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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 24, 2020 1:21:25 GMT -5
Airboy #33Awesome cover by Ken Steacy! Man, I would have killed, or at least maimed, to have Steacy do an extended run on the series. He was/is an aviation nut and knows how to draw aircraft; AND, was a hell of an artist, with great storytelling skills. That would have been sweet! Like the cover says, the frequency was changed to just monthly, instead of bi-weekly. Eclipse was still doing their manga titles bi-weekly, though; so, it wasn't an editorial change related to eliminating bi-weekly titles. if I were to guess, it was because of Dixon's workload; and, possibly, the output of the 4 Winds group. Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Stan Woch-pencils, Will Blyberg-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Olyoptics-colors, cat yronwode-editor Skywolf: Chuck-word stuff, Graham Nolan-pencil stuff, Jeff Albrecht-ink stuff, Bill Pearson-letter stuff, Olyoptics-color stuff, cat-blue pencil stuff. Also from Eclipse: Air Fighters Classic #1, Area 88 #12 & 13, Axa #2, California Girls #6, Fusion #6, Legend of Kamui #12 & 13, Liberty Project #6, Mai the Psychic Girl #12 & 13, Miracleman #13, New America #1, Strike! #4, Swords of Texas #2, Tales of the Beanworld #8, Zot #16. Air Fighters Classic reprints the old Hillman Air Fighters comic, which debuted Airboy and the other features. It starts with issue #2, which launched Airboy, as #1 was published several months before to lower sales. This was where the Airboy legend and Hillman's success was born (and Wings Comics). Miracleman is back, after a two month gap. It will be another 5 months before another issue will appear. Beautiful cover by John Totleben, interiors are just as lush. New America is the second of the Scout spin-offs, focusing on Rosa Winter's adventures, post-Scout #24. John Ostrander and wife Kim Yale handle the writing. I'll be looking at these. Strike! continues, so I will get to that, and Swords of Texas. Synopsis: Val is back in new York just long enough to pack her gear for a job, but not a modeling job. She's packing heat and not just in her bikini. Marlene asks about Davy and Val says he needs a girl his own age and heads off. Ugh, enough with this bit; it's grown stale! Marlene smiles and considers this. Meanwhile, Skywolf is sitting down to a stack of hotcakes, when he sees a news report that says he is in Bogantilla, flying weapons to "Contra-like" rebels. He rants about his good name and La Verne asks "What good name?" and then refers to him as Skydog, to Kip Thorne's amusement. Sky says he is going down their to file a trademark infringement complaint, possibly with 20 mm spent uranium punctuation. Davy turns up at Val's in New York and knocks on Marlene's door when she doesn't answer. Marlene looks through the peephole and sees it is Davy and goes from sweats and facial gunk to "Hey sailor, new in town?" in three minutes.... Davy is too wrapped up in Val to notice that Marlene is practically jumping on him and heads off to Galveston to see Sky, instead of enjoying a little R&R with someone who isn't always running away from him. Day lands at La Vern's airstrip, but he missed Skywolf. La Vern invites him to dinner, and after hearing that Link is cooking, Davy accepts. He says he thought things were going good in Bogantilla, with Guillermo in power; but Link says he told the US to go to hell, which means the CIA is probably arming every cutthroat it can find (especially Orista's old army). Davy figures he can catch up later. In Panama, Skywolf stops for fuel and beer and three CIA types ask if he is Skywolf and he gives them an answer... The next day, Davy is entering Bogantilla airspace, in Birdie, when he is attacked by P-38 Lightnings. He is able to outmaneuver; but, they have the numbers (he even fires a sidewinder, which is a heat seeking missile, which wouldn't likely lock onto a prop aircraft; but, comics...). He tries to outclimb and hits stall speed (which makes no sense, since Birdie has jet engines and the P-38s are turboprops, so they should have stalled long before he did) and Davy bails out, leaving Birdie to auger into the ground. Davy bails out with his M-60 and uses it to fire back at the P-38s firing on him, though the belt he has only appears to have a couple of dozen rounds, maximum. This being comics, it's enough to flame one P-38, which veers into the other two. Skywolf lands near an army formation and gets an armed reception. Then, someone attacks the formation and he finds himself staring at a twin Apache, with someone in his mask, inside. Skywolf: Back in 1951, Skywolf is in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, after getting caught up in another fiasco by Jack Gatling, the Bald Eagle. he is currently with a group of bedouins, looking to attack Abu Inman. They survey his fortress, with a surrounding wall and many guards. Inside, Abu Inman interrogates Jack & Caroline Renfrew, looking for the location of the head of the Colossus of Rhodes. He admits to killing Caroline's father and she screams at him. He wants the coordinates that her fatehr radioed to her and she tells him to get stuffed. He orders her taken to the cellars to be persuaded. Jack threatens to send Abu to Allah, in pieces. Outside, Sky learns that Jauhara and her brother are the children of Abu, via one of his harem. he wanted no children and killed their mother and they escaped. The boy went to England, which is why he sounds like Terry Thomas. They head down to an oasis pool and kill a guard. They then dive into the pool and follow a tunnel into a cistern, inside the compound. They move out to prepare to get the gates open to let in Jauhara's warriors. Jack is being tortured and Caroline is ready to spill the beans, when Sky comes along and kills the torturers. he frees the pair and they head out and run into a problems, as Jauhara issues a very loud challenge to her father and he comes out, right where Sky, Jack and Caroline are passing. Abu pulls a grenade, but Uthman has snuck up behind him and stops him from throwing it, making sure he and his father cover it as it explodes, telling his father they are off to meet his mother. Sky delivers the news to Jauhara and that is that. He and Jack leave with Caroline, who admits her father only radioed her the coordinates of where to meet, not the location of the statue; so, they still have no idea where it is. They head off to get back to civilization, as Jack and Sky bicker and Caroline threatens to sing. Thoughts: The end blurb says they are pausing for 2 weeks; so, someone didn't get the memo, suggesting that the switch to monthly publication came late in the game. The Airboy part sets up the latest storyline/mystery well, though it doesn't take much to guess who the bogus Skywolf is, if you have been reading the series since the beginning. Somehow, I have a sneaking suspicion that Val may have taken a job from the CIA and will end up here, too. The P-38s were probably because someone wanted P-38s in the book, 'cause anyone who was getting arms from the US, before the revolution, would have at least been getting lower tier jets, by the 80s. The US was supplying F-4 Phantoms and F-5 Tigers to a lot of friendly nations, not to mention even older stuff. Minor point though, except the dogfight needed more thought to it. Then again, it's an adventure series where the son of an old hero is the spitting image of him in the 40s and is bailing out of an aircraft, with an M-60 machine gun; so, who cares if he shoots down airplanes with it, while parachuting? I mean, we still have a guy in a mask who has his own attack helicopter and somehow arms it and flies over international borders, without being challenged. Some nice comedy with Marlene, who I wish was used more often. Chuck does strike a pretty good balance between the adventure and just the right amount of comic fun to keep things from being too grim. Someone needs to tell him or Stan that no sane person carried hand grenades by the cotter pin, no matter what you see in Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. Also, that grenade had the longest fuse; ever. Still, made for a great badass scene. Nice to see Stan Woch back, even for a short time. He had a good flair for this, even if his faces get a bit wonky. Not sure what is up with Ron Randall leaving, as he was already doing this and Trekker, at Dark Horse. Maybe he was itchy to change. The Skywolf back-up wraps up with a bang. Not as well developed, but a nice diversion. Nolan is pretty cartoony in this one. he's been that way, to a certain extent, for a bit; but, it seems a little out of touch with the story, here. It works, because he is such a good artist; but, you kind of expect a punchline to come along at certain times and it doesn't. Looking at his Shywolf, you can't help thinking this was also his audition for batman, since Skywolf's mask is, basically, Batman's cowl, with the top cut off, at the forehead. The letters page remarks about the monthly status, pointing out that the main story features a few more pages than it used to. Also new is an Airboy Index, from Don & Maggie Thompson, of the Comic buyer's guide. This chronicles the appearances and stories of Davy and the Air Fighters, in the Hillman comics. Good guide to which ones are worth checking out. Next issue will have Dan Spiegle back to draw Skywolf, as he is back in Korea, at the tail end of the war. Too bad he didn't bump into Capt. Benjamin Franklin Pierce, on his way home, at Kimpo Air Base. (I've been rewatching MASH).
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 1, 2021 16:28:59 GMT -5
Strike! #4Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Tom Lyle-pencils, Romeo Tanghal-inks, Kurt Hathaway-letters, Don Gidley-colors, Fred Burke-editor, cat yronwode-boss Eclipse had added other editors, by this point and Fred Burke handled a lot of stuff, in the later days of the company, along with Valerie Jones. I can't remember or find confirmation if they were a couple or just professional colleagues. Synopsis: When we left him, Dennis had freed himself and his mother, with Bobby's aid, from the CIA guys. Dennis had no qualms about killing. Now, Dennis and his mother are hiding out, above the Soong's seafood store. Dennis has some snazzy new threads, sewn by Bobby's sister. Bobby thinks he looks like a "gay ski instructor." (*ahem*) Dennis feels he needs to protect his identity, and his mother's in case the government comes again, even though Rickers was a rogue. Funny he should say that, as down below, someone puts demolition charges on a lock and blast their way inside the place. Pouring inside is a tactical team, in gas masks and ballistic vests (they ain't bullet proof; just bullet resistant.) Their controller overhears a second explosion and inquires. The team tries to find the source, which turns out to be Dennis, who has activated the harness. Sucks to be a grunt, in this situation. Dennis has some fun with the spooks, on the radio. he tells Bobby to get him and his family out, while Dennis draws them away from the store. Dennis hits the streets and takes the fight to the team. Bullets have no effect; but, they have rockets, which knock him down. They also have a guy in an exo-suit, as seen on the cover. (Aliens came out the year before). He holds Dennis down, and the squad leader demands the harnes be returned and Dennis refuses. He breaks the hold and throws the agent over his shoulder. he then proceeds to go after the rest of the team. the exo man hits him from behind and Dennis loses it and rips the control surfaces away, rendering the hydraulics useless. He demolishes a building in the process and the government team decides they aren't getting paid enough and bolt. Bobby returns and tells Dennis that his mother is at a hotel by the airport. Dennis is out for 3 days, after the energy used in the fight. Their money is about gone and he tries to figure out how to get more. He decides to visit his old buddy Parnell, teh drug dealer. Dennis doesn't want a loan, he wants their cash. He trashes their front and rips off all their cash and destroys their coke. He leaves Parnell to face the wrath of the people he works for... Dennis gives most of the money to his mother, against her protests and tells her to disappear. he's not sure when he will see her again. Next, Bobby has a present left on his doorstep, and finds a box full of money, to pay for the damages to the store. Then Dennis walks on, alone. Meanwhile, in Canada, a radio telescope site gets readings of an object 20 miles across, moving at speed towards Earth. We cut to near Earth orbit and see a large, insect-shaped object. We are told next issue is titled "Bugs!" The Phony back-up story features The White Lion, a Tarzan rip-off, with a Colonel Blimp accent (Golly good show, wot?), who faces Nazis, who have brought a bunch of cave man types under their sway, and have weaponized dinosaurs. It's pretty goofy, but fun and looks like Tarzan-meets-Alley Opp... Chuck is still maintaining the fiction that these are reprints; though if anyone is still believing that, then I have some swampland for them. Thoughts: Chuck ups the ante for Dennis; now the regular government types are after him, not just an obsessed rogue element. Also, there is the problem of money. Dennis continues his loss of innocence, as he is prepared to kill to protect himself and family and friends. He also decides to do something about drugs in the neighborhood, while also solving his money problem. Chuck is definitely showing us a different side of the superhero genre, by giving the hero more human failings. Dennis is a moral person; but circumstances have drastically changed and the moral quandaries have changed. He finds himself wanting to do good; but, he also realizes that playing the white hat doesn't work the same, outside of fiction. More and more, he is becoming a vigilante, not too dissimilar from Chuck's future assignment, The Punisher. Dennis is turning into "an eye for an eye," kind of vigilante, which is a dangerous path, too. He is still young and impulsive, which is what got him in this mess. he's also coming under the spell of the power at his hands, despite it not belonging to him, which is the real reason he won't give it up. Tom Lyle handles the action well and he unveils Dennis' new suit, though it was previewed on the cover of the first issue. it is sleeker and more modern than the Sgt Strike outfit, yet has hints of it... Sgt Strike's pseudo-Golden Age costume is the normal trunks, tights and hood. Dennis has a sleeker bodysuit (think Olympic skiers and speedskaters, with high boots (with a sort of cavalry flair to them) and a sort of soft helmet mask. The stylings on the uniform slightly suggest the chevrons of Sgt Strike, connecting him to the past, while saying "modern." Lyle seemed to favor such sleek costuming, as can be witnessed in his designs for the Will Payton Starman, the Comet, from the Impact line (at DC) and his Scarlet Spider design, at Marvel. In each case, he went for a sleek bodysuit, with distinguishing flourishes. With Starman, it was the asymmetrical look and large inverted star, the Comet had his helmet and visor, and Scarlet Spider had his hoody. It was very much of its time (late 80s-early 90s); but holds up well as a practical outfit. Something tells me that these aliens are not benevolent (especially with the creepy bug ship); so, don't expect ET.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 1, 2021 17:15:55 GMT -5
Swords of Texas #2Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Ben Dunn-pencils, Mark McKenna-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor Beau La Duke: Beau Smith-writer, Flint Henry-art, Tim Harkins-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor Synopsis: When we last left, the Swords of Texas had gone on alert, after their security system notes an intruder. The intruder turns out to be Quicho, the kid from the gas station in Mexico. he was given cash and an envelope full of papers to deliver it to Banner, who is reading the attached note... It's from Rudy Roeder, aka Roto Rooter, an old friend. he describes the situation in Baja: the Japanese administer it, in coppoeration with the Soviets, as a trade zone, using the local populace as cheap labor, running against the ideas of Marx. They need guns, but the others are skeptical and worry about covering that kind of territory. banner is quiet, when he reads a line that says if he receives this, then Roeder is dead. Banner tells Jade about Roeder and she asks if they are going down there. banner says he has responsibilities and can't go on a crusade; but, it's obvious he is torn. Roeder taught him about life codes and now he is gone. Meanwhile, outside the base, another group continues to observe. They see an armored car move out, which carries Banner and some others, to meet with Craig Creek. he is involved in Roeder's activities and he wants to destabilize Mexico, to ensure the safety of the Southwest Free States. Turns out, Avner Glanzman is also there, to stir the pot. Someone attacks the meeting site and the Swords fight them off. Tehy take the job and go back to base to prepare to head to Baja. They are soon joined by an agent of Glanzman's, Herschel Rodriguez. Down in Baja, the administration is denying workers conjugal visits with their family until they meet quotas. They keep raising the quotas, working them to death. Gov Omo argues with an advisor, who orders him to do it. The advisor represents the Legion of Man and says Mexico was made of people to be exploited. Omo will earn a place for himself and his children within it. Beau La Duke: Beau and his brothers rescue preacher Sand Dog Yuma from a mob trying to steal his truck. They end up recruiting him. Meanwhile, Colonel Pate and his group prepare to mess with Beau's family some more. Beu then meets up with King Crab, the dude with the helo, from last issue Thoughts: This continues to underwhelm. The Swords characters are mostly cliches based on their personality type. jade is obsessed with rock music and speaks in DJ lingo, for instance. The story seems rather contrived and the characters aren't really getting developed. So, far, only the dead guy gets much of a history. Oh, and the Legion of Man is involved. The whole Legion of Man thing is a bit of a weakness, as it is still an ill-defined entity. What is its ultimate goal, apart from the accumulation of power? We get no real sense of what their plans are with these motivations, other than a seemingly blind drive towards the abyss, ending in the destruction of mankind. They have to be more than an apocalypse cult, though. They just end up being an illuminati stand-in for the forces of chaos. It's a little too abstract, for my tastes. The Beau La Duke back up isn't particularly funny and the whole underground over-the-top presentation doesn't work as a result. It wants to be funny but just doesn't make it. I had forgotten about this story, as it does damper my love of Beau. I think it falls under the heading of "A good idea, in small doses." Really, that thought fits the whole thing; Banner and the Swords of Texas make okay supporting characters; but, they fail as a lead feature and Beau La Duke is better in the hands of Tim Truman, for story purposes, while Beau Smith uses him better for quick gags. The gags and the story don't work well together. Benn Dunn's art is passable, if not polished. Makes me miss Truman all the more. Flint Henry is raw and wild. Next up, John Ostrander and Kim Yale take Rosa Winter and us through some of the other countries of this world, as she deals directly with the Legion of Man and their schemes, as well as President Loper.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 2, 2021 22:55:21 GMT -5
New America #1Beautiful Tom Yeates cover; too bad he isn't doing the interiors (as we will see). Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Gary Kwapisz-pencils, Aubrey Bradford-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor. For the uninitiated, Kim Yale was John Ostrander's wife and sometime editor. They both came from the theater world and wrote and performed. Kim also worked as a writer and editor at DC, independent of John. She passed away in 1997, from breast cancer. She was a warm and funny lady and I had the pleasure of meeting her at a GenCon, and sat next to her during a panel discussion, while she was in the audience. John told some wonderful stories about her spirit, during her cancer treatment and at the end. They made a great team. Gary Kwapisz worked for Fantagraphics, on the Comics Journal, as well as contributed to a couple of their anthologies. he also worked for Marvel, on Punisher, Ka-Zar, Moon Knight and Conan. Aubrey Bradford had some credits at Marvel and at some of the other indies, including Caliber. As we will see, the art has some good storytelling; but the anatomy has some wonky moments (not as much as Ben Dunn, though, on Swords of Texas). Nothing against it; but, when you see those gorgeous Tom Yeates covers and then look at the art inside, you just can't help being disappointed. Synopsis: The opening splash says the locale is Baja, Japan. This refers to the Japanese administered Baja California region (as seen in Swords of Texas). As with Scout, the story is excerpted from Rosa Winters' memoir. Rosa reminds us of the state of the world, at this point. Monday the Eliminator controls the Soviet missile platform, in space, ready to destroy any nation that attempts to use nuclear weapons. The Mexican forces have been repulsed from US soil and Vice President Loper was revealed as the murderer of President Laura Carver. However, only the Mossad know that and Loper is now President of the United States, which is locked in a civil war with the Southwest Free States, led by former US Senator Craig Creek. In the passing time, Rosa infiltrated the US proper and tracked Loper, to Houston, where, after 6 months of work, she had him in her telescopic sights... She finds herself interrupted by Avner Glanzman and a team of Mossad agents. She is ready to pull the trigger, even if it means dying. Glanzman tells her that Loper is the only thing keeping the country from descending into complete chaos, with cities fighting one another. He appeals to Laura Carver's vision. He then sows doubt by suggesting that Loper might be using a double. Rosa hesitates long enough for Loper to leave her view. She takes down the agent holding an Uzi to her head, out of anger and curses Glanzman. He then offers Rosa a bargain and a team to use as her own... As long as she replaces Loper, as head of government, Israel will aid her efforts to assassinate Bill Loper. Glanzman has an agenda though, which requires Rosa's attention, before she can kill Loper. She agrees, provided she is the one to kill Loper. Their first target is in Baja. In Mexico, Takamori International is bargaining for the purchase of Baja California, but has concerns over labor issues there (Swords of Texas ! & 2). Garces, the Mexican representative blaims that on Governor Omo's administration and says it is a thing of the past. Takamori insists on language nullifying the sale, if labor unrest continues. Garces demands Japanese-manufactured weaponry, at a nominal fee, on an annual basis. Both sides think they have fooled the other. Takamori says they will control all of Mexico within ten years; Garces says that within the next 50 years, they will rise up and drive off the Japanese with the very weapons they produce for them. Elsewhere, Serge Damirov, a Soviet labor organizer who came to Mexico during the Socialist revolution, but was used to feed slave labor to the Baja factories, continues his work, trying to unite the workers in a union. His street lecture is interrupted by a death squad, who soon find themselves targeted by Rosa and her commando team. The death squad attempts to deploy its armored car; but, David ben-Ishram fires a grenade into it, neutralizing it. They take the wounded Damirov to see Father Galvez, whose brother was a hero of the revolution. Damirov tells the padre that the people need someone like him to unite them against the government and the Japanese. They don't believe Damirov, as they have seen too many lies from outsiders. Rosa tells him about the proposed sale of Baja to the Japanese and offers documented proof from their contact within the government. Podgorny objects, saying it compromises their agent; but, Rosa feels it is necessary to get the padre to commit to the fight and they need him as a hero, for the people. The insider is Karen Iseri, a Japanese-American who is Takamori's lover. She provides the documents, which convince Father Galvez. Father Galvez agrees to join them, while Karen goes to return the files. She is spotted by Takamori, who suspected her and he beheads her with his katana. Father Galvez agrees to lead an uprising, provided Rosa's team provide military training and assistance, then Damirov can organize his union. Father Galvez succeeds in uniting the people into labor action and Rosa and her team train them to defend themselves against the death squads, while making surgical strikes of their own. The Japanese are soured on the deal and the Mexican government becomes more extreme and chaotic in its response. A reckoning is at hand. Takamori and Garces meet and agree to a joint strike against Galvez, at a large union rally. Rosa suspects their intentions and warns Father Galvez; but, he is adamant about holding the rally. He and Rosa talk and she tells him of being sterilized at Camp Falwell and how she could not be part of Baja, where family is the center. She confesses a love of Father Galvez and he confesses that he shares it; but, each have their roles to play and lovers are not those roles. Father Galvez took vows and holds them sacred, while Rosa has her own mission. They both serve something greater than themselves. At the rally, Father Galvez riles up the crowd and they are with him. Garces and his troops arrive and announce that they intend to arrest the padre and tell the crowd ti disburse. Rosa's team is ready; but, father Galvez is felled by a sniper's bullet. Rosa finds him dead and cries out in anguish for the crowd to attack the government forces. The crowd attacks the troops. In the chaos, Rosa spots one of her team, Erik, with a sniper's rifle. She realizes he is the one who shot the priest and goes after him. She spot Garces and shoots him down, as he fires on the crowd. She is attacked by Takamori, who slices off her hand, as she tries to fire an Uzi at him. She tells herself to hold on and he prepares for a killing stroke and she pulls out her sidearm and shoots him at point blank range. Later, Rosa is in an hospital and is debriefed by Avner Glanzman. Galvez's sister and Serge have succeeded in creating a union and the deal with Japan has been destroyed. Avner predicts Serge will end up premier of Mexico. Rosa calls out Avner on the killing of Father Galvez, to create a martyr to incite the people. He replies with the sacrifice of Karen Iseria and Rosa loses some fire. Rosa is wired with a cybernetic hand, to replace her lost hand and she reflects, also, on the loss of her political naivete . Thoughts: Excellent first issue, which demonstrates exactly what is wrong with the Swords of Texas mini-series. Rosa is a far stronger character than Banner, one whom we have come to know, in Scout. She has layers that make for good writing and Ostrander & Yale are/were damn good writers. Where Chuck Dixon excelled at plot and action, plus a certain level of humor, Ostrander and Yale excel at layered storytelling and character. The characters here are richer and more infused with life. They add romantic angles, as well as philosophical. They also know how to build to a climax and have it pay off. I met John Ostrander at a convention and he gave a talk at a panel on storytelling and showed his writing bible, Robert McKee's Story: Style, Structure, Substance and the Principles of Screenwriting. The book is probably the premiere text on screenwriting (along with Syd Field's Screenplay) His comic book scripts are very much in the style of cinema, with both visual and character elements, always building to a finale. Gary Kwapisz' art starts off a little off, but grows as the story builds. Some of his facials lack details of expression and some poses cause him trouble; but, his storytelling is excellent and his layouts accentuate the scenes. He is definitely more versatile than Ben Dunn, though some of his finer details could use a bit of refinement (weapons, facial expressions). This is good stuff and does much to develop Rosa and further the Scout story. Swords of Texas seems more like just a spin-off, while this reads like a continuation, which will take us to Scout, War Shaman. An interesting detail is the character of Herschel Rodriguez, who also appears in swords of Texas, at the tail end of issue #2. This is supposed to be set after SOT, but, was released alongside it. It kind of gives away the end, though I doubt anyone thought Banner wouldn't be successful against Omo. Ostrander and Yale bring some great dialogue here and even throw out some references, to those paying attention. When Takamori and Garces talk of uniting to stop Father Galvez, Garces says that "Together we will deal with this meddling priest." That is a reference to Thomas A Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered under orders of King Henry II. The line is often attributed to TS Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, though it doesn't appear in the play. It does appear in Jean Anouilh's play Beckett, which was the basis of the 1964 film, with Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton. The basic premise here, and the role of Father Galvez is also a reference to Archbishop Oscar Romero, of El Salvador, who was martyred in 1980, when he was murdered by a government death squad, likely under the orders of Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of the Far-Right party ARENA (per the UN Truth Commission for El Salvador). Romero had been a charismatic and outspoken critic of the government and the Far-Right, speaking out against poverty and injustice. He was murdered while delivering mass, in 1980. He had been critical of the US government, which had been giving aid to the Revolutionary Junta, which came to power in 1979, under the Carter Administration, which was further cemented under the Reagan Administration. The death squads had been trained at the School of the Americas, at Ft Benning (now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The school was originally founded to train friendly Latin American governments in counter-insurgency techniques, to combat the rise in Marxist insurgencies, in the 1960s. It's training methods included extensive use of torture and hard interrogation techniques (developed during the Vietnam War, under the CIA's Phoenix Program) and its graduates have been some of the worst government-sanctioned killers in the region. Largely because of human rights abuses in El Salvador, the school became a target of activists, particularly Catholic nuns and clergy, after the deaths of 6 Salvadoran priests and a housekeeper at the hands of a death squad, 19 of whom were graduates of the school's training. The events in El Salvador were still pretty fresh in the media, as it was part of the debate in the Reagan Administration's Latin America policy. Some of this was dramatized in Oliver Stone's 1986 film, Salvador, starring James Woods, Jim Belushi and Ed Harris; as well as Romero, starring the late Raul Julia. The latter was funded by the Paulist Fathers' Paulist Productions, to depict the man. Ostrander & Yale also refer to the Pope (of this time period and alternate future) banning activism by the clergy. Pope John Paul II (along with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) had been critical of "liberation theology," which combined Biblical teachings with criticisms of socio-economic disparities. It was a major factor in Latin American clerical worlds, as those clergy represented some of the poorest nations within the Catholic sphere. Many activists priest sided with Leftist revolutions, though they offered more of a centrists proposition. This put them at odds with the more conservative elements of the Church, as well as the ultra-conservative governments. It wasn't until 1997 that Pope John Paul II named Romero as a Servant of God, opening the way to beatification and canonization. The cause stalled, under opposition form the conservative wing of the Church, but was reopened in 2012, under Pope Benedict XVI (the former Cardinal Ratzinger), in 2012. Pope Francis, a Latin clergyman, declared him a martyr, in 2015 and he was beatified the following May. He was canonized in 2018. The Mossad team that Avner bequeaths to Rosa is similar in nature to the Wrath of God teams, who hunted down the Black September terrorists, who carried out the Munich Olympic Massacre of the Israeli team. This version is more military than the actual teams were, as they were largely composed of Mossad agents, rather than serving military personnel (though some came from those ranks). As such, they are a closer parallel to the Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli military's top Special Forces Unit, the equivalent of the British SAS and the US Delta Force. As we see, their loyalty is to Avner and the Mossad, not Rosa, a fact that is not lost on her. This is a marriage of convenience, for now; but, by issue's end, we can infer that it won't last, once Rosa achieves her revenge.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 3, 2021 20:15:11 GMT -5
Airboy #34Guess Skywolf was tired of supporting the kid when he was the real star of the book. Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Stan Woch-pencils, Will Blyberg-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Olyoptics-colors, cat yronwode-editor Skywolf: Chuck-writer, Dan Spiegle-art, Carrie Spiegle-letters, Olyoptics and cat do their things. Also from Eclipse: Airboy Meets the Prowler #1, Area 88 #14 & 15, Detectives Inc, Terror of Dying Dreams #3, Directory to a Non-Existent Universe, Dreamery #7, Legend of Kamui #14 & 15, Liberty Project #7, Lost Planet #4, Mai the Psychic Girl #14 & 15, Man of War #2, New America #2, Strike! #5, Walt Kelly's Christmas Classics #1, Xenon #1 & 2. Directory was done under the Independent Comics Group imprint, which had published the DC indexes. This was a parody of Who's Who, with made up characters (Black & Blue Panther, Macho Ma'am), who then are united in a story, at the back of the book. The Walt Kelly book reprints old Golden Age comics from the master, as he did several Christmas stories (rather like Kitchen Sink's collection of the Christmas Spirit stories). Xenon was another manga translation, which had proved quite popular. Swords of Texas is missing, which doesn't seem to be scheduling, as the next issue comes out two entire months after the previous, not 5 weeks. Someone either blew a deadline; or, Eclipse had cash issues. Given the prominence of the 4 Winds books, in terms of sales, compared to other books from Eclipse, I don't think that is likely. My money is on late art. Synopsis: In Bogantilla, Presidente Guillermo's advisors urge him to quell rebellion from the indios, export cocaine to ease their financial problems, accept more Soviet aid after the withdrawal of American aid (after an attack on the American embassy), clamp down on political dissidents who feel betrayed after the revolution, nationalize American businesses operating within the country, and to take action against all enemies of the state. Guillermo tells them to sort it out themselves... We soon see that the advisors are the ones actually running things and Guillermo is just a figurehead, since he is a Hero of the Revolution. The rest are all politicians and power brokers who kept their hands bloodless. They wonder how much longer they will need him. Meanwhile, Davy lands in the jungle and runs into the Shaman, who likes Dr Pepper (BLECH!). The men with the shaman are told that Davy is the one who killed Orista, the former dictator. One of the men with the shaman is Wayne Little hawk, an ex-Marine, from Louisiana, a Cherokee who is there to help the natives fight the government and the other factions who would just as soon see them dead. There are former Orista men wandering around, plus a counter-revolution, who along with the government, don't care about a bunch of natives. Meanwhile meanwhile, Skywolf finds out that the mirror Apache is flown by Marisa, the mute who fought with Guillermo, who is known as Lupina. She is flying for the popular counter-revolution and Sky ends up falling in with them. He is challenged by a Cuban advisor and answers by punching his lights out. He tells the leader, Violeta Cortez (a former teacher), that taking aid form the Cubans gets them a Red label, which means the enmity of the US government. That means they turn to the Soviets and Cubans, which means strings that drag them down. Davy is patched up and journeys with Wayne and his patrol, as they check the indio villages for signs of the Contras trying to use them as bases. They find a group, with a CIA contract advisor, and launch an assault on them (after they had already shot a villager). The advisor tells the generalissimo that they need to scram and the general shoots him, to lighten the load. He runs into a roadblock and reverses right into the path of Wayne and Davy. Wayne resolves the situation with his M-16/M-203. Davy asks about the prisoners and is told the women put them to work replacing the livestock they killed, making them work in the fields. They are going to secure the area, then look for Birdie. Meanwhile, Sky and Marisa fly over, following intel from Violeta and see the smoke from Davy's firefight. he sees jeeps and assumes it is government or Contras and goes for a strafing run. Davy recognizes the Apaches, but realizes Sky doesn't know they are there. Sky nearly takes their head off and Davy tries to signal him... Meanwhile, in the capital, Guillermo's bodyguard decides he has had enough liquor and takes away the bottle... In military parlance, we call this a CHARLIE FOXTROT (CF). CHARLIE stands for cluster; you can work the rest out yourself. Otherwise, just think trainwreck. Skywolf: 1953, Korea; Sky and Riot O'Hara are on a cargo run and caught in a storm. They decide to land at Munsan to try and escape it, before they go down. Riot gave up flyig sightseers in Hawaii, especially after her cargo business didn't improve. She took a job ferrying medical supplies to the Swedes, for the UN. They have to make a landing, while the Communists fire an artillery barrage... They get to a bunker in time, as the Chinese barrage hits the field. They are met by the CO, Col Rick Eagle, who flew bombing missions in WW2. Riot and Sky question why the Chinese are making an all-out assault, with a cease fire on and are shown the reason... The atomic bomb is part of a contingency; but, the B-26 that was to fly it has been destroyed. Col Eagle asks if Riot could fly it out, in her plane. In the morning, they discover that Riot's Dakota was hit and is a wreck. The Reds are advancing on the base and they need to get the bomb out. They load it on a rail car and set up defensive positions on the train. Then, they see the Chinese advance and try to get going... They escape the Chinese, but, soon come under mortar fire and the train is hit and derailed. Their orders are to detonate the nuke to keep it out of Chinese hands. It doesn't look good. Thoughts: So Chuck has set up a collision for the Airfighters, as each is joined up with one of the factions fighting within Bogantilla. Davy is with the Natives, Sky with Marisa and the popular counter-revolution and Valkyrie is revealed to have been hired as Guillermo's bodyguard. Again, he is adapting the then-recent history of Nicaragua, as the Contras were ex-Samosa people, the Sandinistas were consolidating power, their were rebel groups opposing the government after feeling they had been betrayed, and the Natives were being slaughtered by anyone with a weapon. The situation is a bit contrived; but, Chuck does demonstrate that revolutionary soldiers and military leaders rarely make good political leaders (George Washington not withstanding). That has been the story of revolution after revolution, as those who do the fighting are often not trained or equipped to govern and alliances start fracturing and friends go back to being rivals and enemies, in the absence of a common foe. Many a revolutionary ideal is lost in the post-revolution reality. The CIA contract advisor is just supposed to be a military advisor, which suggests Special Forces. Usually, serving Special Forces soldiers act only through official channels, with a government force. For covert operations, where the CIA is backing a rebel group, they are more likely to use a contract agent, who is paid to carry out a mission. A mercenary. The Nicaraguan civil war was a playground for CIA mercs and that was exposed, in 1986, when contract pilot Eugene Hausenfus was captured by the Nicaraguan government, after his plane was shot down, near the border with Costa Rica, while ferrying weapons to the Contras. he was interrogated and put on trial, revealing that he worked for the CIA and that they were arming the Contras to attack the government . The CIA had been forbidden by Congress to interfere in the Nicaraguan civil war and they claimed that private individuals funded the flight. The men in question were Cuban Americans, with links to Vice President George HW Bush. The dead crew men had documents linking them to US Marine Col. Oliver North. The incident was one of the early exposes of the Iran-Contra Scandal that dogged the Reagan Administration through it's second term. In Vietnam, the CIA had used Air America to conduct covert operations in Laos and Cambodia, again using contracted mercenaries. Stan draws him as a stereotype of a paunchy ex-soldier, with smart ass t-shirts ("Kill a Commie for Mommy") and camo pants, which was the image of anyone involved in Soldier of Fortune magazine, which fed mercenary fantasies to dreamers. Skywolf gives voice to a lot of things Chuck had stated in the letters pages, during the controversies over the politics of the book. At the same time, Davy and the indian soldiers showcase an element that was generally lost in the reporting from Latin America, in the late 80s, about how the indigenous population were often targeted by both government and rebel groups. That had formed background detail in Scout, as Emanuel Santana's father had worked with the American Indian Movement, to aid their brothers in Nicaragua. Val, meantime, is there to both throw a monkey wrench into everything and further the relationship soap opera. If Guillermo needed a bodyguard, why wouldn't he turn to Skywolf or Davy? Or was Valkyrie hired by someone else, who thought she might be more amenable to their designs, based on her history of flying for Germany? The back-up story is a bit much, as once again we have Chuck using nuclear threats in Korea. The previous time was the B-29 story, from issue #17 & 18. It seems a bit much to bring it up again. The first time had some historical connection, as such a thing was contemplated, early on. This time, we are supposed to swallow the idea of Eisenhower ordering it to be secreted there as a contingency. Why at Munsan and not Kimpo Air Base, which would be in easy striking range of any target in the north? Hell, they could launch a bombing mission from Japan, itself. It just becomes a convenient plot device to explain why there is heavy fighting when there is a cease fire, historically. The thing is, this episode is part of a larger story that is at work, though it is not apparent, yet. This isn't so much about Skywolf's mercenary adventures as much as it is about his relationship with Riot O'Hara. As we will see, the relationship will become the central focus for the characters, with the adventure element merely providing complications. What do I need to say about Dan Spiegle? of course the art looks great. Spiegle is of the Caniff tradition, which makes him perfect for stuff like this, as he demonstrated previously, with Skywolf's Old Man, not to mention his run on the revived Blackhawk, with Mark Evanier, at DC. Next, Strike! #5, then Airboy Meets The Prowler.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 4, 2021 23:15:23 GMT -5
Strike! #5Dennis vs a Wascally Wabbit? Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Tom Lyle-pencils, Romeo Tanghal-inks, Kurt Hathaway-letters, Don Gidley-colors, Fred Burke-editor Synopsis: Dennis is shown to his new, roach-infested apartment (for $70 a week). He gets settled and turns on the tv, but it doesn't seem to work. he contemplates how to get more money, with the harness and then hears a news bulletin, over the tv (see, old tv sets used to have to warm up, before you got a picture), about a hostage situation in a bank. He makes a phone call to the police (from a street phone booth....remember those?) and asks about a reward. He has to figure out how to get there and we see him riding the bus, as some kid asks if he is going skiing. When he arrives, he goes up to the cops manning the barricades and asks for the officer in charge. He's pointed to a van and introduces himself to the officer, as well as the media. The officer yells at whoever let him through and tells some uniforms to lock him up for obstruction of justice. Dennis mopes as they cuff him (he let them, as he had activated the harness, as a demonstration) and put him in a paddy wagon. He then says nuts to this, snaps the chain on the handcuffs and pulls up the floorplates of the van. He goes down a manhole into the sewer, then gets into the bank via an access hatch. He then has to climb up an elevator cable, since the freight elevator is shut down. Dennis finds the floor with the hostages and discovers that the gunman is a woman, who is terrified and crazed, as she has lost her home in a foreclosure and eviction. Dennis tries to calm her and snatches the gun away, just before the SWAT team bursts in and opens fire, killing the woman. Dennis tells them she wasn't armed anymore and the police respond they had no way of knowing. Dennis slips out, horrified by what has happened and depressed about his failure. he takes a long walk home, oblivious to lights in the sky that speed ahead of him, in the same direction. When Denis arrives home, he here skittering, in the dark and hits a light and finds out that the roaches have gotten a hell of a lot bigger... They are also armed, as one fires an energy weapon at him. They start gnawing on him and it becomes Black Flag time. Denis squashes a few, but they zap him with another weapon and he goes down and is frozen in place. They put what look like little speakers on either side of his head, which start humming and the next thing Dennis knows, he is on some kind of platform, in a really weird environment. The shot pulls back to reveal that he is on the giant bug ship seen at the end of last issue. There follows another fake Sgt Strike reprint and, again, it looks more Silver Age than Golden Age. Thoughts: Chuck demonstrates why so many superheroes were wealthy playboys (aside from swiping ideas from the pulp heroes); it takes money to operate as a superhero. Denis doesn't have a steady supply and he goes looking for a way to make money. Reward money seems a good bet, until he discovers he isn't trained to deal with tense situations, like an armed, barricaded intruder, who is holding hostages. Chuck uses the cliche of trigger-happy SWAT teams, though there sure is enough real word precedent for the cliche. Still, you are going to get many tac teams charging blindly into a situation like that, without knowing how many criminals there are and where they are located. There are some basics to this kind of situation. That's just a sidebar to show that Dennis is learning that comic books and the real world are vastly different things. Then, he discovers that the universe is a big place and that he has visitors and they seem to have an idea about his abilities and technology to defeat the harness. Obviously, there is a connection. We will need the next issue to learn what it is. Definitely not your ordinary superhero title; but, it isn't exactly unique enough to really capture anyone's attention, or not enough people, anyway. On the letters page, Chuck laments that the retailers say they sell out of their copies; but, they aren't ordering that many and not enough retailers are ordering it, period. this has long been the lament of the small publisher; retailers either don't give them the time of day, or order 2 copies, while they order large quantities of everything from DC and Marvel. Demand is a major factor in that, but, it also boils down to too many retailers not being willing to take a chance on something different. Realistically, it is understandable as cash flow is usually low for your average comic shop and most weren't raking in the dough. You put your dollars where they will get the most return. Also, if you don't have demand for a title, you aren't going to give it much thought. The retailer has his own business to run, without being a marketing agent for the small publisher. The counter to that argument is that by diversifying his stock, a retailer could potentially draw a larger audience than just the DC and Marvel crowd. That requires taking chances and some hard work, actually selling product to potential buyers. A lot of comic shop owners were fans first and businessmen second, and not particularly shrewd businessmen, either. The good shops tried to carry the indies and promote them to subscribers. My local when I was in the Navy knew I had varied tastes, across companies and genres and one of the clerks pitched the Comic Buyer's Guide to me and I ended up being a regular subscriber, for several years. Some stores would pitch books with money-back offers, or special discounts to tempt potential readers. Eclipse was pretty good about supporting retailers, with promotional posters and the like, plus, you could order copies directly from them, as they promoted within their comics. Eclipse had many failings, but, it wasn't quality of product or working to promote their books. Now, the reality of Strike! is that it isn't selling and next issue is the last for the series, though there will be a special to wrap up the storyline, a crossover with Sgt Strike and the Air Fighters (in WW2), and then the characters will be a part of Total Eclipse, Eclipse Comics attempt to emulate Crisis on Infinite Earths, with no less than Marv Wolfman writing it! Next: Airboy Meets the Prowler, followed by New America #2.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 7, 2021 23:29:29 GMT -5
Airboy Meets the ProwlerThe perspective on the Prowler's Thompson looks a little wonky there. Creative Team: Tim Truman & Chuck Dixon-writers, Michael H Price-writer, newspaper segments; John K Snyder III-art, Graham Nolan-photo pieces and movie stuff, Tim Harkins-letters, Julie Michel-colors, cat yronwode-editor. Synopsis: A crime journalist is in hiding, after word of a Mafia contract on her, in response to her reporting. Paper also notes appearances by Airboy and the Prowler... The paper is being read by Leo, who calls the police and tells them to move the reporter to a hotel near the Nelson Aviation plant, and that arrangements have been made. Leo reminds the commissioner of his days as a beat cop, when he wasn't squeaky clean. The mobster has heard rumors of where the reporter might be and orders his men to grab her. Meanwhile, Scott is on the bus to pick up Leo's cleaning at Cinderella Laundry, next to the Nelson Aviation plant. Davy Nelson pulls up to the gate of the Nelson plant, after a phone call warned him of dangers there. The police pull up to the Ridgemont Hotel, with the hiding reporter, as Leo instructed. Cinderella Laundry is between Nelson Aviation and the Ridgemont Hotel. Let the fun begin! Shots ring out. The cops go down and Wendy Stuart, the reporter, is grabbed and the hoods speed off. Scot had dug into pavement. Davy Nelson hears the shots and reverses his car. Scott thinks what to do next and spots a motorcycle conveniently parked next to the laundry. And he has his mask. Leo observes from a rooftop. Scott and Davy catch up and shots are fired. Davy is between Scott and the hoods and his car collides with the goons. They crash and Davy gets out and asks Scott where they went, then asks about the mask. Scott is too embarrassed to call himself the Prowler and says to call him Scott. They head inside Palermo Food Imports warehouse. Scott refuses the offer of a gun. Davy tells him to be careful. Scott runs into armed goons and the armed Davy kills them. Scott continues to refuse guns and uses gas and martial arts, but one gets the drop on him and Davy shoots him dead. They notice more and then hear Wendy cry out. A hood threatens her. Augello, the mob boss, is there personally. Then, Leo turns up and it turns out that he had a run in with Augello, in 1951... Scott and Davy find the unconscious Wendy and the permanently unconscious Augello and take her out. Scott is worried about the police response; Davy says they will just explain things. Each thinks the other is a tool. The story is interrupted by an old Prowler movie, which turns out to be on tv, at a bar, where Davy and Scott go to wind down. They have been cleared, thanks to the reporter and are trading philosophy about the death and violence. Scott is still opposed, but Davy asks how they could have rescued Wendy without some sort of violence. Scott questions whether resorting to the methods of the criminal ultimately corrupts you and makes you no better. Davy still argues in favor of applied use of violence in pursuit of good and Scott isn't having it. he tells Davy to use his lawyers to protect Davy, but leave him out of things and leaves. Davy goes and meets reporters. Newspaper pieces remark that the weapon that slew Augello was not Airboy's. Leo puts down the paper and reflects on his manipulations. He knew the original Airboy (or of him) and felt that the swashbuckling style was wrong for the likes of him, but feels that meeting Davy was good for Scot, as he turns him into an instrument of "justice." Thoughts: There's a good set up, if a rather thin plot. Leo, essentially, sets up a collision of Scott, Airboy and Augello's hoods, just so he can gain revenge on Augello for beating a rap in 1951 and sharpen Scott into being the cold blooded killer that Leo is, as he sees that as the only method to deal with the criminals they face. Davy wears bright colors, but kills without showing remorse. Scott is troubled by the killing, regardless of the virtue of their mission. He sees the violence as a corrupting influence and Leo tends to provide evidence that supports that thesis. There was no need to draw out Augello, as Stuart was being hidden to testify against him. Leo sees the world as pure black and white, like a pulp avenger, which is what he is. Scott has a more humanistic view of things, while Davy falls a bit in the middle, though leaning more towards Leo. Leo instigates attacks, while Davy generally responds to them; but, Scott looks for a different path. He knows he is tainted, as he is compelled to act, even without Leo's manipulations; but, he seeks to do so in a less permanent fashion. Is he too naive? Or is Leo too bloodthirsty? Is Davy becoming corrupted, but hasn't faced the consequences of his violent life, like his father did? Some interesting stuff here, philosophically. It's timing is also interesting, as 1987 was a period where the "grim and gritty" phenomena was on the rise, in comics, in the wake of Dark Knight, Watchmen, Daredevil and others. The Punisher was a hot title, with bullets flying left and right. Airboy, which is an ode to classic aviation adventure, has gun violence throughout. Truman's Scout is filled with violence, though it is probably the most nuanced presentation of a violent story of the bunch, in my opinion. Within the Prowler, Truman explores the debate, via Scott and Leo. Leo is the hardline avenger; Scott is torn between wanting to just live in peace and a desire to help others and be like the heroes of his youth, who do not kill. In many ways, the Prowler is a meditation on what is more "adult," a desire to resolve conflict without extreme violence or the idea that crime can be stopped, without drawing blood and breaking codes of honor? Which does more harm, the childish idea of superheroes punching criminals or modern vigilantes resorting to killing to take out really violent criminals? Of course, rule of law never actually enters the debate, as it rarely rears its head in superhero comics, except to put police at odds with the hero, because they "just don't understand." Airboy was eclipse's attempt to have a shared universe, as it existed in the same world as New Wave, Prowler, Mr Monster, Strike! and some more, as would come to pass, in Total Eclipse. For the most part, though, it only interacted with other 4 Winds titles. Some of these aren't particularly great stories (the previous Air Maidens special was not much more than bikinis and guns) and some are nice little allegories. This is one that makes good use of the characters to present a philosophical argument. It's not a terribly great action story; but, it isn't meant to be. Makes a nice change of pace, while also serving to set up the sequel Prowler mini. Next: New America #2
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 9, 2021 0:19:32 GMT -5
New America #2Almost looks like Tom Yeates is channeling some Modesty Blaise (probably more Enrique Romero than Jim Holdaway). Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Gary Kwapisz-pencils, Aubrey Bradford-inks, Mindy Eisman-letetrs, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor Synopsis: Rosa is in Alaska, ostensibly a free kingdom; but, in reality, a puppet state... Rosa and her team are attempting to disrupt the alliance between the Soviet Union and Socialist Canada. In Sitka, a ship arrives, bearing Don Alejandro Sebatian Christophe Munoz, a Columbian drug lord of great wealth and power. King Michael introduces his family: wife Elaine, son Duncan, son Martin and daughter Alyce, with he Native nurse Sydna. Don Alejandro brings his daughter Corazon, who is to be wed to Prince Duncan. Also present are Soviet ambassador to the Kingdom of Alaska, Louis Brezhnev and Canadian Prime Minister Martin Duncan, King Michael's father in aw, as well as Edward Duncan, brother-in-law to the king and commander of their Russian troops. Corazon is attended by Eva de Alvarez, Patriccia Rimon and Rosalie Hernandez, who is Rosa Winter, undercover. Prince Micahel seeks a marriage of his son and Corazon to gain a powerful ally, against the Soviet and Canadian influences on his Kingdom. This is all instigated by his wife, Elaine, who seeks to replace the Soviet presence. She also is having an affair with Brezhnev, to whom she shares the plans of King Michael. Rosa reflects on King Michael's rise and the loss of Native identity and suffrage... She also meets with Kazzutov, who assassinated Father Galvez, to make him a martyr and touch off the revolution in Baja. She shoes him her prosthetic bionic hand, with its built in wire gun, and serves him notice, should he fail her. Prince Martin sees Kazzutov leave Rosa's quarters and conspires. Duncan meets with Corazon and continues to fumble the romance, asking if she is a virgin. She storms off to her father, who tells her she will marry Prince Duncan or end up working in one of his industries The Russians want the marriage, the Canadians do not; King Michael wants control of the Russian military bases. Prime Minister Duncan is angered by Michael's arrogance and speaks to his son about potentially replacing him with Prince Duncan. Prince Martin overhears. Rosa has a dream of Princess Alyce and her nurse, Sedna, who tells Rosa her coming was foretold and charges her to protect Alyce, or there will be retribution. The wedding progresses and we see the Queen and her lover and Prince Duncan and his new bride, as he states the truth and asks his new wife not to hate him and try to make the best of their arranged marriage. Meanwhile, Rosa's team make their move... Rosa, herself, kills the King and Queen, while Kazzutov kills Prince Duncan and his bride. Both Canadian and Russian soldiers radio their governments, blaming the other for the attack. The Mossad team comes for Alejandro and kills his women, but miss him. Sedna and Martin are gunned down. Kazzutov goes to kill Alyce and Rosa makes good on her threat to him, with a bullet between the eyes. She takes the child in her arms and departs with her, running into Herschel, who says their orders were that all of the Strogoff's die. Rosa replies they did. The story ends with Rosa's summary, from her memoir. Brezhnev and Prime Minister Duncan escaped to tell their governments the other side was responsible and Alaska is torn apart in chaos. Rosa adopted Alyce and renamed her Laura, after President Laura Carver. She barely has any memories of her true family. Thoughts: Rosa continues her descent into darkness, in her quest to save America from the forces in control, through Bill Loper....meaning the Legion of Man. Now, she has committed wholesale murder, including innocent children, to create of power vacuum and set Canada and the Soviet Union at each other's throats. The end result as this helps secure America's northern border against Russian conquest, as they lose their bases in Alaska and their alliance with Canada. This puts Canada in a position to enter a new alliance with a revived America, once Rosa takes control. Ostrander and Yale don't sugarcoat this...Rosa is in a dark place. She is working for a greater cause, but she has fewer qualms, this time, about spilling blood. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Rosa also settles the betrayal by Kazzutov and Avner, personally gaining her revenge, while also demonstrating that she is no one's puppet. First, the obvious: the name Michael Strogoff is a reference to the novel by Jules Verne, of the same name. Strogoff is courier to Tsar Alexander II. he is sent to Irkurtsk to warn the governor of a traitorous colonel, as the Tartar's encircle the city, while in rebellion. Michael is eventually capture by the Tartars, along with his mother and tortured after they use her reaction to his danger to identify hm in a crowd. he seems to be blinded but actually fakes it. Michael eventually escapes the Tartars, with his love Nadia, and succeeds in his mission. The novel is considered to be Verne's finest work, by many literary critics (I prefer his science romances). The novel deals with a Taratar rebellion to separate East Asian Russia from the mainland. That theme is reflected as Rosa seeks to separate Alaska from Soviet control and from their alliance with Canada. The attack on Michael reflects the historical murder of Tsar Nicholas the II and his family, by the Bolsheviks, right down to the legend that Princess Anastasia escaped the horror and was raised in secret, in the West. Alyce assumes the role of Anastasia. Alejandro appears to survive, which may have implications for the future (I don't really recall and I haven't read ahead). The main thrust of this, and, indeed the whole series, is the transformation of Rosa into the future leader of the fractured America, as this is the crucible in which she is forged. As we see, it is in fire and darkness and she loses a piece of her soul with each compromise in her moral code, for the sake of her perceived greater good. The question is, where will she be at the end? Can she maintain her principles or is she to be yet another example of Nietzsche's belief that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Mention is made of the Pope, when Don Alejandro and Corazon meet the Strogoff's. This will lead into next issue, as it appears that the pontiff is somehow connected to Latin America. Perhaps Truman anticipated a Latin pontiff before the Church, itself, did?
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 11, 2021 19:40:07 GMT -5
Airboy #35Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Stan Woch-pencils, Will Blyberg-inks, Bill Pearson-letters, Olyoptics-colors, cat yronwode-editor Skywolf: Dan Spiegle-art, Carrie Spiegle-letters, everyone else-same. Also from Eclipse: ARBBH #9, Air Fighters Meet Sgt Strike Special #1, Area 88 #16 & 17, California Girls #7, Fusion #7, Legend of Kamui #16 & 17, Mai the Psuchic Girl #16 & 17, New America #3, Spaced #13, Swords of Texas #3, Valkyrie TPB, Winter World #2 I totally forgot about Winter World # 1, so I will be covering it and issue #2, since they were 4 Winds comics. Synopsis: Skywolf bears down on Davy; but, pulls out once he realizes who it is. The Apaches land and Sky makes apologies while Davy makes introductions. Over dinner, Davy and Sky decide to try to meet with Guillermo and bring an end to the fighting. Guillermo is trotted out to review his soldiers, but wishes to be in his office, working on the country's problems. He has people in his ear and they make remarks about Valkyrie. She yells for them to get down as someone launches an attack. Valkyrie takes out the atatckers, with one survivor; but, the head of security kills him before he can be questioned. Val yells at him and he puffs up, until Guillermo yells in support of Val and demands a report on his desk by nightfall. The advisors appear to conspire through looks. Davy, Sky and Wayne Littlehawk take over a guard checkpoint into Freddomtown (formerly Gamada Cruz). Davy sends Wayne off to look after the indios and they blow the bridge, blocking soldiers from using it to go into the field. At the palace, the advisors conspire to replace Guillermo. Davy and his group move in and take out some sentries. Sky is feeling like an old man, losing his touch. They move inside and Sky watches over some prisoners while Davy and Marisa go upstairs. Davy makes it to Guillermo's office, where Valkyrie is waiting, pistol drawn. Skywolf: Sky & Riot are on a derailed train, in Korea, as the Chinese pour in, looking for an atomic bomb, which they were attempting to move off the base, by rail. Col Eagle has orders to detonate the bomb, rather than let it fall into Chinese hands. Sky is trying to talk him out of it and Riot spots a B-26. Sky thinks it is air support. They see something drop from the plane. It's a man. His chute doesn't open and Sky thinks they are cooked, then he sees Sgt Strike bending the gun barrel of a tank. He destroys the tank then unloads on the soldiers with automatic fire. He walks up to Eagle and tells him to call in his transport and that he is taking the bomb. Eagle argues; but Sky tells him to forget it. A helicopter airlifts out the bomb and Sky and Riot catch some rest, before a truck takes them to Kimpo. Riot has nothing left and is done and wants to go back to the states. Sky mentions California. Riot asks what's going on and Sky proposes to her... Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Skywolf and Riot O'Hara are going to tie the knot! Bachelor party is next issue; Jack Gatling is bringing the beer. Thoughts: Well, Davy and Skywolf have linked up without anyone getting hurt, but Davy now faces down Valkyrie. More conspiracies behind Guillermo's back, as those with the real power wish to maintain it and Gillermo has outlived his usefulness to their cause. Not much to say until we see next issue. Skywolf runs into Sgt Strike, who he meets in the Air Fighters Meet Sgt Strike Special. It feels weird to have a superhero, after nothing but humans in these stories. Of, sure, the main Airboy feature has had supernatural enemies, including Misery and giant rats; but, the Skywolf backups have been more standard adventure stories, rather than pulp horror adventures. This integrates Strike! into the Airboy universe, which also includes Prowler and New Wave. However, that proves a minor diversion, as Riot and Skywolf are thrust together, to become man and wife. Somehow, given the very brief romance of the two, I don't think it is going to be one for the ages. Art is tremendous on both features, with Stan Woch delivering the modern action and Dan Spiegle making the 1950s look like something from the funny pages, in the best sense. Next: Air Fighters Meet Sgt Strike.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 12, 2021 18:43:05 GMT -5
The Air Fighters Meet Sgt Strike Special #1Wow! Why, this is right up there with Captain America meeting Sgt Fury or Sub-Mariner tangling with the Human Torch! No? Well, it should be! Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Tom Lyle-art, Kurt Hathaway-letters, Olyoptics-colors, Fred Burke-editor Synopsis: We open on May 30, 1944, with a P-39 Airacobra somewhere over Europe. The plane is flown by the pilot known as The Flying Dutchman, whose identity is known only to Churchill and Queen Wilhelmina, of the Netherlands. We are told he has carte blanche to pick his targets and we see him strafe a German train... We are told he is consumed by hatred and craves only death. A Wehrmacht officer flees the wreckage of the train and is gunned down by Resistance fighters, who discover he was carrying secret files. The fighter exclaims "Mein Godt!" as he reads the file. We cut to England, as Sgt Strike lifts weights, as he prepares for D-Day. He is interrupted by new orders... He is briefed about the documents, which indicate the Germans are planning to launch V-2 rockets into space, to build an orbital platform from which to launch V-2 attacks on the US... Meanwhile, on an Island in the North Sea, near Britain, Skywolf is showing Black Angel the Wolf Pack's "semi-plane," which breaks apart to fly in separate sections, but which is really just propaganda, as they usually fly P-38s. They come under attack by a helicopter assault of SS commandos... Skywolf, Black Angel and Cockey take them down, though one survivor swallows cyanide, rather than be interrogated. A patch on one sleeve indicates Skywolf's enemy counterpart, Baron von Tundra, is behind the attack. Skywolf gives orders to Judge and Turtle to load up their Lightnings and get in contact with the Maquis to locate von Tundra. Black Angel cautions him that it is a likely trap and that they need to look at larger strategy than personal vendettas. She's a dame, so Skywolf pats her on the head and continues blundering along. She ends up joining them, in frustration, in her Hawker Hurricane. Von Tundra is in Holland, where he is in charge of security of the secret project and rages about taking orders from a Doktor Mittelgard. He is alerted to the spotting of the Wolf Pack and prepares to close his trap. Skywolf is hit and hits the silk and lands only to be encircled by vo Tundra's soldiers. He is dragged before the man and his goon, Goro, a Japanese monster and geneticist, whose head was cut off by Skywolf. Meanwhile, Davy Nelson and Valkyrie are flying a mission, in Birdie. Turns out, they are transport for Sgt Strike and his mission... Airboy and Val, mission completed, head for home. Meanwhile, Skywolf is being tortured by von Tundra, when Sgt Strike makes his entrance. He wreaks havoc, then runs into Goro. While the Germans are distracted, Skywolfswings up his legs and chokes his torturer with his leg manacles (he is suspended off the ground). Sgt Strike disposes of Goro and frees Skywolf. They move on and, eventually, link up with Black Angel and the rest of the Wolf Pack. Introductions are made and Sgt Strike fills them in on his mission. They head down the tunnels toward the launch point. Dr Mittlegard refuses von Tundra's attempt to join him on the rocket and heads off to launch. Sgt Strike leaps on it, as it starts to lift off. He rips off the outer plating and causes it to malfunction and be destroyed. Skywolf and the others catch up to von Tundra and take him and Goro prisoner. They wonder if Sgt Strike survived and we see, in the final panel, he did. Thoughts: This is one of my favorite Air Fighters historical stories, from Eclipse (and Chuck Dixon). It's basically an homage to those great Simon & Kirby and Lee & Kirby wartime Captain America stories, as Sgt Strike, a deliberate homage to Captain America, joins up with a group of soldiers (in this case, the Air Fighters) to stop Nazi super-scientists from employing a futuristic weapon. Lee & Kirby did this when Captain America first met Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos and fought together to stop the Germans from using a tunnel to secretly move troops under the English Channel and attack Great Britain, in Sgt Fury #13. Simon & Kirby and Lee and Kirby had Cap & Bucky attacking German installations and destroying superweapons. Similar things went on in Blackhawk, which was the inspiration for Hillman's Skywolf and his Wolf Pack, far more than the other aviation heroes of Air Fighters Comics. So, it is fitting that Skywolf and the Wolfpack are the chief supporting agents in Sgt Strike's mission. Also, Chuck has spent more time on Skywolf's historical adventures than any of the other characters. It's an extension of his work in both the Strike! series and the Skywolf back-ups, in Airboy. It's also one of the best of the Airboy spin-off comics. The Valkyrie mini served to add to Valkyrie's character and address her background as a German flyer and any culpability she might have had in aiding German atrocities (though they went for an easy cop out, narratively). The Air Maidens special was pretty much bikinis and bullets. The Airboy & Mr Monster special was mostly just an excuse to put the Heap into a Mr Monster story, which is an allegory of the treatment of Golden Age comic creators. Mr Monster and the Heap are mostly there to move the plot along, while Michael T Gilbert makes philosophical and moral points. Airboy and the Pwoler is mostly just a Prowler tale, with Airboy as more of a guest star, to aid in Scott Kida's development, as a vigilante hero. I will e getting to the other spin-offs, soon. This is both a great use of characters, and just a really great, exciting adventure. There is nothing groundbreaking in this story, as it is standard fare for homages to Golden Age stories, from a nostalgic viewpoint. It's pulp science and gung-ho action/adventure, set in a period where good vs evil was playing out on the world stage, in probably the clearest example of a righteous war (it ain't that easy, if you take the 1930s into context). They also set it on the eve of the invasion of Normandy, giving a reason for all involved not to be present at the landings. In that, it matches Sgt Fury's D-Day story, as well as the mission of the Dirty Dozen, in both the original novel and the seminal war film. Tom Lyle has fun with the art and demonstrates he had go visual reference, as the aircraft are as correct as he can draw them (he wasn't a Russ Heath or George Evans; but, for a modern artist, he did a hell of a job) and so are the armaments. He even carries forward the concept of Sgt Strike carrying a crew-served weapon like a rifle, by having Strike help himself to an MG-44 machine gun, a forerunner to the M-60 and FN-GPMG machine guns. This is a guy who doesn't carry a Thompson, this is a guy who grabs a heavy weapon and mows down the enemy in huge numbers. Lyle also demonstrates he can handle the sci-fi elements, as he draws rocketry and a potential space station as looking advanced, yet of the technology of the time. Many modern artists have a failing of applying current technology to the past, to create a retro-futurist concept, but don't take into account advances in manufacturing. The first Captain America movie suffered from this with the HYDRA weapons, which look advanced for the 21st Century, let alone for WW2. Compare that to Hellboy, where Nazi super-science is built with heavy cables, steel, and vacuum tubes. It looks like technology of the future, built with the resources of the period. This special made me wish that Dixon had been put on a wartime Cap mini-series or spin-off title, as he got what made those stories so great. If there is a fault here, it is in the character of Baron von Tundra. He was an actual Hillman villain, from the Skywolf stories, yet we only have one reprint from which to reference him, which had only recently been published by Eclipse. He doesn't get developed much, apart from some mustache twirling and a bit of cowardice. He's obviously not a particularly bright Nazi, as he leads Skywolf to a secure location, for vengeance, which could compromise the secrecy of the site and the project there. His commandos are laughable, though they do reflect the way such things were done, in the 40s comics, complete with swastika emblems and hoods, rather than realistic combat gear. As it is, the German military did not wear unit patches, like the US Army (neither did the British). German uniforms included a cuff title (particularly the SS), with unit designation, but did not have stylized insignia. The US were the ones who liked to advertise. The helicopter (used by the German commandos) is a bit too advanced; but, I suspect Chuck was more influenced by the appearance of one in Where Eagles Dare than actual helicopter developmental history. The German were developing a helicopter, the Focke-Achgelis Fa223 and the Flettner Fl 282, but waited until late in the war to issue production orders, so they were never deployed operationally, due to Allied bombing of manufacturing plants and scarcity of resources. The Fa 223 was used in a limited mountain rescue role, though mostly in test trials. Still, what's a helicopter when you have rockets launching a space platform to fire V-2 Rockets back at the Earth? That's half the fun of this kind of thing. von Tundra will reappear, in the Skywolf mini-series; but, it is a shame that Chuck never got the chance to do more stories of the Air Fighters during the war. In many ways, they are more exciting than the modern stuff and it is a bit easier to buy into some of the silliness. Chuck still makes good use of the chance to mock Skywolf's original wolf's head cowl (though his Batman mask isn't necessarily that much of an improvement) and he continues the characterization of Sgt Strike being more than a bit of an a-hole, rather than the paragon that Captain America is. That was intentional, according to a conversation I had with Tom Lyle, as he says Sgt Strike was Chuck wanting to do Captain America more as a soldier than a superhero; a weapon, not a symbol. That is one of the reasons I liked Strike! despite preferring Sgt Strike to the modern Denis. Judging by what happens in Total Eclipse, it seems that Eclipse preferred him, too.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 19, 2021 12:45:11 GMT -5
Swords of Texas #3I think that is supposed to be the Barret M82 .50 cal sniper rifle that Banner is hoisting there, though it doesn't exactly match up with the real thing. There are also elements of the British Boys .55 cal anti-tank rifle, from WW2. I think Banner is just overcompensating for Jade. Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Ben Dunn-pencils, Mark McKenna-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor Synopsis: Banner is stressing out about trying to take a convoy of disguised armored vehicles into Communist Mexico, to ferry arms to rebels in Japanese-administered Baja, with funding by the Mossad and the aid of one of their men, Herschel Rodriguez... They are being shadowed by no-goodniks who want to steal the cargo. Someone else is watching, too. The crooks stage an ambush in a canyon and launch a mortar barrage. Our third observer takes aim on one of the ambushers with an M-14 rifle. One of the ambushers goes down. then another...and another. The sniper, a kid, looks at his weapon, then sees a shadow and looks up. It is Scout, with his Enfield rifle. He was the real sniper. The kid runs off and meets up with the Swords. it's the boy, from Baja. he tells them of the indio and Jade wonders if it could be Scout. Duh! Further along, they run into a Mexican war mecha and open fire, destroying it, hopefully before it can radio for backup. They continue on and make there rendezvous, where the meet up with Emilio Galvez, who leads the rebels. Banner learns his friend is dead, but wants nothing to do with fighting. the rest of the Swords feel differently. Banner goes off to think and overhears Emilio speak of how the Russians lure families with promises of work and Socialist utopia, then make them slaves in the Japanese factories. banner comes down and tells them they will have to carry the fight, but that the Swords will help them. They recon and spot governor Omo and Lt Garces. Emilio grew up with Garces. Omo puts his kids on a helicopter to mainland Mexico and calls for his sword. Dogs of Danger: Beau and his group arrive at the amusement park, have guns pulled on them, reunite with their pa, get attacked, fight back...it's all over-the-top and not especially funny. Thoughts: I was disappointed in 1987 and that hasn't changed. Swords continues to bypass character development and the plot isn't that deep. Dunn's artwork looks amateurish, after a steady diet of Tim Truman and some of his XQB buddies. Beau La Duke was a hell of a lot funnier in Scout and in the two-page bits. This is stretching a joke that doesn't work. All in all, a lot of nothing happens in this issue and it feels like a two-issue story, at best, is being stretched to fit a 4-issue model. The issue was also a month late, though I have no idea if it is 4 Winds fault or Eclipse. Eclipse had major problems by the 90s and books were late because the publisher couldn't find a printer who would take their check, after bouncing too many and making very late payments on others. This is post-flood, so their cash flow is damaged, though not that far gone, I think. Might be a Little from Column A and a little from Column B, though the other 4 Winds books are on time; so I have to wonder if something was up with delivering the art. Maybe someone got sick or something got lost in the mail.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 19, 2021 16:11:32 GMT -5
New America #3Tom Yeates making his homage to George C Scott. Creative Team: John Ostrander & Kim Yale-writers, Gary Kwapisz-pencils, Aubrey Bradford-inks, Mindy Eisman-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, Tim Truman-editor Synopsis: Rosa brings us up to date... Sen Craig Creek's western secession is going well, as they control Corpus Christi, TX, giving them a port. Rosa has her new daughter and is leading the SWFS army. Avner Glanzman comes to disrupt things with a mission: rescue the pope from Don Munoz, the Colombian drug lord who escaped Rosa's assassination of the Alaskan royal family. Rosa sees through any altruism and declares that Israel wants to control the Pope and Avner says, yes,, he will be placed in Jerusalem, rather than Rome. Rosa has the contacts in Colombia, set up during her infiltration of Munoz's family. She demands her team and will not expose her contacts. Avner reluctantly agrees. meanwhile, Munoz, whose cartel controls most of Central America and much of the Gulf Coast of America, speaks to President Loper, who identifies Rosa as the woman who was to attend Munoz's daughter. Word is leaked to Munoz by a spy in Craig Creek's camp and they lay a trap for Rosa. In Colombia, Rosa links up with her team, then her contact, a Cardinal who has fed information to Munoz, presents info to Rosa. She shares that her plan will go down during the Sunday papal address. The cardinal sells her out to Munoz. Rosa confronts her team about any orders like last time. David debates her outlook, pointing out that Israel has fought for survival and Israel is their country and family and they come before friends. Rosa says she has only recently had country and family. On Sunday, Rosa nd her team slip in and substitute the speech prepared for the Pope with their own. They ensure he has a chance to read it... The Pope cries out against the drug lords and calls on the people to rise up in a holy crusade against the,. Rosa and her team fight off Munoz's mercenaries. The people take up arms and the team gets the Pope out. Rosa leaves the cardinal to face the consequences of playing both sides and they evacuate with the pope. In Texas, Rosa refuses to allow the Pope to be taken on board an Israeli sub and there is a standoff between her and her wire gun and the Mossad team, who surround the pope. Rebbekah thinks Rosa is bluffing, She isn't. The Pope is staying in America to help with the power balance and to keep him out of Israeli hands. Only Hershel survives and Avner stops him from shooting Rosa, as they will not leave alive. Rosa weeps for the decision she had to make, but her country and her family come first. Thoughts: Excellent issue. Once again we see how Ostrander & Yale are adding to the Scout mythos, carrying the story forward and illustrating the evolution of Rosa Winter from solder to statesman. At first, she was a tool of other people's agendas. Now she has crafted her own. She has cut Israel's puppet strings and she and the SWFS stand alone again. They are stronger, though and she is wiser and tempered to a fine edge. Again, Kwapisz isn't the most spectacular artist; but he is a darn good storyteller and that's what is needed here. This mini continues to excel, while Swords mostly just distracts. Ostrander gets more character development in two pages, with the Mossad team than Chuck Dixon has managed in three issues of Swords. So, Rosa has fermented rebellion in Baja, which threatens to overtake Mexico, freeing it from Russian influence. She has destroyed the Russian and Canadian alliance, in Alaska, by committing murder and found herself with the child she could never bear herself. She has broken the stranglehold of the drug cartels in Central America and freed the pope, gaining a powerful symbolic ally. What's next? Well, since the borders are now secure and they are independent of Israels' influence, it would seem it is time to focus on Bill Loper and the rest of America. Ostrander & Yale present a Latin American pontiff, in 1987. It wasn't that long ago that a Polish cardinal was elevated to the papacy, breaking the stranglehold of the Italians on the Vatican. He was followed by a German, then, an Argentine, Pope Francis. Prescient or astute? Latin America is the largest Catholic region in the world; so, it was inevitable. It also fits in with the political and social activism of Latin American priests, in the 1980s, which put them at odds with the more conservative Vatican officials, a clash that Pope Francis has dealt with in his own real world papacy. Interesting how a good foundation in history and culture and a creative imagination can combine to both create a great story and create an unplanned prediction of the future. Next: Winter World
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 27, 2021 17:33:17 GMT -5
I decided to do Winter World as a complete progression, so, I will wait until I am finished with the Scout spin-offs and Stryke!, and cover the issues in succession, while we wait for Airboy to catch up to Scout War Shaman. Airboy #36Cover's kind of ballsy, given that DC was part of Time Warner. Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Stan Woch-pencils, Will Blyberg-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Olyoptics-colors-cat yronwode-editor Skywolf: Chuck-story, Dan Spiegle-art, Carrie Spiegle-letters-everybody else-same Also from Eclipse: Air Fighters Classic #2, Area 88 #18 & 19, Crossfire #26, Dreamery #8, Hand of Fate #1, Legend of Kamui #18 & 19, Mai the Psychic Girl #18 & 19, Millennium Index #1 & 2, Night Music #7, Revenge of the Prowler #1, Strike! #6, Tales of the Beanworld #9, Weird Romance #1, Xenon #5 & 6, Zot #17 New America and Swords of Texas will conclude next month, and Skywolf gets his own mini, at that time. A new Prowler mini, which we will cover, and the last issue of Strike!, though there is one last hurrah, after that, which bridges the gap between it and Total Eclipse. No one asked for a Millennium Index, unless you wanted a handy reference to how much money you wasted on that crossover. I stuck to the books I already got and the mini-series issues; but, even that was too much for it. Air Fighters Classic reprints more Hillman stuff, in black & white. I recommend them for that, with a proviso that they were done in the 1940s and reflect the systemic racism and wartime fervor of the period. Eclipse was doing well with their manga titles and would add more. First had Lone Wolf & Cub going and Dark Horse would jump on the bandwagon, a little later. Viz was working with Eclipse, but eventually broke off onto its own. Night Music features P Craig Russell's adaptation of Kipling's Red Dog. Russell's Kipling stuff was as great as his opera adaptations. Weird Romance was a one-shot, for Valentine's Day. Crossfire marks the end of the series. Synopsis: When we last saw them, Airboy had infiltrated Guillermo's palace and come face to face, and barrel to barrel, with Valkyrie, who is Guillermo's bodyguard. Valkyrie must use rolls of double-sided tape! Val questions whose side Davy is on and he tries to talk her down, reminding her he put Guillermo in power, despite him ordering the death of his father. He saved Val from Misery. Val shoots.... ...and hits a guard sneaking up on Davy. Other soldiers appear and it is a fuull scale attack. Val tosses her MAC-10 Ingram to Davy and they fight off the invaders and seem happy. Very weird courting ritual these two have! They meet up with Marisa (aka Lupina, the She-Wolf) and toss a grenade down the stairs. Sky is interrupted in his snack in the kitchen, as he hears the explosion (but not the gunfire, I guess). They battle to Guillermo's bedroom, where they see he has killed several, but, the head of National Security has a pistol pointed at his head, with Guillermo between him and the Air Fighters. He tells them to go ahead and shoot and rid the country of the corruption; but, they hesitate. he takes matters in his own hands and attacks and is shot dead. Lupina unloads he AK-47 into the man. Guillermo still lives, but Sky turns up, with soldiers pointing rifles at him, as they arrest the group for attempted assassination of Guillermo. They refuse to listen when Davy and Val argue they were saving Guillermo. Davy goes after the leader and gets a rifle butt to the head and boots to the ribs. Sky yells at them to leave him alone and gets beaten. Davy wakes up in a cell, with rats crawling on him. Sky kicks them off of him and helps Davy. They are held in the cells below the palace, where Orista had kept his victims locked away. Val is held in her room. Guillermo is in a coma, but signs are good, if he comes out of it, in 48 hours. The conspirators realize it is the perfect situation for them to maintain power... Val is stuck in her room, but her gear and clothes have been taken away (she still has her fighting togs on, so stop panting). She mopes and whines a bit.... Down in the cells, Davy admits to being head over heels in love with Val and Sky thinks back to a certain gal (see back-up), when they are interrupted by a gloating officer... Davy has had enough and delivers a comeback. The guards rescue their boss, but Davy is glad he got some licks in, before they are shot. However, the cavalry has arrived at Bogantilla Airport; and, after a little bribery, makes its way to affect a rescue... Skywolf: August, 1953...Burbank, California... A man arrives at a bar and enquires about a bachelor party. he is English and the barman directs him to the back, then mocks his manner, after he is gone. Skywolf welcomes Ronald Britain, aka The Iron Ace. Skywolf asks about Davy Nelson and Ronald says he hides himself in the monastery and he hasn't seen him in months. Sky takes him in and acquaints him with the other guests: Link Thorne (The Flying Fool), Tom Grayson and Frank Corby (The Fighting Devil Dogs, from the Republic serial of the same name), Bronco Brady and Rev Jimmy Wise (American Volunteer Group, aka The Flying Tigers), Chip Hunter and Vic Torry (of Vic Torry and his Flying Saucer). Sky calls out to the barman, Skinny (Skinny McGinty, a Hillman character) for a gin & tonic, for Ronald, as a roar fills the air. It's Jack Gatling, the Bald Eagle, in his plane, The Flying Coffin. He can't believe Sky is marrying Riot O'Hara. Link tells Sky it's the best thing, remarking on his marriage to Wing and flying a cropduster for Sky's mother, when he couldn't get other jobs, because of the Red smear. Ronald has found a couple of ladies and they move the party to another bar. Jack does what we used to call "carrier landings" on a table, irritating the barman, who wants to close up. The party starts breaking up and everyone says their goodbyes, leaving Sky, Link and Vic. Sky is a little down, thinking of his lost friends, the Skywolves (Judge, Cocky & Turtle) and Davy, who is lost to them in another way. They part from Vic, who is picked up in his saucer... The next day, we see Riot and Lawrence at the Justice of the Peace office... Ladies and gentlemen, I give the bride and groom, Mr And Mrs Lawrence Wolfe! Thoughts: Airboy continues the allegory of the Contras, via Bogantilla. We see that Davy and Valkyrie have realized their love for one another. Now, if they can just survive. I assume the Time cover is a reference to the arrest and trial of Eugene Hasenfuss, a CIA contract pilot whose plane was shot down over Nicaraugua and was captured and displayed for the world press, to prove a link between the US government and the Contra rebels. It was stated by the government that he was a pilot hired by private citizens to supply arms to the Contras; but, the two men in question, Max Gomez and Ramon Medina, two Cuban-Americans, were in fact Felix Rodriguez and Luis Posada Carriles, both CIA agents and paramilitary officers, involved in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion by CIA-backed Cuban exiles. Rodriguez infiltrated the country, in advance, to gain intel and was later part of a team hinting Che Guevara, during the Bolivian uprising, where he was captured and killed. He also flew helicopters and trained Provincial Reconnaissance Units (PRUs), in Vietnam, as part of the CIA-run Phoenix Program. he had extensive ties to George HW Bush, from his time running the CIA and became an embarrassing link to the then Vice President, during the Iran-Contra Scandal. Carriles was also involved in Brigade 2506, the Cuban exile group that landed at the Bay of Pigs. He also was involved in terror bombings of Cuban airliners, hotels and nightclubs and was branded a terrorist by the FBI. He joined Venezuelan Intelligence, in 1968 but left their service in 1974, due to differences with the new president. The CIA broke off contact with him, after the Church Committee detailed CIA excesses in their operations, leading to a Congressional clampdown on their activities. he then carried out his terrorist activities against Cuba. he was recruited into the Contra scheme by Rodriguez. In 2005 he was arrested in Texas for illegally entering the country and both Venezuela and Cuba sent extradition requests, which the George W Bush Administration refused. A judge ruled he could not be deported due to fears of torture in Venezuela and dismissed the charges, while acknowledging that the FBI considered him a terrorist. He died in 2018. All of this is complication, as we build to the finale of this little adventure, next issue and it will be a humdinger! Skywolf is basically a character piece, as we have a reunion of various Hillman characters and some other Golden Age aviation figures. I haven't been able to find reference to Bronco Brady or Rev. Jimmy Wise, as characters or as real members of the Flying Tigers. Based on Tom and Corby, I thought of the John Wayne movie, but don't see those names as characters. Chip Hunter is another mystery. Vic Torry appeared in a 1950 comic, from Fawcett, and it is the flying saucer of that comic's title that we see pick him up, when he leaves the party. Not completely sure; but, I suspect the scene of Gatling doing the carrier landing was inspired by Pat Conroy's The Great Santini, which was adapted for the movie screen, in 1979, with Robert Duvall as the title character. there is a scene in the film where they participate in "carrier landings." Some of the midshipmen (usually the Marine Options) would do this at our Dining In nights, when the whole battalion, officers and midshipmen, were gathered for a formal dinner and guest speaker, with various entertainment (and booze). I abstained. Call me a wet blanket, but I thought it was pretty juvenile. Tom and Corby are the heroes of the Republic serial, Fighting Devil Dogs, portrayed by Herman Brix (one of the screen Tarzans) and Lee Powell. The two Marines fight the forces of The Lightning, a would be conqueror who operates from his flying wing and runs around in a black costume and helmet. The villain would be a great influence on the look of Darth Vader, in Star Wars. Dan Spiegle is in his element with these characters, as he knows the period (he was a professional then, as well) and even some of the characters. He captures the period well and makes it fun, as a bachelor party should be. At the same time, he and Chuck capture the melancholy of absent friends and also a suggestion that Sky and Riot are not headed into years of wedded bliss. The ending wedding doesn't exactly suggest a romantic nuptial, despite the Justice of the Peace setting. It rather smacks of wartime romance and a quickie wedding. Next issue will show us the marriage, which sets up the Skywolf miniseries, from Chuck and Tom Lyle, as Sky follows Jack gatling into French Indochina, on a treasure hunt, which brings him face to face with his greatest enemy, as well as the Viet Minh. Next, Strike! #6.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 31, 2021 18:21:33 GMT -5
Strike! #6Worst ventriloquist act, ever! Creative Team: Chuck dixon-writer, Tom Lyle-pencils, Romeo Tanghal-inks, Kurt Hathaway-letters, Don Gidley-colors, Fred Burke-editor Synopsis: Dennis has been transported aboard the alien spacecraft and they have removed the harness, which now allows Dennis to move. They chatter at him and he cannot understand until one appears, with a Russian cosmonaut, who he uses as a translation device, ala Charlie McCarthy. Said cosmonaut was found dead, in his spacecraft (the Russians did lose a crew to exposure to space, though their bodies were recovered in their capsule, on the ground). The spokesbug relates their past, as celestial wanderers, who created the orb, but were attacked by a parasitic race and shot the orb inro space, headed for Earth. Dennis thinks they mean the meteor was an egg and told that it is space sperm and he is totally icked ort. The bugs repair Dennis suit and add improvements, like bullet proofing and flame resistance, by adding body secretions to it. Bug spit, as Dennis says. They are interrupted by an attack by the parasites, who just happen to have Sgt Strike as a weapon. The backup is a Rattler story, with art from some rookie, named Dan Clowes... On the letters page, Chuck Dixon finally comes clean about the whole Jolly Farmer thing and the fake comic characters. Per my conversation with Tom Lyle, Eclipse was getting mail asking about where to get the comics and Chuck was told to tell the truth, before they got sued. He then gives credits for the backup stories, which included art by Ty Templeton and Twilight Avenger's Terry Tidwell, as well as Clowes, in this issue. Franck Giacoia did the art for the first Sgt Strike story. Thoughts: Lot of exposition and bugs crawling around a living spaceship. Just saw this kind of thing in the X-Men, a few years before, with the Brood. Oh, and Sgt Strike is still alive. however, this comic is dead and we are told to go to the Strike vs Sgt Strike Special, for the conclusion. Next, Swords of Texas #4.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 3, 2021 12:47:27 GMT -5
Swords of Texas #4Creative Team: Chuck Dixon-writer, Ben Dunn-pencils, Mark Mckenna-inks, Tim Harkins-letters, Sam Parsons-colors, cat yronwode-editor Beau La Duke-Beau Smith-writer, Flint Henry-pencils, Graham Nolan-inks Synopsis: In Baja, a "re-education" camp gets a surprise reveille... While they have the towers and guards engaged, Galvez and the rebels attack from the rear. Gov. Omo prepares to meet them in battle and questions whether the Legion of Man representative is still prepared for their contingency (a nuclear device). Before banner can get too cocky, gunships appear on the scopes and move into attack. Galvez instructs his men to aim for the tail rotors and they succeed in downing one of the Hinds. They reach the prisoner huts and let them out. Banner and his people engage another Hind and down it, but it crashes into their formation. Meanwhile, Omo is ready for battle... Mexican army mecha move into attack and Herschel has to retreat. Geator sideswipes a mecha with his tank and knocks a leg out from under, toppling it, then he blasts it at point blank range with his gun. A voice comes over the PA system with an announcement, about women & children in another camp... Banner tells the Swords to stand down, as the workers and rebels won't fight. The Legion rep tells Omo to collect the arms and liquidate everyone, then recruit new workers from the mainland. Omo sees no honor in the Legion's actions and rebels. he turns his weapon systems on the control tower. banner and his people grab their weapons and press the fight. Galvez is shot and killed. Omo dies when his mecha is attacked by a swarm of Mexican soldiers. The rebels win out and Banner and the gang head home, leaving Herschel to continue to aid the rebels against the mexican government. On the way out, Banner is observed by Savage Henry and Dr Portugal, who survived the Las Vegas nuke. Savage Henry whines and Portugal shoots him dead. He has developed anti-radiation drugs and stands to make a fortune. We are told this will continue in Scout War Shaman. Beau La Duke: Beau and his family defeat the CIA in a violent and not particularly funny battle... In the end, Beau tells readers to demand a Dogs of Danger series, which gets an immediate response from cat and Dean Mullaney... Wholeheartedly agree. Thoughts: Big battle scene but pretty weak on plot. Just shoot everything and kick butt, until they threaten a nuke, then lay down arms and Omo does a face turn. Yawn. This really never had the depth of characterization to make it anything more than a Cannon Group low budget action story. About the only thing missing is either Chuck Norris or Michael Dudikoff as Banner. It really added nothing to the Scout story and didn't even flesh out Banner and his group beyond what we had already seen in Scout. Just a waste of 4 issues, really. Beau La Duke made a great secondary character in Scout and the Tips For Real Men pages were pretty funny; but, this is just overkill. He isn't lead material and adding a bunch of other crazed La Duke's doesn't improve things. It wants to be an anarchic underground comic, ala Spain Rodriguez's Trashman; but, fails to have the same level of satire and spirit. Next: New America #4
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