocket of being lazy, but he defers to the deadliest woman in the galaxy, who blows a massive hole through Dormammu/Ego; banishing Dormammu back to the Dark Dimension, and reducing Ego to an asteroid belt. (Oh, he'll be back, he's taken worse than that!)

Doom confers with his...not partner, certainly: ally? Pawn? Lackey? Sister Talionis now had rule over whatever was left of the Chitauri; and while Doom hadn't gotten everything he had wanted, he came out well ahead with a ton of mystic power, that may or may not have come into play the next time he was seen. At Gosnell's bar, the Guardians catch up, including members of their extended roster like Quasar, Hercules, and Noh-Varr. Peter, Rich, and Gamora are looking forward to a vacation, and look like a better throuple than Scott, Jean, and Logan.

I think I came to this title late in the game, because I saw Quasar was back; but I stuck around for the next series since writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing had done some Star Trek I just loved. They haven't wowed me since, though; and their run was only 10 issues and an annual to wrap up. Some of that could be MCU fatigue; or the fact that this would be what, like the third time the Guardians had built a deep bench of supporting characters, that would be either forgotten or benched in a new run to hew more closely to the MCU lineup; even if like Iron Man I don't know that the movies improved sales of the actual comics the least little bit. Just a matter of time until yet another relaunch, of course: I wouldn't mind a Rocket/Groot fronted book, with, um, let's see...Death's Head, Her/Kismet, maybe Lila Cheney...unless I could use Rom, then all bets are off.  

And I loaded the wrong scan here...twice. Ugh, skill issue.

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"The End" Week: Guardians 3000 #8!

For a couple years there, Marvel seemed to be flooding the racks with series, most of which lasted four or five issues, tops. Were they just limited series that weren't marketed as such? Would they have continued if the sales numbers had been there? I don't know if that's any way to run a railroad, since a creative team might not hang around waiting to hear if they should work on more issues or not. So, I wonder if this was intended to go on, or if it was written with this end in mind: from 2015, Guardians 3000 #8, "World Enough and Time" Written by Dan Abnett, art by Nico Leon, color art by Edgar Delgado and Antonio Fabela. Cover by Gerardo Sandoval and Edgar Delgado. (Just uploaded that to the GCD! Hopefully it doesn't have my big ol' thumbprint on it.)

With the reality of the 31st century collapsing, the future Guardians of the Galaxy have travelled back to 2015, and worked with the present Guardians team on the problem. Time was collapsing, with the problem centered on an unassuming home in Forest Hills, NY; and this issue, Yondu and young Geena Drake enter the home...of Michael Korvac. Geena was a new addition, a refugee with the "ability to sense time structure," and she was named after the team's original creators, Arnold Drake and Gene Colan. (Her middle name's probably Roy, since somehow Roy Thomas also has creator credit!) While both Guardians teams and the Avengers were stuck outside fighting the "A-Sentience" robots (possibly related to the Stark, from early on in the 90's series!) Korvac explains how he's creating a new order, even if it looks like he's destroying realities. He describes Geena as a singular point, that there was only one of her in the multiverse, which makes her a stable reference point...and right about there, Yondu puts an arrow in Korvac's head.

This stops the fight outside, just before Rocket hacked the A-Sentience! The present Guardians and the Avengers disappear, and time continues glitching, as the future Guardians keep changing looks. The damaged Korvac explains, this wasn't his doing, but something else, something from outside. Geena implores him, to do what he had planned, to save some reality; but that just throws her through multiple changes, including a quick stop in Avengers #177! Finally, she finds herself, with the five original Guardians, in their earliest looks; and Starhawk tells her Korvac had failed to stop the incursion, but the reality failure has been localized to...the entire multiverse. Still, maybe if Geena holds on...as everything fades to black, she screams, what did that mean? Secret Wars #1, that's what! Which was kind of a hard stop to a number of series.

I'm not sure the classic Guardians have appeared since, although it's been almost 10 years, so they could have. Korvac's appeared since, after all. Read more!