I don't know if or when I'll find the next issue, and get to use "Back to S.K.U.L." as a post title.

The three-buck copy I bought was a bit doodled on, but it's such a cover I couldn't resist it! The story inside wasn't what I expected, though: from 1966, Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane #63, "The Satanic Schemes of S.K.U.L.!" Written by Leo Dorfman, art by Kurt Schaffenberger.

When Perry White takes a temporary appointment as senator...for whatever state Metropolis is in...Van Benson is made his replacement at the Daily Planet. Lois would rather see them promote from within--probably her if she could sit still for that job--but initially finds Van handsome. Then a slave driver, but she still agrees to dinner with him, and he takes her to the smancy Kitten Club, the top spot in town, and where everyone knows your name. Or, at least all the girls seem to know Van. The club has an elaborate stage show, with Tamara, mistress of the whip, snagging Van's eyeglasses case with it. Van explains, it's all part of the act, and they'd be returned later. The coat-check girl returns them to Lois for him, and she checks them out--and they seem to have a secret anti-Superman message on the lenses!

Lois starts working the case, which leads to a secret cult: Superman Killers' Underground League! S.K.U.L. meet wearing hoods, but then use "some weird fluorescent effect" to appear as skeletons; which I guess is thematically on point? The leader appears as a red skeleton (not that one, although rest assured, they don't skip that joke) and lights a series of candles, shaped like Superman's friends, to symbolize their deaths. It would admittedly be somewhat terrifying to watch a bunch of chanting weirdos burn a candle shaped like me, I have to admit. Lois then goes undercover at the Kitten Club, using Superman interplanetary trophies borrowed from Jimmy, to pass herself off as a magician. (Supes probably specifically asked Jimmy to keep those trophies out of the wrong hands...) She eventually infiltrates S.K.U.L. and wins a drawing for the plum assignment, of murdering Superman!

Unfortunately, Lois's instructions are in code, so she brings in Lana to help her break it. The message gives a meeting point, to pick up "Weapon X" (not that--oh, never mind) so Lois and Lana decide to get a message to Superman, on the front page of the Planet. But, they're stopped before it hits print, by Superman, who badmouths their lamebrain scheme as gumming up his chance to take out S.K.U.L. If they were so smart, why didn't they see through his Clark Kent disguise? But this isn't Superman--or Clark--it's Van Benson in disguise! But, he wasn't the leader of S.K.U.L. like Lois thought, he was an undercover agent! Or was he...? To be continued...and I don't have the next issue yet, so it might be a bit. All the stage-show stuff seems vaguely familiar, though, like from a horror movie I might'a seen on Svengoolie: Cult of the Cobra maybe...no, something with more of a Satany/voodoo vibe, maybe more John Hoyt. Read more!

It's never a great day when that card shows up, is it?

Well, maybe it will be for us? Here's hoping. From 2007, Moon Knight #13, "The Uses of Restraint" Written by Charlie Huston, pencils by Tomm Coker, 3-D models by Don Cameron. (That's a credit I don't think we've seen here before!)

This feels a bit like a connecting issue between storylines, as it opens with Khonshu, appearing as the face-removed Bushmaster in an Iron Man suit, browbeating Marc into doing his job. To Marc, that's avenging and protecting the innocent, but to Khonshu right now it appears to be spreading the gospel through the ol' ultra-violence. That's illustrated by longtime MK supporting character Detective Flint, who is given the freak beat, and has to kick loose a child abuser for lack of evidence. He does take a picture of the crescent moon carved in the perp's skull for evidence, and advises that was basically a friendly warning, Moon Knight would check back with him, and next time...things would get serious. (Not unlike Marc at the start of this series, Flint is beat down and exhausted here; possibly by having seen too much horrible crap over the years; but aside from maybe the hassle of paperwork, I don't think Flint gives a crap about Marc repeatedly violating sex criminals' civil rights and/or bodily integrity.) Likewise, Marc's old friends Marlene and Frenchie both have lovers convinced they're bored with them, and that they want to get back with the more thrilling Marc. Maybe for Marlene: while Frenchie's relationship seemed sincere, Marlene's panties almost literally drop at the sight of Marc back in action in Vengeance of the Moon Knight #1. That was much later, of course: here, Marlene and her guy are mugged, and she adminsters a Khonshu-worthy beating on her assailant.

Next, as part of the post-Civil War Initiative, Marc has a psych eval with smug manipulator Dr. Depford, who seemingly tries to provoke a response from him, and is curious why he hasn't registered his super-powers. Marc demurs, that he hasn't had full-on powers for years, and that they were...overrated, and made you cocky. In response, Depford raises a shade, exposing Marc to the moon, then asks if he could speak with Mr. "Lockely" and Mr. Grant. Marc again defers: Grant and Lockley weren't real, they had merely been aliases. Of course, Lockley and Grant then speak with Depford, who had already considered Marc unstable and unfit, before Khonshu speaks through Marc. Even though I sometimes refer to him as Marc's boss, Khonshu was a god, and could turn it on as needed: he sees right through Depford, calling him a jealous tattletale, like he could view every sin of the man's life. Depford kneels, completely broken to Khonshu's will, and while Marc is still seemingly unconscious, Moon Knight is quickly ratified and verified as a licensed, card-carrying super-hero. (Unless of course, you still believed 'Khonshu' was just another of Marc's personalities, albeit a forceful one; but that ship has kinda sailed.)

After a brief chat with the Profile, who had given him intel on Depford, Marc suits up, and goes to town on a criminal that avoided extradition; as an interview with then-S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark plays on the radio. While paying lip service to the notion that "anyone" could apply to be a hero, Stark mentions "that said, we're not going to be passing out licenses to any whacko who stumbles in off the street." "Whacko" might be telling there; that was an occasional nickname for West Coast Avengers, like Tony and Marc! Moon Knight apparently kills--or at least savagely beats--three criminals, leaving them with crescents carved on their foreheads, and one with MK's registration paperwork shoved in his mouth.

While Marlene returns to Marc, Frenchie helps with the move of some of Marc's gear, which appears to culminate in burning down Spector's mansion. Frenchie ruminates, that Marc is unable to give up the past, or leave the field of battle gracefully; while Marlene already seems to be regreting her choice...This was the last issue for Charlie Huston, who really got Moon Knight started again. The next issue would be three months later, but somewhat surprisingly, not another #1. Read more!

Shang-Chi, robot fighter!

I bought the comic version Marvel Legends of Shang-Chi--yeesh, back in 2020 again! Like the week before COVID! But I saw a picture on BlueSky the other day with the aftermarket red robes, that looked great; a vast improvement. I don't think I'm a big enough fan to spring for one, but...it's tempting. Anyway, let's flip through a cheap old one: from 1979, Master of Kung Fu #74, "Brynocki Triumphant" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Mike Zeck, inks and letters by Bruce Patterson.

This was the penultimate issue of the "Mordillo's Island" storyline, as Shang, series regulars Leiko Wu and Black Jack Tarr, and former MI6 agent and electricity enthusiast Shockwave (not that one! Or that one!) are forced to band together and attempt to escape said island. Mordillo was dead as hell, but his little robot Brynocki was still commanding an army of robot thugs and remarkably loyal to his dead boss. With the end goal of killing Leiko, he was briefly partnered with Shockwave, but turned against him when Shockwave started acting crazy after a crash: he wasn't particularly stable, and a concussion probably didn't help.

Shang disarms Shockwave's suit, so he wouldn't be electrocuted when they jump off a cliff into the ocean; but the four are then faced with the Monstrobot! Which I remember from an old blog, that I'm glad is still there.

That little weirdo Brynocki probably wasn't expected to return here, and oddly enough, he'd return a couple more times! He's in Rom #47, although he'd be overshadowed by the new Dire Wraith design.  

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"Drop."

H.E.R.B.I.E. shows up here and there in the Contest of Champions game: he's part of Mr. Fantastic's special move, and he's been the narrator/presenter for a few quests. I forget if he's in the books right now, though: last I recollect, Valeria had given him free will--and swears--in Incoming #1 back in 2020. That feels like a hundred years ago, but January was 40 years long so that makes sense. 

Tony was actually there last time Satana saw Deadpool, in "Idea," but Pool was dressed up like the Punisher and not the big red Venompool version. Like most Marvel heroes, they consider symbiotes gross, at best.

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Well, we've mentioned this one more than once, and I thought I had read it before, but this issue was new to me today: from 1998, The Punisher #1, "Puratory, part 1: the Harvest" Written by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, pencils by Bernie Wrightson, inks by Jimmy Palmiotti.

This is the first issue of the infamous "angel" Punisher, as Frank is now a more supernatural agent of vengeance, with a mysterious sigil on his forehead and pulling guns seemingly out of nowhere. As he guns his way through a drug factory, he also has visions of what appears to be his suicide. Meanwhile, some fallen angels are killed by another who fell harder, Cousin Oliver. Okay, the bad angel's name is Olivier. After the fall, the other devils punished him further by reincarnating him as a human, in a dead baby. Olivier definitely talks like he's lived on earth, declaring an angel "tastes like chicken."

Things are further complicated, when Frank stops a fat slob from beating his wife, and he realizes he knows her, a friend's sister. Frank remembers her from "a time before the Punisher," which seems like the least believable thing in this comic: he's idolized that time, but I don't think he really remembers it. (EDIT: Also, Frank's identity was not a secret, but would've been highly publicized--there probably would've been 48 hours of 48 Hours about him; Lucy should know this.)  But, Frank does think he had died, and then sees his wife and kids. They lead him up a fire escape to a roof, then disappear, a trick from a dying angel, a Grigori. He sends Frank to another, a fallen angel who confesses, he had brought Frank back, in an attempt to make amends, since he had been the guardian angel for Frank's wife and kids...and failed there. Frank has a gun in his face immediately, but honestly, that's his answer to everything. 

 God, this made me just want to read Ennis/Dillon's Punisher #1 immediately. I'm not mad at anybody involved; I'm pretty sure they were told to try something new, but that wasn't it. I'm pretty sure I have another issue of Starlin and Wrightson's Punisher P.O.V. around here somewhere: I hadn't realized that was originally going to be a sequel to Batman: the Cult. Which is another one we should take a look at (even if it won't fit in the scanner!) but P.O.V. makes better use of Wrightson's monsters. Anyhow, I got all four issues of this from my local shop's dollar bin, so I'll read the rest later.

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I'm now up to 12 volumes, and 3 action figures!

Because this is my busy season at work, I've been putting in overtime--it'll probably cover my action figure budget for the year, so I shouldn't complain, but I do! Oh, god, how I do. I'm tired, and barely had time to read anything last week. But, I did read another volume of Chainsaw Man, which has been great! Volume 12 was the start of a new storyline, Chainsaw's not in a large chunk of it, and it's still great! I don't know how intentional it is, but it kind of flips the usual superhero "protect their secret identity at all costs" trope on its head, and closes with a pretty perfect encapsulation of that Firefly meme where he's just dumbstruck with the terribleness of somebody's idea, in this case Denji's.

Malreynolds Firefly GIFfrom Malreynolds GIFs

Then, when I was out getting groceries, I found the latest Chainsaw Man figure marked down, and I'm not made outta stone. Extra arms and face pieces!

How often are people worried about looking dumb, when sometimes the stuff that sounds the dumbest is actually the coolest? Hopefully, I'll get to watch the anime sometime. Although, at first listen, isn't the opening to his theme there the first bars in Fugazi's "Waiting Room"? Read more!

It's been months since I blogged a random issue of Marvel Comics Presents, and I feel like we've seen some of the other serials in this one; but at least one story got my attention--achtung, you might say! From 1994, Marvel Comics Presents #156, cover by Colin MacNeil.

We checked out MCP #158 some time back; which had later chapters from this one: here, we've got the first part of a Vengeance serial (as he gets his powers stolen by Phantome) and a Shang-Chi one with so many caption boxes; as well as the second part of a Namorita/Kymaera New Warriors story. (It gets labelled a New Warriors story on the cover, since Kymaera probably didn't have the name recognition at that point.) (Vengeance page from "Altered Spirits, part 1" Written by Chris Cooper, breakdowns by Reggie Jones, inks by Fred Harper.)

But, the standalone fourth story is the good one, featuring the Destroyer! Or, in German, der Zerstörer; as most of this one is auf Deutsch. And, it's from Dan Slott and James Fry, who also did the Destroyer in Midnight Sons Unlimited #9, this time with Mark Badger inks. There's some English from a bomber crew with impeccable taste, with "Union Jacquie" Spitfire on the nose of their plane!

Not a character that shows up a ton, but it feels like he has some creators as fans. Good for him! Also, I'm pretty sure I've picked up the next issue; which means we'll probably look at the Nick Fury story from it in 2027... Read more!

"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun!" Is that a Bradbury reference? All I can think of is "For Science."

The title reminds me of Ray Bradbury's "The Golden Apples of the Sun" but also reminds me of the last line of They Might Be Giants "For Science":  

Oh, it's a Pink Floyd song! Yeah, they do nothing for me, sorry. From 1986, Fantastic Four #297, "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun!" Written by Roger Stern, art by John and Sal Buscema.

We don't see the FF for a bit in this one, as we start on an alien Warworld (not that one!) as cruel Lord Umbra has his armor loaded with a new weapon, the "star-tap siphon!" Umbra incinerates his toady-scientist after install, and prepares for a final battle against his rival, and brother, Jaagur. Back on earth, She-Hulk and Wyatt Wingfoot land Reed's newest hypersonic plane at a South Pacific military base, reuniting Franklin Richards with his family. After their fight with the Mole Man, Reed had been asked by the government to investigate disturbances in the sun. While she understands that's probably serious, Jen is more curious about the return of the Thing, who is crabby as hell, approaching surly. Ben had been mutating at the end of his solo book, and while he looked more or less normal (for him) mentally he was not okay, bitter and self-conscious, not unlike when he first became the Thing. Reed would give this more attention, if he thought Ben would allow the usual barrage of testing, and if the sun wasn't going to implode unless they did something...

Most of the time, the FF go on this sort of thing with about as much drama as loading the family up for a Target run; but Johnny tells Alicia, this might be a dangerous one: they were kind of rushing, with slapped-together equipment. Johnny asks Alicia to marry him if he makes it back, and she says yes; but the Thing is within earshot, and even with his mask you can tell that just wrecked him. (Of course, this would be retconned, and "Alicia" was really the Skrull Lyja, but there's absolutely no indication of that here.) The Four, plus She-Hulk, launch a few hours later, to finish constructing the "counter-phase cannon" in space, to disrupt whatever was siphoning the sun. (It's hardly Sue's first rodeo, but she considers the notion that the four of them might die on a rocket trip someday. And Jen too, I guess.)

Meanwhile, on Warworld, war intensifies, as Umbra and Jaagur's forces slaughter each other, in that cool sci-fi way John Buscema used to draw every so often in Avengers or Silver Surfer: I don't know that he ever did a full book like that...

While Umbra and Jaagur face off, in space construction has nearly completed, so Ben decides he's done. Not done working, but rather done with life, as he starts to drift away. Johnny refuses to let him go, which Ben considers just his guilt showing: the Torch manages to get Ben back, but then runs out of air himself, and Sue has to save him. Reed doesn't have time for that, though, since he has to fire the beam, which wrecks the Umbra/Jaagur final battle, as well as Warworld. The FF escapes, and the sun is saved...while Umbra and Jaagur appear to have merged into a single being, in space near the sun! To be continued... 

Ben today acts closer to his very first appearances, like almost 300 issues didn't happen for him; but I think it's the first time we see him actively attempt suicide. Like, there had been times where he thought about dying, or giving up and letting himself die, but this was different. I don't think he would be like this for long, thankfully.

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"See."

Although the plot doesn't move even incrementally forward this week, I think we're maybe coming up on the end of the D'spayre storyline. Maybe. I did have this notion, of the bar getting trashed, if not leveled; then building a new, "remodeled" bar set. But I don't really have the time right now, even though I have maybe another set piece coming in the mail this week. Which, co-incidentally, we mentioned, um, about a year back. Read more!

If nothing else, this is a GREAT book to read with a flashlight!

There's an ad for something-or-other on TV, where a young woman seemingly has an epiphany: "Oh, that 'book club' that always wants to meet in the woods, that's a cult." Sure, maybe, but the woods are awesome, books are great, and hey, what are the odds they want you for their wicker man? Anyway, the phrase "culty weirdos" came up for me multiple times today; finally in today's book, which doesn't have any woods but does have a neat cover: from 1993, Cyberspace 3000 #1, "Judgment Day" Written by Gary Russell, pencils by Stephen Tappin, inks by Michael Eve and Andy Lanning. Cover with glow-in-the-dark accents by Liam Sharp and Andy Lanning!

This was another Marvel UK book, like Warheads, that despite a plethora of guest-stars and references still feels more like a 2000 AD somehow: the feel of the coloring or the lettering, perhaps. And it also feels a lot like another Marvel book with a similar title, that may not have been related: Seeker 3000, which would get a mini-series in 1998. Both feature a massive ship in space, on a lengthy voyage, with a fair-sized cast, and wearing their Star Trek influences on their sleeves. Maybe more literally for Seeker, since the costuming and designs in Cyberspace are so 90's: the intrepid Captain Jennifer Cabre-Rios really looks like Dazzler, in the kind of short leather jacket and tights look Black Widow had in the Avengers then. Still, the Captain spends much of this issue missing or unconscious, as a massive disaster seemingly destroys half the ship, the Sol III (it's shaped like a dumbbell, imagine the weights falling off one side) but that might be just the tip of the iceberg. (Aside: I'm mildly surprised we hadn't hit Seeker 3000 yet? The first issue was very, very 70's.)

The Sol III seems massive and not particularly fast in sci-fi terms--think Red Dwarf rather than the U.S.S. Enterprise--and more populous: there were the insectoid Trilexia aboard, who seem to have discovered a mysterious portal; and the religious order/doomsday cult the Clan Cyorse. It feels very British, as the cult takes to the proverbial streets, to cheerily tell everyone the end was near and they'd all be dead soon. The Clan Cyorse's "god" is not a friendly, benevolent force; in fact, they seem to be worshipping a familiar looking fist...And Captain Cabre-Rios is worried the cult might be up to something, when Galactus arrives!

Kind of like Warheads, I wonder if this might not have been more successful in 2000 AD: with other characters to help carry the load, it maybe could have continued and been allowed to build up its own fanbase. And it maybe might have gone somewhere interesting, faster, without Marvel guest-stars? (More were coming!) There already felt like a bunch going on here, we don't know this issue why they're even out there at this point, and then Galactus? But, you maybe need him for that cover, so...

Of course, with the glow-in-the-dark gimmick, I think the print run for this first issue was pretty big: you could probably find it in quarter bins near you. But later issues...well, if you find them cheap, let me know! Read more!