The Beast Warriors of Shaolin #3 (Pied Piper, September 1987, $1.95)
"Come Lady Death" Scripter/Creator: Peter Quinones, Penciller/Creator: Glen Johnson, Inker: Marty Lasick, Letterer: JoAnn Nielsen, Editor-in-Chief: Roger McKenzie.
Published by Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Pied Piper Comics, this title joined other comics such as Ex-Mutants, Power Factor, and The New Breed. With occasionally manga-inspired artwork, the comic focuses on martial arts Beast Warriors named Phan-Ku, or Dragon; as well as Tiger, Snake, Crane, Bear, and Mongoose.
The issue opens with Dragon engulfed in flame. Crane rescues him. To the south, Bear and Mongoose stop at an inn to quench their thirsts. There, Mongoose is drugged and Bear must face Dim-Mak, "iron palm master of the delayed death touch" alone. He succumbs in combat but regains consciousness with Mongoose.
A dragon comes to Phan-Ku, and Mongoose falls into the clutches of Na-Ling, advisor to Princess Kuan-Yin and employer of Dim-Mak, assigning him to procure the Beast Warriors's bones, which are said to contain magic and be quite valuable.
I was initially confused reading this issue because Princess Kuan-Yin looks a lot like Snake, and it seemed that the friends and enemies in the title are awfully closely aligned already. Regardless, I'm sure the previous issues set up this edition well and that things were much more clear for longer-term readers.
This issue also includes an eight-page preview of the then-forthcoming first issue of The New Breed, the "world's greatest mutant mag." Written by Publisher Mark L. Hamlin and Editor-in-Chief Roger McKenzie, and drawn by Jeremie Johnson, the preview takes place in the year 2990 and establishes the threat of the ratbeasts, which are attacking a wooden fort that protects the holy seed. The New Breed is introduced as characters in five profile pages draw by Johnson and Scott Rosema.
Other than its Midwestern origin and relationship to Ex-Mutants, there's not a lot to keep this reader, with either the Beast Warriors or the New Breed. A fourth issue was never printed, so perhaps The New Breed never hit the stands, either. A one-page directory of authorized direct distributors lists 16 distributors, including Capital City, Heroes' World, Friendly Frank's, and Styx.
Availability: This title has not been collected.
Showing posts with label 1983. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1983. Show all posts
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Deathlok and the Cosmic Cube
Captain America #288 (Marvel, December 1983, 60 cents)
"Mazes" Scripter: J.M. DeMatteis, Penciler: Mike Zeck, Inker: John Beatty, Colorist: Bob Sharen, Letterer: Diana Albers, Editor: Mark Gruenwald, and Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter.
Captain America is a decade in the future, following his guide Godwulf with the cyborg Deathlok through the streets of New York City circa 1993. They witness the aftermath of a corporate takeover of the United States by Roxxon Oil and the Brand Corporation, its clandestine group the Nth Command sending the country's superheroes into "hostile realities" to kill them, ridding the world of heroes.
Some pockets of humanity found safety from the warring factions and the madman Hellinger. Godwulf leads the two to a group of his friends, including Sage, Swashbuckler, Gentle Sam, Big Man, and Iron Butterfly, who carries a guitar strapped to her back.
Hellinger is in fact Harlan Ryker, a Brand researcher who focused on bionics and cybernetics, creating Deathlok out of Luther Manning. Godwulf's friends and other survivors rally around Deathlok and Captain America to take the fight to Hellinger, now a cyborg himself.
They arrive at his headquarters in upstate New York and gain entrance to his fortress, where they encounter an automated, ever-changing maze. Only Captain America and Deathlok make it through the labyrinth to face Hellinger.
DeMatteis's script is exposition heavy, which is necessary to situate the issue. While I haven't read the other comics in this storyline, there's a lot of potential here, and the idea reminds me of the "Days of Future Past" storyline in The Uncanny X-Men. Zeck's artwork is strong, and the large panel featuring Hellinger on page 19 is excellent. It'd be worth seeing where this storyline started -- and what repercussions it'll have on life back in 1983, especially given Scarlet's hypnotic kiss with Nomad.
The issue also includes ads for ABC and NBC's Saturday morning cartoon lineups, Victory Games's James Bond role-playing game, TSR's Star Frontiers, and a letter column featuring four letters of comment.
Read Also: Marvel Spotlight #33 and Marvel Two-in-One #27.
Availability: This issue is collected in Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok Vol. 1 and Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection.
"Mazes" Scripter: J.M. DeMatteis, Penciler: Mike Zeck, Inker: John Beatty, Colorist: Bob Sharen, Letterer: Diana Albers, Editor: Mark Gruenwald, and Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter.
Captain America is a decade in the future, following his guide Godwulf with the cyborg Deathlok through the streets of New York City circa 1993. They witness the aftermath of a corporate takeover of the United States by Roxxon Oil and the Brand Corporation, its clandestine group the Nth Command sending the country's superheroes into "hostile realities" to kill them, ridding the world of heroes.
Some pockets of humanity found safety from the warring factions and the madman Hellinger. Godwulf leads the two to a group of his friends, including Sage, Swashbuckler, Gentle Sam, Big Man, and Iron Butterfly, who carries a guitar strapped to her back.
Hellinger is in fact Harlan Ryker, a Brand researcher who focused on bionics and cybernetics, creating Deathlok out of Luther Manning. Godwulf's friends and other survivors rally around Deathlok and Captain America to take the fight to Hellinger, now a cyborg himself.
They arrive at his headquarters in upstate New York and gain entrance to his fortress, where they encounter an automated, ever-changing maze. Only Captain America and Deathlok make it through the labyrinth to face Hellinger.
DeMatteis's script is exposition heavy, which is necessary to situate the issue. While I haven't read the other comics in this storyline, there's a lot of potential here, and the idea reminds me of the "Days of Future Past" storyline in The Uncanny X-Men. Zeck's artwork is strong, and the large panel featuring Hellinger on page 19 is excellent. It'd be worth seeing where this storyline started -- and what repercussions it'll have on life back in 1983, especially given Scarlet's hypnotic kiss with Nomad.
The issue also includes ads for ABC and NBC's Saturday morning cartoon lineups, Victory Games's James Bond role-playing game, TSR's Star Frontiers, and a letter column featuring four letters of comment.
Read Also: Marvel Spotlight #33 and Marvel Two-in-One #27.
Availability: This issue is collected in Marvel Masterworks: Deathlok Vol. 1 and Deathlok the Demolisher: The Complete Collection.
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Mystery Men and Comics History
All-Star Squadron #3 (DC, November 1981, 60 cents)
"The Dooms of Dark December" Writer/Co-Creators/Penciller: Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler, Embellisher: Jerry Ordway, Letterer: John Costanza, Colorist: Carl Gafford, Editor: Len Wein.
The conclusion of the All-Stars's first mission finds the team—comprising Johnny Quick, Robotman, Libery Belle, and others—on the parallel world Earth-Two in late 1941. Per Degaton has traveled back in time with a group of cronies to engineer a pre-emptive Japanese attack on northern and southern California. Safe in his sub-oceanic carrier, he revels in the defeat of the Justice Society of America on an active volcanic island in the Pacific.
The Shining Knight and geologist Danette Reilly have infiltrated Degaton's submarine and face Wotan, Professor Zodiak, and Solomon Grundy. They escape and return with the All-Stars just as hypnotized pilots approach Monterey, California. Hawkman, Robotman, and Johnny Quick fend them off, and the JSA is revived by the Spectre to square off against Grundy and the others, who are soon returned to their own times as Degaton flees.
Even isolated from the first two issues, Thomas's story holds up reasonably well as a standalone, and Buckler and Ordway's artwork is solid, if not surprising. Page layouts often incorporate smaller panels—seven or eight per page—and the image of the Spectre looking above the active volcano on page 21 is wonderful. Thomas's retelling of Degaton's gathering of the other villains from across time—Wotan from the late '40s, Zodiak from 1948, Grundy from 1947, so so on—establishes some sympathy for the lesser criminals, mere pawns out of time, "expendable," even, in Degaton's plans.
The issue also includes a Red Tornado Hostess Cup Cake ad ("My computer brain informs me we must bait the Vacuum Vulture with something dark and delicious.") and a "Super-Villain Fact File" profiling Grundy, Zodiak, Wotan, and Sky Pirate. Page five includes an off-hand mention of King Canute, king of Denmark, England, and Norway, referring to the legend of King Canute and the tide, which in later tellings portrays him as a deluded monarch who believes he has supernatural powers.
Availability: This issue is included in Showcase Presents: All-Star Squadron Vol. 1.
"The Dooms of Dark December" Writer/Co-Creators/Penciller: Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler, Embellisher: Jerry Ordway, Letterer: John Costanza, Colorist: Carl Gafford, Editor: Len Wein.
The conclusion of the All-Stars's first mission finds the team—comprising Johnny Quick, Robotman, Libery Belle, and others—on the parallel world Earth-Two in late 1941. Per Degaton has traveled back in time with a group of cronies to engineer a pre-emptive Japanese attack on northern and southern California. Safe in his sub-oceanic carrier, he revels in the defeat of the Justice Society of America on an active volcanic island in the Pacific.
The Shining Knight and geologist Danette Reilly have infiltrated Degaton's submarine and face Wotan, Professor Zodiak, and Solomon Grundy. They escape and return with the All-Stars just as hypnotized pilots approach Monterey, California. Hawkman, Robotman, and Johnny Quick fend them off, and the JSA is revived by the Spectre to square off against Grundy and the others, who are soon returned to their own times as Degaton flees.
Even isolated from the first two issues, Thomas's story holds up reasonably well as a standalone, and Buckler and Ordway's artwork is solid, if not surprising. Page layouts often incorporate smaller panels—seven or eight per page—and the image of the Spectre looking above the active volcano on page 21 is wonderful. Thomas's retelling of Degaton's gathering of the other villains from across time—Wotan from the late '40s, Zodiak from 1948, Grundy from 1947, so so on—establishes some sympathy for the lesser criminals, mere pawns out of time, "expendable," even, in Degaton's plans.
The issue also includes a Red Tornado Hostess Cup Cake ad ("My computer brain informs me we must bait the Vacuum Vulture with something dark and delicious.") and a "Super-Villain Fact File" profiling Grundy, Zodiak, Wotan, and Sky Pirate. Page five includes an off-hand mention of King Canute, king of Denmark, England, and Norway, referring to the legend of King Canute and the tide, which in later tellings portrays him as a deluded monarch who believes he has supernatural powers.
Availability: This issue is included in Showcase Presents: All-Star Squadron Vol. 1.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Hope for Hunting
Beep Beep the Road Runner #22 (Gold Key, February 1971, 15 cents)
"The Conked Condor" In this six-page uncredited story, Wile E. Coyote is trying to "bop" himself a road runner by launching boulders at them. Instead, he hits a condor, which lands in a cactus before meeting Road Runner and his three children. The condor "can't get started from flat ground," so he can't fly away from Wile E., who catches him. The road runners, however, free him.
"Lost and Frown'd" On a very windy day, Road Runner and his children find a wallet belonging to R.J. Jaye of 123 June St. They go to town to return it to him, byt Wile E. Coyote ambushes them. Jaye discovers Wile E. picking his wallet up off the stoop. "Did you say a wallet-stealing coyote?" "The worst kind!"
"Slippery Target" This four-page Cool Cat story features a hunter who slips in the morning dew, spiked shoes from the "Hope for Hunting" chest, a foot chase, and a gun that needs loading. In the end, Cool Cat escapes slipping and sliding around in the hunter's old shoes.
"The Conked Condor" In this six-page uncredited story, Wile E. Coyote is trying to "bop" himself a road runner by launching boulders at them. Instead, he hits a condor, which lands in a cactus before meeting Road Runner and his three children. The condor "can't get started from flat ground," so he can't fly away from Wile E., who catches him. The road runners, however, free him.
"Lost and Frown'd" On a very windy day, Road Runner and his children find a wallet belonging to R.J. Jaye of 123 June St. They go to town to return it to him, byt Wile E. Coyote ambushes them. Jaye discovers Wile E. picking his wallet up off the stoop. "Did you say a wallet-stealing coyote?" "The worst kind!"
"Slippery Target" This four-page Cool Cat story features a hunter who slips in the morning dew, spiked shoes from the "Hope for Hunting" chest, a foot chase, and a gun that needs loading. In the end, Cool Cat escapes slipping and sliding around in the hunter's old shoes.
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