The Maze Agency #11, from Innovation, Mike W. Barr, Robb Phipps & Rick Magyar, with a cover by Alan Davis.

Our cover is suitable Christmassy, with decorations and a couple, with a newborn swaddled in cloth. Cue up Nat King Cole...

Our story begins at the office, as Jennifer is decorating the Christmas tree, suitably standing on a chair and leaning forward, so we can see her legs, fabulous figure, and pretty face, all in one go! Gabe and Jennifer exchange gifts, before Gabe hops on a plane for Ohio, to visit family.  Jennifer gives Gabe a wind-up watch, with exposed gears, saying she knew he would love the mechanical nature and it reminded her of his mind. gabe gives Jennifer a beautiful pendant, with a sapphire stone, Jennifer's birthstone. The card says "All My Love," and Gabe reminds Jennifer of his previous proposals.  Jennifer is afraid of commitment, with a series of bad relationships in the past, and her parents own horrible example. Jennifer suggests that Gabe stay and they spend Christmas together; but, Gabe has made promises, leaving Jennifer alone for Christmas, and also leaving his watch on a desk.

Our story shifts to the Delgado Family, a literal family, as well as a crime family. There is a stool pigeon in the nest and fingers are being pointed. Daughter Rosa excuses herself, saying she doesn't feel well, showing us that she is very pregnant. Husband Gary Crandall follows to check on her. She reveals that she knows he is the informant and he confesses. She loves him and urges him to leave with her, so they can start a new life together, away from family, as she loves him more. They escape out a window and head off into the winter's night.

In the Delgado house, Clara finds her husband Lawrence shot. He is whisked away by ambulance and taken to a hospital. Arriving later is Lt. Bliss (another regular, who often runs up against Jennifer and Gabe). She wants more information about the shooting, though John Delgado says to talk to his lawyer, Mr Parkhouse. Bliss replies she thought his son-in-law, Gary Crandall was his attorney. The hoods leave the cops behind. Delgado orders his men to find his daughter and son-in-law, no matter what. They confirm that he wants Gary killed and head out. Delgado says to check with his brother, Alessandro (who left behind the crime family), who works at the Blue Ruby. The couple might have headed there.

Jennifer is hosting the office Christmas party, at the Blue Ruby. Alessandro informs her there is a guest without an invitation, who says Jennifer will vouch for him. It is Gabe, who says he forgot his watch. The couple has a nice moment as they dance and Alessandro leaves them to check on the kitchen. There, he finds his niece and her husband, who tell them they are on the run. Gary tries to contact the Attorney General's office; but no one is there. Over the radio comes a news bulletin about the shooting of Lawrence Delgado. Gary grabs Rosa, to head out. Alessandro, who informed Jennifer about the couple, and Jennifer run out the back, after the couple have disappeared. She says they have done the worst thing and decides to call in Lt. Bliss. She tells them to get down to the hospital.

Jennifer and Gabe drive to the hospital. While stopped at a red light, they are assaulted by a horn repeatedly honking, wondering what the problem is? It turns out to be Tony Delgado. They beat him to the hospital and use the hospital computer to locate Delgado's room, in the Green Wing, and find Lt. Bliss. Suddenly, a nurse says there have been shots and the police find an empty room, in the Red Wing and bullet holes. The lab says the bullets match the gun that shot Delgado; but, the police can't figure out why the assailant shot up an empty room. The rest of the Delgado family arrives at the hospital and Jennifer shoots down John's claim that Gary was the shooter, as he didn't try to take out John, as well. She plants the seeds of dissention, pointing out other motives, including inheritance and infidelity. Outside, Jennifer confides to Lt. Bliss that she did that to buy time to find Gary and Rosa, though they don't have much, as John checks with his hoods.

In the hospital waiting room, the Delgados start in. Lucia, wife of John, is singled out by Clara, wife of Lawrence, as having an affair with her husband. Lucia admits the affair and says that John would have killed them if he knew; but, points fingers at Clara, saying that Lawrence wanted to divorce her; but, if he dies, she stands to inherit the money that would allow her to leave and return to her New England roots. Tony points out that his cousin would also inherit and Clara says that he would inherit the position of lieutenant, which he couldn't earn.

We cut to the hoods checking missions and hostels for the couple and leaving behind sizable donations. We also see the couple turned out by a hotel, as Delgado closed off their credit cards.  They walk the snow covered streets in search of shelter, as Gary urges his wife to return to her father. She refuses, saying she is a Crandall and so is her unborn baby. Jennifer and Gabe try the missions and learn of the hoods searching. They have ruled out hotels and missions and decide that they might be hiding in a restaurant; but, that there are dozens.  Jennifer sends out her own Baker St. Irregulars, as she pays some kids ten bucks each to search for the couple, and offers $20 for the one who finds them. The couple, meanwhile, have taken refuge in the Star Diner. Rosa is having contractions and Gary tells the waiter to call an ambulance; but, the phone is out. One of the kids spots them and gets Jennifer, who arrives with Gabe to find Rosa going into labor. She takes over and tells the men to get towels and hot water. She delivers the baby, a beautiful boy. She presents him to the proud parents, when the Delgado hoods burst in. he accuses Gary of shooting his brother and endangering his daughter. gabe speaks up and asks if he shot up the empty hotel room?

Gabe uses logic and deduction to calm Delgado, pointing out the errors in his thinking. He points out that the bullets in the hospital room matched the gun that shot Lawrence.  Gary couldn't have been at the hospital and on the run with Rosa. The shooter wanted Delgado to think it was Gary; but, got the wrong wing, because he or she is color blind. He points out that the room numbers were the same, just the colors of the wings were different. He points out that Clara navigated the halls, following colored lines, so she can see color. Her daughter was wearing a color-coordinated outfit, so that rules her out. Lucia recognized Jennifer's green eyes, so it isn't her. Tony is the shooter. He was honking at the light, since he couldn't tell it was a red light and ignored the position of the light, due to stress. Tony denies it, then Jennifer holds up two Christmas ornaments, one green, one red; and, asks Delgado to ask his son which is which. Delgado tells Rosa to have the police take her to Manhattan General and that he will visit her later. Rosa tells him that the baby is to be named John. Delgado takes his son out, leaving everyone else behind. Lt Bliss and her men arrive and take the couple to the hospital.

Later, we see Jennifer and Gabe coming out of Midnight Mass. Gabe says he didn't know Jennifer was Catholic and she says she's not sure she is anymore; but, loves the ceremony. They return to her place for hot chocolate and she gives Gabe his watch again and points out an addition. Gabe sees the inscription, "To Gabe, 12-25-89, I love you always. Jennifer." The story ends with a loving embrace.

The issue is wonderful, as we get more of Gabe and Jennifer's relationship and some romantic moments. We have a mystery to solve, with clues parcelled out along the way. We have tension, as the couple try to find sanctuary, with the impending birth of the baby and killers following them. We have the intrigues of the Delgado family and Jennifer and Gabe's desperate search to find the young parents-to-be, before the hoods do. We also have a parable to the story of the birth of Jesus, as a couple seeks shelter, with birth imminent. The find refuge under a star, which points the way for others to find them. We get a tender ending, as Jennifer is able to tell Gabe how much she truly loves him, after weathering her doubts about the duration of relationships. It's a brilliant piece of writing, with some wonderful art that captures the humanity of the story.

This is typical of the brilliance of the series. All of the issues are filled with great character moments, excellent art, fun mysteries, and wonderful moments. The issue aren't that expensive. The earliest Comico ones are relatively cheap, probably due to the trade paperback collection that reprints them. the Innovation issues run around $5-6 for mid-grade and $10-12 for Mint. the Comico issue feature Adam hughes' art, though he did some in the Innovation run (mostly covers, though he did a few stories). My guess would be scarcity more than anything else. The Caliber issues are black & white and less expensive and the IDW ones are pretty cheap.

Why no one has turned this into a movie or tv series is beyond me, other than the previous examples of Moonlighting and Remington Steele. however, with talk of reviving them, you'd think someone would recognize that you can do the same here, for less money.

If you enjoy shows like moonlighting, Remington Steele, Columbo, McMillan and Wife, Hart to Hart, or the many great british mysteries, or the Thin man series, you will love this. if you like sexy art, you will love this. if you love great characters, this is your book. If you like humor, ditto. There is something here for everyone.

Strike!



So, you may be asking, "Why should I care about a minor superhero book, from a little company, that lasted 6 issues, two specials, and appeared in a company-wide crossover?" Because I told you too, dagnabit! Smart aleck kids think you know everything!

Not good enough? Okay, how about because it was pretty cool? Prove it? Okay, give me time. Here are two reasons to really care, though. Reason one is Tom Lyle. Lyle was an excellent and dynamic artist who zoomed through comics and then disappeared into teaching. Along the way, he got to work on Starman (with Roger Stern), the Comet, for the DC Impact line, featuring the Archie superheroes, and some guy called Spider-Man. Lyle was a darn good storyteller and had a dynamic and tight line. He also drew sleek characters, rather than the bloated behemoths of the Image crowd. Okay, he had a penchant for mullets (I seem to recall he was sporting one, when I met him); but, it was the late 80s. I always felt he was one of the under-appreciated guys in comics and his brief work period adds to that.

The second reason is the writer, Chuck Dixon. Yeah, that Chuck Dixon. This series (and Dixon's work on Airboy and some of the Scout spin-offs) helped get Dixon's foot in the door at DC (Lyle, too). Airboy and Scout were adventure comics, with a hefty dose of realism and pulp sensibility; Strike! was superheroes. Dixon crafted an interesting tale, as well as pulled a pretty good con.

Strike! appeared in 1987, without much fanfare, but with a lot of promise. The series opens with Dennis Foreman, a young African-American man, living in Baltimore.  He's working at Burger King and going to a community college, studying to be an engineer. His best friend is Korean-American Bobby Soong.  He's a target of a local gang and he isn't afraid to stand up to them. They pound him into the ground, until Dennis' old friend, Parnell comes along. Parnell is now know as PJ and is big in the world of narcotics dealing, in and around the neighborhood. Parnell wants his friend to join him in easy living; but, Dennis doesn't recognize his friend anymore. Dennis' mother works hard; but puts up with an abusive/freeloading boyfriend. Dennis' refuge is the attic, where he can get some peace. It is there he comes across a diary, hidden under a floorboard, which tells the story of Russell Carlyle, aka Sgt. Strike. Russell relates how a meteor slammed into Siberia, devastating the area (which actually happened). A side affect was that people living some distance away began demonstrating special abilities. The Soviet government took an interest in the meteorite. They brought a team of Mongol slave laborers to the site and forced them to carry it out. thing was, the radiation was lethal, so the first on the scene died within minutes; but, they passed it to the next team and the next and so on. Each group died quickly in this hellish relay race. Soviet scientists studied it in a lab, with few results, other than finding a glowing egg-shaped core. Hitler got wind of this and dispatched a team of falschirmjaeger (paratroops) to grab it, which they did. It was brought to a camp in Poland, where prisoners were subjected to experiments with it. Thousands died; but, the Nazis found a way to harness the beneficial aspects of the egg, creating a harness. In 1943, Russell Carlyle was part of a commando team that infiltrated the camp. They made their way to the infirmary, where Carlyle found Nazi doctors conducting a vivisection. Carlyle emptied his rifle into them. They found the vault and a harness within.  Carlyle put it on to get it out quickly, so they could make their rendezvous with a submarine, off the coast. However, the Germans brought up armor and the commandos were in a firefight. Russell turned a dial on the harness and was hit with a blast of energy that knocked him into a wall and unconscious. he awoke of a pit dug as a mass grave. His fellow soldiers were dead, as were hundreds of others. he snapped and attacked the Germans, killing all of them, while he was impervious to harm. He broke the prisoners out and headed to the woods beyond. Carlyle spent two months behind enemy lines, until he made his way back to England and offered his services to the Army, in a dramatic way: He stopped the jeep of a colonel and ripped its engine out. After that, he became a super-soldier for the Army, codenamed Sgt Strike. Carlyle carried out special missions until the end of the war, as well as in Korea and at home. However, McCarthyism reared its ugly head and his mentor, Col Matteson, was jailed and he was confronted by the government, who wanted the harness. recognizing its dangerous nature, he refused and drove off the armed agents, then went into hiding. That was the end, in 1954.

Dennis thinks it must have been a fantasy, until he digs some more and finds the costume and the harness. he tries it on and activates it and, like Russell, is thrown across the room and knocked unconscious.

So, I know what you are thinking; it sounds like Captain America. Well, it was. Dixon's idea was a Captain America that wasn't squeamish about killing and who found himself at odds with the post-War government. Rather than being frozen in time, he disappeared and his legacy is found by a new generation. This Cap is born of Nazi experiments and extra-terrestrial forces. It was Captain America, for the 80s.

In the second issue, Dennis comes downstairs, in the costume and rids his house of his mother's abusive boyfriend.  He then takes out his college money and goes to a seedy bar, challenging anyone to a fight. His opponent breaks his glasses, so he can't see what he is hitting, so he hits just about everything and everyone. The newspapers carry a story about it, which alerts the CIA, who have been searching fro the harness for over 30 years. They start researching the known facts in the newspaper accounts. Dennis has figured out that the suit magnifies his strength and metabolism and reasons that if he works out, his strength will be increased by the harness. The harness magnifies the metabolic effect and his workouts increase his physique exponentially. He goes to the kitchen to find his mother sitting there, fearfully, when he is grabbed by agents, at gunpoint, without the harness.

Issue three find Dennis and his mother taken to the CIA man's house, where Dennis' mother is injected with a psychedelic, to force Dennis to reveal the location of the harness, after they couldn't find it in Dennis' house. Bobby had snuck out the window with it. He overheard the name Rickers and uses the phonebook to track down the man's house. There, he finds Dennis held prisoner, after being tortured. Bobby brings Dennis the harness and Dennis brings violent retribution to Rickers and his men. he casually tosses two of them out a second floor window, killing them. When he finally gets his hands on Rickers, he drops a truck on him, killing him. Bobby takes them to his home, with the CIA men spotting the name of the family's restaurant on the van that Bobby is driving. Rickers had been "off the reservation;" but, now, the Agency is directly involved.

Issue 4 finds Dennis in a new costume, sewn by Bobby's sister (which Bobby thinks looks like a suit from a "gay ski club." More on that in a minute). They are attacked by CIA agents, including one with an advanced strength-enhancing exo-skeleton. Dennis fights back and defeats them and decides he needs to get his mother to safety, then disappear.  He uses the harness to attack Parnell and his drug dealing friends, ripping off their cash. he sends his mother away and provides for Bobby, too. Then, he hits the road. Meanwhile, a tracking station in Alberta spots an object on radar,, near the moon. We pull back to see a bug-like craft.

Issue 5 finds Dennis relocated in a new, rundown apartment (complete with bugs) and an idea of what to do next, thanks to the tv. There is a hostage situation and he goes down to help. he is rejected and sneaks in on his own, climbing from the sewers up through an elevator shaft, to stop a frantic and stressed woman with a gun, whose home had been repossessed. Just as he thinks he has solved the situation, the police SWAT team burst in with guns blazing, killing the disarmed woman. Dennis leaves, horrified by what has happened. nothing works like in comic books. he comes home to find more bugs, only these are man-sized and carry energy weapons. They work against the harness and he is transported to their ship, seen in last issue.

Issue 6 finds Dennis onboard the alien ship, where the aliens communicate, via a dead astronaut's body (it's a pretty creepy scene, with the astronaut being used like a ventriloquist's dummy).  They tell Dennis about their race and their living starships, and how their race was decimated by a parasitic rival. They created the egg that powers dennis' harness. It was supposed to help create a new starship; but, the arrival of the parasite forced them to eject it to safety, where it landed in Siberia. Now, the parasites are back and they have Sgt Strike!

The Strike! vs Sgt Strike Special finds Dennis getting his harness back and transporting aboard the parasitic vessel. there, he battles the rival aliens to get to Sgt Strike, who is at the heart of their attack. he seems mindless; but, his weapons can hurt Dennis. he fights his way to Sgt Strike and manages to crush the skull of the alien controlling Shgt Strike. Sgt Strike eventually regains control and they work together to escape and destroy the parasitic vessel and get back to Earth. there, Sgt Strike tells Dennis he wants the harness back.

The series had been cancelled; but, the plot is resolved in Total Eclipse, Eclipse Comics' Tenth Anniversary crossover series (it was all the rage, after Crisis, as First also had a company crossover). By the end of that 5 issue mini-series, there was only one Strike left. However, that was also the last we would see of the character.  Prior to that, Dixon and Lyle produced the one-shot, The Airfighters Meet Sgt Strike, where Russell Carlyle, on a mission, runs into Airboy, Valkyrie, Sky Wolf and Black Angel, where they team-up to fight baron Tundra, Sky Wolf's Nazi enemy, who has a new ICBM pointed at the Allies. It's a ton of fun, like Captain America meets Blackhawk. If you enjoy The Invaders and/or Blackhawk, you will enjoy this.

So, convinced? Chuck Dixon filled this with depth, as Dennis thinks along comic book lines and finds the world doesn't work that way. His own morality slips, though he still tries to do good.  He finds being a hero endangers people and a happy outcome isn't always possible. He also comes face to face with his predecessor.  It was a bit more mature than other superhero comics and fit the trend at DC, where deconstruction experiments were in vogue and grim and gritty were watchwords. Dixon infuses it with the kind of violence found in a Mack Bolan novel, yet dresses it in superhero clothes. Lyle is rough in spots; but, his art gets better with each issue. There are several jokes about the uniform looking like a downhill skier suit. Lyle created several costumes that had that look, at DC. The series isn't perfect; but it kept getting better and better, when the rug was pulled. Total Eclipse, which was a fine mini-series, brought a true end to it, though not one I found satisfying. i had hoped for more; but, Eclipse's financial woes got worse with each passing year and it would be dead by the mid-90s.

One troubling aspect of the series was the rather excessive use of gay slurs. It is lobbed as an insult to Dennis and Bobby, by the gang, but Dennis' mother uses it, too. Given recent era statements from Dixon, its use isn't surprising. It's a bit too casually used for my tastes.

Now, one aspect that really made this unique was a con that Dixon pulled. In the back of the first issue, he tells us that Sgt Strike was an actual Golden Age character from a company called Happy Comics, which was owned by the Jolly Farmer Food Company, which made cereals for sale in the Midwest. the comics appeared on the backs of their cereal boxes and Sgt Strike debuted in All-Thrill Comics #1, in July, 1943. i had never heard of this; but, I also hadn't heard of Mr Monster, which was an actual Canadian superhero. Dixon said the company started their comics when they couldn't license a character for their cereal. he also said they produced other comics, like Prairie Crimebusters, All-Kids Comics and Jungle Devils. They had characters like the White Lion (a Tarzan rip-off), the lightning Kid, and the rattler. Each issue reprinted some of the Golden Age adventures. I found this suspect. I grew up in the Midwest and had never heard of the cereal company nor the comic.  I read every reference book on comics I could find (and the Univ. of Illinois library had about a half dozen, plus I had Ron Goulart's history and the Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones' The Comic Book Heroes). Also, the artwork on the Golden Age comics didn't look like something from the 40s. It wasn't Quality Comics level; but, it wasn't as primitive as the bulk of 40s comics. Then, in issue 6, Dixon admitted it was a hoax. He did so because people kept asking about the old comics and were hunting for them. I asked Tom Lyle about it and he said it was all Dixon's idea.

So, while this wasn't Miracleman or Dark Knight, it was pretty good and it stood out from the crowd, though few saw it. It was a nice concept that just didn't find an audience. Eclipse was having severe problems and they had trouble distributing their comics. They had depended on back issue sales for cash, which helped publish new comics. However, a flood destroyed most of their stock.  They had cash flow problems from that point on, causing huge delays.  Many shops were already ambivalent towards indie companies and an erratic one didn't get much attention, even with books like Scout and Miracleman. I was lucky to frequent a couple of shops that carried a lot of their line and collected a lot of their material and they had one of the most diverse lines of any company. If they had run things like newcomer Dark Horse, they might still be in business. Alas, it was nice while it lasted, over 10 years. The end was messy and Todd McFarlane ended up with their assets, despite higher bids for individual elements, from others. the bankruptcy court didn't want to deal with piecemealing the assets and McFarlane offered money for everything. In the end, he did little with it. Eclipse shared copyrights with creators, so some books found new homes, though some were caught up in the problem of Federal bankruptcy law superseding civil contract law.

The issues can be had pretty cheaply and are worth reading, with a forgiving eye to young talent.

I got to meet Tom Lyle after Starman began. He was great to talk to and shed some insight into this series and created a Sgt Strike sketch for me (he had to look at my comic to get the costume right). It's one of the few pieces of original art I own.

If you like something different, give it a try.  If you like Chuck Dixon, it's well worth hunting down (as are the Airboy comics and spin-offs).  It is very much of its time; but, it is also very creative.

You've seen this, right?



The Comico book was one of my favorite books of the 80s, a Messner-Loebs one of my favorite writers. I especially loved when they had different artists/teams (and good ones) each issue.

Not to my knowledge.  It seemed like the H-B comedy characters got more mileage in comics thann the adventure characters.  Frankestein Jr also got a one shot, as did Space Ghost.  There were 7 issues of the Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes.



However, no JQ in there.  The Comico series really needs to be collected.  I would assume that Hanna-Barbera owned the materials, which would mean Warner owns it and could reprint it via DC.  That's an assumption, though, as some of these things didn't quite work that way.  Wouldn't be surprised if some of the production material was gone, as I know Grendel had that problem, after Comico's bankruptcy.  The Comico/Hanna-Barbera team-up also gave us the truly awesome Space Ghost one-shot, from Mark Evanier and Steve Rude (channeling his best Alex Toth)

I just finished putting together a run of the Comico JQ comics at the end of 2016, haven't had a chance to dig in yet. The GK book is on my radar for cons in 2017.

There also 3 issues of JQ Classics which had Doug Wildley adapting JQ episodes for Comico. I have 2 of the 3 issues.

Dark Horse later did a JQ comic based on the rebooted Real Adventures of Jonny Quest that lasted 12 issues and were pretty good too, though different than the classic JQ.

For toy fans, Figures Toy Company is doing a wave of classic JQ figures in the classic Mego style this winter.
-M

Wow, those images of the absolutely stunning original Pacific covers brought back a flush of memories. I had all of those, and looking back on it, I think Starslayer was probably my favorite of the series Pacific was publishing back then; the art was beautiful, the stories were fun and it even had the best back-up stories (Rocketeer and Groo as you noted).
Don't know what you have in your collection, but I hope you cover some of the other, more obscure titles put out by Pacific.