Hodge and the Podge until morale improves.

1. Still on 50+ hours a week, so if I seem a bit fried sometimes; I'm a bit fried. That and it's perfectly seasonable winter weather out, as in cold as all get out. Or at least it was when I started this! Between all that and the pitch blackness, and the general state of everything, these don't feel like super fun times; yet this silly blog continues, because of course it does.

   

2. A couple weeks ago, Pamela Anderson was in the Criterion Closet, and I guess her picks were pretty legit? I'm not a serious enough film guy to say: I used to watch more artsy, "classic" films for a while; but I think I watched just enough to get the jokes and references I'd see elsewhere. But what hit me on watching that, was, why don't I have a Criterion Closet of my own? A. Because I rent this crummy house and don't have a spare closet or whatever, and B. Do I even own any Criterion discs? True, but putting that aside...(Actually, I have one: early John Woo, Last Hurrah for Chivalry.)

I don't think Criterion is real strong on horror or sci-fi, which is largely why I haven't invested in (m)any: RoboCop would have been one of the few I could've been tempted on, but I think a lot of the special features from that have turned up elsewhere later. Also, a quick web search claims the Criterion Closet has 1500 DVD/Blu-Rays in it; although that probably includes duplicates for people to take. But, out of the 40 most commonly picked movies from the Criterion Closet, I've seen three, maybe four. Would like to pick up some more David Lynch, but I lowball a lot of these, and take used, plain DVD's as needed. (Got Dune a week or two back for like a buck!) Geez, there was actually a sale since I started this post; I did just order Lost Highway and Mulholland Dr. (I haven't seen either in years! I'm pretty sure I saw them both in theater with the same batch of co-workers; drinking before, during, and after the films, trying to piece together what we just saw...) 

Anyway, I would like a set-up like that for my collection. Although, I wonder how I would arrange it? Reckon like most of you, I have a pile of discs that were either cheap as hell, or cheap enough they were worth buying to see; many of which I probably wouldn't watch again. (Or movies that were part of some bizarre deal, like buy this DVD, get a ticket to that movie.) That includes assorted low-end horror movies, but also stuff like Joker. Those would definitely go on the lower, filler shelves...I have a DVD rack full of DC animated movies, but that's about as organized as I get. (There were a couple stragglers on the bottom of that rack; like that Quartermass and the Pit DVD I couldn't find!) As I type this, I might do a little DVD shopping here in a bit: somebody posted a scene from The One, a movie I absolutely love. Jet Li vs. the multiverse, years before the latter was all over the damn place. Since my DVD's are spread across multiple racks...and a boxful somewhere...I dug around to see if I had it, and now I'm annoyed that I don't seem to. When I end up with two copies, this is why! Still, just something I've been gnawing on in my head. Digital and streaming is convenient, and there are a lot of movies I've seen there that I absolutely don't need to own, but you can't have faith in those services that they won't take movies away later. 

3. OK, real talk for a second: most of you have probably noticed, things in America aren't great. And while it sucks, there are things you can do: a simple one, is to contact your senators and your representative. Call them, email them, go down to their offices and boo them. (If they're on the right track, let them know too; but what are the odds of that?) Keep an ear out for protests in your area: if nothing else, it'll make you feel better to see other people that also see things aren't what they should be. That said, be careful out there: I went to one recently, and was safe as houses, because it was almost entirely middle-class and/or senior citizen white people. Depending on where you are, it might be less friendly; which also sucks but do what you can. Every little bit helps, I think, like chipping away at stone.

4. Hey, my Serpent Society got another member!...sort of. I really enjoyed Captain America: Brave New World, although not without quibbles: Giancarlo Esposito is a get, but his Sidewinder is just a gunsel, his "Serpent" is a mere militia, hardly a Society. That feels like a waste, especially since the Cap movies did that already with Batroc, sucking all the character out of him and just leaving an angry French thug. 

 

Still, I had been missing going to the movies, so the other day I went to the Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and Novocaine, and they were both fun. 

5. There is a candy store in the local mall, that I seemingly only visit when some candy I like is discontinued forever. First it was Atomic Fireballs, then those Super Mario Wonder Balls: ugh, we used to be a country that made things. Both of those still might be available, if you really dig and/or pay through the nose; but by and large have gone the way of Crystal Pepsi, or Big Lots. I don't know if anyone reading had the latter in their neck of the woods, and the selection really varied from time to time or by location, but over the years along with a lot of discontinued or semi-expired food I did get a fair number of figures and DVD's from Big Lots: a bunch of the old Masters of the Universe Classics, for instance, or those aforementioned DC animated movies or box sets. I know it's just another faceless, soulless corporate entity, but I don't like seeing something like that go under, because it feels more and more like there's only two stores to buy anything from, and one of them's Amazon. (I still get a few things from there, but I don't love it and could probably get less still.) 

I suspect more of you have an Ollies nearby, or a Five Below; for all your discount crap needs. Lucky!

6. Right this second, I have one of the Marvel Legends Nemesis Build-a-Figure wave: Fabian Cortez. "Yay, my Fabian Cortez figure came in!"...said no one, ever. I don't know why these seem to be a staggered release, instead of opening a box and the whole wave's right there: I'll probably have Marrow and Husk this week, and I've seen the latter and the Ultimate Wolverine at GameStop so far. For some reason...and I feel like you should drink every time I say that...the X-Factor Cyclops is late, like it won't show up until weeks after the others. 

I pre-ordered ROM and Spider-Man '77...in fact, I ordered two of each of them. "One to stay, and one to play," an old boss of mine would say. I have done virtually no serious planning on this, but I do have the half-assed notion of opening a shop in six or seven years. Which is a good excuse to horde--er, I mean, collect duplicates! 

The above picture, of my mini Micronauts collection, includes the new Super7 ReAction Biotron; who I thought I would be a good size to go with the little ones from...um...eBay? They were part of a Hasbro Comicon thing a few years back, which I think included a 3-and-3/4 inch ROM. And the below picture, um, I pretty much bought that Fortnite motorboat for one joke. No regrets!

 

7. Ooh, it might be bike weather next week! I'm hoping my tires are still good, but I'm probably going to be sticking close to home for a bit: I wrecked my foot a little last year, although oddly, now it's the other one that seems to hurt? Getting old blows. Go have fun now while you can! Read more!

Dallan and Sepsis, that's a cover!

It's entirely possible that I buy this every time I see it in the quarter bins, but it's a stone classic: from 1979, the Micronauts #7, "Adventure into Fear!" Plot and script by Bill Mantlo, plot and breakdowns by Michael Golden, finishes by Josef Rubinstein. 

The Micronauts were still trapped on earth, staying with their young friend Steve Coffin, whose dad Ray had fallen into the Prometheus Pit, a gateway to the Microverse. After a Star Trek rerun, they catch a news broadcast noting Project H.E.L.L. was still sealed off by a force-field, but not mentioning Ray or any tiny aliens. No one knows that Ray was currently having a conversation with the mysterious Time Traveller; but Steve was distraught, and strong emotions in a Florida swamp...you know what that means: the macabre Man-Thing! Cementing the Micronauts in the Marvel Universe! 

Steve is understandably, pants-crappingly terrified; while the Micros are mildly concerned, what kind of planet was this? They have a hard time doing any damage to the swamp monster, so Steve fires up the airboat, chopping the Man-Thing into slimy mulch! Oh, he's fine. While not being aware or sentient, there's still the sense the Man-Thing kinda threw that fight, rather than hurt the kid, and gives him the win he needed to keep going. The Micronauts regroup, to begin their search for Ray and a way back to their battle with Baron Karza...not realizing, the Baron was now arriving on earth! 

Even if you somehow weren't reading Micronauts at the time, you might recall this one, since there was a full page house ad for it.

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Surprisingly, I didn't have to buy another copy of this.

It's got a cameo of my favorite character, but this issue is dark. Well, that might not be entirely accurate; but it's definitely not sunshine and lollipops--damnit, that's half-wrong, too. Let's just see: from 1984, Micronauts: the New Voyages #3, "In the Country of the Blind!" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by Bruce Patterson. The cover blurb is "Spawn!" Um, not that one.

This one starts out cheerily enough, with Bug playing a holographic chess game with Nightcrawler--or at least a hologram of him, that switches to Wolverine after Bug beats the computer. Despite multiple encounters across the Marvel universe in their first series, aside from the Beyonder appearance in #16 (the mandated Secret Wars II crossover) I believe this was the only time Marvel characters would show up in New Voyages. In hindsight, I can't help but wonder if that hurt sales. Bug also makes an offhand comment to Commander Rann, asking if this meant there wasn't going to be any good bars in the section of space they were exploring; that would be reiterated by a later letter-writer, noting the book's transition from Star Wars style space adventure, to a slightly harder sci-fi.

Rann is puzzled, since this section of the Microverse had traditional planets orbiting suns; not the molecule-chain shaped worlds they were familiar with. (Rann had explored the Microverse for about 1,000 years; apparently seeing molecule-worlds the whole time?) Meanwhile, Marionette has just smashed the hell out of Endeavor II's sickbay. While looking for a possible cybernetic replacement for Rann's recently severed hand, she instead found the legacy of Baron Karza: body banks, filled with organs harvested, willingly or unwillingly, from the citizens of Homeworld. ('Willingly' isn't exactly accurate, 'lost gambling' would be closer.) Mari is distraught, and Rann gives Biotron an earful. Biotron points out the body banks were standard issue: Karza had ruled the Microverse for a thousand years or so, and what was the point of throwing the parts out now? Especially since the Micronauts need--Rann cuts him off, not about to hear it, and disappointed this new Biotron didn't seem to share the principles of his fallen friend.

In the engine room, Acroyear was not especially comfortable with the ship's new power source, an alien egg. (Not the facehugger kind...hopefully.) He discusses Huntaar's recent mutation with him: while Karza had turned him into a living weapon, an alien intelligence had now made him "a living sculpture or painting." Huntaar found a peace in it. Later, Rann decides to take the crew down to check out a planet, mostly just to get off the ship for a bit. His announcement wakes Mari from an uneasy sleep, but she doesn't notice blood on her pillow...unsettling. That scene creeped me right out when I read this originally!

The alien planet doesn't have a great atmosphere, and seems oddly bright; forcing the 'Nauts except Huntaar to wear survival armor, another remnant of Baron Karza's. (It would be like Luke or Leia having to wear Stormtrooper armor somewhere! Also, they seemed to have a variety of sizes.) The alien life seems to be coating itself with a mercury-like reflective layer, and when Bug tries to take a plant sample, a laser is reflected back at him! Meanwhile, back on Endeavor II, Biotron and Microtron clean up the carnage in sickbay, and worry about their masters: with the exception of Huntaar, they were all dying of radiation sickness taken the previous issue. The 'bots had considered replacing everyone's organs in their sleep, since they would never have taken replacements willingly. Without them, the Micronauts would be dead within days.

If not sooner: after larger, bug-like creatures damage their shuttle, the 'Nauts realize the atmosphere of the planet amplifies light into lasers. Which could maybe recharge Endeavor II, if sunrise wasn't coming up! Rann calls the 'bots to pick them up, and hurry; but then the ground shifts as colossal solar panels shift towards the sun. The shuttle is brought in by a metal grapple, as Endeavor II is caught in the laser sunrise...! 

The radiation sickness subplot had a few more issues to go, and while it was rather harrowing, in retrospect it was practically a cakewalk compared to later issues. The only lighthearted issue of the series was #6, which, while fun, was largely imaginary and still had radiation sickness lingering over it!

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The "every comic is someone's first comic" guys' collective heads would explode at this one.

It's been a few years since I've done a complete re-read of this story, but of course I'll grab cheap ones on the fly. When else are you going to see Alex Ross paint the Micronauts er, Rann and his rebels? From 2001, Universe X #5, story and cover by Alex Ross, story and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Dougie Braithwaite, inks by Garry Leach. 

This would be 20 or so issues into the Earth X saga, a post-apocalyptic tale of the Marvel universe; or Continuity Porn: the Series! I mean that in the most loving way possible, even though they did my boy Nightcrawler dirty...today, we're tying into Micronauts #35, Fantastic Four Annual #5, and Incredible Hulk #140, among others, and that's just three pages in! The trick of this series was taking threads from across the Marvel Universe that were not in any way, shape, or form planned; and making it seem like a vast tapestry that was absolutely designed to fit together.

Along with the secret history of the Microverse and the return of some of its most famous denizens, we see the fate of the Man-Thing, and the funeral of Captain America, who died protecting the child Mar-Vell. After delivering the eulogy, the new Redwing--Wyatt Wingfoot--rails against Mar-Vell, wondering how his "cosmic consciousness" couldn't see that coming. Loki also visits the currently female Thor, albeit without a nose, claiming he was still choosing his new form. And the Tong of Creel, a cult intent on putting the pieces of the Absorbing Man together, recovers another piece as they manage to get past King Britain, the Iron Avengers, the Union Jacks, Medusa, and more.

Finally, X-51 confronts the blind Uatu--not for the first time in this series, I don't think--since he's realized something from listening to Kyle Richmond and the Gargoyle. (The latter pair were the narrators/framing device for this series, as X-51 and Uatu were in Earth X.) X-51 takes a little stroll on the moon, to the Supreme Intelligence...

Since Marvel had lost the rights to some of the Micronauts owned by Mego, there are a few redesigns here: Biotron and Microtron are reinvented as Neutron and Proton, with Neutron having a more toy soldier-like appearance. I think his head is supposed to resemble a Queen's Guard helmet, but it looks more like Kid of Kid 'n Play. They had a new Acroyear type, Spartak; named after the Acroyears' homeworld in the comic; as well as an Ant Man and a Spidra girl.

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Yeah, just climb around on that thing's corpse, that seems safe.

Despite its origins as a toy tie-in, this book tried to get away from the traditional (and hackneyed) space-opera; yet this issue's cover seems inspired by the "Space Jockey" from Alien. From 1985, Micronauts #11, "Failures of the Heart" Written by Peter B. Gillis, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by Danny Bulanadi.

Attempting to breech the Spacewall separating them from their usual section of the Microverse, the 'Nauts had suffered a devasting loss the previous issue: confronted by a Time Traveler, Commander Rann had felt something amiss, evil about it, and ordered an attack. That failed, as the Time Traveler devastated the fleet of their allies, the alien Confluence. Marionette had been injured, her legs paralyzed; while Rann was left old, and seemingly broken. When the remaining Confluence make to return home, Rann asks to go with them, since he could not fight the Enigma Force. He wanted to spend his remaining days communing with the so-called Dreaming Star; which Mari thinks is him quitting on the team, her, life, everything. She's furious at Rann, but just didn't want to lose him.

Acroyear steps up in the aftermath of Rann's departure; conveniently in time for them to scan Acroyear ships on the other side of the Spacewall. His wife Cilicia and their people still were sore over the destruction of their homeworld Spartak in the war against Baron Karza, and considered him a traitor. Still, separated by the Spacewall, neither of them could do anything about it. The Acroyear people did still owe Mari an oath, so Cilicia agrees to aid them for that if nothing else; and advises of a massive structure on the Spacewall itself. Within it, Bug finds a massive corpse, and Huntaar uses his unusual (and somewhat disturbing) powers to let it speak through him: an advanced alien race, millenia ago, strove to breach the wall, but never could, eventually succumbing to genetic mutations and dying out.

Still, the station had built up power for centuries since, enough to breech the wall? Or enough for Acroyear to take a shot across the bow of the Acroyear fleet, to get their attention: he just wanted to ask Cilicia if she still loved him. Unfortunately, the shockwave from the Enigma Force catches up to them, damaging the alien station, and Acroyear is forced to make a final betrayal: using his royal command codes, to order the Acroyear fleet to retreat and avoid destruction. Still, knowing it was the right thing to do, Acroyear returns to the Micronauts; only for them to be confronted by Scion, who demands leadership of the team...!

I think the entire team had pretty severe PTSD at this point; although I don't think that was widely recognized as a thing at the time. Rann would return, and Scion would be a jerk for the rest of the run, but I think Acroyear would struggle to get a final bit of closure before the series wrapped and Marvel lost the rights to him.

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We saw the previous issue just over a year ago (bet you thought I'd say "some time back"!) so better get the conclusion now! From 1998, Alpha Flight #11, "Microcosm" Written by Steve Seagle, plot assist by Joe Casey, pencils by Ariel Olivetti, inks by Pier Brito.

The narration of this one, on the concept of a 'microcosm,' tries to make this one a bit more than it is: Alpha Flight is confronted by the Micronauts freedom fighters opposing Baron Karza Zebek. (Rann later tells AF they had previously defeated another baron, so Zebek wasn't Karza, but...) Zebek and his dog soldiers attack, with Rann having a moment mid-firefight to explain the dogs were trying to earn their immortality through the body banks, and perhaps not evil as such. That may be a little too charitable...The heroes flee in the Endeavor (the original, which Marvel could still use since it never had a toy!) and regroup. We get a moment with new Micro Dexam, a cyborg whose original limbs had been harvested (that is, stolen) in the body banks; and Mac and Heather have a little talk: Heather had seen Murmur kiss Mac, but Mac says she kissed him, and means nothing to her, which of course Murmur hears. (Mac was also much younger than he had been when married to Heather, which would eventually be explained in the series.)

After a brief interlude with Diamond Lil, a prisoner somewhere in Department H; the teams fake a prisoner capture to break into the body banks and rescue oddball Alphan Manbot. He had been safe enough, though, since he explains he had no organic matter to be harvested, which Heather finds surprising. They rally the indigenous ant-people to overthrow the Baron, as Mac and Rann lead a group against Zebek to stop his "quarkarion" weapon. Zebek catches Rann with one of Karza's old tricks, a launching fist, but when Puck helps him fight it off, they realize a reverse magnetic charge would do a number on Zebek. (A nice callback to the magnetic features of the original Baron Karza action figure!)The centaur Zebek is defeated, and the scientist somehow next in line to be in charge says they will have him turned into just a horse, before they close up the body banks: you can decide if that's cruel-and-unusual or let-the-punishment-fit-the-crime.

Dexam stays behind with the ants, to help them rebuild; as the rest of the team prepare to keep protecting the Microverse. But for Alpha Flight, Manbot announces an emergency retrival, as Department H was being destroyed!

Taking a look at the above panel, and I think Marionette is the only recognizable one there! Heather was using a different green suit as Vindicator, with geothermic powers that might as well have been magic. This stretch of Alpha Flight reminds me of John Arcudi's Doom Patrol, which was four-fifths new guys, and also didn't take off. There's at least four new Alphans here that are rarely mentioned again. This wasn't the last appearance of the former Micronauts, though: They would appear next in 2000's Captain Marvel #6. Read more!

This is probably a throwback to when I was first buying comics off the spinner rack, but I'm not adverse to buying a random issue of a mini-series: I had X-Men and the Micronauts #4 for years before I was able to get the rest of the series. Hopefully, this one won't take me that long. From 2018, Rom and the Micronauts #3, "Entropy" Written by Christos Gage, art by Paolo Villanelli.

Rom and the Micronauts never got a team-up back in the Marvel runs, so this was a long time coming; but you have to make do with the reimagined versions rather than the 'classic.' Still, a lot to like here, including nice modernizations of classic Micronauts toys/characters like Membros, Ampzilla, Lobros, and Antron! The Dire Wraiths and Baron Karza have teamed up, forcing Rom and the Micros to team up against them. This issue was midway through the miniseries, so it's mostly a fight issue, and not a bad one at that.

I've mentioned before how Rom, the Micronauts, and other Hasbro properties were in a shared universe at IDW, but added somewhat late in the game to their long-running Transformers continuity, which just got a reboot a couple years back. Rom at least may still have some books coming, with a Dire Wraiths book due in July. (Check the link, it mentions a Sal Buscema back-up feature!)
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Maybe I'm on Twitter too much lately...

After picking up the Alpha Flight box set, I've gone back and picked up of their few cheap back issues. Like today's book, where the leads don't have their traditional looks; but there's another aspect that probably would've got me to pick this up earlier! From 1998, Alpha Flight #10, "Small Sacrifices" Written by Steve Seagle, pencils by Anthony Winn, inks by Aaron Sowd.

You know the old movie cliché, where the girl takes off her glasses and she's beautiful? Heather is rockin' that one today; and it's a little more noticeable since her new Vindicator battlesuit doesn't have a mask. I don't think Puck or Mac wear theirs either this issue; but it takes both of them to hold Heather back (and Puck is, ahem, getting a little close there) from taking out Department H's shady head, General Clarke. The team was just back from a mission--another attempt to recover Wolverine for Canada--and Heather is furious at being given false information. Puck has started to notice memory lapses, since probably the whole team's collective head had been messed with; and Mac isn't even sure what he is. The junior members of the team aren't really sure if Clarke's bad or if Heather just gets worked up over everything: Murmur, Flex, Radius, and Sasquatch. Sasquatch? But isn't he...? No, Dept. H had secretly subbed in the actual Sasquatch of legend; replacing former member Walter Langkoski. (They must've given the team some explanation why Walt, traditionally one of the chattier members, wasn't anymore.)

Heather is packed and ready to quit, Puck's encouragement not withstanding, when they receive an email tip from someone in the ominously named Prometheus Division main lab. Dr. Haddock tells Heather Clarke is out of control, and that she's trying to take control of the department. If only there was somewhere to stash Alpha Flight until the right moment...The rest of the team, including the odd-looking Manbot, come charging in suddenly, since the guards had turned on them (which we don't actually see!) Dr. Haddock leads the team to their hideout...the Prometheus Pit, from the pages of the Micronauts! Still, Haddock is working with Clarke; why did they send the team to the Microverse? Just to get rid of them?

On Homeworld, the team arrives on the jungle segment "Ant Tica" and are greeted by a pair of hooded, shadowy-priest types, and a bunch of insectivord (or insectivorid?) types. While most of Alpha is uncomfortable with bug people, the hoods tell of how Baron Zebek brought civilization to the insectivords...although, the panels tell a very different story than the narration. Since Alpha Flight's arrival was prophesized, they offer to take them to meet Zebek. It takes maybe four panels to guess things aren't right there: Mac notices Zebek is suspiciously young for all the things he had allegedly done; and oh, yeah: all of the bug-people are servants, or gladiators. Radius seems into it, but he was already painted as a lout more than once this issue.

Leaving the gladiator matches in disgust, Heather and the team find Manbot about to be harvested in the Body Banks, while Mac meets cheerful zealots working on a "quarkarion" bomb for Baron Zebek. Mac doesn't figure that sounds good for Canada; but they may have some unexpected help: the last page reveal of the Micronauts! Or, um, the "Champions of the Microverse." Commander Rann, Mari, Bug, and...Dexam? I don't know if I had seen him before or since, so I don't know if that bodes well for him in the next issue! Which would feature more of Baron "Zebek," who is very obviously Karza with the serial numbers filed off. And #12 would feature a Byrne homage cover, as one of Alpha would surely die...Hopefully not Manbot: you don't get a great look at him here, but he seems like he'd fit in more with the Micros than AF.
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I wish I'd noticed this earlier, but it would've made me sad then, too.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is still my favorite cartoon of recent memory, but I hadn't read any of (or recall ever seeing before) the tie-in comic. So this was a great one to start with! From 2012, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #7, "They Came From Inner Space!" Written by Chris Yost, pencils by Christopher Jones, inks by Victor Olazaba.

This tie-in ties-in with a minor point from the series: on multiple occasions, particularly episode "To Steal an Ant-Man," items like some stolen cash were shrunken out of existence. Or out of this existence: where did they go? The Microverse! Home of Psycho-Man, who is readying his forces to invade the newly discovered macro-verse; but who else do we know from the Microverse...none other than the Micronauts Microns!

We all know Rann, Marionette, and Bug; but I'm not sure if Quark or Flare appeared before, even if Flare strongly resembles Fireflyte. They've been fighting against Psycho-Man's tyranny, as well as trying to defend our universe from any invasion from the Microverse. And maybe to ask "the Pym" to quit dropping stuff on their universe. Since the story involves shrinking, Wasp does most of the work; she might as well since Cap and Iron Man both already blame her for this. I love this version of her though: although cheerful and flighty, Wasp probably cares more about the team than any of them.

Writer Christopher Yost had a fair amount of comic credits, and a ton of animation ones; he also wrote Thor: Ragnarok. I thought he was one of the writers working on a Micronauts movie; but instead they may finally be getting a TV show. Not with this lineup or crossing over with the Avengers, sadly.

Also this issue: Nick Fury explains Skrulls, and Iron Man vs. chicken pox! And the Unicorn. And Pepper Potts. You can decide which one gives him a harder time...
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"The End" Week: Micronauts #11!

This will be the fourth Micronauts last issue we've looked at during "The End" week, from the third different company. And like a couple of those, this one wasn't really the end, either. From 2017, Micronauts #11, written by Cullen Bunn and Jimmy Johnson, art by Max Dunbar.

Like all the previous versions based on the toys, this incarnation of the team had a Biotron, Microtron, and Acroyear, even if they were slightly different than before. The other three members are more linked to the toys than previously, because this was produced with Hasbro: in fact, Space Glider Phenolo-Phi would get a (tiny) action figure in the IDW Revolution set! This was part of their shared universe plan, with tentpoles Transformers and G.I. Joe and supporting acts ROM, Action Man, Visionaries, and the Micronauts here. (They squeeze one more toy line in here unannounced, as Acroyear uses a Weeble as a weapon more than once!) Nothing wrong with that...except that they may have jumped the gun a bit. IDW's Transformers continuity had been running since 2005, over a decade before Revolution tacked on these new elements. Just this year, IDW wrapped their current Transfomers runs, and by extension everything else, with Transformers: Unicron. (That included the end of Transformers: Lost Light, one of the best books out there.)


While the series ended here, there were two miniseries next, Wrath of Karza and ROM vs. the Micronauts, the latter a crossover Marvel never got to. (A brief aside: IDW needs an intern or something to update the GCD, especially since there were a number of variants.) These Micronauts would get a short goodbye story in Transformers: Unicron #4, since they are doubtless to be reformatted as well. Sometime, somewhere, the Micronauts will face Baron Karza again; just maybe not this line-up. I wonder if Revolution might not have been a better idea if saved for a full reboot, and I'm not even sure if the new continuity planned in 2019 will be a shared universe again: I thought Hasbro was steering IDW closer to the movie continuity, although if they go with the Bumblebee rather than Michael Bay movies, maybe it would be okay.
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We've seen bits from the start of this mini-series a couple
times, but I didn't have the first three issues until much later. Today's issue I've had since 1984--maybe not this copy next to me, but still. The X-Men and the Micronauts #4, "Doppelgänger!" Written by Chris Claremont and Bill Mantlo, pencils by Jackson "Butch" Guice, inks by Bob Wiacek.

The issue opens with Professor X creepily creeping, er, rolling, up to Danielle Moonstar; and flat-out molesting her. Xavier is being controlled by the Entity, the evil side of his personality run amok; it would be some years before I realized the Entity was supposed to look like Xavier's armor from X-Men #117, too. Still, the New Mutants were still quite new (the checklist this issue says they were on issue #14) and putting aside the fact that their teacher just assaulted the hell out of them, I think this would already be at least the second time they fought the senior team of X-Men!

Meanwhile, deep in the Microverse, the combined X-Men/Micronauts team is attacked by Baron Karza, in the body of Kitty Pryde. Keep in mind, I only had this issue as a kid! But Claremont and Mantlo catch the reader up pretty quickly. We'll pretend not to notice "bodyswap" and "team member turned evil wears less clothing" are two more bingo squares on Claremont's usual tropes...Meanwhile, at the head of Baron Karza's fleet, Kitty in Karza's body orders the bombardment of the Entity's world, but then receives a psychic flash from Professor X. Kitty/Karza teleports down to the planet's surface, but Karza's shifty underling DeGrayde "forgets" to give the order to stop the bombardment. Kitty/Karza confronts Karza/Kitty, but they are interrupted by the arrival of the heroes, which is in turn interrupted by the dying Professor X in the Entity's body, which still has a knife sticking out of its back in several panels.

Back on earth, using the power of Cerebro to amp up his own, the Entity is about to start destroying the Microverse; although the orbital bombardment might kill everyone first. Calling the heckin' awesome Bioship, the heroes first escape Karza's fleet, then the Entity's destructive blast; as the Micronauts' Fireflyte transports them back to earth. There, the New Mutants attack the Bioship, which I'm not sure I've ever forgiven them for. (Takes internal inventory, looks deep in own soul...) Nope, still mad!

Luckily, the New Mutants were still rookies, while the X-Men and Micros were pros even at their tiny size. Still, Magma causes a small volcano near the Bioship, who was hurt too badly to get away; and inside, Nightcrawler has to try to keep the Entity's body alive long enough for Professor X to take back his own. A new player then enters the fight: Kitty's dragon, Lockheed! First on the side of the X-Men, he scatters the New Mutants; but then tries to kill Karza/Kitty, since he can tell that's not his Kitty! Worse, the Entity realizes the mindswap, and furious over the deception tries to force them into each other. Not in a good way, sickos!

Professor X fights the Entity inside his own mind, and it's a quick one: the Professor gives himself a stroke, or at least pretends to, to scare the Entity to run back to his body, which dies. Also dying: the brave Bioship. The Micros are stuck on earth and the X-Men are stuck at action figure size, but Commander Rann won't ask the Bioship to sacrifice itself. (Storm acts like she would...) Fireflyte says she can get her team back to the Microverse before the Enigma Force closes it off forever; and in a way, this would be the last time they would be seen in the Marvel Universe! There were only maybe two issues of the Micronauts' first book left (and only one more issue written by series creator Bill Mantlo!) and they wouldn't appear on earth at all in New Voyages! (There was a Secret Wars II crossover, but the Beyonder went to see them, they didn't come to earth!)

I'm already sad, but the worst is here: the Bioship sacrifices itself to return the X-Men to normal size. I hope they gave him a decent burial and didn't leave his bio-corpse on the front lawn of the mansion...We've mentioned before, but this was at least the second time Professor X went bad: his evil side attacked the team in X-Men #106...a fill-in issue co-plotted by Bill Mantlo! Later Xavier would become Onslaught, or part of him; along with several other dickish, terrible things he's done since. In fact, "Dark" Xavier here destroys multiple planets in the Microverse, some of them inhabited, yet there was no editorial edict that Professor X die to pay for his crimes, as there supposedly was for Dark Phoenix. Well, they were tiny planets, anyway.

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"The End" Week: Micronauts #11!

As I write this, over at the delightful Gone & Forgotten, Calamity Jon has been featuring Micronauts Monday; checking out a classic issue every week. So he'd still be at least a year away from today's book: from 2003, Micronauts #11, "Invasion, part 4" Story by Dan Jolley, pencils by Steve Kurth, inks by Barb Schulz.

This was a new version of the Micronauts, completely separate and distinct from the Marvel book; in fact, Hasbro/IDW has had another incarnation in recent years! Some elements are consistent, though: in some form or another, there will be Acroyear, Microtron, Biotron, and the big bad is always Baron Karza. Almost literally big bad this issue, since for his invasion of earth, Karza appears to be piloting a colossal mecha of himself. Sending lackey Red Falcon after the fleeing 'Nauts, Karza starts his "population reduction program" moving forward.

Token earthling and team leader Ryan Archer is normal-sized on earth, while his teammates are action-figure sized; but Ryan makes a better use of his home field advantage by laying a trap for Red Falcon in a chemical warehouse, where Microtron then gasses Falcon and his troops. (It looks pretty fatal, but maybe, maybe not.) Using Falcon's ship to get through Karza's defenses--and Falcon's body as a ventriloquist dummy--the Micronauts counter-attack, with a "collection rod" trap taking out Karza's mech. Before Archer can finish him, though; he's shot in the back by Karza's daughter Persephone. (She was on the outs with her dad, but couldn't let him die, either.) Later, after recovering in the Microverse, Acroyear tells Archer the team is his, since he came closer to destroying Karza than anyone else had so far.

This was the last issue of this series (and the third last Micronauts we've checked out!) but it would briefly continue with publisher Devil's Due for three issues. Also this issue: a house ad for upcoming series The Walking Dead, which only seems like a hundred years ago.

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