They call him Mister...Mister Machine.

We alluded to this issue some time back: Machine Man (Mister Machine this issue, his second appearance) is very attached to his face. Maybe not the same way you are, but yeah. From 1977, 2001: A Space Odyssey #9, "Mister Machine" Written, edited and drawn by Jack Kirby, letters and inks by Mike Royer.

Captured by the army, the robot X-51 has been thrown into a maximum security cell. He's also had the face his "father" Dr. Stack gave him, forcibly removed; and that's what he's angriest about. X-51 breaks out of his cell, and while he refers to an automated cannon as "brother watch-dog!" X-51 exchanges some surprisingly charged epithets with a guard, as they refer to each other as "that infernal machine" and "flap-jaw." (During his Nextwave days, X-51 would often refer to humans as "fleshy ones.") As the escape leads to battle with the guards, the administrator of the project seemingly relents, and orders X-51 released and his face returned. (And a tracking device surreptitiously placed in X-51.)

Free, and now looking like Aaron Stack, he encounters the mysterious Monolith again, and tells it he won't seek his destiny, it will find him.

I don't think this issue is considered to be Kirby at the peak of his powers, but I find it charming. Aaron is likable, which goes a long way.
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Like an M&M in a Godiva chocolate box...

From 1984, U.S. 1 #8, "Heart-Brakes!" Written by Al Milgrom, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Mike Esposito.

I hadn't read any of this issue before, but this one does feature a catfight between the lead character U.S.'s love interests: waitress Mary McGrill and trucker Taryn "Down the Highway" O'Connell. Taryn shows up at Mary's truck stop, scuffed up after an accident, and throws herself at U.S. just to piss off Mary. Mary retaliates by snooping in Taryn's truck and finding the costume of the biker villain Midnight! Which would explain why Taryn was scufffed up, but also could be a plant, by Mary or someone else. Panicked, Taryn uses Midnight's whip to escape, although U.S. notices Taryn didn't seem to know how to use the whip's mind-control power. Taryn hijacks a motorcycle, U.S. gives chase in his modified, toyetic big rig; and Taryn is eventually, apparently killed by trying to use the whip--in time for the real Midnight to arrive!

Plotwise, that's not terrible, but it's not a great comic: a lot of bad jokes, serviceable art, for a barely-remembered toy. Except, I had thought someone had posted the cover a while back, so I had to pick it up out of a quarter-bin.

Michael Golden, delivering the goods. So much better than most books would deserve, let alone this one.

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Can't blog, opening toys.

While I did pick up something else I don't want to mention yet, I did get my first figures for 2016 yesterday from Target: the Marvel Legends Avengers three-pack with Ultron, Hulk, and Vision; and the Batman v. Superman Wonder Woman. (BTW, solid review of this WW and the lower-tier version at MWC Toys this morning!) I kind of thought I might've picked up the Armored Batman figure first, but frankly there's a ton of 'em, I can hold out a bit. The three-pack was down from $50 to $15, which finally got me to bite even though I don't know if I like that Hulk.

Opening stuff up now, so have a good weekend!
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I guess putting two passive, reactive characters against each other is one way to go.

I've said it before, but in the Marvel Universe, go to Florida, and you're gonna run into Man-Thing. Why should Shang-Chi be any different? From 1974, Master of Kung Fu #19, "Retreat" Written by Steve Englehart, art by Paul Gulacy, inks by Al Milgrom.

I've usually preferred Man-Thing as a guest-star than the lead: the mindless muck-monster is inherently reactive, not really showing a lot of initiative in his stories. Interestingly enough, I'm not sure Shang-Chi does either, since he doesn't ever seem to have a lot of choices, but agonizes over them constantly. This month, Shang is on the run in the Florida Everglades, from a pair of his father's assassins. Already tired and drugged, Shang tries to avoid the fight until they catch up to him, at which point he beats them into a bayou with a log. But he is unprepared to run into the Man-Thing. In this case, somewhat literally: Shang collides with and is engulfed by him, then pulled out by the passing Lu Sun.

Lu Sun seems a nice enough fellow, although I'm curious exactly what an Asian wise man was doing out in the middle of the Everglades in the middle of the night. Seriously, I just had to look it up, and he apparently only appears this issue! (Although, not the issue pictured there.) I almost wonder if Shang wasn't more drugged than he let on, and only imagined him. Shang could've passed through Man-Thing himself, and although Lu Sun is hit in the leg by two arrows when the assassins catch up, they don't really acknowledge Lu Sun...

The Man-Thing happens back along and "whosoever knows fear--burns at the Man-Thing's touch!" The assassins are incinerated, and as the Man-Thing lurches back into the swamp, Shang-Chi is left wondering if he isn't a mindless destroyer himself. Which is a little harsh, Shang.
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"Blood."

OK, I had to go off-set for this one--which accounts for at least some of the downturn in picture quality--but it was so much fun to shoot!
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In Frank's defense, it was one heavy sofa...

Today, I'm missing the days when there were four Punisher books and a couple of guest-spots every month; when the Punisher worked on all kinds of crime. From drug pushers to yo-yo welding engineering frauds to the U.S. Navy...really? Okay...Frank fought a lot more diverse crimes than you probably gave him credit for. And he usually fought them better than he did in today's book! From 1990, Punisher War Journal #16, "Panhandle" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Neil Hansen, inks by Mike Texeira. This issue, it's the Punisher versus the savings and loan crisis! Once again...really?

All joking aside, it's an interesting topic for Baron to tackle, and Frank makes a brief explanation of the crisis--which was probably tough enough to explain at the time, when it was happening, pre-Wikipedia. He also points out the general unlikelihood of any of the guilty parties seeing any jail time, since it's such a long, tedious crime to prosecute. (If you were serious about getting a jury to convict any sort of financial crime, you'd probably have to make a clever video that explains it in thirty seconds or less!) Frank and Microchip have been researching an especially egregious S&L profiteer, rancher Reese Kelleher; and wonder if Frank should execute someone for what amounts to theft. It's a moot point, since Kelleher is also a racist, drug-smuggling, murderer.

Frank poses as a homeless man, befriending some others who lost their lives' savings in Kelleher's real-estate scam; and plants a bug on his car. Kelleher's lawyer wonders why his boss even bothers with the S&L nonsense, since smuggling drugs was actually more profit and less risk; but he also has a soft spot of Kelleher's wife Carlotta. Kelleher was bringing her brother across the Mexican border, but as a mule, and he kills him over the loss of his drugs.

Tipped that the Feds were coming, Kelleher starts shredding everything he can, so Frank shows up to take him out. It doesn't go well: Kelleher surprises Frank with a grenade, and Frank is partially pinned by a sofa. He manages to keep him talking until Kelleher's lawyer shows up with a gun, and Kelleher shoots him, suspecting him of talking to the Feds. Frank manages to get his throwing knife and...

Swing and a miss! Frank is saved by the intervention of Carlotta, who murders Kelleher with a frying pan. (Probably over the death of her brother, but the jokey explanation is he didn't show proper appreciation for her cooking.) She and Frank then escape, with a bunch of Kelleher's ill-gotten cash: Frank gives her 10%, then the rest to the S&L victims, after "expenses." OK, not the Punisher's finest hour, but I do miss the days when he--and other super-heroes, for that matter--went after a multitude of offenses, beyond that of the latest crossover...

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There was still a good stack of figures I wasn't able to get to for last week's Year in Toys post, and a couple of them haven't got as much attention as I would like. (I've partially plotted a Misty Knight strip, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet!) Almost surprisingly, it's three days into the year (as I write this!) and I haven't bought a new figure yet. I may cave and buy an armored Batman or Wonder Woman figure, or maybe TV's Flash or Arrow; but seeing that my spending on action figures has been up about $400 a year, each year, since 2013: that's left me a little gun-shy. For the moment.

I am wondering if I'm going to be as "all-in" as I was last year. If I drop $40+ on Arrow and Flash, am I then going to be locked in to the remaining four figures to build the...ugh...Justice Buster? (Even for comics, that's a ridiculous name.) The same goes for the Batman v. Superman movie figures, with a build-a-Grappling Gun? An interesting choice, but I don't know if that would sell me to the same extent as a build-a-figure. (I have an unrelated sentimental attachment to the previous, Man of Steel MM Superman; so I'd probably only get a new movie Supes if they fixed the neck joint so he could look up!)

I don't even know about the next two Marvel Legends waves: I'm pretty sure I'm down for all of the Capwolf/Red Onslaught wave, but the Spider-Gwen/Absorbing Man one I might cherry-pick on. (The Ben Reilly Spidey and Venom look all right, but aren't 100% necessary.) And I'm giving a couple of places a little time, to see if some figures drop to 75% off: some Funko figures like Evolve and Firefly. And it's entirely possible I've bought a figure between writing and posting this. We'll see.
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The Tenth Annual! Random Happenstance Year in Toys!

Ten years of this? How?

This is traditionally one of my favorite posts of the year, and I may be working on this one up to the wire! But it's also odd for me looking back this year, when I'm somewhat uncharacteristically quite looking forward to 2016. And that's the kind of bold statement I figure will come back to bite me, so let's take a gander at 2015's pile of toys.

For new readers: For over ten years now, I have been keeping a running total of every action figure or toy I buy. Hopefully, each entry has the figure's name, the line, the price, and where I bought it; and possibly a link to a cartoon or strip that toy was used in. (Unless that figure's unloved or unphotogenic, I guess. Or I'm lazy...) Totals will usually include postage and tax. Usually. This is by no means a "Best of" list or anything, just what I bought.

As always, most of this list was kept up at OAFE.net, and here's links for 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006.

1-3 G.I. Joe Kre-O Battle-Damage B.A.T., Human Bullet, Ninja-Ku, and Leatherneck, $1.39 each, $6.04 total, Toys R Us.

1-9 G.I. Joe Kre-O Iceberg, Tele-Viper, $1.11 each, $2.40 total, Toys R Us.

1-16 Marvel Legends Ms. Marvel, Radioactive Man, Captain America 3-pack, $25.48, Target; G.I. Joe Kre-O Lifeline, Outback, $1.11 each, Lego Galaxy Patrol Space Creeper, $8.95; total $12.14, Toys R Us.

1-21 DC Collectibles Jim Lee Superman, $12.47; Dr. Who Character Building: 3 Doctors, 2 Daleks, Amy, Restac, $2 each, total $26.47, Go! Calendars.

1-22 Game of Thrones Briane of Tarth, $9.99, Go! Calendars.

1-24 Marvel Legends Captain America (Stealth Suit) and Winter Soldier, $12.49 each, $24.99 total, Go! Calendars. Completing Build-a-Figure Mandroid!

1-29 DC Total Heroes Steel, $7.49, Go! Calendars. (REMINDER: It's not a bad idea to check the mall calendar places now!)

2-3 DC Collectibles Thrasher Suit Batman, $32.60, Hastings.

2-7 Transformers Tiny Titan Grimlock, $1.37, G.I. Joe Kre-O 2 Cobra Drivers, $1.36 each, total $4.07, Toys R Us.

2-13 Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Machine Man, Thor, Iron Fist, Sentry, Hawkeye, $140 total, Wal-Mart. Completed Build-a-Figure Odin!

2-28 Marvel Super-Hero Mashers Dr. Doom, Iron Man, Ghost Rider, $4 each, total $12, Big Lots.

3-18 DC Collectibles Son of Batman Robin (Damian), $19.99, Hastings.

3-24 2 Star Wars Black Stormtroopers, $9.99 each, total $21.74, Hasbro Toy Shop/eBay.

3-28 Marvel Legends Hellcat, Batroc, $19.99 each, $43.46 w/tax, Wal-Mart.

4-2 Marvel Legends 2 Spider-Men, 2 Anti-Venom, Ultimate Spider-Woman, Spider-Girl, Spider-Man 2099, Daredevil, BaF Hobgoblin: a case from Hasbrotoyshop.com, $118.99+10.34 tax, shipped.

4-13? Star Wars Black Bossk, $19.99, Wal-Mart in Palm Springs. (I saw like four at Disneyland the next day or so!)

4-15 Babylon 5 Captain Sheridan, $5, a little store near a Cheesecake Factory in Anaheim. I think.


4-13 Marvel Legends Spider-Woman, $21.61, Wal-Mart.

4-15 Magic Liliana Vess, $12.50; Dr. Who K-9 w/book, $12.95; $27.63 total, Barnes & Noble.

4-29 Magic Chandra Nalaar, Nisa Revane, $6.24 each, $13.57 total, Barnes & Noble.

4-30 ML Avengers Hulk, $19.49 shipped, eBay.

5-1 ML Captain America, Iron Man Mark 43, $50 shipped, Toys R Us.

5-2 DC Collectibles Batman: The Animated Series Man-Bat, $19.01, Hastings.

5-15 Guardians of the Galaxy 2.5 inch figures: Starlord/Gamora, Groot/Rocket/Saakarian, Starlord/Ronan, Drax/Korath, $2 each, total $8, Wal-Mart.

5-19 DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham whatever Red Hood, $27.16 shipped, Gamestop.

5-20 Star Wars Black: Han Solo/Stormtrooper, $19.99, Wal-Mart.

ML Agent Venom for a silly "time capsule,", $19.99, Walgreens.

5-30 Spokane/Lilac City Comicon: Green Goblin, Iron Spider-Man, Alien ('97 Resurrection?), DCUC Katma Tui, John Stewart, Cyborg Superman, Viking Spawn, X3 Colossus, $25 all told. A hodgepodge, but fun.

6-1 Fantastic Four Psycho-Man, Hellboy keychain, $5, yard sale.

6-15 DCUC Nightwing, Mongul, $31.24 shipped, eBay.

Star Wars Black Luke/Stormtrooper, $19.82, Walmart.

6-18 Funko Legacy Rocketeer, $19.99, Toys R Us. Great, hope I don't break him, but great!

6-28 Star Trek Minimates Captain Pike/Enterprise, $6.99; DC Collectibles B:TAS Robin, $6.99, total $13.98, Hastings.

7-5 ML Tiger Shark, Grim Reaper, $19.99 each, $39.98, Target. (Montana, no tax...which I've been keeping track of sporadically.)

7-13 Hulkbuster! Valkyrie, Thundra, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, 2 War Machines, Blizzard, Vision, $133.04 shipped, Hasbro Toy Shop.

7-17 Megablocks Imagination Spongebob, $10.54 shipped, eBay. (I think I got two blind-bagged Larry the Lobsters, looking for this one. Because I love the imagination rainbow. Shut up, that's why.)

7-22 ML Black Ant, $21.61, Walgreens.

ML movie Ant-Man, $21.61, Walmart.

ML Wasp, $19.51, Toys R Us.

7-31 ML Colossus, $10, Kalispell Comics.

8-2 ML Bulldozer, $19.94, Target.

8-3 ML Giant-Man, $21.61, Toys R Us. Completed Ultron! He's, unh, ok.

8-14 DC Collectibles Wonder Woman/Katana 2-pack, $18.00, Hastings.

8-17 Playmates Star Trek: TNG Q, $3.93 shipped, eBay. (Wanted the accessories.)

8-18 Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors Trickshot Showdown, $3.50, Walmart.

8-19 ML Chameleon, Misty Knight, Ghost Rider, $17.44 each, $56.86 total, Kmart.

8-20 Star Wars Black Speeder Bike/Trooper, $19.99, Walmart.

8-19 Dark Horse Nightcrawler Syroco statue, $17, Entertainment Earth. Also got the Nightcrawler chess piece, but don't have the price in front of me.

8-26 ML Scarlet Spider, $17.44, Kmart.

9-4 Star Wars Black Kylo Ren, $18.94, Walmart; Hero Masher Stormtrooper, $9.99, Toys R Us. (I was hoping the Hero Masher would be about the same scale as the Black series Troopers, he's short.)

9-5 Marvel Hero Mashers Smash Fist Hulk, $11, Shopko.

9-8 Avengers 2.5" Cap, Iron Man, Fury, Hawkeye, Hulk, $1.87 each; total 10.16, Walgreens. (Haven't opened these yet, not sure if I'll keep them or give them away.)

9-10 Halo Drop Pod, $1.19, Minimate Star-Lord/Rocket/Groot, $7.99, Evolve Val, $18.99; total $28.17, Walgreens.

9-14 Venom: the Symbiote, $17.99 shipped, eBay. (The design might not grab everyone, and the articulation is limited; but he's a good-sized monster.)

9-16 Star Trek: Generations Picard in spacesuit, $9, Comic Book Shop; DC Collectibles Pandora, $4, Minimate Shanna/Reaver, $2, total $6, Hastings.

9-18 ML Kraven, Superior Venom, $19.99 each, $43.29 total, Walmart.

9-21 Star Wars Black First Order Stormtrooper, $18.94, Walmart.

9-28 Playmates Star Trek accessories, $15+$6.10 shipping, eBay. (A ton of bases, phasers, communicators, tricorders, and oddball little items. So much fun. Not a lot of paint...)

10-10 Agents of SHIELD 3-pack, $37.82, Toys R Us; Fisher Price golf clubs ("Happy Family," I think) $4+$3.15 shipping, eBay.

10-15 Game of Thrones Funko Legacy: Jaime Lannister, Khal Drogo, Ned Stark, Robb Stark, the Hound: $27.12 total, Barnes and Noble. (I think one of the scabbards fell off the Hound, but the rest were OK. Except they stank like hell outta package.)

10-16 Game of Thrones Funko Legacy: Daenerys Targaryen, $4.95, another Barnes&Noble.

10-17 Kre-O Transformers Optimus Prime vs. Megatron, $8.69, TJ Maxx.

10-18 Re:Action Gremlins Mogwai Stripe, $10.82, Barnes&Noble.

10-23 Star Wars Black IG-88, $21.61, Walgreens.

11-3 Star Wars Black Poe/Riot Stormtrooper, $32.60, Target.

11-6 Art Asylum Star Trek Captain Kirk (exclusive, with phaser rifle! Love the phaser rifle.) $20+$4.95 shipping, eBay.

11-7 Star Wars Black Captain Phasma, Guavian Enforcer, $18.99 each, $39.31 total, Wal-Mart.

11-12 DCUC Killer Moth, $11 shipped, Brentosaur on Twitter.

11-14 NECA Christopher Reeve Superman, Adam West Batman, $19.99 each, $43.41 total, Toys R Us. (Plus $29.99+ for the Supes I bought on eBay, with a stupid Man of Steel DVD; since I hadn't seen him in store yet. We'll keep it in package. The DVD's probably not going to accrue any value, though.)

12-1 Marvel Legends yellow Daredevil, $15, Walgreens.

12-15 Funko Rocketeer, $10.67, Toys R Us.

12-16 Star Wars Black Shocktrooper, $18.99, Wal-Mart.

12-23 Star Wars Black Rey/BB-8, $18.99, Wal-Mart.

12-26 Kre-O Shockwave,$5.99, TJ Maxx.

12-30 Evolve Goliath, $12.49, Go! Calendars.

2015 total: $1895.35. 2014: $1523.25. 2013: $1101.93. 2012: $706.32. 2011: $564.71. 2010: $966.10. 2009: $558.16. 2008: $555.16. 2007: $426.00. 2006: $620.00.

That's a big, big year! A couple of trends: no one store or retailer seemed to dominate, there are purchases all over the place. We also sprung for full cases on more than one occasion, something we haven't done all that often before; or bought an entire wave at once. In the same vein, there aren't a lot of Build-a-Figure pieces leftover this year, either: for Marvel Legends, we went all in.



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"The End" Week: Nomad #25!

We saw a lot of set-up for this one previously in a match-up with Dr. Faustus, so here's the conclusion: from 1994, Nomad #25, "American Dreamers, Part Four: Some Times Cry" Written by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Peter Garcia, inks by Fred Fredericks and Greg Adams. (The font on the title makes it tough to figure out, since "Cry" is in a different style!) With another Michael Golden cover! (I got this issue out of the same mark-down bin I got #19, but hadn't realized it was the last issue right away!)

The man called Nomad, Jack Monroe, has often seemed like a gun-crazed reactionary with a short fuse, but his history may make that understandable: as a child, he had accidentally exposed the fact that his hometown was full of "post-World War II Nazi sympathizers." Sent to a foster home, he was found by the man who would become the commie-fightin' Captain America of the 1950's, would eventually go crazy, end up in suspended animation, wake up and work with the original Cap, then go off to be a gun-toting vigilante. Because of his time frozen, Jack was far younger than his childhood friend Bart Ingrid, a senator gunning for the vice-presidential nomination and secret white supremacist. Jack does gun down the white supremacists, though, since he had remote control of the super-soldier smart gun introduced earlier in the series. He doesn't feel bad for them, but he can't even feel for himself.

Jack later says a tearful goodbye to "Bucky," the baby girl he had been taking care of most of the series. His informant Giscard, the "Favor Banker" tells Jack that both the fringe and the centrists are coming together against him, which Jack suspected since the supremacists had both the smart gun and hired mercenary Zaran. The next day, Senator Ingrid speaks before Congress, to answer the allegations against him, but mainly to try and blow up the place with a briefcase bomb. Jack shows up to stop him with a "stripped-down" version of the smart gun; that still looks to be about the same size and as unwieldy as a 50's vacuum cleaner. Jack shoots Ingrid, who drops his dead-man's switch, blowing up most of the Congressional Building, killing eight. (Jack had given enough time for most of the people to get out, but it seems like that would be a bigger deal!)

Presumed dead, Jack is saved by federal agent Hatch, who has him put in suspended animation again. He'd be back, even if that wouldn't go any better for him than this did. It does seem a shame Brubaker killed him off, since the way America is polarized today, you might be able to get something out of Nomad now...
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"The End" Week: Captain Atom #57!

We mentioned this one last month: it's a War of the Gods crossover! An Armageddon 2001 crossover! The conclusion of the four-part "The Quantum Quest" and the title's last issue! And a complete mess! From 1991, Captain Atom #57, "Elsewhere (Quantum Quest, part 4)" Written by John Ostrander, pencils by Mike Gustovich, inks by Romeo Tanghal. And it's got "The End?" right on the cover!

Captain Atom has been defeated by Shadowstorm, an evil version of Firestorm. (Who was in no way as cool as the Blackest Night version, Deathstorm.) Meanwhile--or "Elsewhere," which is used like 21 times this issue--the War of the Gods raged on, as Waverider searched the possible future timelines of earth's heroes, trying to find and stop the one that would become the tyrant Monarch. And, for some reason, an entire page of Captain Atom's last issue is devoted to the Captain Marvel vs. Lobo brawl from L.E.G.I.O.N. '91 #31!

Shadowstorm unleashes the darkness in normal people, turning them into his dark army. But Captain Atom isn't quite beat yet: he had withdrawn into the quantum field that gave him his powers, and created an entire universe (!) to live the life he might have had if he hadn't receved his powers. But, playing God to change the outcome weakened the reality, until Atom destroys it and faces a dark version of himself. (All of which seems a lot more like Solar, Man of the Atom or Dr. Manhattan than Captain Atom.)

After defeating his evil self, Atom confronts Shadowstorm and lures him into attacking with his army, which Atom destroys. (Rather casually, rather than trying to save the people transformed?) Atom has Shadowstorm's number, as they wreck up an Eastern European city, and Shadowstorm turns into another evil version of the Captain! Unknown to them, Dr. Fate and earth's mystic heroes are simultaneously trying to "stabilize a planet made mad by the War of the Gods," while the witch Circe tries to tap into their spell: unknown to any of them, it weakens Shadowstorm through his connection to earth, and Captain Atom destroys him. The Captain then flies away, again somewhat coldly, leaving the damaged city and injured citizens behind, heading for Armageddon 2001...

Somewhat famously, Captain Atom was intended to become the evil Monarch...until a leak forced DC to try and change Monarch's secret identity to Hawk, of Hawk and Dove. This was pretty obviously setting up CA as the baddie--and he didn't have an annual contradicting that, like Hawk and Dove had, either. Still, the Captain had almost five years worth of development, that was virtually ignored ever since; since he's almost always portrayed as the soldier, obeying the orders of his superiors. Even though that doesn't make a lot of sense, considering his origin, either.

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"The End" Week: Unexpected #222!

We checked out the last issue of Weird War Tales last year, but here's another of DC's former stable of supernatural horror comics: from 1982, Unexpected #222, featuring stories by Arnold Drake, Martin Pasko, and Robert Kanigher; with art by Keith Giffen, Marc Silvestri, and Tor F. Infante.

Not unlike that Weird War Tales, this issue is pretty much like most of the rest of the series at that time; with a widower having problems relating to his daughter after his wife's death in delivery, problems both caused and solved by alien intervention. Next, a vampire story where the remorseful bloodsucker tries to stop his rampage; and finally the best of the issue: "No Penny, No Paradise." Alexander the Great has conquered the known world, but a dying Persian proclaims he will never conquer the underworld...when Alexander dies of malaria, he asks for a priceless "Alexandrian penny" to be put in his mouth, to pay Charon for his passage to the underworld. Unfortunately for him, his wine-bearer steals the penny, and Charon turns out to be a real stickler about it. His shade returns to the land of the living for the coin, but his results are mixed...!

Not a modern classic or anything, but I do like early Keith Giffen art. There was a Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation this issue as well, with 10C. Total Paid Circulation: Average no. copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 83,371. Actual no. copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 76,296. Granted, there were like 150,000 returns, but most publishers would kill for those sales now.

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