No prizes for guessing which problem Namor tackles first...

No subjects, no country, no problem; but no queen? That shall not stand!!

Questions from this page alone: is that octopus alive? Did Namor kick it's ass, too? Are there even octopi in the middle of the Atlantic, or wherever the hell Atlantis is? Topo visits the other Atlantis for one damn day and this happens...What the hell army is the guy in the red outfit from? If Atlantis popped up to the surface in the middle of the ocean a few hours ago, would birds already be eating dead fish off of it? What is with Namor's "Day at the beach" crack? How does he keep his long, luxurious mane looking its best after being in sea water all day?

Sigh. This is from Fantastic Four Unlimited #11, "No Man is an Island" (ugh.) Written by Glen Herdling, art by Herb Trimpe. (Trimpe can do better!) The cover and title page announce this issue as "Atlantis Rising Revisited," tying it into to the Fantastic Four event. Event maybe should be in quotes there, and I'm not sure what if any other books crossed over to this one. I know I have Atlantis Rising #1 and some such from the quarter bins: there was a preview issue even, with a nice Alan Davis cover; but I know this one sank like a stone. (Boo!) In comics, there's like two plots for Atlantis: Attacks, or Rises/Sinks. Nobody just visits Atlantis. Their gift shop gets less sales than the Holocaust Museum...

In other news, this Sunday...

...it is three. More on that later, stay tuned!

Panel from Nexus #22, "The Battle for Ylum" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Steve Rude, inks by John Nyberg.
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I wanted to call this post 'Doom vs. Doom,' but I might save that one...

[EDIT: In the comments, Don Julian points out: "Jakob Schiesser (the peasant Kristoff says will die anyway) is a German translation of James Shooter." Thanks, Don! Is it coincidence? A dig at the boss? Maybe Comic Book Legends would know...]

Although I enjoyed his work on other books, like Silver Surfer, Steve Englehart's run on Fantastic Four never quite worked for me. Granted, he was in the tough spot of following John Byrne's still-exemplary tenure, and then I was more excited to hear Walt Simonson would be taking over the book.

By that point, since he knew he was going to be out, Englehart started burning off planned plotlines, writing under the pen name John Harkness. In the story, the rogue Watcher Aron has captured the Fantastic and Frightful Fours, put them in suspended animation, and cloned himself a ersatz Fantastic Four to serve as his "action figures." The Fake Four, including female Thing Ms. Marvel and armadillo-style Thing, act out old FF adventures issue-by-issue; and are both true to their earliest characterization and surprisingly dickish.

Meanwhile, in suspended animation, the real FF have nightmares--the aforementioned scrapped plotlines. Most of them weren't very good. I remember one was Reed's computer, which had been name-dropped several times as the "Turino-XL," turned out to be Ultron XI. Or IX. Whatever. It wasn't even a computer Reed built, he bought it, which didn't sound right either. I have long since lost most of those issues, since I was only reading them since I got a subscription the moment I heard Simonson was coming.

But one issue I saved: the Invisible Woman's nightmare. Fantastic Four #330, "Good Dreams!" Written by "John Harkness," pencils by Rick Buckler, inks by Romeo Tanghal. "Doom vs. Doom" would've been a better title, since that's what we've got in the dream. More after the bump!


Earlier, John Byrne introduced Kristoff, an orphaned Latverian boy that Doom took in under his care. Except the kid was less a ward of the state, than Doom 2.0. A contingency plan: if Doctor Doom was killed, his robots would upload a copy of Doom's personality onto Kristoff and make him the new Doom. Great plan, except Kristoff was activated too soon. Doom returns to find Kristoff in power and completely believing himself to be the real Doom and the other to be a fake. Entrenched in Latveria, Kristoff was actually able to drive off Doom, who was handicapped by not wanting to destroy his country.

So, Byrne introduced Kristoff, I think Englehart set up the Doom vs. Doom situation, and eventually Simonson would bring an elegant solution to the table, but this issue shows a possible answer from Englehart. On a typical Latverian morning, a peasant thanks the land for being the least of their troubles; and of course is overheard by Doom. Kristoff-Doom, who is out for a stroll with his Doombots. Kristoff charitably declines to have the peasant killed, since his source has tipped him to an upcoming attack from the other Doom.

Doom has recruited some A-list backup for his attack: Dormammu, Kang the Conqueror, the grey Hulk, the Absorbing Man, Attuma, Hobgoblin, the Beetle, and Master Pandemonium. Doom's attack was planned for high noon, but he moves it up to eleven, since he knows the Beetle is Kristoff's source. At Doom's order, the Hulk gladly squashes the Beetle, noting that he's repaying a debt to Doom.

The attack begins on Castle Doom, with Hobgoblin dying early, falling to "magick." Doom is able to counter it, taking the fight inside, to Kristoff's own army: the Rhino, Abomination, Sandman, Annihilus, Electro, and Mysterio. Kristoff's soldiers, like Kristoff himself, believe Doom to be nothing more than a rogue robot. Doom got the better draft picks, though; and takes out Annihilus as he strolls to fight Kristoff himself.

Oddly, as Doom is stopped by his own Doombots, one tells him "Surrender, Dorothy!"

As Doom and Kristoff scuffle, the Hulk decides to level the castle, prompting the Dooms to work together. For a moment. Meanwhile, Doom's team outclasses and outplays Kristoff's, and Kristoff cries "Death-" as he flees to a reinforced safe room. Doom knows immediately what Kristoff is doing, since he would do the same; and has Dormammu shield them from a neutron bomb, which destroys Latveria.

As Doom plans vengeance, other forces are starting to move on Latveria: the Soviet Super-Soldiers, Namor, Thor, the Mole Man, the Eternals, the Deviants, NATO, the Warsaw Pact...even faced with the entire world against him, Doom is less concerned with Kristoff's finger on the button, than wanting everyone to get off his lawn. Kristoff sets off hidden nuclear warheads around the world, destroying it. And the moon, as the Watcher sheds a silent tear.

At least, that's Sue's nightmare. The idea of the Dooms recruiting super-villains is a fun one; although it probably wouldn't have gotten through outside of a dream sequence: the Spider-Man editors probably wouldn't be too keen on losing several bad guys. Presumably, if the real Fantastic Four had gotten involved, it wouldn't have ended in nuclear holocaust. The FF would probably have to lump it, picking a side and getting Doom back on his throne. (Maybe. I'm trying not to spoil Simonson's answer, even for a twenty-year-old comic!)

And Doom's super-villain draft picks worked for me: I particularly liked his selection of the gray Hulk. In fact, I think the first comic I ever read with Dr. Doom was a treasury issue of the Rampaging Hulk. We may have to try to see that one later, but it cemented for me that Doom sees the Hulk not as a foe or an obstacle, but as a potential resource.
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Interesting tidbit: Alan Davis hates Hot Stuff. I guess.

(In the bottom right corner!)

Some readers may remember Alan Davis did a fair run on X-Men/Uncanny X-Men as writer--just prior to Chris Claremont's first return to the books--but I also seem to recall those issues as being strictly editorially controlled. I liked his stint, moreso than the prior or following regimes; but nowhere near as much as his return to drawing and writing Excalibur. The above panel is from Excalibur #65, "White Lies, Dark Truths" with inks by Mark Farmer; and it's one of my favorite single issues ever.

Longer posts will be forthcoming, but I think the rest of this week is going to be spotty, sorry. On the other hand, I might get back into the comic shop today, so we'll see. Plus, it's vitally important (to me, anyway) to stay on the daily schedule, and there's a special Sunday post coming up soon: I have to build a set for that one, which seemed like a good idea at first...

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"Strangedoom, part one."

"There are times, when my crimes, may seem almost unforgivable..." Yeah, I'll stop now. Click to enlarge!

Hmm. You probably don't have to be a student of Marvel Comics to guess what happens next...anyway, some thoughts:

Shuma-Gorath is best known as the squid-eyeball purple thing from the classic Marvel Super Heroes video game, and "Chaos Dimension" was one of his special infinity moves. Of course, Shuma has a history of Lovecraftian-style monsterhood in old Dr. Strange comics, but still, best known for that weird running-crawl it would do across the screen.

I don't know what kind of magical resistance Doom gives his Doombots. Or what kind of magical resistance you could give a robot. For our purposes, assume 'none.' Wait, that would imply that Harry Potter could magically defeat Optimus Prime, and that can't be right...And of course, Doom yells at his robots. And the toaster. It's safe to assume, Doom yells at everything.

And why would Namor like ketchup potato chips and pale ale? Well, I figure those are kinda tough to get at the bottom of the sea; and Namor's doubtless sick of...whatever Atlanteans eat. Huh. Do Atlanteans cook their food, then? Or is their diet mostly raw eel and unprocessed kelp? Blech.

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Dated yet relevant, that's the magic of comics right there.

I was going to take today off (although, "today" is really a couple of days ago, since I usually post a couple days in advance) and just read some comics--in this case, the full run of Ghost Rider 2099. But, what the hell, let's throw out a couple of scans and a couple of thoughts on it.

It's funny: while it's certainly not the worst 2099 book, it's probably not the best one either. It's not as consistently good as Peter David's Spider-Man 2099, and it's not as future-arific as Warren Ellis' Doom 2099 issues. Some of the future-speak tries too hard, and since this is the future as seen from 1994, some aspects are already painfully dated: "I was carrying five hundred megs of hot data in a Latverian bio-implant." What, was your iPod broken or something? Unless it was 500 megs of pixs of Doom Gone Wild, I really don't see how that could be valuable...I didn't get the chance to look it up, but I think you can get a Star Trek flash drive with more memory off the back of the box of Cheez-its. Perhaps "megs" are what currently would be mega-giga-megabytes.

But, there's a lot that works, too. Ghost Rider 2099 held up better than most of the 2099 line in the art front: The first issues had art by Chris Bachalo, and later Kyle Hotz and Ashley Woods would take the reins. And writer Len Kaminski hit on issues that are still coming up today, like the effects of a corporately-controlled news media, for one:


OK, not a very subtle example there, but it would come up more than once in the series. Anyway. Out today, reading comics. Be back soon.

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Why DD and Tasky are no longer on speaking terms:

I mentioned this one the other day or so when mentioning Taskmaster, then scanned it, then didn't load it, then finally wrote this, then had a scan upside down. See?
Here's the right-side-up one, from Daredevil #318.

Like the cover says, it's the last issue...until #319. Ha, ha, ha. The book seemed to have been floundering for a bit, with a stretch of fill-ins or single-issue stories, a forgettable crossover with Punisher and Nomad...wait, strike that: I said "forgettable," but there is a shot where Daredevil gives Bucky--an infant that Nomad carried on his back, if you recall--gives Bucky a bottle. Not a baby bottle, like a beer bottle. DD then gets Nomad to turn around real quick, and a baby breaks a bottle over thug's head. Why? Just to be a dick, apparently. But, technically speaking, I guess there's at least two memorable panels in there, then.

Where was I? Oh, yes, Daredevil, floundering. Marvel was just about to start a new storyline that would change everything for the Man Without Fear, for a while, anyway: new armor costume, new secret identity, new status quo. Didn't take, but even so, before they started all that business; they decided to have one fun story first.

Unfortunately, A. It's not that funny, and B. Daredevil hadn't had a fun issue in, I'm guessing, well over a hundred. Maybe two. I'm trying to remember if Ann Nocenti ever did a full-on, "funny" issue of DD, and I don't think she did...more after the bump!


It's a mob heist macguffin story: a low-level mob schmoe strongarms for himself a "nest egg" in stolen grease. Yeah, like that Simpsons episode, although I think this issue predates it. Some mob thugs go hunting for the lost "treasure," followed by longtime dweeb villain the Stilt-Man, lunatic Spider-Woman foe the Tatterdemalion; fourth-string DD thugs the Wildboyz, Spit and Jet; and the Taskmaster. Tasky may be the only one of the lot whose street cred didn't hemorrhage and die after this issue...

I didn't have the prior issue, at hand, anyway (EDIT: no, I don't think I ever had #317.); so I forget why exactly Tasky is in on the hunt. Sure, it's a million dollars worth, but a million dollars worth of grease. Dry-cleaning his cape alone is going to eat a lot of that. At any rate, although he had appeared a few times in the book over the last year or two, this would be Taskmaster's last showing in Daredevil. He doesn't go out on a high note, but by this point DD so had Tasky's number: while Taskmaster can easily duplicate all of Daredevil's moves, DD's radar sense also gives him much more awareness of his surroundings. In an earlier issue, DD taunts Tasky into copying a flying back flip, which Tasky does, landing in front of a moving truck.

Jet and Spit were from Ann Nocenti's run, where they were despicable, scary lowlifes. This time, they're purely comic relief lowlifes, like the Dreadnoks from G.I. Joe. This may have been the Wildboyz last appearance, but in their prior showing, they put the finishing touches on a savage beating on Daredevil, that had been organized by Typhoid Mary. Nope, here they're a laughing-stock: getting beat up by Power Pack would have been more credible.

Stilt-Man doesn't need any more abuse heaped onto him, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention Tatterdemalion. (He's the unconscious guy in the red scarf above, but that isn't even a particularly embarrassing moment for him.) Among other things, his Wikipedia entry mentions that he was "among the supervillains who were apprehended and given a choice between jail or assisting the Thunderbolts." Now, "supervillains" isn't really the right term: a former investor who went insane after being swindled out of all his money, in this issue, Tatterdemalion rambles on about poverty being next to godliness, or something. He's a homeless guy, with special gloves that allow him to dissolve items like paper money or clothing: "filthy material goods." Oh, and apparently, "Tatterdemalion's body was supernaturally augmented by Satannish to levels roughly equaling that of Captain America. This entails that his strength, endurance, speed, reflexes, and stamina are all roughly as developed as they could possibly be for human being. This means that the Tatterdemalion is stronger and faster moving than any Olympic athlete. However, he is still homeless and insane."

That is so awesome. Tatterdemalion should be a required character in any and all Marvel videogames. "Why did my costume melt? And how is this hobo kicking my ass?" I guess he appeared in Werewolf by Night a few times, but I'm almost positive he appeared in Spider-Woman at some point; one assumes to attempt to destroy her costume...

For his part, Daredevil fights the whole lot of them, but not only doesn't seem to be putting his all into it, he actively helps them find it at one point. Presumably, it's to keep tabs on those idiots so they don't hurt themselves or anyone else; and to make sure they get their comeuppance. And they do! Still, maybe DD should've looked into keeping that shield after all...

All scans from "Grease Monkeys" Written by D. G. Chichester, pencils by Scott McDaniel, inks by Bud La Rosa. Chichester would do much better work for DD, including the last issue before Kevin Smith's run, #380. That one isn't even a "funny" issue, but has more jokes than "Grease Monkeys."


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Out today. You know why.

A very silly strip for today, but I'm out for Star Trek as soon as I can. Have a good weekend!

Oh, all right: the Klingon is probably pidgin and mangled, but Deadpool's line is "Your mother!" Kurt's line is, "And your mother's mother!" Yeah, we're Milk & Cheese fans as well...
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"Spockgate."

Don't be offended, Stargate: SG-1 fans; I just set this up because I finally got that dialer piece: I've had the base for it in my desk at work for months.

I do love the Art Asylum Star Trek figures, although I'm not sure they nailed the Kirk likeness for this one. And of course, I have three Kirks: the above casual green shirt, the old-school "Where No Man Has Gone Before" almost-but-not-quite-gold, and movie uniform from The Wrath of Khan. That's probably enough for me, but if you had a hankering to, you could get The Motion Picture grey pajama uniform Kirk, field jacket or bloodied uniform variant from Khan, um...with torn uniform...two of those if I'm not mistaken, a non-specific battered Kirk and a sliced one from "Amok Time". And the Mirror uniform. Whew! I don't know if all the Original Series Kirks use the same headsculpt, either. Recently, they reissued the Original Series gold shirt, which I would've bought in a heartbeat if he came with the phaser rifle. I know it only appeared in one episode, but I want one!

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering, action-packed Star Trek panel:

Some ship-to-ship action from Star Trek: Early Voyages #14, "Futures" Written by Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett, pencils by Patrick Zircher, inks by Steve Moncuse. With the timestream altered (as happens...) Jim Kirk ends up captain of a crappy commercial freighter (with Scotty in tow) while Chris Pike remains captain of the Enterprise. Well, the universe can't let that stand...

We're going to go early with this one, since I'm having some technical difficulty; namely, a scan that I didn't realize was upside-down until this morning. Grrrr. This is the last pulse-pounding, senses-shattering, action-packed Star Trek panel too: tomorrow, two short homemade strips. Looks like I won't see the movie until Saturday, though, which is of course, killing me.

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek page:

From Star Trek: Early Voyages #17, (Marvel, 1998) "Nemesis" Written by Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett, pencils by Javier Pulido, inks by Steve Moncuse. The last page of the last issue, that would never be resolved: I don't know if these batch of Marvel Trek books were or weren't selling, or perhaps the license became more expensive than they cared to pay, but all of them ended rather suddenly.
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"And now, a deleted scene from Blackest Night #0."

OK, not really. Just click to enlarge anyway...



Page from Blackest Night #0, "Death Becomes Us" Written by Geoff Johns, pencils by Ivan Reis, inks by Oclair Albert and Rob Hunter. Not a bad issue, honestly, and the Black Lanterns should prove entertaining. Is there actually a body in Bruce's grave? I didn't think so, but...

Since their deaths are in comic time and not real time, Barry probably knows of the Simpsons, even though his death in Crisis on Infinite Earths was in 1985, two years before even the shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show.

There was a line I tried to squeeze in for Hal, that Bruce tagged everything with his Bat-symbol, except his sidekicks. Couldn't work it out in time, and it didn't fit anyway. Hal should talk, since he's beaming the Green Lantern symbol out these days. It is sooooo easy to write Hal as a bit of a boor.

I've been trying to put together some Batman jokes, about his current status: four or five or more guys dressed up as Batman kicking the hell out of each other in Gotham, and I don't know who came up with the Captain Cave-Bat line, but I can totally see that, too.
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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panel:

Captain Picard...

...has heard your threats before, yeah.

From Star Trek: the Next Generation #61 (DC Comics, 1994) "Brothers in Darkness" Written by Michael Jan Friedman, art by Deryl Skelton.
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"Ghost Rider, $20.99"

Oh, fudd. I was working on a strip yesterday, and then scans didn't want to load for a DD post today, so we'll move this a day forward...even though I'm not ready.

The book has been getting good reviews, like here for instance, and I think I definitely need to pick up Ghost Rider #33 after flipping through a copy recently. Briefly, and from memory: a war for heaven is over, leaving bad angels in charge, Ghost Riders Johnny Blaze and Dan Ketch MIA, and the Caretaker dead. As his daughter mourns him, she remembers Ghost Riders of the past, and there are some doozies: G-Man Ghost Rider of the 1930's, 70's Ghost Truckers, Native American Ghost Riders, and more. They've really made Ghost Rider a legacy character, something not often seen from Marvel, but it could also almost work like a Ghost Rider Corps. Hey, it'd be an excuse to bring Vengeance and Blazing Skull out of mothballs. All they need is maybe a chest emblem and a catchy oath.

Shoot, wish I had a Vengeance figure now. I do have one of the little ripcord motorcycle ones, though...I haven't read a lot of his appearances, although I remember him being a mainstay of the later years of Marvel Comics Presents. I do have a full run of Ghost Rider 2099, and I still like that one. Might re-read it now, I know I have it out for some reason.

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panels:

One of the interesting things about Star Trek fiction is that while everyone probably doesn't read or watch every spin-off, novel, game, or comic; there are certain source items that most have. Just about every fan has seen Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan, widely regarded as the best of the movies (so far, anyway...) and would fondly remember the Enterprise's battle with the hijacked U.S.S. Reliant. Which isn't pictured above, by the way. Or below:

The first scan is from Peter David's first run on DC's adaptation, and pictures a collision with the hijacked Zephyr, renamed the Renegade. The second is from Captain Pike's day, and the Cortez, hijacked by pre-Enlightenment Vulcans. Yeah, those Miranda class ships don't seem like the safest assignments...

Panels from Star Trek #50, (DC Comics, 1988) "Marriage of Inconvenience" Written by Peter David, pencils by Tom Sutton, inks by Ricardo Villagran; and Star Trek: Early Voyages #7, (Marvel, 1997) Written by Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett, pencils by Patrick Zircher, inks by Greg Adams.

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Resolute, FCBD, the Oldest's birthday, and anything else I think of now.

I don't think I'll switch to it, but I set up an alternate banner the other day after watching G.I. Joe: Resolute. While I didn't like it as much as some did, I thought it was pretty good. Of course, keep in mind I only occasionally watched the cartoon, and read the comic here and there until maybe #117 or so? So, I don't have the same level of attachment to the Joes that some fans might, and I'm a fan of Warren Ellis to boot. Ah, just watch the thing if you haven't already: it's free and good, what more do you want! Reasonably Intelligent Rambling has got it cued up for you right now, so check it out. (EDIT: A late addition, and slightly off topic, but I thought the strip was going to be about Resolute so I'm counting it: this week's strip from Ages 25 and Up is bloody great!)

I don't have a pile of Joe figures, though; and the DCIH pack I picked up a couple of weeks back was a bit disappointing, but five dollars for three isn't a bad deal if you can find it.

Yesterday was the Oldest's birthday, and the day before, Free Comic Book Day! As usual for the latter, the Comic Book Shop had a pretty good set-up, once again featuring the 501st Legion! Sadly, they haven't set up a similar celebration just for the Oldest, but somehow he'll survive...

Hope you got a good pile of comics yourselves!

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panel:

From Star Trek: Deep Space 9, (Malibu, 1994) "Program: 359" Written by Colin Clayton and Chris Dows, art by Rob Davis and Terry Pallot. Even though I loved the series, DS9 didn't gel as well in the comics for me. But, I do like stories like this one, which use more tactical manuevers than the special effects budget of the show could probably get away with. I always liked launching shuttles as missiles myself, but Sisko tries punching a hole through a Borg cube's shields so he can beam crewmen aboard: they're beamed into space instead, then shot. Not a great manuever, yeah.



The whole scene is a holodeck sim, though: Sisko is running the battle of Wolf 359, this time with him in the captain's seat, and realizes there was nothing he could have done to win the battle, or save his wife. Pretty good, for a six-page story.

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panel:

Scotty knows to use the right tool for the job. From Star Trek #50, (DC Comics, 1993) "The Peacemaker, part two: The Conclusion" Written by Howard Weinstein, pencils by Rod Whigham, inks by Arne Starr and Carlos Garzon. Guest-starring Gary Seven and Isis, and if that means something to you, you're hardcore, man.

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Today's pulse-pounding, senses-shattering, action-packed Star Trek panel:

From Star Trek: Starfleet Academy #19, "Between Love and Hate" Written by Chris Cooper, pencils by Chris Renaud, inks by Andy Lanning. The last page of the last issue of this series, and I miss it too. Aside from Cadet Nog from Deep Space 9, it featured all new characters, and wasn't above losing them, either. I still wonder about the cancellation: the prior issue had been released in two formats: English, and Klingon. (Yes, I have both, even though I can't read a damn word of the latter...) Why would they go to that kind of trouble with the book about to wrap?

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"Taskpool, part five."

Although he seemed pretty canny in his initial appearance as a criminal trainer, I still get the impression that Taskmaster may not be a rocket scientist. He's a bit too impressed with his copied skills, and I always think back to his appearances in 90's Daredevil comics. In one, a stymied Tasky resorts to mediation, which seems like it would just be him imitating the poses and not exactly achieving inner peace.

Oh, yeah, Wolverine: Origins is out today! I don't know if I'll go right away, but we'll see.

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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panel:

Sometimes, they just have your number, Bones. From Star Trek #51, (DC Comics, 1993) "Epic Proportions" Written by Diane Duane, pencils by Rod Whigham, inks by Arne Starr.

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"Taskpool, part four."

Although he memorably does it in the second issue of his first limited series--"Sort of a tail gunner, as it were..."--you don't see Nightcrawler fence with his tail very often. Probably because the writers think it's a bit silly, or maybe Kurt's just afraid of getting it cut off.

Tasky can copy a lot of abilities, but per his wikipedia entry, he can watch kung-fu movies in fast-forward, then duplicate the moves at super-speed for brief periods. Yeah, I have to call bull on that. I wonder what comic that was from, but I would say Taskmaster can only duplicate skills up to his own physical ability. Tasky's in pretty good shape, but if he's copying Spider-Man's moves, he still can't make a twenty-foot vertical jump.

In Agent X, Taskmaster mentions watching a lot of Nascar to pick up the driving skills, and that probably wouldn't work either: he'd be watching a car, not the driver, most of the time. Of course, in the last issue, he admits to watching soap operas and romantic comedies, to try and win back Sandi. That might just be a line, but it's not bad.


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Today's pulse-pounding senses-shattering action-packed Star Trek panel:

A hot nurse, in a Starfleet miniskirt, with a phaser rifle. Look, I'm not made of goddamn stone, all right? From Star Trek: Early Voyages #11, "The Fallen, part two" Written by Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett, pencils by Michael Collins, inks by Greg Adams. You know, I liked this series so much, I think it's why I didn't care as much for Enterprise: although in the continuity, it was set prior to "The Cage," it didn't have the same design sense. Not just female officers in miniskirts and beehives (although, that couldn't have hurt...) but the look of the bridge equipment, hand weapons, etc. Would Enterprise have been more successful with those? No one can say...but Enterprise has never gotten a comic book. Make of that what you will. Hey, is anyone adapting the new Trek movie? Or is that passe?

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"Taskpool, part three."

Two today!

Crap. Of course, this was written before Bea Arthur's passing, so our condolences to her family and fans.

I do have to wonder how many bad habits Taskmaster has picked up with those photographic reflexes.

Oddly, to date, I have never heard Deadpool's voice. Sure, I know what Ryan Reynolds sounds like from other movies, but I haven't seen the clips where he talks yet! Nor have I heard Pool in Marvel Ultimate Alliance: I just started slogging through the first X-Men Legends again. I guess I haven't seen his appearance in the animated Hulk vs. Wolverine either...

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Today's pulse-pounding, senses-shattering, action-packed Star Trek panels:

Ah, the Mirror Universe: too much fun to expect comics writers not to play with. Of course, with Star Trek comics from DC, Marvel, and Malibu (to the best of my limited knowledge, Gold Key never did a Mirror story...) and the hassles inherent to hemming to official continuity, you'll have to forgive them for contradicting other comics. Besides, Mirror stuff is more fun when you break the toys...


Panels from Star Trek #9, (DC Comics, 1983) "New Frontiers, chapter 1: ...Promises to Keep" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Tom Sutton, inks by Ricardo Villagran; and Star Trek: Mirror Mirror, (Marvel, 1997) "Fragile Glass" Written by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Larry Mahlstedt.
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"Taskpool, part two."

Deadpool is like Poochie this week, in the sense that whenever he's not around, everyone should be asking, "Where's Deadpool?"

Pool's healing factor varies, depending on the writer. At the start of his first regular series, Joe Kelly ramped it down to the point that Wade had trouble regrowing a finger (that Taskmaster had chopped off, actually!) and then he lost the ability to regrow appendages at all. In Christopher Priest's run, Deadpool was reduced to snot, basically, and had to wear a containment suit to maintain himself...for like one issue. That was never brought up again, and may well be written off to Loki jerking Wade's chain. Under Gail Simone, the healing factor was pretty strong, until the Black Swan messed with it. In Cable/Deadpool, towards the end of the book, with writer Fabian Nicieza, Wolverine decapitated Deadpool--Bob helps put his head back.

In the current series, I think Deadpool has, possibly more than once, been wrecked up to the point where he needs to go lie down for a while; which strikes me as a callback to old detective stories or Conan: if the writer needs to change the scene, the main character gets hit on the head with a blackjack. Or, in Deadpool's case, shot the hell up.

The point is, Pool's healing factor can be however strong the writer wants, and they can justify in story, or not. And not unlike Roger Rabbit, if it's funny, Deadpool can walk off grievous injuries that would crush him in a serious situation. Kelly turned the healing factor down by irradiating Pool (gamma, I believe) but Priest had a great scene with Pool lowering his head into a nuclear reactor in an attempt to burn Tom Cruise's face off his head. (Goddamn, I love comics.)

Personally, I treat Deadpool's healing factor as ludicrously strong, able to regrow limbs or reattach skulls; but only if Pool's had a good breakfast. Most important meal of the day, people. Shouldn't have go back over this. (Stolen from Xombi, still one of the comics I miss most.)


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