Coming up on 10% of the series blogged!

I'd be legitimately surprised if we got to much more than 20%, 25%. Do I even own more than that? Do I like any of the issues enough to keep blogging them? Not really on both counts! From 1990, Marvel Comics Presents #52. Wait, the series was bi-weekly, was this issue the two-year point?

This didn't have the flip covers that would come later in the run, so we open with "The Wilding Part 2: The First Cut Is The Deepest" Plot and art by Rob Liefeld, script by Fabian Nicieza. Separately, Heather Hudson and Wolverine are on the trail of former Gamma Flight trainee, Wild Child, who had gone psycho-killer. Wild Child takes down Heather, disabling her power-suit, but Wolverine arrives in time to save her. Still, Wild Child considers his old mentor old, slow, and "human," and thinks he can take him. This also features a plot point I don't think anyone liked even at the time: this was during the X-Men's Australia stint, and Heather still thought Logan had died in Dallas. Logan even admits he should correct her: Heather, like Kurt and Kitty over in Excalibur, was very much on the shortlist of people the X-Men probably could've trusted, huh?

Next, Comet Man, which I don't think I had ever read before! "A Family Affair, part 3 of 4: Reunion" Written by Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer, pencils by Kelly (Kelley) Jones, inks by Gerry Talaoc. The titular Comet Man, Dr. Stephen Beckley, finally finds his son Benny, who's had a pretty bad time of it: kidnapped, his mother killed by an electric fence in an escape attempt, then experimented upon to get powers like his dad. Stephen uses his powers to block Benny's traumatic memories, if not erase them completely; then his alien pal Max stops by. Max had revealed his existence publically, and was enjoying a rock-star's life. Stephen was still looking for his brother, the "Superior," but Max asks why, you're living in his house? His friend Jonathan Gallager, was actually the brother his mom gave away, and crazy as hell. (I actually thought Mumy and Ferrer were related; so I was wondering if that figured into that plot!) The conclusion in the next issue might have been the last mention for the character in the Marvel universe until Civil War: Front Line #8 in 2006!

Feels weird to have Rick Jones and Hulk shorts in the rest of the issue, that aren't related to each other. Rick has to save a Puerto Rican resort from a masked extortion racket, in "Last Resort," story and art by Richard Howell. Rick spends most of the story in a jean-jacket vest and Reed Richards' speedo? Then, the grey Hulk has to launch into space with "fortified rocket springs" after alien kids launch an asteroid at earth as part of a game. ("Kids Will Be Kids," story and pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Tom Morgan.) Read more!

"The End" Week: Hawk & Dove!

Ooh, this could be a tough one, since I bought these specifically for "The End" and prior to picking them up, I'm really sure I had more Hawk & Dove action figures, than I had read Hawk & Dove comics. Today we'll at least tie that score, with 1991's Hawk & Dove #28, "Mad Dogs and Americans" Written by Barbara Kesel and Karl Kesel, pencils by Greg Guler and Curt Swan, inks by Ian Akin and John Statema; and from 2012, Hawk & Dove #8, "Endgame" Written by Rob Liefeld, pencils by Liefeld and Marat Mychaels, inks by Adelso Corona and Jacob Bear.

"Mad Dogs and Americans" is a War of the Gods tie-in--why does DC keep cancelling books during crossovers? Aztec war goddess wannabe Huitzilopchtli is sprung from a prison truck by the real deal, but then defeats him in battle, and heads off in search of Hawk, to revenge herself for her prior defeat. Dawn has a talk with Hank (and Don) Hall's mom, since Hawk was wanted for attempted murder after attacking Senator O'Neill. And Hawk seemingly knows he's dumb as a box of rocks, but is also too stupid to see an out except trying to beat the truth out of O'Neill. Before he gets anywhere, he's attacked by the Wildebeest--from the pages of Teen Titans, I'm assuming, although Hawk repeatedly proclaims he's no longer a Titan. The Wildebeest are turned to stone by Huitzilopchtli, who wants to beat Hawk hand-to-hand.

Senator O'Neill, who is obviously crooked as your average congressional district (hey-o!) has a visit from his benefactor, Barter; and alludes to being good at putting a spin on things, which will have a double meaning later. When Hawk's fight makes the news, Dove's mom subtly slips her the news, which Hawk's mom sees as she obviously knew her secret. With Dove's help, Huitzilopchtli--or Azure--is easily captured by the cops, using the same doohickey that captured her last time. Then, Dove has to race to stop Hawk from killing O'Neill, who isn't worried at all; he's got Uncle Sam on his side! Literally, Uncle Sam. (I do like it when DC remembers it has other tiers of characters and doesn't just use Superman or Batman.)

Sam is more that a little suspicious of O'Neill, and Dove knows his secret: he was really the resurrected Flash villain, the Top! Still, Sam can't let the furious Hawk kill him, no matter how mad he is about him pretending to be his dead brother, Don, the first Dove. Sam tells Hawk, to "take it out on him." Dove manages to easily defeat the Top, with his own jacket wrapped around his head; but by the time she gets back, Hawk has surrendered to the cops. Dove tries to get arrested with him, and Hawk angrily refuses to let her; while watching on TV, Hawk's mom realizes she's going to have to let her husband in on the secret.

After a pretrial hearing, Hank is released to his parents' custody, although forbidden from becoming Hawk. (Even though he acted like an angry 12-year-old, Hank had to be over 21.) Uncle Sam tries to persuade him to resign, and "O'Neill"/the Top does...but only to devote time to his presidential campaign. While Hank is feeling sorry for himself, his love interest Ren reminds him of everyone he did help, including her, and asks him to marry her. Dawn gets back in touch with her own love interest, a cop who had also figured out her secret, but wouldn't spill the beans. It's a happy ending for everyone...that I think would be completely undone in Armageddon 2001 #2. I can't remember either of their significant others coming up again, either.

That was a 48-pager, but I was pretty sure it was going to be more substantial than their 2012 last issue: Hawk & Dove was part of a wave of early cancellations for DC's New 52, alongside OMAC, Static Shock, and I think most of the war book offerings. And it was a little slight, although I don't know how much time they had to prepare for the cancellation, but that is probably giving Liefeld too much credit. It's Hawk and Dove vs. some ninjas, Kraven-knockoff Hunter, and Zhar, who wants to steal their avatar-power and gets stabbed for his trouble. I don't think many of these cancellations ended with a lot of closure, and this one goes with them still out there to fight the good fight, or get murdered in some crossover event, either or.

Just from reading this issue, I don't know if in the New 52 continuity Don Hall had been Dove prior to Dawn Granger taking the role. Also, I was surprised Liefeld's book was the first thing I'd read with Hawk that made him seem like less of a meathead: it tried to bring him up to the level of say, Flash Thompson, somebody who thinks a lot in sports metaphors; as opposed to just angry punch guy. Read more!

Another Liefeld chapter? Wouldn't have bet on that.

He also drew the New Mutants chapter we blogged over a year ago, now I'm wondering if he worked on any of the Atlantis Attacks chapters we haven't seen yet. From 1989, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23, "Abominations" Plot by Gerry Conway, script by David Michelinie, pencils by Rob Liefeld, inks by Tim Dzon, James Brock, Curtis, Vince Mielcarek, and Keith Williams.

Lord Ghaur and Llyra's big plan to bring back elder god Set continues to move along, and this issue they're bringing in another conspirator, longtime Hulk foe Tyrannus. Who, while not having his own tag, has been mentioned multiple times on the blog but is rarely scanned. We've seen him turned into a geezer, merged with the Flame of Life and launched into space, and today he's the Abomination? When did that happen? He was in the Abomination's body, while Emil Blonsky was human; Llyra and Ghaur waste little time switching them back. The enraged Blonsky, back in his monstrous body, then proceeds to go on the rampage in New York City; and Spider-Man and She-Hulk try to stop him. I'm not sure if this is always the case, but I've often thought She-Hulk doesn't find Spidey funny in the slightest, and may even find him a bit annoying...

There are several She-Hulk panels that look alike to me, and I wonder if Liefeld copied himself! Anyway, Ghaur takes a second to tag a briefly unconscious She-Hulk with "the Mark of Set!" She-Hulk later hits Abomination with a gasoline truck, setting him on fire, and he jumps in the river and disappears. Meanwhile, Tyrannus is bringing in another conspirator, the Viper; setting up Punisher Annual #2.

This will be the ninth chapter blogged here, and I know I have another scheduled! The missing ones are going to be a bear now, though. Off the top of my head...the misnumbered Daredevil Annual, Iron Man Annual #10, um...Web of Spider-Man Annual #5, and I forgot West Coast Avengers Annual #4! I thought I had done that one already, actually.

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Look, you can sort these into order later. Yourself.

The current plan is to slowly, eventually, blog all of Marvel's 1989 annuals, the Atlantis Attacks crossover. So far, in no particular order, we've covered four (and an issue of Quasar that tied into the What If? for this event) but now we hit a chapter I hadn't read: New Mutants Annual #5, "Here Be Monsters" Written by Louise Simonson, pencils by Rob Liefeld, inks by Tim Dzon.

So, I didn't read this one back in the day, because I've never been a fan of the New Mutants: the phrase "ah'm near invulnerable when ah'm blastin'" just makes my jaw clench up, for one thing. (I know I had Cable's first appearance, though; and New Mutants #100...) But this issue also ties into New Mutants #76, which I also hadn't read, guest-starring the Sub-Mariner in a fight for the Horn of Doom. You know, the one Subby blows to summon big, cool monsters, like that one that looks like Moby Dick with feet. (Giganto.) This time around, Ghaur and Llyra send some Deviants to steal the Horn, with they do from Namorita. Because the Deviants resemble some of the New Mutants, and Namorita knows about their recent encounter with Namor, she goes after them, accompanied by super-powered Atlanteans Sharkskin, Eel, and Undertow. Their group name was Surf, which doesn't really make sense: they were underwater all the time, they might see currents, but would they see surf? If they were a DC team, they'd probably get killed in a crossover, but Marvel's allowed Surf to sink into obscurity.

While the required Marvel-misunderstanding brawl rages, Ghaur blows the Horn, drawing a giant, poisonous, squid-monster to destroy Atlantis. Ghaur's sub does take a hit, and the Horn is lost, but he still declares this a pretty good sacrifice to Set. The combined heroes manage to stop the monster by burying it in an undersea trench, but while most of the Atlanteans are saved, the city is (once again) destroyed. This was chapter nine of fourteen, and we've looked at five now...I doubt we'll do this faster than we did with DC's Ghosts annuals, but you never know.
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Why Marvel hasn't made these, I have no idea...

After the Deadpool Corps defeats the Awareness and saves the earth (from danger that wouldn't have got there for eight thousand years) the Contemplator gives the team power rings! Well, not quite. The Contemplator explains each ring will only work once, but will summon an Elder of the Universe; which may just have been his way of getting back at the others like the Grandmaster, the Collector, or the Champion.

I'm pretty sure DC's taken a lot of the top spots of the sales charts with their new 52; but Marvel really should've stolen a page from DC's playbook and gone with promotional rings. I'm not just saying that because I want one. Really. From Deadpool Corps #5, written by Victor Gischler, pencils by Rob Liefeld, inks by Adelso Corona.
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I wish my dog had a costume...

...it'd mean less hair lying around, for one thing.

Picked up all of Prelude to Deadpool Corps and the second two issues of Deadpool Corps out of the dollar boxes the other day. I didn't pick them up the first time, when Marvel was flooding the market with as many Deadpool books as they could cram in there. But for a buck a pop? Way more enjoyable than they oughta be!

To save the universe from an unstoppable alien force, Contemplator of the Elders of the Universe (who are more varied and slightly less dickish then the Green Lanterns' Guardians of the Universe) gathers the Deadpool Corps, featuring Deadpools of several different realities. There's our Deadpool, Zombie Deadpool (or Headpool), Lady Deadpool, Kid Deadpool (aka Kidpool, or 'Tito'), and Dogpool. They work about as well as you'd expect.


The book should be completely unreadable: no, not because of the Rob Liefeld art; it's not so bad here! But all of the Deadpools have multiple caption boxes, as needed for the multiple voices in their heads. Even Dogpool! Here is a typical panel:

And here's what it could've looked like:

Written by Victor Gischler, pencils by Rob Liefeld, inks by Adelso Corona.
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Taking the evening off for Galactica:

Um, the TV show, actually. Catching up a bit. Two posts tomorrow, though, 'kay? One's a rerun because of the immensely special date, and the other a panel, but they're still fun. Panel from Battlestar Galactica #1 (Maximum Press) "War of Eden, part 1" Story by Rob Liefeld and Robert Napton, layouts by Karl Altstaetter, pencils by Hector Gomez, inks by Rene Micheletti.

Years before the "re-imagining," there was a brief little upsurge in Galactica's visibility, with Liefeld's comic version and new toys on the shelves--I still have one of the Cylons, I think, but the figure looks more dated than this book now.
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