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February 16, 2015February 15, 2015

The Physics of Super Heroes – Spectacular Second Edition

By James Kakalios (Duckworth Overlook)
ISBN: 978-0-71563-911-5

I grew up in the 1960s reading a lot of comics – as well as books, papers, bubble gum cards, magazines, cereal packs and sweet wrappers. With so few other distractions, the printed word – with or without attendant illustrations – held a magic no other medium could match, no matter how much my oversized nostalgia glands tell me I still need Space Patrol, Twizzle or Champion the Wonder Horse in my rapidly decelerating lifeâ€¦

One thing my parents and the nuns at primary school noticed – apart from ink-stained fingers – was that I always seemed to have a fount of scientific snippets at my beck and call. That’s clearly the same experience physics professor and author James Kakalios recalls – except perhaps the nuns and Twizzle parts.

As explained in his Foreword and Preface, Silver Age comicbooks – especially those published by National/DC – were honeycombed with scientific and historical features and anecdotes whilst the stories, mostly written by jobbing pulp science fiction writers like John Broome, Gardner Fox, Alfred Bester, Edmond Hamilton, Otto Binder and others, all emphasised a world of physical rationalism – albeit one loaded with aliens, mutants, monsters and flying guys in capes and perpetually suspended disbeliefâ€¦

Thus our topic for today is the splendid second edition of his oddly captivating text using extracts from comicbooks to highlight and explain the basic principles of how reality works. Sadly he also tells us where – and exactly why – superpowers and Fights ‘n’ Tights shenanigans are strictly hot air, wishful thinking and pure Baloniumâ€¦

Working from a genuinely funny script (remember when teachers were allowed to be funny in class?) and utilising forthright and not at all forced comparisons, examples and illustrations, Kakalios translates his copious knowledge of comics continuity to detail everything you – and most importantly your kids – need to know. It begins, following a Foreword by Lawrence M. Krauss and brace of Prefaces (to the First and Second Editions), with Introduction: Secret Origins: How Science Saved Superhero Comic Books recounting the most important facts of all: how comics were created and evolvedâ€¦

After that it’s a spectacularly engaging tumble through the discipline (each with an appropriate – and suitably summarised – comics event whether your background and major is primarily Science or Costumed Drama) beginning with Section 1 and all you need to understand about Mechanicsâ€¦

Subsection 1. Up, Up and Away: Forces and Motion features Superman, whilst 2. Deconstructing Krypton: Newton’s Law of Gravity moves off-planet to glean the truth about his vaporised home before 3. The Day Gwen Stacy Died: Impulse and Momentum at last explains Spider-Man’s big mistake on that tragic night.

Running up walls and across water gets a thumbs-up in 4. Flash Facts: Friction, Drag and Sound, Ant-Man‘s shrinking comes under a microscope in 5. If This Be My Density: Properties of Matter and 6. So He Talks to Fishes. Want to Make Something of It?: Fluid Mechanics considers Aquaman and Sub-Mariner‘s surprisingly difficult trick of breathing underwater as well the pressures of the jobâ€¦

Although he makes it look easy, 7. Can He Swing from a Thread?: Centripetal Acceleration examines the forces in play when Spidey goes web-wandering whilst 8. Can Ant-Man Punch his way Out of a Paper Bag?: Torque and Rotation handles the problems of sustained strength and diminished height as well as how Spidey can jump so far whereas 9. The Human Top Goes Out for a Spin: Angular Momentum reveals why Whirlwind and the Top should be the most powerful bad guys in townâ€¦

10. Is Ant-Man Deaf, Dumb and Blind?: Simple Harmonic Motion covers how a host of shrinking super-folk could communicate with the larger world after which 11. Like a Flash of Lightning: Special Relativity wraps up the easy stuff with a round-up of the Scarlet Speedsters top tricksâ€¦

Section 2 – Energy – Heat and Light concentrates on scalar physical quantities (look at me showing off!) with 12. The Central City Diet Plan: Conservation of Energy as the sources of Flash’s vivid vitality are divined, whilst Ant-Man and the Atom are thoroughly quizzed on 13. The Case of the Missing Work: The Three Laws of Thermodynamics before Iceman and Storm are drafted in to discuss 14. Mutant Meteorology: Conduction and Convection.

15. How the Monstrous Menace of the Mysterious Melter Makes Dinner Preparation a Breeze: Phase Transitions is a quick briefing on how materials can be made to change states, after which the most visually iconic powers in comics are called up for 16. Electro’s Clinging Way’s: Electrostatics, 17. Superman Schools Spider-Man: Electrical Currents, 18. How Electro becomes Magneto when he Runs: Ampere’s Law, 19. How Magneto becomes Electro when he Runs: Magnetism and Faraday’s Law and 20. Electro and Magneto do the Wave: Electromagnetism and Light

The lesson endeth by bringing us cosmologically up-to-date with Section 3 – Modern Physics and the inevitable team-up of Doctor Doom and Max Planck for 21. Journey into the Microverse: Atomic Physics, whilst Erwin SchrÃ¶dinger does or does not lend his weight to theories of parallel Earths and time travel in 22. Not a Dream! Not a Hoax! Not an Imaginary Tale!: Quantum Mechanics, before Kitty Pride and the Golden Age Flash go through a helpful phase in 23. Through a Wall Lightly: Tunneling Phenomena.

It only remains to take a look at the stuff we build – and build with – in 24. Sock it to Shellhead: Solid-State Physics and 25. The Costumes are Super, Too: Materials Science to bring this foundation course in physically measurable existence to a satisfactory conclusionâ€¦

Nonetheless education never ends and Section 4 – What Have We Learned? brings us what we’ve all really been waiting for in 26. Me Am Bizarro!: Superhero Bloopers. This is where you can find out if the things you think of as the daftest in comics can be compared to what an accredited thinkologist can prove, and I’m personally pleased to find that two of my all-time â€œyeah, butsâ€¦â€ and â€œoh, come onsâ€¦â€ have at last been countersigned by an expert. Of course there were a whole bunch more that I missedâ€¦

Kakalios winningly wraps up his delicious brain-expanding exercise with the Afterword: Lo, There Shall Be An Ending! but can’t resist giving further opportunities to get smarter and more rounded with Recommended Reading – happily that’s a list of great comics as well as key texts – and, just like hair product commercials there’s even a genuine â€œscience bitâ€ as Key Equations list the fundamental magic formulas you need to conquer the world or pass a test. There’s even a section of Notes, Acknowledgements and an Index to make this seem more like a proper book but they can’t diminish the glee and wonderment one iotaâ€¦

Filled with penetrating insights and explanations of how this universe really works with illustrations from a pantheon of America’s greatest comics-makers (yes, there is a little bit of maths – but not enough to trouble even a bright 7-year old) this a brilliantly accessible tome no comics-loving kid should be without. Tell them teacher said so.
Â© 2009 James Kakalios. All rights reserved.

February 13, 2015February 20, 2015

Fantastic Four: the Beginning of the End

By Dwayne McDuffie, Karl Kesel, Paul Pelletier, Tom Grummett & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2554-9

The Fantastic Four has long been considered the most pivotal series in modern comicbook history, introducing both a new style of storytelling and a decidedly different manner of engaging the readers’ impassioned attentions.

More family than team, the roster has changed many times over the years but always eventually returns to the original configuration of Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and the Thing, who have together formed the vanguard of modern four-colour heroic history.

The quartet are actually maverick genius Reed Richards, his wife Sue, their trusty college friend Ben Grimm and Sue’s obnoxious and impetuous younger brother Johnny Storm; survivors of an independent space-shot which went horribly wrong once ferociously mutative Cosmic Rays penetrated their ship’s inadequate shielding.

When they crashed back to Earth, the foursome found that they had all been hideously changed into outlandish freaks.

Richards’ body became elastic, Sue gained the power to turn invisible and form force-fields, Johnny could turn into self-perpetuating living flame, and poor, tormented Ben was transformed into a horrifying brute who, unlike his comrades, could not return to a semblance of normality on command.

The sheer simplicity of four archetypes – mercurial boffin, self-effacing distaff, solid everyman and hot-headed youth, uniting to triumph over accident and adversity – shone under Stan Lee’s irreverent humanity coupled to Jack Kirby’s rampant imagination and emphatic sense of adventure.

Decades of erratic quality and floundering plotlines followed the original creators’ departures, but from the beginning of the 21^st century Marvel’s First Family experienced a steady climb in quality which culminated in their own blockbuster film franchise.

A key factor in the series success was an incredible roster of unforgettable villains and this slim compilation – re-presenting Fantastic Four #525-526 and #551-553 – features a brace of the very best at their very worstâ€¦

By this time the FF had achieved the comfortably universal status of being defined mostly by their current creators (like a Brannagh or Olivier Hamlet, Rathbone or Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes or Stan Lee vs. Frank Miller Daredevil) and this beguilingly mismatched collection gathers two story-oddments which wouldn’t comfortably fit in the themed compilations that surround it, but nonetheless offer some splendidly entertaining Fights ‘n’ Tights action from the â€œWorld’s Greatest Comics Magazineâ€ for fans and aficionados to enjoyâ€¦

The drama anachronistically kicks of with a 3-part ‘Epilogue’ from Fantastic Four #551-553 (January-March 2008) which followed the return of the original quartet after a period when the universe had been championed by a substitute team (see Fantastic Four: the New Fantastic Four)â€¦

‘The Beginning of the End’ by scripter Dwayne McDuffie, illustrated by Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar, opens 75 years after the great superhero Civil War. Reed Richards has triggered a global revolution in humanity, but he spends his days as warden of a high security facility with only six incorrigible reprobates pent within.

When that number is suddenly reduced by one the science hero isn’t too bothered: after all, he remembers it happening decades agoâ€¦

Back at Now, the in-their-prime FF are astonished to find Doctor Doom accompanied by elderly incarnations of Sub-Mariner and recent team-mate Black Panther sitting on their couch. After the usual violent preamble the visitors explain they have come from the future to stop Richards from making the greatest mistake in human historyâ€¦

Reed has a secret room in the Baxter Building where he brainstorms his â€œ100 Ideasâ€ to create a utopia, but Doom and his fellow time-travellers are determined to stop the super genius from instigating Idea 101 – the concept which made the future a living hell.

To prove his point the Iron Dictator reveals the shocking fate of his wife and comrades in years to come. In response Reed picks up a gun and murders one of his â€œguestsâ€â€¦

The shocking saga continues with ‘The Middle of the End’ as Reed proceeds to expose the time-tossed terror’s true intent, but as combat climaxes his comrades – so recently sundered by the Civil War and still trying to regain trust in each – other cannot shake the dread that there’s a kernel of truth in what Doom predicts â€¦

The suspense then roars into overdrive when the Fantastic Four of Doom’s distant era materialise, determined to recapture the fugitive and prevent catastrophic time-branching no matter who has to pay the price in ‘The End’â€¦

After a stunning all-out battle, a measure of equilibrium is restored before this cunning chronicle harks back to Fantastic Four #525-526 (June-July 2005) for ‘Dream Fever parts I and 2’, written by Karl Kesel with art by Tom Grummett, Larry Stucker & Norm Rapmund.

A less conflicted First Family have just returned from a peril-packed jaunt to the Micro-verse when alarms alert them that arcane immortal alchemist Diablo is attacking a bank, but this time he’s not looking for loot or even a fightâ€¦

Revealing his origins in 9^th century Spain the mage wants the FF’s time machine so that he can return to his birth era and crush the sadistic Inquisition before it can torture and murder millions – and he’s prepared to raze New York to get his wayâ€¦

After failing to capture the mystic maniac the heroes return home but are plagued by shared horrendous dreams which increasingly set the family at each other’s throats. Reed’s researches, however, soon prove Diablo is not the cause but only another victim of what seems to be a globally debilitating epidemic of nightmaresâ€¦

Frantically racing against time the pliable genius traces the true cause of the contagion but to save the world the quarrelsome quartet might well have to strike that deal with the devilâ€¦

Supplemented with a cover gallery by Michael Turner and Jim Cheung plus a selection of pre-inked pencil pages from issues #551 and 553, The Beginning of the End is a fast-paced, action packed and tension-soaked chronicle of fantastic fragments that provides all the thrills and chills a devoted Costumed Drama lover could ever want.
Â© 2005, 2007 and 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

February 12, 2015September 3, 2017

Valerian and Laureline book 8: Heroes of the Equinox

By MÃ©ziÃ©res & Christin, with colours by E. TranlÃ©; translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-213-3

ValÃ©rian and Laureline is the most influential science fiction comics series ever created; an innovation-packed, Big-Ideas bonanza stuffed with wry observation, knowing humour, intoxicating action and underpinned throughout by sardonic sideswipes at contemporary mores and prejudices.

ValÃ©rian: Spatio-Temporal Agent debuted in weekly Pilote #420 (November 9^th 1967) and was an instant hit. It swiftly evolved into its current designation as his feisty, fire-headed female sidekick developed into the equal partner – and eventually scene-stealing star – of light-hearted, fantastically imaginative, visually stunning, time-travelling, space-warping fantasies.

Nevertheless the so-sophisticated series always found room to propound a satirical, humanist ideology and agenda, launching telling fusillades of political commentary and social satire to underpin the astounding imagination of the space opera.

At first the tough, bluff, taciturn affably, capable – if unimaginative – by-the-book space cop just did his job: tasked with protecting official universal chronology (at least as per Terran Empire standards) by intercepting or counteracting paradoxes caused by incautious time-travellers.

When ValÃ©rian landed in 11^th century France during debut tale ‘Les Mauvais RÃªves (‘Bad Dreams’ and infuriatingly still not translated into English), he was rescued from doom by a capable young woman named Laureline. He brought her back to the 28^th century super-citadel and administrative capital, Galaxity, where the indomitable firebrand took a crash course in spatiotemporal operations and began accompanying him on his missions.

Heroes of the Equinox was originally serialised in the monthly Pilote (issues #M47 to M50 from 21^st March to June 27^th 1978) before being collected later that year as eighth album Les hÃ©ros de l’Ã©quinoxe: a sparkling, over-the-top spoof of superheroes and political ideologies which also found time and space to take a good-natured, gentle poke at the eternal battle of the sexes.

Spectacularly visual and imaginatively designed, the story starts as a quartet of vastly disparate planetary champions depart for the distant and distressed world of Simlane, where an ancient and cultivated civilisation is experiencing a uniquely tragic crisisâ€¦

The heroes comprise three dedicated – almost fanatical – supermen whilst Galaxity – far more concerned with courting public opinion than actually helping – have packed off a handy and presently unoccupied Spatio-Temporal agent named Valerian, just to show willingâ€¦

With Laureline mocking him for the entire trip, Earth’s Prime Champion touches down on Simlane to be greeted by a crowd of effusive oldsters from a glorious city of once magnificent but now crumbling edifices with an incredible story to tell.

The inhabitants of the derelict tourist trap are uniformly old and sterile and desperately need a new generation of children to repopulate the world, but their manner of achieving their goal is unique. For the lifetime of their civilisation, every hundred equinoxes the best and bravest males of Simlane venture to isolated Filine, Island of Children in a fierce and often deadly competition. The winner then somehow spawns a whole new generation who sail back on little boats to re-people the world.

That didn’t go entirely according to plan last time so the planetary leaders have invited four prime specimens from other worlds to do the necessary this time – much to the anger and dismay of a creaky host of crotchety, doddering indigenous old would-be sire-heroesâ€¦

At the packed but painfully weathered Great Theatre the assembled geriatrics are treated to a destructive floor show as the brazen alien warriors display their prowess. Bombastic Irmgaal of Krahan is a godlike superman wielding a flaming sword whilst proletarian technological wonder Ortzog of worker’s paradise Boorny reveals the power of a united people through his blazing, flailing chains. Mystic nature boy Blimflim of elysian, arcadian Malamum calmly displays the gentle irresistibility of the spirit harnessed to willpower. Each couldn’t be more different yet the result of each display is catastrophic destruction.

When eager eyes turn to Galaxity’s representative, Valerian simply shoots a chip off a distant stone cornice with his blasterâ€¦ to tumultuous disinterestâ€¦

Dwarfed by the Herculean alien supermen, he shambles off to prepare for the great contest and dawn finds him with his fellow contestants ready to brave the stormy skies for the grand prize and gloryâ€¦

This is one of the most visually extravagant and exuberant of all the albums, with a huge proportion of the book dedicated to the fantastic foursome overcoming their particular challenges and monstrous foes in astounding demonstrations of bravura puissance and awesome mightâ€¦ well, three of them anyway. The earthman’s travails are generally nasty, dirty smelly and ingloriously dangerousâ€¦

Eventually however all the warriors prove themselves a credit to their particular lineage and system before facing one final test. It’s in the form of a simple question: â€œIf you sired the next generation how do you envision their future?â€

Each strange visitor propounds a glorious agenda of expansion according to the customs and principles of his own culture but it’s the rather diffident and lacklustre vision of the Terran slacker that wins the approval of the incredible being who is the eternal mother of Simlane’s repopulationâ€¦

When the trio of failed supermen wash up on the shores of the city, the people realise who has fathered their soon-to-arrive new sons and daughters and patiently wait for the equinox tide to bring them over.

Laureline, horrified to discover that each successful father is never seen again, quickly sails to the Island of Children and navigates the trials which so tested the wonder men with comparative ease. She arrives at the misty citadel atop Filine in time to see an army of disturbingly familiar-looking toddlers tumble into little sailboatsâ€¦

Broaching the idyllic paradise further she finally meets the Great Mother and sees what the breeding process has made of her reprehensible, sleazy, typically male partnerâ€¦

Reaching an accommodation with the gargantuan progenitor, Laureline negotiates the release of her partner and they are soon winging home to Terra, with him having to listen to just what she thinks of him whilst praying Galaxity’s medical experts can make him again the man he so recently wasâ€¦

Sharp, witty and deliciously over-the-top, this tale is a wry delight, spoofing with equanimity human drives, notions of heroism and political and philosophical trendiness with devastating effect. Whether super-heroic fascism, totalitarian socialism or even the woolly mis-educated, miscomprehendings of new age eco-fundamentalists who think aromatherapy cures broken legs or that their kids are too precious to be vaccinated and too special to share herd immunity, no sacred cow is left soundly unkickedâ€¦

However, no matter how trenchant, barbed, culturally aware and ethically crusading, Valerian and Laureline stories never allow message to overshadow fun and wonder and Heroes of the Equinox is one of the most entertaining sagas MÃ©ziÃ©res & Christin ever concocted, complete with a superb sting in the taleâ€¦

Between 1981 and 1985, Dargaud-Canada and Dargaud-USA published a number of selected albums in English (with a limited UK imprint from Hodder-Dargaud) under the umbrella title Valerian: Spatiotemporal Agent and this was the fourth, translated then by L. Mitchell.

Although this modern Cinebook release boasts far better print and colour values plus a more fluid translation, total completists might also be interested in tracking down the 1983 edition tooâ€¦
Â© Dargaud Paris, 1978 Christin, MÃ©ziÃ©res & Tran-Lá»‡. All rights reserved. English translation Â© 2014 Cinebook Ltd.

February 11, 2015February 10, 2015

Essential X-Men volume 2

By Chris Claremont, John Byrne & Terry Austin, Brent Anderson & Joe Rubenstein (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-0298-4

In 1963 TheX-Men #1 introduced Scott â€œCyclopsâ€ Summers, Bobby â€œIcemanâ€ Drake, Warren â€œAngelâ€ Worthington, Jean â€œMarvel Girlâ€ Grey and Hank â€œThe Beastâ€ McCoy: very special students of Professor Charles Xavier, a wheelchair-bound telepath dedicated to brokering peace and integration between the masses of humanity and the emergent off-shoot race of mutants dubbed Homo Superior. After years of eccentric and spectacular adventures the mutant misfits disappeared at the beginning of 1970 during a downturn in costumed hero comics whilst supernatural mysteries once more gripped the world’s entertainment fields.

Although the title was revived at the end of the year as a cheap reprint vehicle, the missing mutants were reduced to guest-stars and bit-players throughout the Marvel universe and the Beast was refashioned as a monster fit for the global uptick in scary stories until Len Wein & Dave Cockrum revived and reordered the Mutant mystique with a brand new team in Giant Size X-Men #1 in 1975.

To old foes-turned-friends Banshee and Sunfire was added one-shot Hulk hunter Wolverine, and all-original creations Kurt Wagner, a demonic German teleporter codenamed Nightcrawler, African weather â€œgoddessâ€ Ororo Monroe AKA Storm, Russian farmboy Peter Rasputin, who transformed at will into a living steel Colossus and bitter, disillusioned Apache superman John Proudstar who was cajoled into joining the makeshift squad as Thunderbird.

The revision was an instantaneous and unstoppable hit, with Wein’s editorial assistant Chris Claremont taking over the writing from the second story onwards. The X-Men reclaimed their own comicbook with #94 and it quickly became the company’s most popular – and high quality – title.

Cockrum was succeeded by John Byrne and as the team roster shifted and changed the series rose to even greater heights, culminating in the landmark â€œDark Phoenixâ€ storyline which saw the death of arguably the book’s most beloved and imaginative character.

In the aftermath team leader Cyclops left but the epic cosmic saga also seemed to fracture the epochal working relationship of Claremont and Byrne. Within months of publication they went their separate ways: Claremont staying with the mutants whilst Byrne moved on to establish his own reputation as a writer on series such as Alpha Flight, Incredible Hulk and especially his revolutionised Fantastic Fourâ€¦

After Apache warrior Thunderbird became the team’s first fatality, the survivors slowly bonded, becoming an awesome fighting unit under the brusque and draconian supervision of Cyclops and this second superlative monochrome Essential collection re-presents the groundbreaking tales from (Uncanny) X-Men #120-144, covering April 1979 to April 1981.

The action begins here with the introduction of a foreign super-squad in ‘Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!’, as the enigmatic mutant, accompanied by Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Banshee and Nightcrawler, return from a bombastic battle in Japan but are covertly herded into Canadian airspace so that the Ottawa government can confiscate their property.

Forced down by a magical tempest the heroes are soon on the run in Calgary, ambushed by the aforementioned Alpha Flight – specifically battle-armoured Vindicator, super-strong Sasquatch, magician Shaman, shapeshifting Snowbird and mutant speedster twins Northstar and Aurora – all ordered to repossess former special operative â€œThe Wolverineâ€â€¦

After a brutal but inconclusive clash at the airport the X-Men fade into the city but only after Wolverine and Nightcrawler are capturedâ€¦

The retaliation results in a ‘Shoot-Out at the Stampede!’ with the mutants confronting their pursuers as Shaman’s eldritch blizzard spirals out of control, threatening to destroy the entire province. Even after Storm fixes the problem, the Canadians are adamant and to end hostilities Wolverine surrenders himself in return for his comrades’ safe passage.

Of course he never promised to stay capturedâ€¦

With Byrne producing light breakdowns, inker Terry Austin stepped up to produce full art finishes for issue #122’s ‘Cry for the Children!’ as the heroes finally return to the Xavier School to find their home boarded up and deserted.

Months previously, following a catastrophic battle against Magneto of which Beast and Phoenix believed themselves the only survivors, heartbroken Professor X had grieved for his fallen pupils and left Earth to be with his fiancÃ©e Empress Lilandra of the Shi’ar.

As the prodigals slowly settle in at the Professor’s mansion again, they try to resume their previous routines but psychological stress testing shows Russian Colossus is having second thoughts about deserting his family and countryâ€¦

Reborn as the cosmic-powered Phoenix, Jean Grey went globetrotting to bury her woes and is currently in Scotland, unaware that she has been targeted by one of the team’s oldest enemies for a cruel assault. In New York, Storm has at last taken the time to trace her roots, visiting the old home of her American dad, only to find it now a junkie squat filled with doped and feral kids who viciously attack herâ€¦

Stabbed and bleeding she lashes out and only the sudden arrival of hero for hire Luke Cage and his friend Misty Knight (coincidentally Jean’s Manhattan room-mate) prevents a tragedy. None of them are remotely aware that they have been targeted by the world’s most outrageous hit-manâ€¦

With Byrne back in full pencil mode X-Men #123 includes a cameo from Spider-Man as jolly psycho-killer Arcade proceeds to pick off the oblivious mutants and run them through his fatal funfair Murder World in ‘Listenâ€¦ Stop Me if You’ve Heard Itâ€¦ But This One Will Kill You!’, subjecting the abductees to perils mechanical and psychological.

The former prove understandably ineffectual but family guilt and cunning conditioning soon transform the homesick Russian into a vengeful mind-slave dubbed The Proletarian, determined to smash his former comrades in the concluding ‘He Only Laughs When I Hurt!’ Happily his inner child and the assorted heroes’ gifts and training prove too much for the maniacal killer clownâ€¦

Jean re-enters the picture when her stay with biologist Moira MacTaggert leads to the release of a long secret family shame in ‘There’s Something Awful on Muir Island!’ Throughout her long holiday Phoenix has been gradually turned and psychically seduced by a psionic predator. Groomed for a life of refined cruelty and debauchery by a man calling himself Jason Wyngarde, the intention is to create a callous â€œBlack Queenâ€ for the mysterious organisation known as the Hellfire Clubâ€¦

At the other end of the galaxy Charles Xavier reviews records of how Phoenix once reconstructed the fragmenting universe and is gripped with terror at the thought of all that power in the hands of one frail human personality, whilst in his former home The Beast checks a tripped alarm and discovers his long-mourned friends are all alive.

The first thought is to tell Jean the incredible news, but no sooner is a transatlantic call connected than a scream echoes out and the line goes deadâ€¦

Issue #126 resumes frantic hours later as the X-Men approach Muir Island in their supersonic jet. With all contact lost and no telepath aboard, Cyclops assumes the worst and the team infiltrate in battle formation only to find a withered corpse and badly shaken comrades Lorna Dane, Havok, Madrox, Moira and Jean slowly recovering from a psionic assault.

In ‘How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Toothâ€¦!’ Dr. MacTaggert bitterly reveals the attacker is a psychic bodysnatcher imprisoned on Muir for years. He’s also her sonâ€¦

Rapidly burning out one of Madrox’s duplicate bodies, the monster has already reached the mainland, but as the mutants disperse to hunt him down Jean is hampered by a torrent of seductive mirages projected by the smugly confidant Wyngarde, allowing the predatory Proteus to ambush the X-Men and try to possess Wolverine.

It is his first mistake. Metal has an inimical effect on the formless horror and the feral fury’s Adamantium skeleton forces him to flee his victim in screaming agony. It is then the creature unleashes his most terrifying power: warping reality to drive Wolverine and Nightcrawler to the brink of madness. Only the late-arriving Storm prevents their immediate demise but soon she too is at the edge of destructionâ€¦

‘The Quality of Hatred!’ finds the badly shaken team undergoing desperate â€œtough-loveâ€ remedies from Cyclops to regain their combat readiness whilst Moira tries to make up for her dangerous sentimentality by putting a bullet into her deadly offspring.

Frustrated by the idealistic Cyclops but having divined the path Proteus is taking, she then heads for Edinburgh and an unpleasant reunion with her former husband: brute, bully, Member of Parliament and father of most merciless monster the world has yet producedâ€¦

As Jean finally shrugs off her distractions and telepathically homes in on Proteus, the team swing into action a little too late: the sinister son has possessed his scurrilous sire and created an unstoppable synthesis of world-warping abominationâ€¦

With Edinburgh and perhaps the entire world roiling and rebelling as science goes mad, X-Men #128 sees the valiant champions strike back and spectacularly triumph in ‘The Action of the Tiger!’ after which ‘God Spare the Childâ€¦’ sees another happy reunion as the heroes (all but the now retired Banshee) find Charles Xavier awaiting them when they reach Westchester.

Jean is increasingly slipping into visions of a former life as a spoiled, cruel child of privilege, contrasting sharply with her renewed love for Scott, but the home atmosphere is troubled by another discordant factor. Xavier is intent on resuming the training of the team, haughtily oblivious that this group are grizzled, seasoned veterans of combat, rather than the callow teenagers he first tutored.

Elsewhere a cabal of mutants and millionaires plot. Black King Sebastian Shaw, White Queen Emma Frost and the rest of the Hellfire Club hierarchy know Wyngarde is an ambitious and presumptuous upstart but the possibility of subverting the Phoenix to their world-dominating agenda is irresistibleâ€¦

When two new mutants manifest Xavier splits the team to contact both, taking Storm, Wolverine and Colossus to Chicago to meet the parents of naive thirteen year old Kitty Pryde who has just realised that along with all the other problems of puberty she can now fall through floors and walk through wallsâ€¦

However no sooner does Professor Xavier offer to admit her to his select and prestigious private school than they are all attacked by war-suited mercenaries and shipped by Emma Frost to the Hellfire Club. Only Kitty escapes, but instead of running she stows away on the transport; terrified but intent on saving the dayâ€¦

The other mutant neophyte debuts in X-Men #130 as Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler head to Manhattan’s club district to track down a disco singer dubbed ‘Dazzler’ unaware that they too have been targeted for capture. However little Kitty’s attempts to free the captives at the Hellfire base forces the villains to tip their hand early and with the assistance of Dazzler Alison Blair – a musical mutant who converts sound to devastating light effects – the second mercenary capture team is defeatedâ€¦

In #131 Kitty is frantically fleeing but her ‘Run for Your Life!’ leads straight into the arms of the remaining X-Men. Soon the plucky lass – after an understandable period of terror, confusion and kvetching – is leading an incursion into the lair of the White Queen and freeing Wolverine, Colossus and Xavier whilst Frost faces off for a psionic showdown with a Phoenix far less kind and caring than ever beforeâ€¦

The saga expands in #132 as ‘And Hellfire is their Name!’ brings the Angel back into the fold. The Hellfire Club is in actuality a centuries-old association of the world’s most powerful and wealthy individuals and Warren Worthington’s family have been members in good standing for generations. What better way of infiltrating the organisation than with someone on the inside?

As Wolverine and Nightcrawler scurry through sewers beneath the society’s palatial New York headquarters, Warren inveigles the rest through the grand front doors into the year’s swankiest soiree whilst he and the Professor await events.

It’s a bold move but a pointless one. Although the rank and file are simply spoiled rich folk, there is an Inner Circle led by Shaw which comprises some of Earth’s most dangerous men and womenâ€¦ and they have been waiting and watching for the mutants-in-mufti’s countermoveâ€¦

As soon as the heroes are inside, Wyngarde strikes, pushing Jean until she succumbs to the fictitious persona he has woven to awaken her darkest desires. With her overwhelming power added to the Inner Circle’s might, former friends quickly fall before the attack of super-strong Shaw and cyborg human Donald Pierce. Even Wolverine is beaten, smashed through the floors to his doom by mass-manipulating mutant Harry Lelandâ€¦

As the Inner Circle gloat, Cyclops – connected to Jean by their psionic rapport – sees the world through his lover’s corrupted, beguiled eyes and despairs. However, when Wyngarde, revealed as mutant illusion caster Mastermind, apparently stabs Cyclops the effect on â€œhisâ€ Black Queen is far from anticipatedâ€¦

Far below their feet, a body stirs. Battered but unbowed ‘Wolverine: Alone!’ begins to work his ruthless, relentless way through the Club’s murderous minions. His explosive entrance in #134’s ‘Too Late, the Heroes!’ gives the heroes a chance to break free and strike back, soundly thrashing the Hellfire blackguards. Sadly for Mastermind, not all his tampering has been expunged and when Jean catches him Jason Wyngarde’s fate is ghastly beyond imaginingâ€¦

As the mutants make their escape the situation escalates to crisis level as the mind-manipulation unleashes all Jean’s most selfish, self-serving desires and she shatteringly transforms into ‘Dark Phoenix’â€¦

Manifested as a god without qualm or conscience, Jean attacks her comrades before vanishing into space. Soon she reaches a distant system and, cognizant that she is feeling depleted, consumes the star, indifferent to the entire civilisation that dies upon the planet circling itâ€¦

Passing the D’Bari system is a massive ship of the Shi’ar star fleet. Rushing to aid the already extinct world they are merely a postprandial palate cleanser for the voracious Phoenixâ€¦

X-Men #136 opens with the horrified Empress Lilandra mobilising her entire military machine and heading for Earth, determined to end the threat of the ‘Child of Light and Darkness!’ On that beleaguered world Cyclops has called in the Beast to build a psychic scrambler to disrupt Jean’s immeasurable psionic might but when she cataclysmically reappears to trounce the team, the device burns out in seconds.

Sporadically Jean’s gentler persona appears, begging her friends to kill her before she loses control, but Dark Phoenix is close to destroying the world before, in a cataclysmic mental duel, Xavier shuts down her powers and establishes psychic circuit breakers to prevent her ever going rogue againâ€¦

With Jean left as little more than human, the heroes shudder in the aftermath of Earth’s latest close call when suddenly in a flash of light they all vanishâ€¦

The epic tale concludes in X-Men #137 as the outraged and terrified Shi’ar arrive in orbit to settle ‘The Fate of the Phoenix!’ With observers from the Kree and Skrull empires in attendance, Lilandra has come to exact justice and prevent the Phoenix from ever rising again. She is not prepared to accept her fiancÃ©’s word that the threat is already endedâ€¦

Summary execution is only avoided when Xavier invokes an ancient rite compelling Lilandra to accept a form of trial-by-combat. Relocating to the Blue Area of the Moon (with its pocket of breathable atmosphere) the mutants engage in all-out war with brigade of cosmic champions The Shi’ar Imperial Guard (an in-joke version of DC’s Legion of Super Heroes), but despite their greatest efforts are pushed to the brink of defeat.

With collapse imminent and her friends doomed, Jean’s psychic shackles slip and the Phoenix breaks free again. Horrified at what will inevitably happen, Jean commits suicide to save the universeâ€¦

Days later on Earth the X-Men mourn her passing in #138’s ‘Elegy’ as Cyclops recalls his life with the valiant woman he loved so deeply – and we get a comprehensive recap of the mutant team’s career to date. Heartbroken, the quintessential X-Man resigns just as Kitty Pryde moves inâ€¦

A new day dawns in issue #139 ‘â€¦Something Wicked This Way Comes!’ as the Angel rejoins the squad in time to see Nightcrawler join Wolverine in heading north for a reconciliation with the Canadian’s previous team, Alpha Flight. The visit turns into a hunt for the carnivorous magical monster Wendigo, culminating in a brutal battle and a rare clean win in #140’s ‘Rage!’

X-Men #141 saw the start of an evocative and extended subplot which would dictate years of tales to come. ‘Days of Future Past’ depicted an imminently approaching dystopian apocalypse wherein almost all mutants, paranormals and superheroes have been eradicated by Federally-controlled Sentinel robots.

The mechanoids rule over a shattered world on the edge of utter annihilation. New York is a charnel pit with most surviving superhumans kept in concentration camps and only a precious few free to fight a losing war of resistance.

Middle-aged Kitty Pryde is the lynchpin of a desperate plan to unmake history. With the aid of telepath named Rachel (eventually to escape that time-line and become the new Phoenix) Pryde swaps consciousness with her younger self in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the pivotal event which created the bleak, black tomorrow where all her remaining friends and comrades are being pitilessly exterminated one by resolute oneâ€¦

‘Mind Out of Time’ sees the mature Pryde in our era, inhabiting her juvenile body and leading her disbelieving team-mates on a frantic mission to foil the assassination of US senator David Kelly on prime-time TV by a sinister new iteration of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants – super-powered terrorists determined to make a very public example of the human politician attacking the cause of Mutant Rightsâ€¦

Fast-paced, action-packed, spectacularly multi-layered, bitterly tragic and tensely inconclusive – as all such time-travel tales should be – this cunning, compact yarn is indubitably one of the best individual tales of the Claremont/Byrne era and set the mood, tone and agenda for the next two decades of mutant mayhemâ€¦

With history restored and tragedy averted things slowed down at the X-Mansion as John Byrne left for pastures new. His swan song in #143 was a bombastic romp which found lonely, homesick Kitty home alone at Christmasâ€¦ except for a lone N’garai ‘Demon’ determined to eat herâ€¦

Her solo trial decimated the X-Men citadel and proved once and for all that she had what it takesâ€¦

The story portion of this classic compendium concludes with ‘Even in Deathâ€¦’ from X-Men #144, scripted by Claremont and illustrated by Brent Anderson & Joseph Rubenstein wherein heartbroken Scott fetches up in coastal village Shark Bay and joins the crew of Aleytys Forester‘s fishing boat.

Trouble is never far from the man called Cyclops however and when she introduces him to her dad the hero must draw upon all his inner reserves – and uncomprehending help of the macabre Man-Thing – to repel the crushing soul-consuming assaults of pernicious petty devil D’spayreâ€¦

Accompanied by fact-filled entries on Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Beast and Angel, all taken from the Marvel Universe Handbook, this comprehensive monochrome includes some of the greatest stories Marvel ever published; entertaining, groundbreaking and painfully intoxicating. These adventures are an invaluable grounding in contemporary fights ‘n’ tights fiction no fan or casual reader can afford to ignore.
Â© 1979, 1980, 1981, 1997, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

February 10, 2015February 9, 2015

Superman: President Lex

By J.M. DeMatteis, Joe Kelly, Jeph Loeb, Greg Rucka, Mark Schultz, Karl Kesel, Ed McGuinness, Carlo Barberi, Doug Mahnke, Mike Wieringo, Paco Medina, Tony Harris, Duncan Rouleau & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-974-4

Superman has been altered and adjusted continually over his many decades of fictive life since Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s iconic inspiration first appeared in Action Comics #1. Moreover, every refit and reboot has resulted in appalled fans and new devotees in pretty much equal proportion, so perhaps the Metropolis Marvel’s greatest ability is the power to survive changeâ€¦

Although largely out of favour these days as the myriad strands of accrued mythology are carefully reintegrating into an overarching, all-inclusive, multi-media dominant, film-favoured continuity, the grittily stripped-down, post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Man of Steel (as re-imagined by John Byrne and superbly built upon by a succession of immensely talented comics craftsmen) resulted in some stunning high points.

Actually, no sooner had the Byrne restart demolished much of the accrued iconography which had grown up around the â€œStrange Visitor from Another Worldâ€ over fifty glorious years than successive creators began expending a great deal of time and ingenuity putting much of it back, albeit in terms more accessible to a cynical and well-informed audience far more sophisticated than their grandparents ever were.

Even so, by the mid-1990’s Byrne’s baby was beginning to look a little tired and the sales kick generated by the Death of and Return of Superman was fading, so the decision was made to give the big guy a bit of a tweak for the fast-approaching new millennium: bringing in new writers and artists and gradually moving the stories into more blockbusting, hyper-heroic territory.

The fresh tone and new look were celebrated by a new sequence and style of trade paperback editions. This fifth themed collection gathers material culled in full or in part from President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1, Action Comics #773, Adventures of Superman #581 & 586, Superman #162-166, Superman: Man of Steel #108-110 and Superman: Lex 2000 #1, spanning June 2000 to March 2001 and detailing the improbable success of the villainous magnate as he accedes to the highest political office in the landâ€¦

â€œCity of Tomorrowâ€ Metropolis is now fully adapted to its status as the most technologically advanced population cluster on Earth, rebuilt and overwritten into a technological wonderland by Brainiac-13. Judiciously selling scraps of the future-tech has made Luthor immeasurably rich and oppressively influential. It has even allowed him to massage his own history: accentuating the positive and deleting the negativeâ€¦ or â€œthe truthâ€ as those who know him call itâ€¦

The blueprint to power begins with ‘The Why’ (by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark & Ray Snyder from President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1) picturing the provocations which inspired the nefarious businessman to throw his hat into the political ring.

Following an extract from Adventures of Superman #581 (J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Miller &Walden Wong) in which he announces his candidacy, ‘The Most Suitable Person’ (President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1 by Rucka, Dale Eaglesham & Ray Kryssing) follows his conniving and murderous ploys as he selects Daughter-of-the-Demon Talia Al G’hul to run his various commercial enterprises while he’s running the world – and why he won’t take no for an answerâ€¦

Next comes ‘The American Dream’ (Superman #162 by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness & Cam Smith) which sees Lex hits the campaign trail, naming Clark Kent‘s boyhood pal Pete Ross as running mate. Frustration is continually building in the Man of Steel at the impossible situation and he’s in no mood for extreme or arbitrary actions from JLA team-mate Aquaman who chooses this moment to attack Metropolis for alleged pollution crimes generated by LexCorp and the super-cityâ€¦

After tackling a colossal sea monster and winning no leeway from the King of Atlantis, Superman is equally unhappy to deal with an invading aquatic army led by former Aqualad Tempest or the monstrous tidal wave generated to inundate his home townâ€¦

Even with teen terrors Young Justice lending a hand in concluding episode ‘Where Monsters Lurk!’ (Loeb, McGuinness, Paul Pelletier & Smith from Superman #163), the flood still distracts him so much he is unable to prevent Atlanteans from abducting Luthor. He is utterly aghast when the Presidential candidate negotiates his own release and even closes a deal with the repentant and conciliatory sea-dwellersâ€¦

Then the most popular man in town all but guarantees his clear road to the White House after a failed assassination attempt leaves him (barely) bloodied but proudly unbowedâ€¦

Another extract, ‘Soul of the City!’ (Adventures of Superman #586 by DeMatteis, Miller, Armando Durruthy & Wong) depicts the ultimate indignity as the defender of Truth, Justice and the American Way has to publicly congratulate his greatest enemy on becoming the new boss before ‘Metropolis is Burning’ (Superman: Man of Steel #108 by Mark Schultz, Paco Medina, Doug Mahnke, Juan Vlasco & Tom Nguyen) discloses a council of war with inventive genius John Henry Irons AKA Steel to handle the Luthor situation.

The talks are soon shanghaied by a more immediate crisis when B-13 tech terrorist Cyber-Queen Luna returns from the Phantom Zone, accidentally unleashing a Brobdingnagian energy-leeching parasite to ravage Metropolis. As the heroes deploy to defeat the beast, they are unaware of a felicitous side-effect which also frees long lost friend, genius and Luthor-loather Professor Emil Hamiltonâ€¦

Elsewhere, as scarily obsessed Batman warns Superman and Lois Lane to do something about President-Elect Lex, ‘Tales from the Bizarro World’ (Loeb, McGuinness, Carlo Barberi, Smith & Vlasco from Superman #164) finds safety-averse newsboy Jimmy Olsen adopted by the immensely powerful simpleton doppelganger and dragged around town until Supergirl comes bombastically to his aidâ€¦

Eventually however it takes the experience of the Man of Tomorrow to glean what the skewed duplicate needsâ€¦

From Superman: Lex 2000 #1, an assortment of vignettes follow, the first of which offers chilling insights into the mettle of the new President in warts-&-all origin yarn ‘Lex Luthor: Triumph over Tragedy’ by Loeb, Tony Harris & Snyder, after which the Dark Knight takes matters into his own gauntleted hands in ‘One or the Other’ (Rucka, Dwayne Turner & Danny Miki) and suffers a rare defeatâ€¦

Jimmy gets stuck with a tedious assignment that provides a glimpse into the nature of his work colleagues in ‘Where Were You?’ (Loeb, Mahnke & Wong), whilst Superman finally expresses his own furious frustrated emotions – thankfully off-planet – in ‘He’s Heard the News’ (Loeb, McGuinness, Barberi & Smith), before ‘Lana’s Story’ (Loeb, Todd Nauck & Klaus Janson) focuses on the feelings and fears of Superman’s first girlfriend, current wife of the new Vice Presidentâ€¦

A seasonal jam session, Superman #165 offers a string of short guest shots as Mr. and Mrs. Superman distribute presents to the Justice League in ‘Help!’ (scripted by Loeb, with art by McGuinness & Smith, Humberto Ramos & Wayne Faucher, Rob Liefeld & norm Rapmund, Mike Wieringo & Smith, Art Adams, Ian Churchill & Rapmund and Joe Madureira & Tim Townsend).

Meanwhile time-guarding Linear Man Liri Lee heads Earthward to warn that planet Pluto has been transformed into a lethally voracious war-worldâ€¦

Despite the Christmas cheer and temporary goodwill the Action Ace is slipping into despondency, losing faith with the American people who elected Lex. Happily time-bending Liri is able to show him how horrific the ‘World Without Superman’ (Superman: Man of Steel #109 by Schulz, Duncan Rouleau, Jaime Mendoza & Marlo Alquiza) would be and, re-galvanised, the hero is ready if not particularly willing to join dynamic duo Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. and Steel when grotesque invader Earthquake attempts to kill the President at his inauguration in ‘Saints’ (Superman: Man of Steel #110, Schulz, Mahnke & Nguyen)â€¦

The campaign catalogue concludes with a brace of sidebar stories from President Luthor Secret Files and Origins #1 as ‘Rockets’ Red Glare’ (Karl Kesel, Pelletier & Smith) introduces Lex’s surprising selections for his Inner Cabinet whilst showing how he deals with aggravating old business after which ‘He’s Coming Mr. Lew-Thor’ (Loeb, Wieringo & Alquiza) wraps things up with a foreboding look at his unlikely Special Advisor Nathaniel Mackelvanyâ€¦

With a cover gallery by Harris, Snyder, McGuinness & Smith, Mahnke & Nguyen, Rouleau & Mendoza and Glen Orbik, this book can seem a tad confused and a little perplexing due to playing fast-and-loose epic with chronological order but all-in-all provides plenty of action, thrills and even some humour as it embarks on one of the boldest and most inventive periods in the Man of Steel’s decades-long history.

Drama, doom, shock, spectacle and feverish excitement which no lover of the Fights ‘n’ Tights genre can help but adore…
Â© 2000, 2001 and 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

February 9, 2015February 6, 2015

X-Men Legacy: Salvage

By Mike Carey, Scott Eaton, Phil Briones & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3876-1

Since its creation in 1963 and triumphant revival in 1975, Marvel’s Mutant franchise has always strongly featured powerful, conflicted and often controversial characters with the balance never resting solely on the side of light. One of the least explored and underused – except perhaps as the last-reel, deus-ex-machina, nuke-the-fridge problem solver – was the man who started it all: Professor Charles Xavier.

This particular collection gathers X-Men Legacy #219-225 (cover-dated February to August 2009); written by Mike Carey, it smartly redresses that imbalance as the usually sedentary mind-master becomes a fully participant mutant warrior determined to put right a number of sins and omissions plaguing his conscience and repay some too long outstanding debtsâ€¦

At this point in time, the evolutionary offshoot dubbed Homo Sapiens Superior is at its lowest ebb. As seen in the House of M and Decimation storylines, Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff – ravaged by madness and her own reality-warping power – has reduced the world’s multi-million plus mutant population to a couple of hundred individuals with three simple wordsâ€¦

The quest begins with ‘JagannÃ¡tha’ (illustrated by Scott Eaton, Phil Briones & Cam Smith) as Xavier is summoned by his murderous half-brother Cain Marko to settle a lifetime of grudges. The bullying wastrel was transformed by evil magic in decades past into the brutally unstoppable Juggernaut and wants to finally end the savant’s perpetual efforts to save and cure him.

Taking a bar and all its patrons hostage Cain thinks he’s got the upper hand, but when confronting the mightiest telepathic mind on Earth it’s never wise to trust what your brain and senses are telling youâ€¦

At last accepting that all he can do is contain his savage sibling, Xavier moves on to the student he feels he has most failed in the 4-part epic psycho-drama ‘Salvage’ with art by Eaton, Andrew Hennessy & Lee Bermejo.

When former Evil Mutant Rogue originally joined his school she was desperate to find a way to turn her power off and still the voices inside her. Anna-Marie could steal abilities with a touch but overlong contact stole the donor’s mind and personality, cramming them screaming inside her head until Rogue couldn’t hear her own thoughts.

After conflicted years of world-saving service she disappeared: exiling herself from the X-Men in search of peace. Now just as Xavier resolves to finally fix her, a brace of extra-terrestrial terrors simultaneously hone in on the missing mutantâ€¦

In New Orleans the savant asks former X-Man Gambit to join him in his mission. Remy Lebeau had spent frustrating years loving a woman he could never touch and knows her better than anyone, but Xavier doesn’t want him for his insights: where he’s going the mind-master might need a capable bodyguardâ€¦

In desolate Maynards Plains, Western Australia, Rogue is hotly debating her life with adopted mother Mystique. It’s not a conversation she can avoid: the murderous mutant is the most strident and forceful personality still stuck inside her headâ€¦

The argument is postponed when a lone social historian wanders into the ghost town Anna-Marie has made her home. The woman is going to be trouble – but not as much as the crew of the Boneyard Dog, a Shi’ar salvage vessel which has just picked up a most appetising and potentially profitable tech signatureâ€¦

As Xavier and Gambit approach the town – once a hidden base and scene of a colossal battle between the X-Men and an army of cyborgs – the alien scrap dealers land and trigger a horrific metamorphosis in the annoying anthropologistâ€¦

Revealed as a sentient but crippled AI born of the amalgamation of Shi’ar hard-light holographic technology and Xavier’s Danger Room programming software, the stranger fixates on Anna-Marie whilst transforming the entire region into nested scenes from her troubled past: everything from Sentinel assaults to attacks by past foes such as The Marauders, Magneto and Mystique and even the boy she killed when her powers first manifested.

Caught in the reality storm, the Shi’ar raiders unite with Gambit and Xavier as Rogue physically confronts past demons in the centre of a horrific mind-maze, but even as they gradually battle their way through to the victims at the heart of the chaos, the mutant heroes are painfully unaware that their alien allies are only in it for profit and are preparing to betray themâ€¦

Events take an even stranger shape when Xavier admits that he knew his hologram training suite had evolved into a free-thinking being. When it happened years ago he had, in a moment of weakness and fear, shackled, lobotomised and psychically enslaved the unique technological newborn.

With the Shi’ar about to kill them all to strip-mine and cannibalise her consciousness, Charles removes his hastily-applied psi-chains and Danger becomes a fully autonomous, remarkably forgiving but momentarily ticked-off creature. Deep within her, Rogue has been reliving her own crisis-moments and has reached an accommodation with her selves and her sins. Achieving a balance previously denied her, Rogue is ready and more than willing to take out her pent-up hostility on the unscrupulous scrap merchantsâ€¦ as is the now irrevocably autonomous Dangerâ€¦

With two more stains removed from his escutcheon, Xavier finally seeks to end a thorny problem which is more a threat to his race than his soul.

Charismatic mutant terrorist Magneto was responsible for many crimes and tragedies but the undoubted worst was inspiring a fanatical squad of zealots known as the Acolytes.

Led by almighty Exodus, Joanna â€œFrenzyâ€ Cargill, Carmella Unuscione, Amelia Voght, Omega Sentinel Karima Shapandar, Heather â€œTempoâ€ Tucker and shapeshifter Random are some of the most powerful beings on Earth and a constant threat to humanity and Xavier’s dream of peaceful coexistence.

They are utterly unprepared for their greatest enemy to walk alone into their citadel, intent on ending the animosity forever. Exodus is even less ready for how the telepathic scholar and humanitarian achieves this major miracle in ‘The Retreat’ (Eaton & Briones)â€¦

With covers by Mike McKone & John Rauch, Lee Bermejo, Morry Hollowell and Daniel AcuÃ±a and variants by Marko Djurdjevic, Frank Miller/Hollowell and Adriana Melo, this slim, stirring, compelling Fights ‘n’ Tights chronicle also is a superb example of how, even in comicbooks, brain always trumps brawn .

February 7, 2015February 6, 2015

Dungeon: the Early Years Set (volume 1: The Night Shirt: volume 2: Innocence Lost)

By Joann Sfar & Lewis Trondheim, art by Christophe Blain, translated by Joe Johnson (NBM)
Set ISBN: 978-1-56163-932-1

As crafted by prolific artisans Joann Sfar (Professeur Bell, Les olives noires, The Rabbi’s Cat) and Lewis Trondheim (La Mouche, Kaput and ZÃ¶sky, Little Nothings) with assorted associates of their New Wave-ish collective of bande dessinÃ©e creators most often seen under the aegis of independent publisher L’Association, the Donjon saga has generated more than thirty interlinked volumes since it launched in 1998 and has become far more than a mere cult hit all over the world.

These slim, translated and re-released tomes form a small sub-division of a vastly generational, eccentrically raucous and addictively wacky franchise which melds starkly adult whimsy to the fantastic worlds of fantasy fiction, and the Early Years tomes (now available as a complete set) fill in some historical gaps which might have puzzled occasional readers of Dungeon Parade, Zenith, Monstres and Twilight.

There’s this magic castle, in a fantastic land of miracles, see, and it’s got a dungeonâ€¦

But before that citadel was constructed there was the debauched, bureaucratised and grimly frenetic urban hellhole of Antipolis, greatest and most appalling city on the strange world of Terra Amataâ€¦

Illustrated in compellingly frenetic style by Christophe Blain, it all begins with volume one and the origin of ‘The Night Shirt’. Young Hyacinthe De Cavalerre is the scion of an esteemed and noble – if provincial – house and line. The world is changing however; shifting from feudal aristocracy and blood-privilege to a civilisation based on mercantilism, greed and bureaucracy.

Thus a father dispatches his dreamy boy to the capital to study, residing with an estranged uncle to learn the rules of the New Age. The boy’s dreams of literary glory soon founder after an encounter with monstrous â€œBrutesâ€ in the forest and are forever dashed when faced with the filth and unbridled avarice of the cityâ€¦

At least he has made one friend: learned fellow traveller Doctor Hippolyte is also heading to Antipolis, determined to petition the city council to free a gigantic Arboress the municipality intends to burn alive as part of their upcoming carnival celebrationsâ€¦

Literally negotiating their way into the fetid metropolis the travellers separate, and Hyacinthe makes his way to the mansion of wheelchair-bound Count Florotte and has a tense encounter with a serpentine – if mannish – seductress who teasingly offers to teach him how to use his sword.

His uncle calls her Alexandra; a valued – if occasional – employeeâ€¦

Wearily settling in that night the young man is roused by screams and rushes to the aid of a serving girl being cruelly assaulted by an arrogant bully who boasts that no one will to come to her aid. When the boy intervenes he is casually rebuffed and shamefully leaves. The villain is Michael, his uncle’s most valued deputy and the one Hyacinthe has been indentured toâ€¦

Despondently returning to his room the boy then makes the acquaintance of the house elves as they busily steal his golden jacket buttonsâ€¦

The next day Michael begins the fiscal and social education of his new charge, having Hyacinthe carry the huge bag of gold Florotte regularly dispenses for bribing officials to leave his various business enterprises alone. The lad is horrified to see the system used to throw Hippolyte in jail after failing to convince the town council to spare the captive tree-womanâ€¦

Michael celebrates by dragging the lad to an insalubrious tavern and getting plastered. The feline factotum knows Alexandra tooâ€¦

After carrying the soused villain home, the furious, fanciful boy comes to a bizarre decision and returns to the dark streets, draped in a big blouse, waving his sword and wearing a maskâ€¦

More by luck than skill he breaks Hippolyte out of his noisome cell and the pair flee through the city. The flight is particularly easy as someone is killing all the guards and impediments in their pathâ€¦

Soon they see Alexandra, dispatching more men, and the still-unnamed crusader gallantly rushes to her aid. She is more than a little charmed, even as she saves the neophyte from his own impetuous follyâ€¦

After she vanishes Hyacinthe attempts to get Hippolyte out of the city but the scholar refuses to leave without the Arboress. Forced to leave him hidden inside the gigantic tree-woman, the exhausted little hero staggers home and stumbles upon one of Michael’s more devilish schemes. The reprobate is taking gold from the elves to stop his own workers dynamiting the ground under Antipolisâ€¦

Some businessmen have plans to build a vast subway system beneath the city and have hired Blasters to blow up or expand the already in situ elf tunnels. Michael is taking cash from the little people to â€œstopâ€ the project he’s actually expediting. He’s even crass enough to boast to Hyacinthe that they have over-paid himâ€¦

Scrupulously honest, the lad determines to return the extra gold but upon reaching the bowels of the city he accidentally causes a huge detonation which kills the Blasters, earning the undying devotion of the elvesâ€¦

On reaching the house again he is horrified to find the mastermind behind the subway scheme is his own uncle and the elder doesn’t care how many suffer or die to accomplish his grand designâ€¦

Later as the Carnival begins, besotted Hyacinthe follows Alexandra and discovers what she does for Florotte: as the finest killer in the Guild of Assassins she is invaluable in his business dealings. When the heartbroken boy confronts her on the matter he painfully learns just how good she is at her jobâ€¦

Battered and probably delirious, he determines to save her from herself and is astonished to find an army of elves awaiting him in his room. Blasters have returned in force and the wee folk have decided to abandon their underground homes for somewhere less busyâ€¦

Donning his commodious crime-busting costume, the lad chooses to do some good by saving Hippolyte and the Arboress. Accompanied by the elves he heads for the enclosure where the remarkably strong little people offer to carry the all-but-immobile tree-woman for their beloved â€œNightshirtâ€. Soon, under cover of colossal carnival floats, the fugitives are heading for the wild woods surrounding the cityâ€¦

After the carnage of a breakneck chase and unlikely triumph, Arboress and elves are invited to live in the castle of Hyacinthe’s father and a new story begins sometime later with the boy now a dutiful student attending the University of Antipolis.

When newcomer Alcibiades joins the class of prominent Dr. Fontaine, he is soon taken under the lad’s generous wing, experiencing the heady freedom of student life where Hyacinthe is the butt of the organ-juggling jokes of the Necromancy undergraduates. He regularly blows off steam prowling the dark streets, dishing out justice as the infamous urban legend The Night Shirtâ€¦

Utterly besotted with Alexandra, one night he spies on her and observes a passionate tryst with the vile Michael. Sadly the villain observes him back and a violent rooftop duel ensuesâ€¦

Barely escaping with his life Hyacinthe heads home where his uncle has a favour to ask. Fontaine is a strenuous critic of Florotte’s proposed subway and, since a succession of â€œgiftsâ€ have not swayed the scientist’s opinions, perhaps the student might have a quiet word with his teacher?

The interview does not go well and despondent Hyacinthe opts to visit his father in the country rather than return to Florotte’s mansion. Enjoying the break, the lad lapses from unrequitable love of Alexandra and suffers a frustrating dalliance with a young lady named Elise. This leads to a violent battle between forest monsters and the Night Shirtâ€¦

Wounded and bleeding he is rescued by the elves who give him a pipe with magic tobaccos which temporarily impart a host of strange powers and abilities. When he returns to Antipolis, Fontaine has been murdered and Night Shirt has claimed responsibilityâ€¦

Resolved to clear his alter ego’s name, things go quite badly for the boy until Alexandra deals herself in to save the little oaf from himself, but in the end justice is only served and the real killer exposed after sensible Elise takes overâ€¦

The saga continued in Volume 2: Innocence Lost as some time later future supreme Dungeon-Keeper Hyacinthe prowls the night as a far more effective masked vigilante. The Night Shirt’s nocturnal adventures are however seriously curtailed by his still-unrequited inamorata Alexandra.

Her violent disdain does not stop her from sharing her unbridled passions – and a rather painful social disease – with the poor fool. Visiting old friend Dr. Hippolyte at the rapidly expanding country castle for advice (and possible medical solutions) he meets fair Gabrielle Olivet and offers to accompany her as she travels to join her fiancÃ© in far-off Necroville.

However during a stopover in lawless, rabbit-infested frontier town Zedotamaxim, she is falsely arrested by over-officious sheriffs and trusts Hyacinthe to engineer her release by fetching her intended – prominent lawyer Eustace Ravin – from the wilds of the charnel hamletâ€¦

Sadly once Hyacinthe gets there Eustace proves to be a rather faithless gadabout who couldn’t care less about Gabrielle’s plight. By the time he convinces the rogue of his duty it’s too late and she has been sold to the biggest brothel in Antipolis.

Determined to set things right The Night Shirt realises he’s going to need the assistance of the kind of people he usually fightsâ€¦

Second story After the Rain is set many years later when aging and now dissolute Hyacinthe is a middle-aged, unhappily married rouÃ©. Set in his ways and terminally unhappy the former Night Shirt is enticed into making a comeback by clever and strangely superhuman Doctor Cormor who must battle greed and the establishment itself to stop completion of the infernal subway being dug through the unstable pile of detritus that forms the bedrock of the city.

Perhaps it is less a noble quest than the return of slinky Alexandra that fires up the weary hero, but when inevitable disaster strikes will Hyacinthe be ready or able to cope?

Featuring the catastrophic events which destroyed Antipolis and sparked the creation of the modern Dungeon of Terra Armata this is perhaps the most effective yarn in the franchise’s vast scope and spanâ€¦

The inhabitants of this weirdly surreal universe include every kind of anthropomorphic beast and bug as well as monsters, demons, mean bunnies, sexy vamps and highly capable women-folk who know the true (lack of) worth of a man. This is an epic saga of cynically world-weary political intrigue, played as an eternal and highly amusing battle of the sexes, with tongues planted firmly in cheeks – and no, I won’t clarify or specifyâ€¦

Comprising in total four translated French albums – ‘Donjon Potron-Minet: Le Chemisede la Nuit’, ‘Un Justicier dans L’Ennui, ‘Une Jeunesse Qui S’Enfuit’ and ‘Apres La Pluie’ – this baroque bunch of barbaric books comprise a delightfully absurd, earthy, sharp, poignant and brilliantly outlandish romp that’s a joy to read with vibrant, wildly eccentric art as moody as Dark Knight, as jolly as Rupert Bear and as anarchic as the best of Leo Baxendale.

Definitely for grown-ups with young hearts, Dungeon is a near-the-knuckle, illicit experience which addicts at first sight, but for fuller comprehension – and added enjoyment – I’d strongly advise buying all the various incarnations which are happily also currently available as collectors’ setsâ€¦

February 6, 2015February 5, 2015

Captain America: The Chosen

By David Morrell & Mitch Breitweiser with Brian Reber & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2016-2

The Sentinel of Liberty was created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby at the end of 1940 and confidently launched in his own title Captain America Comics #1, cover-dated March 1941. He was an unstoppable, overwhelming overnight success.

The absolute and undisputed star of Timely – now Marvel – Comics’ â€œBig Threeâ€ (the other two being Human Torch and Sub-Mariner), he was amongst the very first to fade as the Golden Age ended.

When the Korean War and Communist aggression gripped the American psyche Steve Rogers was briefly revived in 1953 – along with Torch and Subby – before sinking once more into obscurityâ€¦

A resurgent Marvel Comics drafted him again in Avengers #4. It was March 1964 and Vietnam was just beginning to pervade the minds of the American publicâ€¦

This time he stuck around. Whilst perpetually agonising over the tragic, heroic death of his young sidekick (James Buchanan Barnes AKA Bucky) during the final days of World War II, the resurrected Rogers stole the show, then promptly graduated to his own series and title as well.

He waxed and waned through the most turbulent period of social change in US history, constantly struggling to find an ideological niche and stable footing in a precarious and rapidly changing modern world.

After decades of vacillating and being subject to increasingly frantic attempts to keep the character relevant, in the last years of the 20^th century a succession of stellar writers finally established his naturally niche: America’s physical, military and ethical guardianâ€¦

That view was superbly taken to its most impressive extreme in an evocative 6-issue miniseries under the adult-attuned Marvel Knights imprint. As explained in David Morrell’s fascinating Afterword to Captain America: The Chosen, the author of First Blood (the original Rambo novel, and many others such as The Brotherhood of the Rose and Fireflies) jumped at the chance to play with America’s other abiding patriotic symbolâ€¦

Running November 2007 to March 2008, Captain America: The Chosen takes a simultaneously down-to-Earth and metaphorically fanciful look at the nation’s saviour which begins in ‘Now You See Me, Now You Don’t’ as Marine Corporal James Newman takes heavy fire after his patrol enters a seemingly quiet village in Afghanistan.

He’d rather be home in San Francisco with wife Lori and baby boy Brad, or at the very least just certain who the bad guys are and who the victims American like him are here to help, but a furious assault by Al Qaeda insurgents soon drives all thoughts other than survival out of his head.

Pinned down in a house he thinks his time has come until Captain America suddenly appears. The hero’s mere presence drives doubts away and steadies his fear. With the mighty crusader’s inspirational assistance – always repeating a mantra of â€œCourage. Honour. Loyalty. Sacrificeâ€ – Newman breaks out of the trap and rescues his endangered men from certain death.

In the aftermath the weary Corporal ducks the thanks and praise of his grateful comrades, attributing the lion’s share of credit to the Star Spangled Avenger. He cannot understand where Captain America vanished to, nor why nobody else saw himâ€¦

And thousands of miles away in a secret laboratory a Super Soldier lies dyingâ€¦

The mystery deepens in ‘The Shape of Nightmares’ as a bevy of scientists assess the Sentinel of Liberty’s rapidly declining state in the very building where he was created, whilst in Afghanistan Newman ruminates on the apparent hallucination which saved his life one day ago. As his squad investigate a cave his mind goes back to his own childhood, a time when an innocent game trapped him in a car boot and almost killed him. The event left its mark and he’s terrified of entering the hole in the ground which might hold all manner or perilâ€¦

The threat comes from enemy combatants with grenades and a brief fierce firefight results in a rock-fall which buries the squad under tons of rock. As Newman radios for help with mounting panic, Captain America is there again calmly repeating â€œCourage. Honour. Loyalty. Sacrifice.â€ None of his fellow survivors can see him as the superhero explains what’s really going onâ€¦

In a secret US citadel a paralysed Captain America is linked to radical technology. His perfect body is dying as the serum which created him fails, but has linked his still valiant mentality to experimental Remote Viewing equipment to provide strategic intel for the American forces in combat.

It’s fortuitously also allowed him to contact kindred spirits like Newman but being ‘Out of Bodyâ€¦ Out of Mind’ is only the start. Despite being also able to terrify many particularly receptive insurgents, his time on Earth is endingâ€¦

As the entombed soldiers slowly expire in the collapsed caves, Cap’s calm discourse again inspires Newman and the claustrophobic Corporal begins digging deeper into the mountain looking for a way out.

‘Fear in a Handful of Dust’ follows as he strives, accompanied by an ever-more skeletal patriotic phantasm. Perhaps to keep him steadied, Captain America tells James how it all started: how a skinny physical specimen, rejected by the army, was transformed into the perfect soldier during World War II, of the friends he made, the family he formed and the losses he endured for the sake of his country and the worldâ€¦

As Newman burrows through the mountain Captain America shares the most intimate details of his life in ‘The Crucible’ of service, but as the Corporal stubbornly overcomes every obstacle, on an operating table the Spirit of a Nation is dyingâ€¦

The saga ends as the President rushes to the side of America’s greatest resource. The hero’s mind is elsewhere, imparting details of his return after decades frozen in ice and the new world he found himself lost in, further triumph and sacrifice and his recent decline into frailty and powerlessness.

And how he knows one thing above all else: Captain America is not unique and a ‘Multitude’ of good people like him can be united to carry on his work. He has been patiently seeking them all out whilst his life was leaking awayâ€¦

As Newman inches his way to sunlight and freedom the communication suddenly ends. He has no idea that a world away the Star Spangled Avenger has seen one final crisis and overcome the body that has betrayed him to save America one last timeâ€¦

Scrabbling into the open air, the Corporal is ambushed by insurgents but somehow seems imbued with the energy of a superhero triumphing over impossible odds to save his men. He isn’t tired and knows this is only the beginningâ€¦

Moving, mythological, elegant and illustrated with sublime understatement by then-newcomer Mitch Breitweiser (ably augmented by colourist Brian Reber), this powerful paean to symbolism also offers Morrell’s complete script for the first chapter and a superb gallery of a dozen covers-&-variants from Breitweiser, Travis Charest & Julian Ponsor.

February 5, 2015February 4, 2015

Usagi Yojimbo book 10: The Brink of Life and Death

By Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56971-259-7

Usagi Yojimbo (â€œrabbit bodyguardâ€) first appeared as a background character in Stan Sakai’s The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy, which premiered in 1984 amongst assorted furry ‘n’ fuzzy folk Albedo Anthropomorphics #1. He subsequently graduated to a solo act in Critters, Amazing Heroes, Furrlough and the Munden’s Bar back-up series 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 nameâ€¦

Although the deliriously peripatetic and 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 (bodyguard-for-hire), the milieu and scenarios all scrupulously mirror the Feudal Edo Period of Japan (roughly 16^th – 17^th 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, 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 tenth black-&-white blockbuster collects yarns from Dark Horse Comics’ Usagi Yojimbo series (volume 3), #1-6 plus additional tales from issues #13, 15 and 16 from the previous Mirage iteration, aligning epic sagas of intrigue with brief vignettes attending to more plebeian dramas and even the occasional supernatural thriller, all tantalisingly tinged with astounding martial arts action and drenched in wit, irony, pathos and even true tragedyâ€¦

Following a heartfelt and enthusiastic Introduction from comics author Kurt Busiek, the ever-unfolding yarn resumes with a handy recap in ‘Origin Tale’ summarising the valiant wanderer’s fraught life to date before ‘KaisÅ’ finds Miyamoto Usagi befriending a seaweed farmer who’s experiencing a spot of bother with his neighboursâ€¦

At peace with himself amongst hard-toiling peasants, Usagi becomes embroiled in their escalating battle with a village of rival seaweed sellers – previously considered helpful and friendly – and soon realises scurrilous merchant Yamanaka is fomenting unrest between his suppliers to make extra profitâ€¦

‘A Meeting of Strangers’ in a roadside hostelry introduces a formidable female warrior to the constantly expanding cast as the Lepine Legend graciously offers a fellow weary mendicant the price of a drink. A professional informer then sells Usagi out to the still-smarting Yamanaka and the lethally capable Inazuma has ample opportunity to repay her slight debt to the Rabbit Ronin when he’s ambushed by an army of hired brigandsâ€¦

Far away a portentous interlude occurs as a simple peasant and his granddaughter are attacked by a band of bandits. The belligerent scum are about to compound extortion and murder with even more heinous crimes when a stranger with a ‘Black Soul’ stops themâ€¦

Jei is a veritable devil in mortal form, believing himself a â€œBlade of the Godsâ€, chosen by the Lords of Heaven to kill the wicked. The maniac makes a convincing case: when he stalked Usagi the manic monster was struck by a fortuitous – or possibly divinely sent – lightning bolt and still survived.

Still keen to continue his crusade, the monster deals most emphatically with the criminals before allowing orphaned granddaughter Keiko to join himâ€¦

Despite – or perhaps because – it is usually one of the funniest comics on the market, occasionally Usagi Yojimbo can brilliantly twist readers’ expectations with tales that rip your heart apart.

Such is the case with ‘Noodles’ as the nomadic Ronin meets again street performer, shady entertainer and charismatic pickpocket Kitsune who has begun plying all her antisocial trades in a new town just as eternally-wandering Usagi turns up.

The little metropolis is in uproar at a plague of daring robberies and when the inept men employed by Yoriki (Assistant Commander) Masuda try – and painfully fail – to arrest the long-eared stranger as a probable accomplice, the ferociously resistant ronin earns the instant enmity of the pompous official.

Following the confrontation, a hulking, mute soba (buckwheat noodle) vendor begins to pester the still-annoyed rabbit and eventually reveals he’s carrying the elegant Kitsune in his basketsâ€¦

Astounded the Yojimbo renews his acquaintance with her before the affable thieves go on their way, but trouble and tragedy are just around the cornerâ€¦

The town magistrate is leaning heavily on his Yoriki to end the crime wave but has no conception that Masuda is actually in the pay of a vicious gang carrying out most of the thefts. What they all need a convincing scapegoat to pin the blame on and poor dumb peasant Noodles is ideal – after all, he can’t even deny his guiltâ€¦

With a little sacrificed loot planted, he becomes the perfect patsy and before Usagi and Kitsune even know he’s been taken, the simple fool has been tried and horrifically executedâ€¦

‘Noodles Part 2’ opens as they frantically dash for the public trial and almost immediate crucifixion but pickpocket and ronin can do nothing to save the innocent victim. All they can do is swear to secure appropriate vengeance and justiceâ€¦

In sober mien the rabbit roves on, stumbling into a house of horror and case of possession as ‘The Wrath of the Tangled Skein’ finds Usagi returning to a region plagued by demon-infested forests. Offered hospitality at a merchant’s house he subsequently saves the daughter from doom at the claws of a demonic Nue (tiger/fox/pig/snake devil).

He is almost too late however and only alerted to a double dose of danger when a Bonze (Buddhist Priest) arrives to exorcise the poor childâ€¦ just like the one already praying over the afflicted waif upstairsâ€¦

This duel with the forces of hell leads into ‘The Bonze’s Story’ as Usagi strikes up a friendship with the true priest and learns how misfortune and devotion to honour compelled elite samurai Sanshobo to put aside weapons and war in search of greater truths and inner peaceâ€¦

Political intrigue and explosive espionage resurface in ‘Bats, the Cat, & the Rabbit’ as Neko ninja chief Chizu re-enters Usagi’s life, fleeing a flight of rival Komori (bat) ninjas. The winged horrors are determined to take a scroll containing the secrets of making gunpowder and after a tremendous, extended struggle the exhausted she-cat cannot believe her rabbit companion is willing to hand it over. She soon shrugs it off. After all the Komori have fallen into her trap and quickly regret testing the purloined formula â€¦

The peripatetic Yojimbo then walks into a plot to murder Great Lord Miyagi involving infallible unseen assassin Kuroshi at ‘The Chrysanthemum Pass’. He is simply aiding karma to a just outcome despite overwhelming odds and a most subtle opponentâ€¦ This chronicle then sees a return engagement with the lethally adept Inazuma when ‘Lightning Strikes Twice’â€¦

The hunted woman is always at the heart of a storm of hired blades trying to kill her, but during one peaceful moment she finds a little time to share with a fellow swordsmaster the instructive tale of a dutiful daughter who married the wrong samurai and, by exacting rightful vengeance upon his killer, won the undying hatred of a powerful lordâ€¦

Despite changing publishers a number of times, the Roaming Rabbit has been in continuous publication since 1987, with more than 30 collections and books to date. He has guest-starred in many other series (most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its TV incarnation) and nearly 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, the saga alternately bristles with tension and thrills and frequently crushes your heart with astounding tales of pride and tragedy, evil and duty.

Bursting with veracity and verve, Usagi Yojimbo is the perfect comics epic: a monolithic magical saga irresistibly appealing that will delight devotees and make converts of the most hardened haters of â€œfunny animalâ€ stories.
Â© 1998 Stan Sakai. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. All rights reserved.

February 4, 2015

Dark X-Men

By Paul Cornell, Leonard Kirk, Jay Leisten & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4527-1

When draconian US Federal mandate The Superhuman Registration Act led to Civil War between costumed heroes, Tony Stark was hastily appointed the American government’s Security Czar – the â€œtop copâ€ in sole charge of the beleaguered nation’s defence and freedom. As Director of high-tech enforcement agency S.H.I.E.L.D. he became the final word in all matters involving metahumans and the vast costumed communityâ€¦

Stark’s mismanagement of successive crises led to the arrest and assassination of Captain America and unimaginable escalation of global tension, destruction, culminating in an almost-successful Secret Invasion by shape-shifting alien Skrulls.

Discredited, ostracised and declared a wanted fugitive, he was replaced by apparently rehabilitated, recovering schizophrenic Norman Osborn – the original Green Goblin – who assumed control of America’s covert agencies and military resources. Osborn promptly disbanded S.H.I.E.L.D. and placed the nation under the aegis of his own newly-minted organisation H.A.M.M.E.R.

The erstwhile villain had first begun his climb back to respectability after taking charge of the Thunderbolts Project; a penal program which offered second chances to super-criminals who volunteered to undertake Federally-sanctioned missionsâ€¦

Not content with legitimate political and personal power, Osborn also secretly conspired with a coalition of malevolent masterminds to divvy up the world between them. The Cabal was a Star Chamber of villains working towards mutually self-serving goals, but such egomaniacal personalities could never play well together for long and cracks soon began to show, both in the criminal conspiracy and eventually Osborn himselfâ€¦

As another strand of his long-term plan, the Homeland Metahuman Security overlord fired Stark’s Mighty Avengers and created his own, more pliable team consisting of compliant turncoats, tractable replacements and outright impostors.

Constantly courting public opinion, Osborn launched his Avengers whilst systematically building up a personally loyal high-tech paramilitary rapid-response force. After the Utopia crisis engulfed Earth’s depleted mutant population, he pulled the same scam with the world’s most recognisable Homo Superior teamâ€¦

Compiling his own team of X-Men to police â€œmutant problemsâ€ and be the face of law and order for the dangerous evolutionary minority, Osborn quietly continued exporting his seditious Dark Reign: a slowly destabilising madman who – through means fair and foul – officially worked to curb the unchecked power and threat of meta-humanity, with ever-decreasing successâ€¦

The repercussions of Osborn’s rise and fall were felt throughout and featured in many series and collections throughout the Marvel Universe, and this one, collecting 5-issue miniseries Dark X-Men (cover-dated January to May 2010, by writer Paul Cornell, artists Leonard Kirk & Jay Leisten with colour by Brian Reber) offers one of the first best nails in his coffinâ€¦

The drama begins with a strange plague: ordinary humans becoming dream-walking somnambulists communally declaring â€œI’m an X-Manâ€. The mystery provokes Osborn to convene his less-than-eager X-squad for a mission that will take them on a ‘Journey to the Center of the Goblin’â€¦

Team leader is devious, rebellious shapeshifter Mystique; kept honest and grudgingly showing willing because of bombs implanted in her bloodstream. She’s supplemented by clinical depressive Calvin Rankin AKA Mimic, emotionally troubled, power-absorbing Michael â€œOmegaâ€ Pointer and alternate-Earth Henry McCoy – a conscienceless and sadistic biologist dubbed Dark Beast. He at least is happy to play: Osborn has promised him unlimited resources, plenty of guinea pigs and no ethical oversightâ€¦

Dispatched to Burton, California – site of the largest outbreak – on a glorified PR jaunt, the federal X-Men – with Mystique wearing the shape of the dead saviour Jean Grey â€“ are interviewing a victim when Omega is suddenly overwhelmed and intoxicated by a huge influx of mutant energy and goes berserkâ€¦

Mimic heads off to stop him but is also affected by the strange force, gripped by a tantalising sense of precognition which promises to banish forever his crippling anxiety about his futureâ€¦

As the team-mates crash through Burton causing untold carnage, in the hospital a ghostly force materialises from the boy they were quizzing. The nebulous shape stares at Dark Beast and says â€œI know you from homeâ€ before coalescing into long-dead mutant superman Nate Greyâ€¦

Grey, also known as X-Man, originally came from the same world as the Beast: an apocalyptic hell where humanity was all but eradicated. On escaping to our world Nate – son of that tragic Earth’s Jean Grey and Scott Summers – slowly evolved into an immensely powerful, shamanic, trans-dimensional messiah before ascending to a state of pure energy.

Now he’s back and might see right through the rogues pretending to be his extended family. However he disperses again before realising his â€œmotherâ€ is also an impostorâ€¦

Retrenching in New York after their debacle, the mutant squad confer with Osborn – who is practically salivating at the prospect of suborning X-Man’s unlimited power – and receive orders to find and capture the psionic phantom at all costsâ€¦

The energy-absorbing team members are far from keen, but deviant Dr. McCoy loves a challenge and makes use of H.A.M.M.E.R.’s nascent Psi-Division (an army of interned psychics and telepaths forced into a gestalt by unscrupulous charlatan Dr. Jarl) to summon and stabilise the psionic fugitive.

Physically present and instantly aware of all Osborn and McCoy’s past sins, the reborn X-shaman arrives on Earth all-powerful and furiously outragedâ€¦

His first move is to attack the Dark Avengers, routing all of them until only Olympian war-god Ares remains. Battling simultaneously throughout numerous time-planes Grey might even have beaten him, had not the extremely conflicted Mimic intervened and distracted him, allowing the immortal warrior to destroy X-Manâ€¦

Things take a strange turn in the aftermath as Mystique quietly confronts the gloating security supremo. Expert at swiping identities for decades, only she has realised Nate has willing discorporated in order to possess the most influential man in the worldâ€¦

Determined to make Earth a paradise, Grey is wearing Osborn like a meat-glove: using him to carry out his own – benevolent – ambitions. However the mutant ghost has utterly underestimated the astonishing willpower of the madman he’s riding and the voracious fury of the savage elemental force pent at the core of Osborn’s fractured id.

To finally succeed in his evil plans, Norman Osborn had to hive off and imprison his maniacal, petty, angry other side, but with Grey now inside his head, the lethally dangerous, uncompromising Green Goblin is breaking freeâ€¦

Unable to convince Nate to withdraw and terrified of what the Goblin persona might do if it ever gained control, Mystique finds herself forced to play hero for real and, galvanising her team of monsters and no-hopers, she uses the remnants of Dr. Jarl’s brain brigade to transport her Dark X-Men into Osborn’s mindscape to fix – or if necessary end – the catastrophic three-way mindwar.

Only they’re a little too lateâ€¦

Rocket-paced, action-drenched, wryly imaginative and wickedly funny, this sharp sortie into weird worlds also includes sketches and designs by Leonard Kirk and a cover gallery by Simone Bianchi & Simone Peruzzi, Mike Choi, Sonia Oback, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Morry Hollowell to complete a perfect package for tried-and-true mutant mavens and Fights ‘n’ Tights aficionados everywhere.
Â© 2009, 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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