"Obscure."

I wonder about that sometimes: even though he has a bona-fide Avengers membership now (which is sure to go up in flames in Secret Empire, but that's neither here nor there) Deadpool used to be a bit shadier. So I wonder if when he beats up a villain and takes them to jail, if Deadpool's still not friendly and chatty with the baddies too. Oh, like anyone at Marvel has fought a villain since Civil War, it's 24-7 hero-on-hero action...that came out wrong.
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This month in Black Knight; Steve Rogers, Deadpool, and a literal committee do more than our title character...

During one of Marvel's more recent big pushes, this was one of the first books to be cancelled, but that's not necessarily a reflection on its quality. Is it? From 2016, Black Knight #4, "Dark Knight, part four" Written by Frank Tieri, art by Luca Pizzari. (As sometimes happens, I had to upload that cover myself! Marvel should have interns who do that...)

Weirdworld was also getting a big push, with its own title and the Extraordinary X-Men going there for a couple; but here the Black Knight, Dane Whitman, has become king of the New Avalon region. And he's either had to make the tough choices, and deal out some bloody justice; or the Ebony Blade is turning Dane into a bloodthirsty lunatic. Maybe both: thrown in a dungeon by the Avengers Unity Squad (including Deadpool!) Dane is visited by the ghost of original Black Knight "Percy," who seems a lot more bloodthirsty himself here. Still, the citizens of New Avalon rise up--against the Avengers, they want their king back! Eventually, the citizens work out a deal with geezer Steve Rogers (who had been swinging the Blade around for a bit, even as an old man!) where Dane will stay as king, but Steve will take the Blade back to earth. A good compromise leaves everyone mad, but the only one who doesn't like this one is Dane, who seems on the verge of full junkie withdrawals.

I really, really wonder if maybe this wouldn't have done better, if Marvel had solicited it as a mini-series. But they don't seem to want to do that anymore, which is a shame: I think more people would be willing to commit to maybe four or five issues, rather than a full on-going. Now, if anyone stocked that last issue...
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I enjoy the CW's DC Comics shows, but a good 90% of the heroes problems--particularly on Flash--are probably caused by the hero themselves. Which might be why Booster Gold hasn't gotten a show or appeared yet, since he'd probably cause several times more problems than that! From 2008, Booster Gold #4, "He's Gonna Save Every One of Us!" Written by Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz, pencils by Dan Jurgens, finishes by Norm Rapmund.

On the trail of the villain Supernova, Rip Hunter and Booster have an unexpected "fender bender" in the timestream, running into Flash and Kid Flash on their cosmic treadmill! Although Rip doesn't want to mess with the Flashes' timeline, they are headed to Central City...just a few years before the Flash Museum was built, Barry notices. Booster realizes too late the bad guys wouldn't get tracked unless they wanted to be found, and he's right; as Supernova and Rex Hunter reveal themselves!

Although he wears a costume like the Silver Age Time Master did, Rip knows "Rex" is really Jason Goldstein, who had wanted to join Rip's team but also wanted to change history as he saw fit. (Rex had tried to kill Lex Luthor as a child, but Rip points out without Lex, his clone Conner Kent wouldn't be around to save billions...) Rex and Supernova plan on erasing the history of the Justice League, so they can take their place as the heroes; and they just wiped out Flash and Kid Flash, who disappear into nothingness!

Meanwhile, in a couple of subplots, a reporter tracks down Booster's ancestor Daniel, who is forced to try and pass himself off as Booster; and classic Blue Beetle Dan Garrett is interrupted during a mummy fight (!) by someone resembling the modern Beetle...

Rip and Booster figure out the scheme: they're at the night the lightning bolt hit Barry Allen's lab, splashing him with chemicals and turning him into the Flash. By the simple expedient of putting a lightning rod on the roof, they've stopped the Flash and Kid Flash from ever happening. (And probably about four hundred super-villains, but keep that to yourself!) While Rip throws down with Rex, and Skeets battles Supernova's higher-end security droid Maximillion (Black Hole shout-out!) Booster fights the condescending Supernova, who seems to know everything about him. Grabbing his mask, Booster reveals him to be--his dad! Who has an evil-looking scar and dead eye...I think Booster's origin had always mentioned him shaving points for gambling; being pushed into it by his dad may have been a later addition.

Struck by lightning, Supernova disappears, thrown into another time period. Rip beats down Rex for mentioning the name Bonnie, who Rex murdered. A lightning bolt hits the lab, history is reset, and the Flashes return. Booster doesn't consider it a win, though; and wants to get to his real mission: saving Blue Beetle Ted Kord. Rip seems to back down and agree to help, except there's one more little thing they need to fix, another temporal anomaly: Black Canary shouldn't be the current leader of the Justice League. It should be Barbara Gordon. And not as Oracle...but as Batgirl!

A big premise of this series was Booster may no longer have been an incompetent, irresponsible, glory-hound goofball; he had to pretend he was to protect the timeline. Time-travelling villains might go after Superman or Batman's past, but Booster would've been beneath notice. Still, the time-travel shenanigans, a dramatic unmasking, subplots: Booster Gold really should hit the CW again sometime. (He appeared in an episode of Smallville some time back!)
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Bushman has returned from the dead, from having his face torn off, from the dead again; but what of Conquer-Lord? Nothing.

Huh, I was mixing up the names for Bushman and Bushmaster. Which has nothing to do with today's book! From 1976, Marvel Spotlight #29, "The Deadly Gambit of Conquer-Lord!" Written by Doug Moench, art by Don Perlin. With a Kirby/Milgrom cover!

On the splash page of this issue, Moon Knight jumps Conquer-Lord as he takes a shot at the mayor...with a sniper rifle, from about twenty feet away? Well, while Moon Knight manages to save the mayor and get him to call off the manhunt on our hero, C-L takes Marlene hostage. Despite the overcompensating name, Conquer-Lord also has a number of spies all over the city, including one trying to pass himself off as Marc Spector's new valet. (There are a couple dated slurs here...) Marc pretends to get punched out, so he can follow the valet back to his boss; who has trussed up Marlene in a deathtrap over an alligator tank.

At Conquer-Lord's base, Moon Knight has to face the villain on a life-sized chessboard full of gun-toting pieces and exploding squares; which isn't really in line with MK's usual bad guys. Which might be why Conquer-Lord hasn't returned like Bushman or Black Spectre. That and the name...
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I may have shouted "Go, Kang!" during this issue.

Kang gives the readers what they really want, and wipes the Inhumans out of the timeline, in 2016's Uncanny Inhumans #2, written by Charles Soule, pencils by Steve McNiven, inks by Jay Leisten.

Things are not going Black Bolt's way this issue: he's lost the throne of the Inhumans, he had to give his son Ahura to Kang the Conqueror, and he just returned to New Attilan to find his ex-wife Medusa making out with the Human Torch. Johnny is legitimately concerned that Black Bolt might lose his temper, or loosen his tongue and blow the place up; but Medusa knows while he might not like it, Black Bolt would accept it. Maybe.

That...that wasn't clear at all. I don't think Black Bolt has ever been shown using a standard sign language (io9 mentions, maybe he should) so he may have ruled by charades for all that time. Black Bolt had to turn Ahura over to Kang to save his life, but Kang had since turned Ahura into a weapon, destroying the Inhumans' history. In the Inhumans' council in the present, Beast notices the sudden disappearance of Gorgon, since his recent time-travel experiments (like bringing those young X-Men from the past) had left him able to see those shifts. He had invented defenses against time attack, though; and created a stable bubble around them. Johnny goes to recover some artifacts that might have clues to when Kang was attacking, but he isn't able to save two of their friends. New Inhuman Reader uses his power to take them back to face Kang in Egypt, but he unmasks and reveals himself to be a much older Ahura.

This isn't a terrible issue or anything, but it's easy enough to poke fun of after Marvel's huge, and ongoing, Inhumans push. That and with Marvel's penchant for relaunches and renumbering, I don't know how many third issues of Inhumans are out there. I also recently read an old Fantastic Four annual, where Johnny seemed very protective of then-replacement member Medusa; so them as a couple makes a bit of sense. (A bit, since I don't see it as a long-term thing.) But I can't believe Johnny would change his chest logo from a '4.'
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"Cardio."

I caught Guardians of the Galaxy 2 last Sunday, and it was great! And pictures are starting to come in of the next batch of Guardians figures, and they look pretty good too. The new Gamora and Rocket figures look like marked improvements over the previous ones (which weren't bad, except perhaps in comparison) and I wonder if Hasbro will be able to raise the bar again next movie...
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That face looks suuuuuper punchable.

He had kidnapped Luke Cage's loved ones, faked Luke's death when he kidnapped him, and was plotting to steal his powers for his boss; he even quotes friggin' Hitler this issue: from 1993, Cage #12, "The Death and Life of Luke Cage" Written by Marc McLaurin, pencils by Dwayne Turner, inks by Christopher Ivy.

The villain Hardcore had been hassling Luke Cage for the entire run of this series, but he's not even the big bad, he's more like the concierge. His plot was supposed to force Cage to submit to giving his powers to Cruz Bushmaster, son of an old Power Man/Iron Fist villain; that goes slightly awry when the senior Bushmaster sucks the life out of his son and returns to life! Dakota North and Iron Fist had come to save him, and while Cage is weakened, he's also super-pissed to see his old friend, since he had been arrested for Fist's murder in the last issue of their shared title. Cage begrudgingly works with Fist to beat Bushmaster, who seemingly overloads and dies in an explosion.

Cage is almost on the verge of forgiving his old friend (who had been believed dead, due to a complicated replacement that may have gone through a couple of writers!) when he sees Hardcore getting away; and his father and brother were still missing. Feeling that Hardcore was "too slippery" to leave to the law, Cage is determined to stop him at any cost, including sucker-kicking Iron Fist. Fighting on Hardcore's getaway car, Cage relents against killing him (for fear of letting down his father) but Hardcore is killed when one of his weapons was going to go off and he panics and drives off a cliff. The issue ends with Cage on the other side of a crevice from his friends, underlining the divide between them, I guess. (Although I know Dakota North would appear in the series again.)

I don't know why Marvel seemed dead set against Power Man and Iron Fist teaming up again for, what, a good ten years or so. They were pretty against the name "Power Man" as well, now that I think of it. I think it would take a couple issues for Cage to find his dad and brother, and the series would end at #20 after a Silver Sable/Terror Inc. crossover and an Infinity Crusade issue.
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The lesson is, buy everything, just in case.

There's so many comics that I've added to the pull list just to see them get cancelled; and then lots of books I gave a try just in time for them to get cancelled. Like today's book! From 2016, Squadron Supreme #9, written by James Robinson, art by Aco and Leonardo Romero, color art by Marcelo Maiolo and Mat Lopes.

While the inter-connectivity of the Marvel Universe can be a big selling point, I do like the idea that other things are still happening on the outskirts. While everyone else is dealing with Civil War nonsense (Civil War II nonsense, in this case) the Squadron Supreme has been trying to stop the Myriad, an army of aliens on the verge of taking over the earth. (Interestingly, the Myriad weren't a new race or even a unique one: it was made up of dozens of Marvel alien races. Possibly out of guys left over or lost from previous invasions...) The Squadron has had a few setbacks, however: namely, betrayal from one of their own, Power Princess, a.k.a. Warrior Woman of the Squadron Sinister. This issue, on the conquered Weirdworld, Zarda tells her ally/underling Modred how she killed her Squadron and another reality's Power Princess to escape her dying universe. But Modred, using his magic and a visit to the precog Ulysses, warns Zarda someone she thought she had killed would be coming back for her; and when the Myriad conquer earth, Namor is by her side. Somewhat of a problem, since the Squadron Supreme had killed Namor...

Meanwhile, coming for WW, the now-powerless Zarda had made it to this universe as well, having survived first the destruction of her world and death of her Squadron, then the theft of her powers by Warrior Woman. Trained by Nighthawk, Zarda's rocking the short-hair (and a 70's powerless Wonder Woman vibe) as she uses Daimon Hellstrom to track the Squadron and the Myriad, and plots to stop her counterpart. I dug the back-up art on this one, as well as the idea that Zarda had it all going on behind the scenes; no grandstanding there. (Maybe a little grandstanding, as she uses a Nick Fury-like para-glider suit to board an alien ship. That's a cool scene that I didn't scan, so find it yourself!) This issue had three covers, but even with the crossover I think it was buried in an avalanche of titles. Still, I may be able to catch up on it sometime...
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There weren't any garbage cans on Nu-Earth...

...otherwise, Rogue could've pulled that Spider-Man walking away panel, in today's book: from 1987, Rogue Trooper #14, "Nort by Nortwest" Written by Peter Milligan, art by Jose Ortiz.

Rogue's biochipped comrades Helm, Bagman, and Gunnar are either playfully ribbing each other to distract and cheer him up; or are generally sick of each other after all their time at war. Finally having enough, Rogue tells them he could do it alone, but Bagman counters with a time they totally saved Rogue's hash.

In the Scum Sea Triangle, after hitting a "Mauve Monsoon" ("Purple Rain!") Rogue loses his memory, and the 'chips have to talk him through a visit to the undersea city of Nu Atlantis, which had been taken by Nort soldiers. With the 'chips guidance, Rogue frees the Atlanteans, who explain the amnesia caused by the purple rain is temporary, but will take away any memory of their city. But that wouldn't work on biochips; Bagman explains they never told Rogue because they thought he would be embarrassed about being such a liability. Rogue does see a plot hole, though:

I first read this story in the larger-sized, nicely colored Judge Dredd's Crime File #1; but neither entry in the GCD seemed to know where it was originally published. Actually, it seemed more curious why it was in a Judge Dredd reprint book, but it might've been the first story I read with Rogue, and it's still a favorite.
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Can...can she see us?

Also, can Killer Frost fly? Float? Glide somehow? We'll figure out what's going on, in today's book: from 1985, Fury of Firestorm #35, "Winter Frost" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Rafael Kayanan, inks by Alan Kupperberg.

We open with Firestorm mid-fight with Killer Frost, which is a bit surprising for him, since she was dead. Even for a super-villainess, she had a pretty convincing death scene: Ronnie describes her as "like a piece of frozen meat decaying in a thaw," before she completely evaporated. And her death stuck! That was the original Killer Frost, Dr. Crystal Frost; this was the new Killer Frost, Dr. Louise Lincoln. She escapes, while Professor Stein has to really insult Ronnie to rally him to get out from under a giant block of ice. (In a scene very much like the "Spidey lifts something heavy" scene from Amazing #33, if Peter Parker had been even harder on himself.)

Meanwhile, another Firestorm villainess, Plastique, is cooling her heels in prison; but her lawyer smuggles in her costume and an experimental serum. She had previously been an explosives expert, but the serum gives her explosive powers, and she breaks out. Elsewhere, although not named here, a third Firestorm villain, the Weasel, steals a file on Professor Stein; as the Professor and Ronnie discuss the Professor's planned move to Pittsburgh; and a subplot with Ronnie's dad on a date gets over two and a half pages!

Following a news report, Firestorm catches up with Killer Frost at a nuclear plant, where he (or they) use their godlike powers smartly: make a giant lead wall, to cut Frost off from the heat; while keeping themselves intangible. Still, Ronnie discovers they aren't able to use all their powers while intangible--even though they had been able to before; this may have been an attempt to rein him in a little. Turning solid again, Firestorm is immediately blindsided by Plastique, who has a proposition for Killer Frost...

Creating a new Killer Frost may have just been easier than bringing back the old one; or sight unseen, there may have been more baggage with the original. I don't know if Plastique's powers would stick around, either. Looking her up, she would later briefly marry Captain Atom--mostly off-panel. Although she seems to kill two guards this issue alone, I don't know how Cap would let that go.
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"Neyaphem."

I think "Neyaphem" refers to Nightcrawler's dad Azazel and his children, but it's also one of Nightcrawler's fight settings in the Contest of Champions game! Still haven't unlocked a Nightcrawler, which is just killing me...
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Technically, this is set in the future, so maybe the Guardians tried it first...

Every so often, Marvel will try to realign a comic to be closer to its movie incarnation; and that seems to be what's going down for tomorrow's All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1. Which is all-new in that, um, it's a #1 with a new creative team: same cast, paring down the non-movie Guardians like Angela or Venom or Kitty Pryde. And our heroes are rolled back to being somewhat shady, as seen in the preview, as they pull a con...that I've seen before! And it was a dick move then, too: from 1988, Hercules, Prince of Power: Full Circle, story and art by Bob Layton.

While a drunk spy tries to recap Herc's previous two mini-series to his boss, the haughty Emperor Arimathes; Hercules and his pals Recorder and Skyppi the Skrull are still partying it up, until the planetary alarm goes off, signifying the arrival of Galactus! While most of the populace panics and tries to flee, Arimathes' troops try to arrest Herc, but he convinces them to let him talk to Galactus, to see if he can stay his hand. (Herc had stopped Galactus before, by making a laughingstock of himself, back in Hercules #4!) Herc tries to talk the Big G down, but Galactus seemingly refuses to acknowledge Herc's presence. Resolving to die fighting, Hercules takes a swipe at Galactus, and connects!

This won't fit in my scanner and I love it too much to cram it in, sorry! But as Herc examines the plastic remnants of the inflatable "Galactus," Skyppi realizes it's a scam, and wishes he had thought of it first. Investigating Galactus's worldship, Herc discovers it too is a hollow shell, run by two con men he had encountered before. Although they ask Herc to "just kick our butts and let us go," Herc turns them over to the authorities. Where I'd have to imagine they'd be facing serious charges: that's like yelling 'fire' on a crowded planet. Not OK, huh? Yet the Guardians are pulling the same scam. Hmm.

It's not perfect, but I love this graphic novel: it was a complete surprise to me when it came out, almost thirty years ago! It's not quite as good as the first two mini-series, and I don't recall liking Bob Layton's concluding Twilight of a God as much. Like a lot of those Marvel Graphic Novels from the eighties, these might be a bit difficult to find, although there's a later hardcover with some additional material like the short from Marvel Tales #197!
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Today we've got another title I keep picking up in the cheap bins, even though I'm nowhere near a full set. I don't think, anyway. From 1988, Action Comics Weekly #604, with stories by James (Priest) Owsley, Max Collins, Martin Pasko, Mike Baron, and more; and art by Rick Burchett, Gil Kane, Terry Beatty, Dan Spiegle and more.

Five serialized stories and a two-page Superman strip this issue, starting with Green Lantern, as former GL John Stewart testifies before Congress. Recently, Star Sapphire had forced an F-16 down and wrecked a couple buildings in Central City; Congress was investigating Green Lantern's involvement. Which, John points out, wasn't him, he didn't even have a ring at the time: they mean "the white guy," the missing Hal. With his identity not a secret, his testimony is going OK, until Hal's ring suddenly appears for him, and Carol Ferris--a.k.a. Star Sapphire--arrives to testify against him! John makes a bubble around Carol's head, while ranting about how dangerous she was; and she suffocates. Sapphire had recently killed John's wife Katma, and John worries his anger may have made him a killer, and flees. Back at Hal's apartment, John gets the power battery, but Sapphire brings the building down around him, killing a little girl. John confronts her in the morgue, where she remained, faking her death to further torment and incriminate him. Sapphire had wanted revenge for losing her subjects, the Zamorans, who had left this reality with the Guardians; John calls her a stand-in, Sapphire says he should know. Unable to get past Katma's death, John no longer blames Hal, and orders the ring to return to him (which would be a mean feat, if he was dead) and is subsequently arrested. A dark eight pages!

Also this issue: terrorists from the Legion of Morality blow up a comic shop, in Wild Dog! The Secret Six pull off a scam to get a confession from a manufacturer--who appears to be a bratty kid--who caused acid rain to sell siding? Deadman is captured by the federal government! And a ton of sexism in a post-WWII Blackhawk story! Action Comics Weekly would only run from #601 to #642, not even a full year, but I still have a long way to go.
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Silver bullets: not just for werewolves anymore!

Traditionally, at least in movies and comics, a silver bullet is the best way to kill a werewolf. They don't care for a jawbone to the side of the head either, though. From 1974, Werewolf by Night #23, "The Murderer is a Maniac!" Written by Doug Moench, art by Don Perlin, inks by Vince Colletta.

Jack Russell has ended up in a jail, after a fairly typical night as the Werewolf, except he was facing murder charges: he had been found with a body, but not one killed by himself or his hairy alter-ego. After Jack's pal Buck bails him out, the two put the story together. Some time back, Buck had written a screenplay for a "sword and sandle (sp) spectacle" and strongman Steve Rand had been cast in the lead. An egomaniac, Rand wanted to do his own stunts, which lead to him landing face first in a flaming pit. (This is absolutely not his fault, but Buck was kicking himself just for writing the scene.) Deformed and insane and calling himself Atlas, Rand had returned with a bag over his head, a jawbone-shaped club, and murder in his heart. While Jack and Buck are filling in backstory, Atlas murders the female lead of the movie in a rather brutal scene; but it's not Werewolf by Day, so not much they could've done about that.

As the moon is about to rise, Jack gives Buck a gun with a silver bullet, in case he attacked his friend again. So he conveniently has the gun in hand when Atlas smashes in his door, raving about slaying the king. Although Atlas had killed seven already, Buck is unwilling to shoot someone obviously insane, so Atlas gets the best of him. Only the sudden and completely expected appearance of the Werewolf saves him, but having been on the business end of that jawbone before, he's playing defense. Atlas chases the Werewolf to what was then Mann's Chinese Theatre, with Buck following. In the ensuing skirmish, the Werewolf is nearly bludgeoned to death, and Buck is forced to shoot Atlas in the back, with the silver bullet. Atlas makes a dying soliloquy, before pitching face-first into a square of wet cement, all the actor had ever wanted.

Be sure to leave flowers on his face if you visit!
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