Flaming the same comic twice, as it were.

It took about thirty seconds of Google to find the Flame did appear again a couple times, but I was mildly surprised he appeared twice in the same comic: Thor Annual #18, "The Flame: Rekindled" Written by Ron Marz, art by Tom Raney.

It's a ten-page story, that doesn't really have ten pages worth of plot: after the Flame drags himself out of the hardened lava, Loki is there to offer him a job. The Flame takes back his mask, still believing himself to be hideously ugly, but only wants revenge on Thor. Loki gives him a bit of a "Friend Like Me" number from Aladdin, changing into a dragon, a woman, a monster, and Thor--the way Loki phrases it all is a bit odd.

The Flame, being apparently a bit dim, signs up. What a maroon. And showed up in the next year's annual. Do I have that one? Ah, who cares. I do like Grindberg's art in the first half and Raney's here, but the Flame is a tool.
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By any other Flame. Er, I mean, name.

We've checked out some of the 1993 Marvel Superstars of Tomorrow annuals. They've all been pretty uniformly terrible, and this one's not as bad as some, but still. From 1993, Thor Annual #18, "Forged in Fire" Written by Ron Marz, pencils by Tom Grindberg, inks by John Nyberg.

In a bar in Asgard, a hooded figure tells a tale of a mighty warrior that once fought Thor. The warrior's origin is a sad one, too: his mother was kidnapped during a raid by the fire demons of Muspelheim. She was raped and gave birth to a half-breed son, who was ostracized and told he was a hideous monster. So hideous, in fact, his dad put him in the traditional metal mask so he wouldn't have to look at his ugly puss. Eventually growing up to be the monster he was told he was, the warrior killed his father, then began a spree of raids, slaughtering entire villages and putting them to the torch.

This would all be fine, except the warrior chose the name "the Flame." And now all I can hear is that horrible Cheap Trick song. Find it on YouTube yourself, I'm not linking to it...In Marz's defense, it does seem like the sort of name a moody, disaffected, murderous teen would pick.

Anyway, Odin puts Thor on the case, and lends him his horse Sleipnir. Actually, Sleipnir's just there so Thor can use him to save a little girl that survived a massacre. And sometime after reading this issue, I read the old Tales of Asgard reprint book, the old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby stories under a kickass Walt Simonson cover, and realized they used to use that plot driver a lot: Odin sees something in one of the Nine Realms, bids Thor go check it out/talk to it/beat its ass, and sixteen pages fill up like magic!

Thor catches up with the Flame, who goes on and on about how horrible his life is and how everyone has to pay. Thor isn't unsympathetic, but calls him a whiner that can't justify his crimes: no matter how much he was abused, once he started killing innocents, he crossed a line. Curious, Thor unmasks the Flame, to find he isn't hideous at all, merely silly-looking; he just looks like an elf with flaming hair. After a battle, the Flame is knocked into lava and disappears...so of course he's the one telling the story in the bar.

And that was the last anyone ever saw of the Flame. Or was it? Yes. Mostly. Maybe. We'll see tomorrow.


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"Lunch Break."

I got the newer Marvel Legend Deadpool off eBay a few months back; and was waiting for the right time to bring him in. Of course, I was a few months ahead a while ago. Lazy sod...

In other news, even though I'm trying to eat better, I have to admit I like tofu. With meat. Sometimes two or three kinds of meat and tofu. Is that weird?
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Because science! I guess.

I know Dynamite has the Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom license now, after Dark Horse's brief run. And I've only read an occasional issue of Dark Horse's, or Gold Key's--I don't think I read any of the Valiant ones. But today we've got Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom #14, "Solar's Midas Touch" Story by Dick Wood, art by Frank Bolle.

That...that's a weird turn of a phrase, there. After stopping one of the surprisingly frequent nuclear accidents at Atom Valley, the Man of the Atom finds his powers are out of control, and he's adding a proton to the nucleus of every element he touches. That should be problem enough, but there's spies hijacking a space capsule, so he can't let that slide.

I think Solar's written as omnipotent and godlike a lot, because that's easier that way than trying to figure out any atomic chemistry or nuclear physics. (Metamorpho, Firestorm, Captain Atom, all in the same boat.)
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An election, a misleading cover, a teammate thinking another's gone bad...traditional as fireworks on the Fourth!

Mon-El gives Superboy an epic slapping--and then pretty much disappears from this issue. From 1977, Legion of Super-Heroes #225, "And Who Shall Lead Them?" Written by Paul Levitz, pencils by James Sherman, inks by Bob Wiacek.

As Wildfire is sworn in as the newest leader of the Legion, Superboy shows up mid-ceremony to throw down, claiming Wildfire cheated him out of the spot. Dream Girl (who should've seen this coming) explains that although Supes received more votes, since he only spent part of his time in the 30th century, they needed a full-time leader. As Superboy leaves in a huff, Shadow Lass asks him what's really up, knowing he's far too nice to throw a fit like that, but he won't say.

Wildfire's tenure as leader begins facing off an attack by the Resource Raiders, alien pirates. But Superboy stops Wildfire from blasting their ship, since he could see explosive powder they'd left behind. Later, Ultra Boy tells a group of Legionnaires he didn't see the powder before, leading them to wonder if Superboy planted it, to discredit Wildfire. Elsewhere in the Legion Headquarters, Wildfire catches Superboy stealing one of his spare costumes and they fight. Only one leaves, but you can't see which one.

Later, Wildfire leads the team against the Resource Raiders again, but is seemingly blown apart when he saves Dream Girl from an alien ship. The ship fires at her again, and this time Superboy saves her, and explains what happened since this was the last page of the story: the Legion's computer predicted the team leader would be blasted on their first mission, and Supes figured he'd be the most likely to survive. He tried to overrule Wildfire and replace him, but their fight made him realize Wildfire would probably survive being blasted. Wildfire says the computer (which shouldn't be making predictions, that was Dream Girl's job!) miscalculated: the blast had Kryptonite in it, and would've killed Superboy. Wildfire gets a new costume, and it's all good.

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Today, Thor vs. Elvis. (Or not.)

And that's just one of the many lies from today's book! From 1989, Alpha Flight #75, "Tigers in the Rain" Written by James D. Hudnall, pencils by John Calimee, inks by Mike Manley.

The cover blurb exclaims, "All-out war in the Marvel Universe!" which isn't necessarily accurate. Lost between dimensions, the Canadian super-team Alpha Flight has been trying to get home; and has arrived in a dimension where the traditional Marvel heroes have taken over America and turned it into a fascist state. (It's also a weird mix of heroes, mostly Avengers, but some X-Men and Fantastic Four members too.) Although things are looking grim, AF gets two surprises in their favor: the return of their old teammate Puck (no longer the dwarf he was) and this wasn't an alternate reality at all. Instead, it's the dimension of the Dreamqueen, an old Alpha Flight foe; and the team was trapped there by another, Llan the Sorceror.

Puck explains that the matter of that dimension was "shadow substance," and could be molded to their will. To help defeat the false heroes, Puck conjures up a gun-toting Santa and a guitar-smashing Elvis. Once Alpha Flight was back together, they leave for earth. Presumably to beat Llan's ass when they get back...

I read a bit of Alpha Flight here and there, although I picked up a batch recently--some of the double-sized issues and annuals, and a few with Mike Mignola art. I'm not sure I've found a great one yet, though.



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"Ah! A hit! The way you make your living!"

Getting comics from the quarterbins (or dollar bins, or whatever) is a sliding-scale of quality: sometimes, you find books that are good for a quarter, but not something good enough that you'd pay full price for. And sometimes you find a treasure. Like today's book! From 2000, Hitman/Lobo: That Stupid Bastich! Written by Garth Ennis, art by Doug Mahnke.

I thought this issue actually came out after the series had ended, but it was still a couple issues from the end. The author's note on the opening says "Clearly, this story takes place before most of the cast was slaughtered." So, um, spoilers? Anyway, Lobo shows up at Noonan's Bar, and starts a fight with Tommy's pal Sixpack, and Tommy has to throw down with him. Hijinks ensue.

Hitman was set in Gotham City, but very rarely ran afoul of Batman--in fact, this Gotham was a lot more like New York and surprisingly infested with organized crime. So, it's not surprising when the mob goes after Tommy, who's barely a step ahead from Lobo. But he sees a way to kill two birds with one stone...

Tommy has Sixpack put his team back together, Section 8: "A caped drunk an' a superteam fulla the criminally insane." Together, they manage to knock out Lobo long enough for Bueno Excellente to, um, marry Lobo and videotape the whole thing. Tapes were made, and Tommy promises they've been sent to all sorts of parties. "The next time you're fighting Superman, don't be too surprised if he's laughin' his ass off." Pissed but unable to do anything about it, he takes off, as Tommy, Noonan, and Sixpack have a laugh about Sixpack pissing in the gas tank of Lobo's bike. (No spoilers, but you probably know what happened to Tommy, so I guess Superman probably did get that tape...)

I'm not a fan of Lobo, but I do enjoy the occasional story where he gets a bit of what's coming to him.
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"Interlude."

We may have to check in with Black Cat and Satana later...
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"Waiting Room."

Doubling up this week, with another strip tomorrow! It's longer and less wordy, which should be a plus on both fronts! We did make a minor change, though. It's subtle...

Anyway, even though I had another song in mind making this strip, I was listening to this while I finished it:

Oh, and this of course:




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A pile of stuff from this year's con! I didn't make my goal of four hundred quarterbooks, but came away with 121 books; including a few trades like a couple Hitman's, and the old Silver Surfer: Homecoming graphic novel.

And so, we're taking a day to read some comics! We'll see one tomorrow.
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