"Another."

I've been wanting to do another longer storyline, but haven't been able to set anything up right now; and I'm not even sure I'll come back to this one. I feel like I've read X-Force #26, the chapter of "Second Coming" where Nightcrawler was killed, but can't recall if I've read the rest of the crossover. So while I figure the X-Men stopped Bastion, I'm not sure Kurt was avenged, if that makes sense. And I know Bastion has returned more than once: I thought he was in the Krakoan era books, but I guess Nimrod is; and is that the same Nimrod that would go back in time then through the Siege Perilous and become Bastion? Maybe not?

Moreover, can you get revenge on a robot? Moby Dick seems to indicate no...Kurt seems to be maybe keeping Bastion at a distance, perhaps to avoid his own feelings; exclusively referring to Bastion as 'it.' Satana, on the other hand, strikes me as being a big believer on revenge, and while she wouldn't really keep up on 'mutant business,' the idea that someone (or something) could hurt Kurt and get away with it would not sit right with her. And she might have a point? Hmm.

And of course, today's "robot taxidermy" subject is the male Prime Sentinel head from the HasLabs Sentinel. Which means I do have Bastion nearby...hmm, again. Read more!

He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...

...and yet, he never brings you any presents! What a jerk!

Oddly, I think I ordered the reissued Marvel Select Watcher before this one was even revealed, and it still hasn't shown up. This one took a bit, since for some reason, Heist Nebula (the blonde!) took forever to turn up. 

That feels like way too much skin for the Watcher to be showing...It's also coming up on when I should start preparing for the Year in Toys, and part of that was scratching my head and trying to remember what Build-a-Figures I put together this year. And maybe where I put them.

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When they say "aim high," this probably isn't what they mean.

What better way to make your mark in the Marvel universe, than by killing Doctor Doom? I feel like Gwen should've been more than familiar with the concept of plot armor, but okay. From 2018, the Unbelievable Gwenpool #23, written by Christopher Hastings, art by Irene Strychalski.

Gwen already knows the writing's on the wall, and her title was bound for cancellation; so she was looking for a way to cement herself in the Marvel U. Killing Doctor Doom and getting on the Avengers should do it, right? Wait, wasn't Doom a hero then? Remember the Infamous Iron Man? OK, it took me a minute; I had to look up his figure at OAFE and work backwards from there. Gwen has restored "the one that's a little less Bendis and a little more Kirby," but as classic Doom puts it, "you would open a dam because it is not satisfying to drown in a puddle." He thinks the insulting little girl is beneath him, but couldn't have anticipated her dragging up between the panels! ...oh, wait, he could? 

That's either the majesty of Doom, or on Gwen for thinking she could wrap this up by the fourth story page. A renegade Doombot confronts his master--and it seems like there's more than a few of those, aren't there? That just got fed up with their boss and walked, but this one gets severance--no, I'm sorry, that's severed, as in limb by limb. Gwen makes an attempt to escape on the Doombot's jet-propelled leg, before having to confront Doom again between the panels. Gwen is only saved by the return of Infamous Doom, who chops up the classic Doom, like some kind of "paper memory." Not that it does Gwen much good: previously, when she decided not to become a villain, she saw she only had a few issues worth of pages left.

Infamous repairs the Doombot, and doesn't seem to be mad or anything: there's a real genial vibe from him, very Mr. Rogers, like he's really over-compensating. He even encourages Gwen, which of course she may take the wrong way: does she have any choice but to be the bad guy? Another question might be, does Doom have any choice either? I haven't read Infamous, but Bendis at the height of his powers would have had trouble selling that as any sort of lasting change.

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I feel like the Spider-Man spin-off books every once in a while are almost tasked with building up lesser bad guys.  Very lesser: guys that would be lower down the depth chart than the Trapster and have less name recognition than Typeface. Case in point: from 2013, Scarlet Spider #13, "In the Midst of Wolves, part 1" Written by Chris Yost, pencils by Khoi Pham, inks by Palmer, Pallot, and Bit.

The present Scarlet Spider was Kaine, trying to make up for some of the crimes he committed in his checkered past. That didn't stop him from living well on the cash he made dirty, but he was settling down in Houston and taking care of a young girl, Aracely, whom he saved from human traffickers. He was still working on the traffickers' operations, but that may bring the attention of their bosses, who originally kidnapped Aracely.

Said bosses are the Lobos: you may remember them as the Lobo Brothers from Spectacular Spider-Man. Although, one brother appeared to be currently dead, so the Lobo sister Dot Esmeralda may have been the boss: the surviving brother mentions wishing the other one back, which she thinks would be a waste. Since the Lobos were also werewolves of some kind, they give Scarlet a hard time. He considers using his 'stinger' bone-claw thing to kill one, but hesitates, not wanting to be a kill-crazy monster like Carnage, and gets used like a chew toy for his trouble. To be continued...? Well, yes, even though it looks like they were eating him already!

We started in 2017, but last time I said we'd finish this storyline sometime, and I guess that's today! From 2012, Thunderbolts #165, "Golden Age Thunderbolts Part 3: The Fiery Death from Above!" Written by Jeff Parker, pencils by Kev Walker, inks by Terry Pallot.

In search of their missing Invaders teammate the Human Torch, Captain America and Namor are faced with a small army of knockoff Torches and are in bad shape. Luckily, they have back-up, "America's newest power squadron," the American Thunderbolts! Who are, of course, the escaped Thunderbolts from the future, trying to figure out what they could or couldn't do in the past: probably can't let Cap or Namor die, but they definitely can't let Baron Zemo get killed, either, as that would mess up the Thunderbolts' timeline more directly. With Namor pretty fried, Satana gets him back to Thunderbolts Tower, to fix him with a somewhat risque-looking spell; while the rest of the heroes try to stop the Torch-clones.

Centurius realizes that while Zemo was able to make the clones, he doesn't understand their cell structure yet, and can't be allowed to escape with any samples. With his lab under siege, Zemo is ordered by the Red Skull (accompanied by a sultry blonde!) to evacuate. Cap wonders if the "American Thunderbolts" aren't a little bloodthirsty, as they kill off the Torch-clones; while Fixer and Centurius rescue and repair the original Torch. Zemo takes off in an escape rocket, but is unable to outrun Moonstone, who takes away the Torch-samples, and leaves him with a warning: have a son, but "don't fill his head with all this Nazi crap."

The Invaders are reunited, but with bombers incoming, the Thunderbolts fall back to their tower, and attempt another time-jump; after Moonstone sneaks in a quick kiss goodbye with Cap. The bombs cover their departure; as Cap mourns the loss of some brave heroes. Look, he was pretty young; I don't think he was a good judge of character yet. I'm also not sure if this retconned the Nazi out of Helmut Zemo either. Read more!

"Head."

You know, that head does look more comfortable than some of my furniture.

Anyway, short one this week, but some stuff has started to come in for me: my Sentinels arrived (one to play, one to resell sometime later maybe) as well as my Arcade 1-Up X-Men game. The latter of which, I haven't had time to put together, let alone play; and I'm not sure if I want to do so here or wait until I move. (I have seen some online pics where people seem to have bought enough Sentinels to stage the opening to the arcade game, "In the 21st century...") Likewise, I don't have any backdrop or set big enough for the Sentinel to fit in, so no pictures of him yet. Well, except for his damaged head!

It's pretty big. I guess. I think I was remembering (or misremembering) an X-Men cover--not Uncanny #472 there, but close--where some mutants are sitting atop a severed Sentinel head, possibly in the yard at the mansion, and it's big enough to have a picnic on. (So, in Legends scale, the size of a person's head!) And I love this sequence from Uncanny #444, where Rogue is giving some young mutants a tour of the mansion, and finds Storm, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler hogging the Danger Room. All three are in training outfits--something I don't think you saw Kurt in often--and are mostly just playing, if not showboating a bit. Kurt teleports the torso out of one, a trick that I don't think would work every time; but isn't a bad idea: there's no reason the Sentinel's "brain" needs to be in its head. ("The End of History, part one" Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer.)  

For some reason, as I was falling asleep last night, I was thinking about how just awful our world is, but the X-Men's must be just a little bit worse?  I mean, you sometimes see Sentinels put together in colossal assembly lines, or birthed out of a Master Mold or whatever, but they're probably either assembled by underage workers in some disadvantaged country, or some small town in Michigan or the like that's "real proud" that they're USA-made. And remember maybe the late 80's, when in Marvel continuity, the NRA was on the side of mutants? "A short step from registering powers to registering firearms." On the other hand, I have to assume the Marvel U doesn't have (or doesn't have for long...) cryptocurrency or NFT's, since those would doubtless be hacked by or turn into Ultron or something. 

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I was going to blog this in October, since it appeared to be tangentially horror related--more so than I had thought--but the real horror is that cheap Moon Knight books are drying up fast. From 1985, Moon Knight #3, "A Madness of Dreams!" Written by Alan Zelenetz, pencils by Chris Warner, inks by E. R. Cruz. 

E.R. Cruz had done about a bazillion horror stories at DC, but I hadn't seen any Marvel work from him before. But the opening is right in his wheelhouse, as a accidentally-unmedicated Morpheus returns, immediately attacking a hapless (and very Cruz) nurse with his shadow-powers. (The regular nurses may have been on strike, scab nurses may have not filled his prescription correctly!) Offended at being stuck in the psych ward--he felt he had a firm grip on reality--Morpheus transforms some of the more-disturbed patients into his 'priests,' giving them some of his abilities.

Marlene, as Marc notes while biking, has left him "rather than accept the strain and dangers" of his Moon Knight life. Still, he's her first call with this Morpheus situation, especially since the villain had killed her brother in an earlier appearance; then she is captured for use as a sacrifice later. Marc considers this might be a chance to win her back, which gets him a visit from the disembodied giant heads of the priests of Khonshu--they were the middle-management bosses in this series, and may have been retconned later. With a bit of pain to underline their point, they help Marc realize his love life can't be Moon Knight's concern. At the hospital, Moon Knight has a check-in with his usual police contact, Lt. Flint; then has to run the gauntlet through Morpheus's priests, who really take to their new jobs. Flint also serves in the "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this" role, as he gives MK a tear-gas grenade, which he has to use before getting to the final boss.

Moon Knight drugs some of his random bulls--er, I mean, weapons of Khonshu to try and knock Morpheus out; but his enhanced strength was working against him here, since he wasn't sure about the balance or how hard he needed to throw them. Still, he manages to hit Morpheus with one, and it takes a moment but knocks him out. Later, Marc enjoys a nice dinner with Marlene, or at least probably enjoys it up to the point she says she's going back to her ex-husband Eric! Who I actually have no recollection of; but it also seems kind of off, since she had been with Marc for a fair amount of time.

This might have been the first time she left Marc, though, but it didn't stick; so I have to wonder if their current estrangement will stick, either.

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Wait, I guess DC already had a Fugitive-riff with Deadman, huh?

A well, unexpected, recent quarter bin find: from 1968, The Unexpected #108, "Journey to a Nightmare" Written by George Kashdan, art by Jack Sparling.

I recognized the name, but am still not sure I had read any Johnny Peril stories: feel like I had to have seen a reprint somewhere? Maybe Showcase #100? No? Well, his DC Database entry there describes him as "a detective of the occult and 'adventurer of the weird,'" but here he seems to be in maybe a Fugitive riff, framed by mysterious mobster the Planner, and on the run from the cops and the crooks. Searching for the Planner to clear his name, Johnny was in a remote fishing village, and gets wrapped up in a mystery involving sea serpents and a possible witch. The Planner was behind some of the trickery, but I don't Johnny makes a lot of headway in his search here: he wouldn't until #110, then would begin weirder stuff after that.

Also this issue: "Tales of the Mad Mod Witch: the Cat with a 1,000 Lives!" The intro may be the most horrifying part...A short on a possessed boxer, and some trickery in "The Crazy House!"

There's also an ad for the Aurora Hobby Kit model of the Pan-Am Space Clipper from 2001: A Space Odyssey! That seems like an odd tie-in, I wonder how it sold?

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I probably could've read the prior issues, but...

I actually did pull most of this series out of a quarter bin, but mainly because this cover featured my 'bot, the Sentry! He's almost recognizable on it, but if this series was hoping Giant-Man was a big sales draw, um...from 1994, Blackwulf #5, "Sale of the Sentry" Written by Glenn Herdling, pencils by Keith Pollard, inks by Sandu Florea. 

Not that I could have pulled Blackwulf the character out of a line-up, I knew Blackwulf the comic was a short-lived 90's title, from around the same time as Nightwatch. It's an original title...for some values of "original," because like a lot of Image books from the time, it's a team of characters whose names are all random or phonetically spelled words against their equally generic opposite numbers. Honestly, I'm not sure a lot of Blackwulf's crew was referred to by name all issue. For some reason, I had thought Blackwulf was an Eternal or something; but he and his merry band were operating "as a top-secret, government-sponsored strike force."

Giant-Man gets called in to help out, but not so much for his giantness, but as a roboticist; on the trail of the missing Sentry 459. That's burying the lede, though, since Ultron is the bad guy this issue, dressed up as a priest! He's taken over a small town in Pennsylvania with cybernetic implants, and I don't think he did it by force; Ultron may have just convinced them that's how you get on the World Wide Web. Meanwhile, Blackwulf and his guys were there in search of a missing teammate, Sparrow, who's quit their team and shacked up with "an old flame," Michael Rossi. (If that name rings a bell, it's probably from Uncanny X-Men #182, he had known Carol Danvers pre-Rogue. How or why he ended up there, I couldn't say; it's also a weirdly specific minor character to use.) One of her teammates gets her to blow her stack, pointing out the new Blackwulf, Lucien, was responsible for the death of the old one, and took his code-name to boot! Why? Look, you'd have to find those first four issues or something. I also have no idea how or why the Sentry/Ultron plot and the Sparrow plot are in the same town, and I sincerely doubt reading prior issues is gonna help me out on that one.

Ultron just kind of walks off in this one, giving the freed Sparrow a "control box" for her autonomic body functions. It looked like it had two buttons, so I don't know exactly how much control he was talking there. On-off? Up-down? Whatever Ultron did to the townspeople did a number on their nervous systems, but Hank has a fix, a computer program "that allowed them to simulate their daily routine." Blackwulf notes he programmed them to think they had free will; which he finds disturbing--it's downright hellish, isn't it? So there's a small town in the Marvel universe where the locals walk and talk and maybe even interact with you, but are probably about as alive as a wax museum. I wonder if Hank has to update them, or if they're still running OS94...

I don't even think that's uncommon, I think that happens every now and again in comics: "Everyone in this town is dead, their brains eaten by planarian worms/computer virus/alien consciousnesses/etc. But, they still mostly act like they used to, so...no harm done?" This is what New Yorkers think of the flyover states, isn't it...

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Like many workplaces, here you're the rookie until they hire someone new. Someone new younger than you.

We mentioned events that may have occurred here, approximately three hundred years ago in the first year of this blog; and I know I read everything out of order, but I still feel like Kyle has teamed-up in Superman's book a couple dozen times, so how is he still the rookie? From 2000, Superman #159, "Detour" Written by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Ed McGuinness (on earth) and Paul Pelletier (in space), inks by Cam Smith.

This was apparently immediately after that weird, weird stint where the Parasite had replaced Lois; as the reunited Clark and Lois enjoy each other's company, in a bathtub that appears to be the size of my living room. Almost immediately after that, Superman is going to take a quick lap of the solar system with Kyle--seriously about the "almost immediately," Supes still has chocolate or something on his face! And Lois visits Lex Luthor, with a thinly veiled threat: she knows at least some of what the Parasite knew, when he was...disguised as Lois and doing god knows what with Lex. I say "god knows what" because I don't want to!

Meanwhile, out in space, Pluto has disappeared! Superman can see, it's been moved out of orbit, apparently by Warworld. Before they can try to track it down, they are surprised by a crowd scene of generic space-god-types; like your Eternals, Inhumans, what have you. This time, it's "the chosen people of Almerac," the subjects of Maxima! Kyle remembers her being the JLA, an embarrassed Superman remembers her as a stalker. Which makes her slapping him out of the way a surprise! Kyle is left to face big strong type Massacre.

Uncharacteristically, Maxima seems less concerned with the fight, then making their connecting flight: she is leading her people's retreat to safety, via Boom Tube to join Darkseid's son. No, not the one you're thinking of. Or the other one. Or him either...it's Grayven. I'm positive I knew of him, and also positive I had completely forgotten about him until turning this page; but looking it up he really didn't have a ton of appearances. Maxima leaves Superman with a warning; that when Imperiex comes for earth, he may be surprised who he allies with then. Still, Superman is pleased to feel at the top of his game, for the first time in a while; while Kyle notes he never had a mentor, but he always had a friend to show him how it's done.

Ugh, I looked up Maxima as well: her new alliance does not play out well for her; and she deserved better. No spoilers, but she gets jobbed out in an upcoming event along with several other heroes, most of whom were back alive almost immediately after said event, but not her. Boo. Read more!

"Marc."

Spoiler alert for Moon Knight #4: it's pretty good! Moon Knight and Tigra do talk about their kids more than this, though. A little more: Marc's daughter Diatrice was from the recent Max Bemis run, but current writer Jed MacCay may not be coming back to her or her mom, long-time love interest Marlene, anytime soon. Read more!

Lifting me up like a garage door, maybe putting me right back down.

I don't know if Paul Jenkin's Spider-Man stories are appreciated; I know he's written some I've liked, and others that didn't work for me. This one...enh...from 2001, Peter Parker, Spider-Man #30, "Three Hundred" Written by Paul Jenkins, pencils by Mark Buckingham, inks by Wayne Faucher.

I do know there have been other stories where Peter has some interest in baseball (namely PP:SM #35, also written by Jenkins!) but today he can't feign an interest in it, possibly because of Trivial Pursuit, possibly for a jab at Todd's balls. He's having some friends over at his new, and horrible, apartment. It's tiny and ratty but has a couple features: easy access in-and-out for him as Spidey, and an attractive neighbor who seemed allergic to tops. She had a dog that seemed to hate Pete, though; which honestly seems typical as hell for him. This was during a stretch where the missing Mary Jane had returned, but not to him; and Spidey feels a bit aimless and "detached." So do his stories here.

Meanwhile, a man with an impressive collection of super-hero stuff completes his daily workout and his daily affirmation; an affirmation of hatred against Spider-Man. Punching up a picture of Spidey every day--I'm 40% sure I saw that in an Oglaf strip. (NSFW!) In a somewhat nondescript outfit and carrying a bag labeled dry ice and a mannequin, Fusion attacks the Edgar Tower (which may or may not be a real NYC landmark? Or close? Or one that's no longer there?) by imitating the powers of Thor, Doc Ock, the Hulk, and Cap in short order, before appearing as Spider-Man and telling a bystander to tell the cops Spidey has a hostage.

Even with the dry ice fogging up the roof, the cops still notice Fusion (who won't be named for another couple pages!) doesn't look like Spidey anymore, which doesn't stop them shooting at him later. When Spidey arrives, Fusion drops a ton of smack talk, before lashing out with powers resembling the Super-Skrull's. He disarms, then kills some cops, before telling Spidey about a boy that adored him so much, he tried to be like him and died in the attempt. Fusion then drops his mannequin full of plastique, causing a massive explosion--killing three hundred people! 

Hoo, boy: I think this would've been just a few months before 9/11. Also, the name Fusion had been used before, in Amazing #208, a not-very-good issue that's still a very fond memory for me. This one, not so much; a little too dark perhaps.

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Remember that episode of JLU where Batman sings? Oh, you remember the one where Carrie does...

This could be a lot more meta than I would've known at the time, since I never saw the Star Wars Holiday Special. In fact, I'm still not sure I've seen it all the way through: I have the Rifftrax version and haven't even been able to watch it with their help! But today's comic is more fun: from 1983, Star Wars #77, "Chanteuse of the Stars..." Script and plot by Jo Duffy, plot and breakdowns by Ron Frenz, finishes by Tom Palmer.

Set just prior to Return of the Jedi (which would have been in theaters just a few months prior to this issue's newsstand date of 08/09/83) the Rebels have been trying to find two missing spies with information about the Empire's new secret weapon. One had been found dead, but Rebel command had intercepted an Imperial report that another Rebel had uncovered the same information, and had a holograph ID'ing him: Han Solo? He was still frozen! Lando asks Chewie if Han could have found that info prior; then asks him to keep that quiet, so they can have the opportunity to go looking for him again. Leia has to admit, there was no way Han could have; but command still wants to investigate. Lando and Chewie are sent, with the droids; while Luke and Leia have another mission.

With the telepathic Hoojibs--little bunny-looking energy eaters--Luke and Leia take the Falcon to Kabray, a neutral space station used for diplomatic gatherings and embassies, to try and find the surviving spy's message. Luke is a little nervous to see Zeltrons there: the red-skinned aliens were basically the living embodiment of "horny on main," and would've eaten Luke alive. He has less to worry about from the Stormtroopers this issue...

Splitting up to find the message, both of them overhear a plot to murder an Imperial governor, which...is horrible? In principle? Luke feels he has to stop it, to prevent a war, like there wasn't already war everywhere anyway. Thinking she was being chased, Leia accidentally disguises herself as an entertainer, and gets forced on-stage for a number! I've yet to see all of Carrie Fisher's song from the special, but...yeah, I haven't heard good things. And poisoned soup was about to be served to the governor, so Luke didn't think he had any choice but to stop him somehow. Luckily, one of the alien Lahsbees enjoys Leia's song maybe a bit too much, and hits puberty, which turns them into hulking monsters called Huhks!

Luke seizes the opportunity to 'accidentally' knock over the poisoned soup, but then finds himself face-to-face with the Huhk. Luckily, it was the stormtroopers job to protect the delegates...if only someone hadn't had the Hoojibs drain all the energy from the troopers' blasters! Plif the Hoojib has read the Huhk's mind, though; and quickly advises Leia to keep singing; and the Huhk is perfectly content to settle down and enjoy the show.

This may seem like a silly little issue now, but I still liked it then and liked it now! It helps if you had been reading the book for a while, since Hoojibs, Lahsbees, and Zeltrons were all introduced in the comic post-Empire. The next issue was supposed to be "The Big Con!" Which was another fun, light issue; featuring Lando's Captain Harlock cosplay; but that would be delayed to #79. #78 would be a Wedge story that was pretty good, but confuses his backstory (which was largely none at that point!) with Biggs Darklighter. (Or "Biggs Corpselighter," to quote an old Wizard/Toyfare bit I love and wish I could've found a scan for! "What's up, meat?") And I dug this one up because somebody on Twitter posted a page from #80, which was the conclusion of the Rebel spies story, the last pre-Return issue, and a tearjerker. And I may have bought a used reprint of those stories as well! All part of my process.

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