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Spawn of Mars and Other Stories Illustrated by Wallace Wood


By Al Feldstein, Harry Harrison & Wallace Wood (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-805-2

EC began in 1944 when comicbook pioneer Max Gaines sold the successful superhero properties of his All-American Comics company – including Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman – to half-sister National/DC, retaining only Picture Stories from the Bible. His plan was to produce a line of Educational Comics with schools and church groups as the major target market. He then augmented his core title with three more in similar vein: Picture Stories from American History, Science and World History. The worthwhile but unsustainable project was already struggling when he died in a boating accident in 1947.

His son William was eventually convinced to assume control of the family business and, with much support and encouragement from unsung hero Sol Cohen and multi-talented associate Al Feldstein, transformed the ailing enterprise into Entertaining Comics, consequently triggering the greatest qualitative leap forward in comicbook history…

After a few tentative false starts and abortive experiments, Gaines settled into a bold and impressive publishing strategy, utilising the most gifted illustrators in the field to tell a “New Trend” of stories aimed at an older, more discriminating audience.

From 1950 to 1954 EC was the most innovative and influential publisher in America, dominating the genres of science fiction, war, horror and crime. The company even added a new type of title and another genre with the creation of parody magazine Mad …

This 12th volume of the Fantagraphics EC Library compiles a mind-blowing catalogue of cosmic wonders courtesy of Wallace Allan Wood: one of the greatest draughtsmen and graphic imagineers our art form has ever produced.

Woody was a master of every aspect of the business. He began his career lettering Will Eisner’s Spirit strip, readily moving into pencilling and inking as the 1940s ended and, latterly, publishing. After years working all over the comicbook and syndicated strip industries, as well as in legitimate illustration, package-design and other areas of commercial art, he devised the legendary T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents franchise and even created one of the first adult independent comics with Witzend in the late 1960s.

The troubled genius carried the seeds of his own destruction, however. Woody’s life was one of addiction (booze and cigarettes), traumatic relationships, tantalisingly close but always frustrated financial security, illness and eventually suicide. It was as if all the joy and beauty in his existence stayed on the pages and there was none left for real life.

Although during his time with EC Wood became the acknowledged, undisputed Master of Science Fiction art in America, he was equally adept, driven and accomplished in the production of all genres.

This enticingly evocative collection reprints some of his best early science fiction and fantasy masterpieces, re-presented as always, in a lavish monochrome hardcover edition, with supplementary interviews, features and dissertations, beginning with ‘Spawn of Wood’ by Bill Mason, which dissects and appraises the yarns included with forensic discipline and unflinching insight.

Although the usual process at this time was for Gaines and Al Feldstein to plot stories before Feldstein meticulously scripted and laid out each tale for the artists, the worlds of wonder here begin their revelatory orbits with a chilling piece written and illustrated by Wood as ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ (from Weird Fantasy #15 September/October 1950) discloses how the fist lunar landing exposes an alien city of conquerors poised to attack…

Gaines & Al Feldstein were back in charge for ‘A Trip to a Star!’ (Weird Fantasy #16 November/December 1950) as an exploratory excursion far beyond the solar system leads to an astonishing mystery whilst ‘Return’ (Weird Science #15 January/February 1951) sees survivors of an antediluvian and previously unknown race show up on the brink of humanity’s atomic Armageddon to reveal what caused them to flee the planet in ages past…

‘Deadlock!’ was another all-Wood extravaganza (Weird Fantasy #17 January/February 1951), describing a gripping stalemate in space as mankind responded to its First Contact with another star-faring species with typical suspicion. Sadly, the strangers were more like us than different…

A traumatised survivor of the ‘Sinking of the Titanic!’ (Gaines, Feldstein & Wood from Weird Science #6 March/April 1951) built a time-machine to avert the tragedy and became a helpless pawn of destiny, whilst that same month in Weird Fantasy #6 ‘Rescued!’ saw a second ship of Earthly Argonauts fall foul of the cosmic irony which devastated their bold predecessors and ‘The Aliens!’ (Weird Science #7 May/June 1951) detailed another sidereal misapprehension when two belligerent alien species confronted each other and vowed eradication of their newfound foe and its homeworld. Sadly both were on a desolate part of Earth at the time…

“Red Scare” paranoia informed many tales from this time and ‘Breakdown!’ (Weird Fantasy #7, May/June 1951) is one of the best as a distraught wife tries to inform the authorities of imminent invasion only to walk straight into the mind-shatteringly hideous clutches of the infiltrators.

‘The Probers’ (Weird Science #8 July/August 1951) turns the tables on callous human scientists who jump to the wrong conclusions regarding the latest batch of alien guinea pigs whilst that same month in Weird Fantasy #8, all-Wood, ecologically astute saga ‘The Enemies of the Colony’ saw human pioneers on the Galactic Colonization Authority‘s new territory-world drive the wrong predator to extinction – and not live to regret it…

Extraterrestrial biological horror informed ‘The Gray Cloud of Death!’ (Gaines, Feldstein & Wood from Weird Science #9 September/October 1951) as an inimical and voracious thing invades the second ship to voyage to Venus, whilst that month in Weird Science #9 a tragic misunderstanding and itchy trigger-fingers signalled the end of refugees considered ‘The Invaders’ of our world in anther stark parable from Gaines, Feldstein & Wood…

The titular ‘Spawn of Mars’ (Gaines, Feldstein & Wood and also featured in WF #9) detailed the experiences of the first woman explorer on Mars as well as the thing that came back masquerading as her husband…

A brace of yarns from Weird Science #10 November/December 1951 begins with ‘The Maidens Cried’ as spacemen from Earth find themselves beguiled into the bizarre mating processes of beautiful butterfly women whilst ‘Transformation Completed’ offers a stunning moral fable wherein a possessive father uses his new discovery to get rid of his daughter’s “unworthy” suitor by converting him into a woman.

The paranoid Prof comes a cropper because he utterly underestimates his child’s capacity for love and sacrifice…

‘The Secret of Saturn’s Ring!’ was the first of a Gaines, Feldstein & Wood double-bill from Weird Fantasy #10 (November/December 1951), revealing what lurked within that celebrated debris field and how it portended horrific consequences for mankind, whilst ‘The Mutants!’ depicts our selfish bigotry in all its cruelty as the aberrations born in the atomic age are hounded off Earth…

‘The Conquerors of the Moon!’ Weird Science #11 January/February 1952 is a quintessential classic of the form as greedy industrialists steal a portion of Earth’s atmosphere to make the Moon cost-effectively habitable, destroying the birthplace of humanity and consequently laying the seeds of their own destruction, after which Weird Fantasy #11 from the same month offers both the irony-drenched tale of generational colonists undertaking ‘The Two-Century Journey!’ and a time-bending prophecy of inescapable atomic incineration in ‘The 10th at Noon’…

Wry and trenchant black humour resurfaced in ‘A Gobl is a Knoog’s Best Friend’ (Weird Science #12 March/April 1952) as the relationship between Earth spacers and the ship’s dog is misunderstood by aliens before – from the same issue – ‘The Android!’ showed that desire, deception and murder weren’t just facets of mere biology. That month in Weird Fantasy #12 ‘Project… Survival!’ played word games with mythology as mankind sought to survive Armageddon by selecting fragments of Earth to survive aboard rocketship A.R.C.-1 and ‘The Die is Cast!’ gets crushingly literal as explorers find doom and destruction on a desolate flatland plagued by moving mountains…

Shock SuspenStories launched in 1952 and was an anthological anthology – by which I mean that Gaines and Feldstein used it to highlight their other short-story titles by having horror, crime and sci fi yarns in each issue. From #2 (April/May) comes grisly parable ‘Gee Dad… It’s a Daisy!’ which saw explorers find a planet where the inhabitants are as capricious and inadvertently cruel as any earthling 10-year old…

When Wood first began working he formed a studio with a college buddy who would eventually go on to become one of America’s most popular science fiction authors. Working together as writers, pencillers, inkers and letterers it was often impossible to tell who did what.

Short text feature ‘The Enigma of Harrison the Artist’ by Bill Mason covers that uniquely fertile collaboration and includes a glorious Harry Harrison cartoon of his new colleagues in the pulp sci fi watering hole “the Hydra Club” before this volume concludes with a selection of Wood/Harrison EC collaborations beginning with ‘Dream of Doom’ (Harrison script & pencils, Wood inks from Weird Science #12 March/April 1950).

Here a pair of comic creators fall out over creator credit and persistent nightmares after which ‘Only Time Will Tell’ (possibly Gaines, Feldstein with Harrison & Wood from Weird Fantasy #13 May/June 1950) finds a scientist caught in an inescapable time-loop after popping back in time to help himself invent time travel…

Weird Science #13 July/August 1950 unleashed ‘The Meteor Monster’ (Harrison & Wood) which saw a small town slowly succumb to the mental domination of a thing from another world whilst ‘The Black Arts’ (with Harrison inking Wood from Weird Fantasy #14 July/August 1950) offered a rare supernatural horror outing wherein a mousy man tried to used sorcery to get a girlfriend… with disastrous results.

The comicstrip chronicles conclude with an all-Harrison affair as the ‘Machine From Nowhere’ (Weird Science #15 September/October 1950) offers an extremely rare upbeat ending as two scientists stifle their perfectly natural suspicions to help a little flying robot steal uranium for purposes unknown…

Following a delightful ‘Wallace Wood’ caricature by EC colourist and “office girl” Marie Severin, historian S.C. Ringgenberg provides a detailed history of the flawed genius in ‘Wallace Wood’ and this truly captivating compilation closes on another set of ‘Behind the Panels: Creator Biographies’ by Janice Lee and Bill Mason and Ted White’s ‘Crime, Horror, Terror, Gore, Depravity, Disrespect for Established Authority – and Science Fiction Too!: ‘The Ups and Downs of EC Comics: A Short History’ – a comprehensive run-down of the entire EC phenomenon.

The short, sweet, cruelly curtailed EC back-catalogue has been revisited ad infinitum in the decades since its demise. Those amazing yarns changed not just comics but also infected the larger world through film and television to convert millions into dedicated devotees still addicted to New Trend tales.

Whether you are an aged EC Fan-Addict, just a nervous newbie, or simply a mere fan of brilliant stories and sublime art, Spawn of Mars is a book no sane and sensible reader can afford to be without.
Spawn of Mars and Other Stories © 2015 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All contents © 2015 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All comics stories and illustrations © 2015 William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All other material © 2015 the respective creators. All rights reserved.

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Elric volume 1: Elric of Melnibon̩ РThe Michael Moorcock Library


By Roy Thomas, Michael T. Gilbert, P. Craig Russell & Tom Orzechowski (Titan Comics)
ISBN: 978 -1-78276-288-1

Here’s a bit of a dilemma. Later this week I’m going to review the second volume in Titan’s Comics’ new translated Euro-masterpiece Elric from Blondel, Cano, Telo, Recht & Poli. That ongoing drama adapts the very same short story Elric of Melniboné which was the basis of the lost comicbook classic on view today.

However as The Tempest and Forbidden Planet or Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story prove, style, interpretation and creator input are everything and both takes are equally unmissable…

As the first volume in a proposed Michael Moorcock Library of comics adaptations, this is, according to internal narrative chronology, the first tale of the doomed king, despite being one of the last adventures penned by Moorcock in the initial cycle of stories (he returned to the character years later).

As a sequential narrative the soaring saga was originally released in 1983-1984 from Pacific Comics (and later collected into a graphic novel by First Comics) and is now re-presented here in a superb hardcover tome complete with Introduction from Mr. Moorcock, plus a full cover gallery and additional art.

Adaptors Roy Thomas & P. Craig Russell had previously worked on other tales of the last Emperor of Melniboné: specifically debut tale The Dreaming City (first published in 1961) as a Marvel Graphic Novel in 1982 and 1984’s ‘While the Gods Laugh’ which featured in Marvel’s fantasy anthology magazine Epic Illustrated #14. Here they were joined by fellow enthusiast and brilliant arch-stylist Michael T. Gilbert to complete a masterpiece of decadently baroque, sinisterly effete storytelling based in large part on the dark visions of Aubrey Beardsley and Arthur Rackham.

Elric is an absolute classic of the Sword and Sorcery genre: Ruler of the pre-human civilisation of the Melnibonéans, a race of cruel, arrogant and congenitally sadistic sorcerers; dissolute creatures in a slow, decadent decline after millennia of dominance over the Earth.

Born an albino, he is physically weak and of a brooding, philosophical temperament, caring for nothing save his beautiful cousin Cymoril, even though her brother Prince Yyrkoon openly lusts for his throne. As seen in opening chapter ‘Out of the Dreaming City’ he doesn’t even really want to rule, but it is his duty, and he is the only one of his race to see the newly evolved race of Man as a threat to the Empire.

When intruders from Young Kingdoms are captured within the island’s maze defences they are interrogated in ‘Welcome to the Domain of Dr. Jest’ and reveal an imminent attack on the Dreaming City of Imrryr, capital of Empire for ten thousand years.

Provoked by Yyrkoon, physically frail Elric personally leads the response and the Fleet, bolstered by dragons and magic, easily dispatches the upstart humans, but the wily pretender seizes his chance and throws the enfeebled Emperor overboard to drown at the moment of victory.

The deeply conflicted hero believes himself happy to die but some part of his mind calls to the sea-elementals and their mighty king Straasha – bound allies and ancient friends of the Empire – to save him. When he returns to confront the usurper, Yrrkoon unleashes a demonic doomsday weapon and flees with Cymoril as his hostage.

Hidden at the ends of the Earth using the demonic ‘Mirror of Memory’ to conceal himself from all searches the usurper plans a counterattack and all Elric’s magic cannot find him. In obsessive desperation the pale Emperor swallows his pride and suspicion, pledging allegiance to Arioch, a Lord of Chaos in opposition to the Lords of Order.

The eternal see-saw war of these supernal forces is the fundamental principle of the universe or “Multiverse”. For providing the etiolated Elric with the means to find and defeat his cousin, Arioch will demand his devil’s due, but the Albino does not care…

Other allies such as Straasha are more forthcoming and less duplicitous: providing Elric with ‘The Ship Which Sails over Land and Sea’ enabling the frantic pursuer to travel to a ferocious and doom-drenched confrontation with his conniving cousin.

The voyage is fast but perilous but the final clash is delayed as Elric finds Cymoril ensorcelled to eternal sleep and Yyrkoon gone to another realm in quest of ultimate power…

Once again calling upon Arioch’s mercurial favours, Elric follows ‘Through the Shade Gate’ to dreary, dying otherwhere and meets affable exile Rackhir the Red Archer who joins him in the final stages of his pursuit, resulting in a terrifying duel with Yyrkoon holding the mighty Mournblade whilst Elric is compelled to accept his dark and foredoomed future by taking up the black blade he was born to carry in ‘At Last… Stormbringer‘.

Everything undergone, every trial undertaken and torment endured, has been orchestrated to get Elric to bring the Rune-sword, the malevolent Stealer of Souls, back to Earth and so very soon, he does… but not in the manner double-dealing Arioch intended…

The novel is an iconic and groundbreaking landmark of fantasy fiction and a must-read-item for any fan. This spectacular, resplendently flamboyant adaptation is a deliciously elegant, savagely beautiful masterpiece of the genre effortlessly blending blistering action and gleaming adventure with the deep, darkly melancholic tone of the cynical, nihilistic, Cold-War mentality and era that spawned the original stories.

You must read the book and you should own this graphic novel …and all the successive tomes to come…

Adapted from the works of Michael Moorcock related to the character of Elric of Melniboné © 2014, Michael & Linda Moorcock. All characters, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and all related indicia are ™ & © Michael Moorcock and Multiverse Inc.
The Michael Moorcock Library volume 1: Elric of Melniboné will be released on March 31st 2015 and is available for pre-order now.

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Department of the Peculiar #1 & 2


By Rol Hirst & Rob Wells
No ISBNs:

In strikingly similar vein from alternative press veterans Rol Hirst and Rob Wells is a splendid mash-up of X-Men and X-Files, given a splendidly seductive British taste and tone.

DotP #1 sees scripter Hirst and illustrator Wells take a laconic look at what ails the world in ‘Sick Day’ where we meet Malcolm Drake: an American metahuman embarrassed by his powers and hiding out in the UK.

His sad life didn’t get any better this side of the pond but suddenly changes forever when he is blackmailed by the ever-vigilant government quango known as the Department of the Peculiar into joining their covert, severely under-funded and cash-poor rapid response team.

Malcolm makes people sick (that’s his power, not his attitude – well, maybe a bit of his attitude too) and when abrasive chief administrator Lisa Cole confronts him in a Manchester shopping centre that is exactly what she needs.

Another “Peculiar” has seized control of an office building owned by food conglomerate Matheson-Beaumont. He did it by making people ill and wilfully distributing heart attacks and transfats amongst the security staff.

Threatened with deportation unless he replaces D.O.T.P.’s already-downed field agent, Malcolm reluctantly approaches the hostage building, but discovers that his strange gift can’t protect him from a heart attack either…

The story concludes in #2 with ‘Cure for Cancer’ as Drake provides a life-passing-his-eyes flashback and origin tale whilst aggrieved eco-warrior and nutritionally-abused walking cholesterol bomb Paul Aday carries out his ghastly revenge on the execs who poisoned a nation.

However Malcolm is made of stern stuff and rallies just enough to do the necessary…

Gross, scary, funny and wildly beguiling, this is outrageous non-stop spoofery, surreal whimsy, deceptively gritty action and bureaucrat-bashing as only world-wearily laconic Brits can do it, marking this as one of the best indie titles I’ve seen in decades…

Comicbook sized in stunningly powerful black & white, Department of the Peculiar #1 & 2 are available from rolhirst.co.uk and you can follow him on Twitter (@rolhirst) whilst these and Rob’s other wonderful canon of cartoon fun can be found via crispbiscuit.co.uk. He can be Twitterstalked on (@robertdwells).

© 2012, 2013 Rol Hirst and Rob Wells.
www.facebook.com/departmentofthepeculiar

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Vreckless Vrestlers #2-5


By Lukasz Kowalczuk, translated by Aneta Kaczmarek (Vreckless Comics!)
No ISBNs

Vreckless Vrestlers is a 5-chapter miniseries by Polish cartoonist Lukasz Kowalczuk, with a breathtakingly simple yet irresistibly engaging premise. The star is a temporally-transcendent fight-promoter abducting the greatest warriors from all time and space to fight in his Professional Interdimensional Wrestling League – brutal gladiatorial contests with only “One Rule – No Rules!”…

Produced as 210x150mm flip-book fight-fests, the progressively more excessive bouts feature astounding cartoon hyper-violence in the manner of Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit. Unmarred by subplot or subtext these tales delivering tons of spectacular, primal, monster-hitting action with oodles of juicy, oozy, gory sound effects and no tedious dialogue or badinage to slow down the horrific bone-crushing action…

Issue #2 sees Original Hippie Killer battle beaded barbarian lass Barbarica in one half whilst Sergeant Reptilion takes on Spike Lee (no, not the film guy), on the flipside, augmented and segregated with a 4-page puzzle section, whilst the next power-packed instalment sees Barbarica face Reptilion for a place in the ‘Mean Event’ that concludes hostilities.

Also tussling for a championship slot in #3 are Vegan Cat and The Eye, and the bouts are separated by hilarious faux merchandising ads, battle stats and a cut-out mask of current champion Bullgod for you to excise and wear with pride…

Issues 4 and 5 comprise one big, all action big bonanza finale-extravaganza which takes the reader to the edge of the seat and into bizarre metaphysical territory so hold on to your hats and your free stickers…

These little booklets are manic, eccentric and eminently addictive celebrations of the unfettered artist given carte blanche. Each black-&-white issue (limited to print runs of 200 in English and Polish) comes with all sorts of extras like promo cards, collectible stickers – and mini-album – and can be obtained by contacting www.vrecklessvrestlers.tumblr.com, www.fb.com/vrestlers or Lk@tzzad.pl.

Daft, thrilling, madcap and wonderful, if you need a little break, or contusion, or abrasion, this might be the very remedy…

…And if you’re irresistibly wedded to the future, Vreckless Vrestlers is also available on ComiXology and at Streets of Beige so there’s no reason not to grab a ringside seat in the comfort of your own cosy crash-pad, dude……

© 2014 Lukasz Kowalczuk. All rights reserved.

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The Strange Investigators 01: The Snake Job


By Luke Melia & Bobby Peñafiel
ISBN: 978-1-50581-207-7

At the luxury end of the self-publishing spectrum is this superbly high-end production number: a proper full-colour graphic novel in everything but page count.

Luke Melia and his collaborative artistic cohorts have been making superbly engaging contemporary genre stories for a while now (see Occulus and The White Room of the Asylum) and this light-hearted paranormal lark is the first chapter of their next graphic novel foray.

Complete in one issue, The Snake Job introduces young entrepreneurs Alex, Katelyn and Tony who have found a unique niche market for their services: so unique, in fact, that there’s no money in it and precious few customers.

The newly launched Strange Investigators – that’s a job description not a character assessment – aren’t having the best time getting the business on an even footing. Investigating “anything unusual or unexplained” hasn’t been the cash-cow they expected and they really need to make some money to pay for all the really expensive paranormal detection kit they’re using.

That’s why, after a long period of prevarication, Alex finally agrees to accept “the Snake Job” Katelyn’s had on her desk for weeks.

Alex claims there’s no mystery to how a big serpent got on to a tropical island beach, but Tony and Katelyn think his strident reluctance to take the case is simply because their CEO is afraid of wasps…

With the lights cut off and no other choice, three days later Alex and Tony are on an all-expenses-included jaunt paid for by a company eager to build an hotel on some nice unspoiled beaches.

The afflicted isle is pretty much as imagined, and the lads aren’t expecting much more than sand, sunburn and poking an adder with a high-tech stick. They couldn’t be more wrong…

This sucker is big, it’s proper supernatural and the natives aren’t especially keen to see some outsiders trying to kill it with flamethrowers and explosives…

Ranging from wryly trenchant to outright hilarious, this funny foray into fantastic worlds and humdrum zero-hours Contretemps of the Unknown promises to be another superb and unmissable treat.

© 2015 Luke Melia.
Self published and available to buy on Amazon in print and also as a PDF version to buy on Luke’s gumroad page ( https://gumroad.com/lukemelia) at “pay whatever you want – even free”.

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Small Press Sundays

I started out in this game a little bit after the last Ice Age ended, making minicomics, collaborating on fanzines and concocting stripzines with fellow weirdoes, outcasts and comics addicts. Even today, seeing the raw stuff of creativity in hand-crafted paper pamphlets still gets me going in ways that threatens my tired old heart…

With that in mind here’s a selection of tantalising treats that have landed in my review tray recently…

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Oink: Heaven’s Butcher


By John Mueller (Dark Horse)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-590-0

From 1995 to 2000 budding artistic talent John Mueller produced a couple of miniseries for Kitchen Sink Press which became lost classics. Two decades later and now a far more seasoned creator, Mueller has returned to his first work, tinkering, tweaking and visually remastering it into an eye-popping painted saga of depravity, oppression, rebellion and survival for a new generation of fans.

The tale is brutally simple and begins in ‘Awakenings’ as a seasoned and unrepentant killer on Death Row unburdens himself to a concerned and devout cleric…

Once upon a time in a devastated, dystopian world, a slave in Public Slaughterhouse 628 began to think and to question. He wondered especially why the hogs he carved up for his and his masters’ nourishment looked so much like him and his fellow workers.

The crushing religious dogma and vicious punishments meted out by the Warden Superior and his cruelly bullying Angels offered no answers. Neither masters nor slaves had ever heard words like “gene-splicing” or “DNA”, which had worked arcane magic creating a separate species halfway between pigs and humans…

One day however, weary old worker Spigot screamed the questions Oink had painfully learned not to… and paid a terrible price…

In his dreams Oink had a vision of a god far different from the one he had been programmed to believe in. Realising he had been made as a cog in a horrible machine he took up his slaughter axe and decided to change his world one human at a time.

Of course he soon found ways to speed up the process – such as burning down the monstrous meat factory he was reared in…

‘Lies’ found him as the only subject of conversation in the houses of the unholy where the Warden ushers Judas and his savage posse the Angels of Mercy into the sanctum of the puissant Cardinal Bacaar. That formidable ecclesiastic is in every respect the creator and guiding light of this brutal existence…

As the rebel pig-man explores the world beyond the slaughterhouse he is soon cornered by the sadistic hunters, but the Angels have never faced a fugitive like Oink before and he quickly defeats and escapes them.

His flight takes him deep into the industrialised wasteland beyond church confines where he is taken in by an old woman named Mary and her hulking maimed and mute grandson Herbert.

She had been brutally blinded by the new regime but all their tactics haven’t robbed her of the memories of how the world used to be. She begins teaching Oink of the scientific travesties Cardinal Bacaar created, but neither the vengeful rebel nor Herbert are there when Judas and the Angels burst in and end her…

Pushed beyond all reason and tantalised by truths just out of reach, Oink – with the heartbroken Herbert at his side – determines to take the battle to the technological devil priest and liberate his own people from further horror in ‘Pigs’.

The suicide raid on the Cardinal’s Birthing Factory is ruthless and appallingly effective but it is only the penultimate step. There is still Bacaar to deal with and that can only end one way…

Harsh, barbarous, oppressive and Orwellian (as much Animal Farm as 1984), the slight narrative and familiar premise here is successfully bolstered by stunning artwork from Mueller, and this anniversary edition also includes his phenomenal ‘Oink Sketchbook’ featuring dozens of images over twelve pages of pencil drawings, painted roughs, panel details and more, plus ten further pig picture portraits in the ‘Oink Pin-up Gallery’ by Mueller, Tomoslav Torjanac, Justin “Coro” Kaufman, Mica Hendricks, Jason Minauro, Brett Parson and Nate Van Dyke.
© 1995, 2015 John Mueller. All rights reserved.

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Usagi Yojimbo book 11: Seasons


By Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-375-8

Usagi Yojimbo first appeared in Stan Sakai’s The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, in 1984’s furry ‘n’ fuzzy folk-fest Albedo Anthropomorphics #1. He soon graduated to a stirring solo act in Critters, Amazing Heroes, Furrlough and Munden’s Bar back-up strips in Grimjack.

In 1955, when Sakai was two years old, the family moved from Kyoto, Japan to Hawaii. Growing up in a cross-cultural paradise he graduated from the University of Hawaii with a BA in Fine Arts, before leaving the state to pursue further studies at Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in California.

His early forays into comics were as a letterer – most famously for the inimitable Groo the Wanderer – before his nimble pens and brushes found a way to express his passion for Japanese history, legend and the filmic works of Akira Kurosawa and his peers, inspirationally transforming a proposed story about a human historical hero into one of the most enticing and impressive fantasy sagas of all time.

And it’s still more educational, informative and authentic than any dozen Samurai sagas you can name…

Although the deliriously expansive period epic stars sentient animals and details the life of a peripatetic Lord-less samurai eking out as honourable a living as possible by selling his sword as a Yojimbo (a bodyguard-for-hire – and, while we’re at it, “Usagi” literally translates as “rabbit”), the milieu and scenarios all scrupulously mirror the Edo Period of Japan – roughly 16th and 17th century AD by our reckoning – whilst simultaneously referencing other cultural icons from sources as varied as Zatoichi to Godzilla.

Miyamoto Usagi is brave, noble, industrious, honest, sentimental, gentle, considerate, artistic, empathetic, long-suffering and conscientious: a rabbit devoted to the tenets of Bushido, he is simply unable to turn down any request for help or ignore the slightest evidence of injustice. As such, his destiny is to be perpetually drawn into an unending panorama of incredible situations.

This evocative and enticing eleventh monochrome medieval masterpiece gathers Dark Horse Comics’ Usagi Yojimbo comicbook (volume 3) #7-12, and the hue-less, line art contents of Usagi Yojimbo Color Special #4 (Green Persimmon).

Following a fondly effusive Introduction from cartoonist Lynn (For Better or For Worse) Johnston, the ever-unfolding adventure resumes with ‘The Withered Field’ as our wandering hero watches swordmaster Nakamura Koji. The former fencing instructor to Lord Hikiji wants to test himself against Ueno, head of the Surodoi School, but the master is absent and his arrogant, haughty students refuse to summon him despite the old man’s succession of victories against them all…

Usagi had also desired to test his skills but instead listens to the incredibly dexterous Koji’s tragic story. Once an important warrior of impeccable status, he was bested in a duel by an unconventional itinerant samurai who rejected the traditional forms of fencing.

Shamed by the defeat Koji took up the Warrior’s Pilgrimage, travelling the land testing and perfecting his skill whilst preparing for a rematch.

As they chat sixteen Surodoi students ambush them, resolved to excise their failure by killing the wanderers. United against the dishonourable attackers, Usagi and Koji efficiently despatch them all and the swordmaster comments on his new friend’s unique combat style…

Once, Miyamoto was simply the son of a small-town magistrate before spending years learning the Way of Bushido from a stern, leonine master who was as much hermit as teacher. The lad learned not just superior technique and tactics, but also Katsuichi‘s creed of justice and restraint which would serve him well throughout his turbulent life…

When Ueno returns he is outraged by his disciples’ presumption and further incensed after finding the bodies of his prodigal pupils. He seeks out Koji and finds him calmly walking with a rabbit ronin. Determined to restore his good name, he grants Koji the long-deferred honour of a duel…

The battle is a wonder of form, grace and precision but upon its grisly conclusion the victorious Koji turns upon Usagi. Having seen his companion fight, the swordmaster has recognised the style which defeated him so long ago and must test himself against it once more.

Unable to dissuade him, the rabbit gives his utmost but is resoundingly defeated. Koji has no intention of killing him and instead tasks Usagi with carrying a message and challenge to his reclusive sensei: the triumphant swordmaster will meet Katsuichi a year hence at a specified place to decide finally and forever whose skill is the greatest…

‘A Promise in the Snow’ then sees the rabbit rover stumble upon a robbery and prevent the death of a merchant. The trader is grievously wounded however and his little daughter Fumiye begs the ronin to carry the rapidly expiring Araki to his home a half-day’s journey away.

The task is an arduous one over avalanche-prone mountains with starving wild beasts and numbing cold sapping his energies and good intentions with every step. Despite nigh-overwhelming odds little Fumiye insistently urges Usagi on, but when he finally brings Araki to safety the rescuer receives a stunning shock…

Political intrigue blossoms once again when a wounded messenger carrying an astounding document staggers into a temple in ‘The Conspiracy of Eight’. Inside Usagi is visiting his new friend Sanshobo and is present when the priest finds a pledge signed by eight High Lords agreeing to rise up against the Shogun. The messenger wears the livery of “Shadow Lord” Hikiji and has been struck down by assassin’s arrows…

Ambitious Hikiji’s name is not amongst the signatories and his role in the scheme cannot be guessed, but Sanshobo knows that the letter will result in great bloodshed whether the conspirators, Shadow Lord or Shogun possesses it. Proof of his contention comes when a band of samurai lay siege to the temple compound, demanding the surrender of the messenger…

As snows fall and temperatures plummet, priest, postulants and ronin enact a furious defence of the sanctuary but ultimately a lone ninja steals the document and brings it to an unsuspected fourth party with her own reasons for keeping it quiet.

Neko ninja clan-chief Chizu secretly prays that this time her erstwhile ally Usagi will keep his nose out of her business …

‘Snakes and Blossoms’ offers a brace of flashback tales wherein the Yojimbo, calmly recuperating as Sanshobo’s guest, finds a moment to share some old stories with his new friend.

‘Hebi’ harks back to a time when the ronin and his crusty companion Gennosuké (an irascibly bombastic, money-mad, bounty-hunting, conniving thief-taking rhino with a heart of gold) were caught in a storm and took shelter in an almost abandoned temple. Gen had to kill a huge, vicious snake to get there but once inside things became even more dangerous as the beast’s demon wife impersonated a nun to get close enough to exact vengeance…

A far more educational parable follows as ‘The Courage of the Plum’ reveals how impulsive student Usagi learned a life-lesson from Katsuichi-sensei one cold spring just as the winter snows began to melt…

After a rousing pin-up the drama recommences with ‘Return to Adachi Plain’ (inked by Sergio Aragonés) as the perpetual nomad’s path brings him back to the battlefield where his karma was decided forever…

Mere months after completing his tutelage with Katsuichi, Usagi was recruited to the personal retinue of Great Lord Mifunė. He advanced quickly and was soon a trusted bodyguard too, serving beside the indomitable and legendary Gunichi. It was a time of great unrest and war was brewing…

In his third year of service, the castle was attacked by Neko ninja assassins and, although the doughty heroes managed to save their master, the Lord’s wife Kazumi and heir Tsuruichi were murdered. Realising ambitious rival Lord Hikiji was responsible, MifunÄ— declared war…

The epic conflict ended on the great Adachigahara Plain when MifunÄ—’s general Todo switched sides and the betrayed Great Lord fell. At the crucial moment Gunichi also broke, fleeing to save his own skin and leaving Usagi to preserve the fallen Lord’s head – and honour – from shameful desecration…

With no master to serve, Usagi became a ronin and began his endless Warrior Pilgrimage…

Far away another portentous interlude occurs as a simple peasant is saved by a dark stranger from a cruel and murderous samurai as they all shared passage between islands in ‘The Crossing’.

Jei is a veritable devil in mortal form, believing himself a “Blade of the Gods”, chosen by the Lords of Heaven to kill the wicked. The maniac makes a convincing case: when he first met Usagi the diabolical spearman was struck by lightning and still survived.

Still pursuing his crusade against evil, Jei has adopted an orphan girl Keiko to aid him, but after saving a life he then perceives it to be an evil one too – as apparently is every other passenger on the unlucky vessel…

A fascinating exploration of warrior spirit is depicted as a defeated general goes deep undercover as farmer in ‘The Patience of the Spider’. Ikeda and his most trusted lieutenants survived the fall of their Lord, adopted a peasant lifestyle and are biding their time until they can rise again to expunge their shameful defeat.

But months turn to decades and the General fully grows into his new role – perhaps too much so…

Usagi resurfaces again when a band of cutthroats at an inn initially select him as a prospective victim before switching sights to another, more affluent-seeming traveller. The rogues soon learn the error of their ways as the enigmatic Oyama Tadanori wipes them out with ease.

Later the stranger encounters Usagi and the ronin recognises ‘The Lord of the Owls’ as an infamous cursed warrior reputed to be able to see death in a person’s eyes. He is not happy to hear the taciturn figure warn him that they will meet again…

More secrets of the Conspiracy of Eight are revealed in ‘The First Tenet’ when Chizu’s deputy Kagemaru exposes her part in the incriminating letter’s theft to Hikiji’s untrustworthy facilitator Lord Hebi. Infuriatingly some wily ninja has doctored the document and the conspirators remain practically anonymous…

Later, as Hebi’s entourage is attacked by assassins, Kagemaru just happens to be nearby with a band of faithful ninjas who rapidly despatch the assailants. It’s not so much the surprise of the counterattack that routs the rogues as shock that the man who hired them is now leading the defence of Hebi…

Attention returns to the Yojimbo as he passes the devastated mansion of Lady Takagi and recalls how, in the aftermath of the Dragon Bellow Conspiracy, he, Gen and female warrior Tomoe were rushing back to inform benevolent young Lord Noriyuki that the crisis had been averted.

After battling their way past hostile forces they were offered a night’s respite by the noble lady but ‘The Obakéneko of the Geishu Clan’ was a were-beast intent on murder and worse and it took all the ronin’s might and plenty of luck to survive until daylight…

The spellbinding storytelling concludes with espionage mystery ‘Green Persimmon’ as a dying samurai of Noriyuki’s Geishu clan entrusts Usagi with a strangely glazed ceramic fruit which simply must reach the young Lord at all costs.

The fragile porcelain artefact attracts the attention of numerous thugs, cutthroats and hired killers but as the Yojimbo carves his way across the country he is unable to fathom its purpose. Only when he meets Tomoe does the Green Persimmon surrender its incredible secret…

This medieval monochrome masterwork concludes with a ‘Gallery’ of seven superb covers to wrap things up with artistic aplomb.

Despite changing publishers a few times the Roaming Rabbit has been in continuous publication since 1987, with over 30 books and collections so far. He has guest-starred in many other series (most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its TV incarnation) and even almost made it into his own small-screen show.

There are high-end collectibles, art prints, computer games and RPGs, a spin-off sci-fi comics serial and lots of toys. Sakai and his creation have won numerous awards both within the Comics community and amongst the greater reading public.

Fast-paced yet lyrical, informative and funny, Usagi Yojimbo also bristles with tension and thrills and frequently breaks your heart with astounding tales of pride and tragedy.

Simply bursting with veracity and verve, it is the perfect comics epic: a monolithic magical saga of irresistible appeal to delight devotees and make converts of the most hardened haters of “funny animal” stories.
© 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 Stan Sakai. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. All rights reserved.

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The Chronicles of Legion volume 2: The Spawn of Dracula


By Fabien Nury, Mario Alberti, Zhang Xiaoyu & Tirso translated by Virgine Selavy (Titan Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-78276-094-8

The epic war between immortal blood-drenched brothers continues in the second translated volume of Fabien (Once Upon a Time in France, I Am Legion) Nury’s inspired reinvigoration of the Dracula legend, with illustrators Mario Alberti, Zhang Xiaoyu and Tirso Cons each allocated a separate epoch of the centuries-spanning and intertwined vendetta.

The dread duel began in 2011 as Les Chroniques de Legion: a generational saga which put a new spin on the monster-myth, and The Spawn of Dracula further unravels a triptych of mysteries…

What You Need to Know: Vlad Tepes Dracula and his brother Radu possess the power to extend their lives beyond apparent death. Their consciousnesses are carried in their blood and by transferring the potent ichor to other living beings they can possess and dominate any number of victims infinitely.

Both have lived for centuries and for all that time they have hated each other…

Here the story expands in three theatres of war with their unceasing attempts to destroy each other centred in three separate eras, but rather than disparate clashes over time and space these duels are all part of an extended and never-ending campaign of terror with mere mortals their callously disposable tools, weapons and cannon fodder…

The opening act occurs in 1885 as gambling addict and thorough swine Victor Douglas Thorpe enters the palatial home of reclusive immensely wealthy aristocratic Lord Byron Cavendish. Should the upcoming interview go well the impoverished cad will soon be heir to the largest fortune in the Empire…

The conference goes exactly as the unseen benefactor intends. When the successful applicant returns to London, he bears a strange red mark and is no longer Victor Douglas Thorpe…

Centuries earlier in 1521, Gabriella, Doña Del La Fuente bore the same scarlet sigil as she was escorted through the green hell of the New World to a meeting with powerfully placed future husband Hernan Torres.

Guided by the conquistador’s enticingly masculine mulatto bastard Martin, the Doña’s party – rough soldier, cloying Spanish priests, avaricious self-important dignitaries and her loyal bodyguard Carlos – slowly make their way through the jungles until an uncanny sense warns of danger ahead.

Seconds later they are attacked by a horde of natives who seem immune to pain and mortal harm, fighting on even after holed by musket fire or even beheaded.

Moments before her body’s imminent demise Gabriella recognises her brother’s bloodmark on an attacker’s neck and, even as faithful, steadfast Carlos comes to her rescue, Vlad realises Radu has beaten her to this new continent and made himself at home.

Miles away, seeing through the dying eyes of his puppets, the other undying scion of Transylvania screams in fear and fury…

With daylight the much-diminished party struggles on towards Torres’ citadel and half-constructed cathedral with the bride-to-be increasingly succumbing to lust as she cares for her wounded and septic future son-in-law.

Once inside the Mission she is forced back into the role of diffident contract-bride, but Hernan Torres is no easy man to love. His thoughts are solely of preserving a legacy and creating a legitimate dynasty, and her bringing more grasping priests and fanatical Inquisitors to plague him has not endeared her to the Great Man.

Reduced to the status of closeted brood-mare, Gabriella has Carlos capture a huge eagle and, by allowing it to bite her, gains a mighty avian frame from which to view the world and survey her own inexorable rise to power…

As he slowly recovers Martin too falls under her spell, but this bewitching has nothing to do with her blood…

In late 19th century England an aristocrat’s estate burns in a vast and deliberate conflagration but the new Lord has no regrets and looks only forward, never back.

In 1812 a band of deserters from Napoleon’s army have reached Targovishte. Armand Malachie has led his faithful subordinates Kholya, Stern, Hartmann and Feraud to the Wallachian Mountains in search of the Lost Treasure of Vlad Dracula Tepes but the long-suffering peasants there quickly recognise who the dashing French Hussar is carrying inside him…

When an innkeeper passes on a message from Radu, arrogant Vlad disregards it but later engages in a pointless clash with a band of Cossacks which leads to the death of his mortal host…

As his men abandon his corpse to the snows, the embarrassed immortal summons his fading strength to reanimate the cadaver and follow in search of a new meat-home…

And in 1887 Victor Douglas Thorpe attends the funeral of his so-suddenly and suspiciously deceased benefactor and is accosted by the woman who carries his unborn child. Her entreaties go unacknowledged and, as he is driven away in his livered carriage, she bitterly damns him…

To Be Continued…

Unfolding in a luxurious oversized (211 x 282mm) full-colour hardback, superbly illustrated and beguiling told, this intoxicatingly absorbing jigsaw of terror and tragedy is a stunning and ambitious treat for all fans of fang and fear…
The Chronicles of Legion and all contents © Éditions Glénat 2011. Translated edition © Titan Comics, 2015

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Iron Man 2.0 volume 1: Palmer Addley is Dead


By Nick Spencer, Barry Kitson, Kano, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ariel Olivetti & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3685-9

Supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed his profile many times since his 1963 debut when, as a VIP visitor in a conflict zone observing the efficacy of weaponry he had designed, the arch-technocrat wünderkind was critically wounded and captured by a local warlord.

Put to work with the spurious promise of medical assistance upon completion, Stark instead built an electronic suit to keep his heart beating and deliver him from his oppressors. From there it was a small jump into a second career as a high-tech Knight in Shining Armour…

Ever since then the former armaments manufacturer has been a liberal capitalist, eco-warrior, space pioneer, civil servant, statesman, and even spy-chief: Director of the world’s most scientifically advanced spy agency, the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

For most of that period his best friend and frequent stand-in was James Rhodes, a former military man who acted as pilot, bodyguard, advisor, co-conspirator and occasional necessary conscience. “Rhodey” actually replaced Iron Man when Stark succumbed to alcoholism and eventually carved out his own chequered career as remorseless mechanised warrior and weapon of last resort War Machine…

Along the way disagreements became fights and one day the pilot had enough and quit, going back into military service…

During the time when the Federal initiative known as the Super-Human Registration Act led to Civil War between costumed heroes, Stark was appointed the US government’s Security Czar: a “top cop” in sole charge of a beleaguered nation’s defence and freedom, tasked with overseeing every aspect of the legislation’s enactment. He became the absolute last word in all matters involving the USA’s vast metahuman community…

However his mismanagement of a succession of crises led to the arrest and assassination of Captain America and an unimaginable escalation of global tension and destruction, culminating in a so-nearly successful Secret Invasion by shape-shifting alien Skrulls.

Discredited and ostracised, Stark was replaced by ostensibly rehabilitated super-villain Norman Osborn (the original Green Goblin), who assumed full control of America’s covert agencies and paramilitary resources.

Osborn disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed the nation under the aegis of his new umbrella organisation H.A.M.M.E.R. Publicly acclaimed as a recovering schizophrenic, he was still a deranged monster at his core and craved total power. Intending to appropriate all Stark’s resources, the “reformed” villain began stripping all of the ex-Avenger assets; financial, technological and even psychological.

Terrified that his weaponry and files – containing the secret identities of almost all of Earth’s heroes – would fall into a ruthless maniac’s hands, Stark systematically erased all his databases and did the same to his own memories, effectively lobotomising himself to save everything before going on the run in a hopeless but valiant attempt to give his few remaining allies time to pull off a miracle…

Spinning out of Iron Man #500 and the fall of Norman Osborn, this compilation reveals a reconciliation and bold new start for Stark’s ferociously independent ally James Rhodes as Iron Man: 2.0 #1-7 (April to September 2011, and scripted throughout by Nick Spencer) deals with the aftermath of the villain’s defeat in a prologue from Iron Man #500, illustrated by Barry Kitson, with colours from Matthew Wilson.

The tantalising flashback-riddled teaser finds the embattled Rhodey explaining a recent defeat – resulting in being caught in a nuclear detonation (by no means his first one!) – to his military supervisor General Babbage, whilst inter-cutting to scenes of rapprochement with Stark. This dual conference leads to the promise of a brand new suit of super-armour for the embattled veteran…

Iron Man: 2.0 #1-4 and ‘Palmer Addley is Dead’, (art by Kitson, Kano, Carmine Di Giandomenico & Wilson) begins prior to the prologue as Babbage orders his private War Machine to quell a series of baffling security glitches by leading with a rather hostile team of contracted investigators.

All the problems involve nanotech and programs devised by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) emergent-technology specialist Palmer Addley and each failure can only be sabotage. Addley looks like the only suspect for the global systems meltdown but, as he very publicly committed suicide six months previously, that’s a hard conclusion to prove…

Moreover each successive failure benefits assorted terrorist groups and Rhodey has been called in to provide some outside-the-box thinking. Just how outside is hard to imagine: the army have already consulted ultimate inventor Reed Richards, mutant telepaths from the X-Men and even Doctor Strange… just in case Addley’s ghost was the culprit…

After lengthy and diligent consideration of all the facts, Rhodey can only conclude that somewhere, Palmer Addley is still alive…

And in Ann Arbor, Michigan a quiet unassuming mom puts the finishing touches to the super-weapon she’s built in her garage…

When another terrorist strike wipes out Camp Liberty Victory Base in Baghdad, Rhodey calls in old associate Suzi Endo – über-hacker and former superhero Cybermancer – to give his team a few pointers on Extreme Data-Mining. Her contributions soon have War Machine jetting to an off-the-books Russian science city and into a trap.

On arrival, Rhodey finds all the military personnel slaughtered before being jumped by a figure who disables him with shocking ease. Warning him to tell his masters that “Palmer Addley is Dead”, the stranger detonates a nuke…

The third chapter opens five days later with Rhodes savagely wounded but slowly recovering from catching the edge of the blast as Stark’s factotum Pepper Potts takes over the case. The CEO of Stark Resilient has used her company’s phenomenal resources and discovered everything Babbage and the army knew about the dead technologist is a lie…

With Babbage cowed and SR now a fully accredited Private Security Contractor, Pepper transfers money and resources to Rhodey’ team and soon naive Kaylie Doran has been granted “eyes-only” access to Addley’s actual background file…

Elsewhere Stark and Rhodey are in conference and the result is the scrapping of War Machine. In its place the ultimate survivor is offered a unique, cutting-edge armour system that will make him truly Iron Man: 2.0…

The concluding chapter is illustrated by incoming regular artist Ariel Olivetti and finds Kaylie at the most secure records room in America to discover exactly what kind of brilliant sociopath the military hired to create weapons for them.

Apparently even after his High School killing spree, the boy’s talents were considered too important to waste…

With Palmer Addley still at large in some manner, matters of more pressing importance suddenly impinge and the remainder of this collection focuses on Rhodey’s part in cosmic event Fear Itself…

Marvel’s 2011 multi-part, inter-company braided mega-saga revealed how an ancient Asgardian menace resurfaced, possessing a band of the planet’s mightiest mortals – good or evil – via mystic hammers and compelling them to wreak unimaginable death and destruction on the global population whilst he/it drank the terror the rampages generated.

Still illustrated by Olivetti, the story starts in the Chinese Hell known as The Eighth City where legendary Monkey King Sun Wukong is distracted from his usual entertainments by the thunderous arrival of a monstrous mallet which shatters the gate to the living world as well as much of the infernal metropolis…

In Washington DC, freshly kitted-out wonder warrior Jim Rhodes has joined other heroes to help with that city’s hammer-fuelled catastrophe. He is soon distracted by old comrade and martial arts paragon John Aman, Prince of Orphans who warns him of an even greater need for champions elsewhere.

With Hell ruptured, mystic guardians and Immortals Weapons Fat Cobra, Bride of Nine Spiders, Dog Brother #1, Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter, The Immortal Iron Fist and Aman have been summoned to close the breach as it pours demons into downtown Beijing. However the mystic force policing the crisis has also arbitrarily included Iron Man: 2.0 in the preferred response team…

Iron Fist is already there, barely surviving against hammer-reforged amazon Titania and her brutal paramour Crusher Creel. The Absorbing Man is frantically demanding his transformative mallet but cannot find it. The sticky-fingered Sun Wukong has filched the colossal talisman and isn’t prepared to release his latest toy to anyone…

With the world shattering under twin assaults, the Immortal Weapons are keen to end the infernal incursion, but before they can send the demons back they first have to get Creel and Titania out of the Capital City of Hell…

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, another mystic mastermind is covertly manipulating events, the only one aware that Iron Fist has been possessed by an entirely different menace. Happily for Earth, Jim Rhodes and his modern martial technology don’t depend on hocus-pocus to solve world-threatening problems…

Brash, gripping, action-packed and stuffed with tense suspense, this splendid high-tech Fights ‘n’ Tights reboot comes with a covers-&-variants gallery by Salvador Larroca, Dheeraj Verma, Marko Djurdjevic, Frank D’Armata, Sebastian Fiumara & Wilson, a picture-packed potted history of Jim Rhodes career by John Rhett Thomas and original ink art pages by Kitson.
© 2010, 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.