DC Comics Presents Annual #3 (1984)

When it comes to superheroes with a sense of whimsy fun, none can beat one Billy Batson, aka Captain Marvel. Created by Bill Parker and C.C. Beck, he first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940), which was originally released by Fawcett Comics. Captain Marvel (often mistakenly referred to as Shazam), would become one of the most popular and best-selling superheroes of the Golden Age of Comics.

Originally, the character was created as a team. Yup, Bill Parker originally conceived the Shazam concept as a sextet (group of six) superheroes, each with a unique superpower given to them by a patron mythological god. The concept would them be altered into a single superhero called "Captain Thunder", then "Captain Marvelous", which got shortened to "Captain Marvel".

So, who is Captain Marvel? Well, the good Captain is Billy Batson, a homeless boy who was summoned to a cave by the wizard Shazam. The elderly wizard chose the pure-hearted boy to be his successor in the never-ending battle against evil. When Billy was instructed to speak his name, he would be transformed into an adult hero in a flash of lightning.

In 1953, Fawcett Comics would find themselves the object of a lawsuit from National Comics Publications, basically the precursor to modern DC Comics. You see, they felt that Captain Marvel was a little too similar to their own character, a certain Man of Steel. The two companies would settle, but Fawcett got another blow. The Golden Age of Comics was ending, and interest in superheroes was fading away. With that, 1953 saw Fawcett shutting down its comics division, and Billy Batson was seemingly on his way to becoming an obscure piece of comics historical trivia.

Ironically, DC would help save Shazam from obscurity. With the Silver Age in full force thanks to the introduction of the Barry Allen Flash, Fawcett was unable to publish new Captain Marvel adventures, thanks to the terms of their settlement with National. DC would license the characters from Fawcett for publishing new stories with the good Captain. But then there was another problem. In 1967, Marvel Comics introduced their own Captain Marvel, an alien soldier-turned-superhero named Mar-Vell, taking advantage of the lapsed copyright. As a result, DC was forced to market the character under the "Shazam" name. This is why the Billy Batson Captain Marvel was often called "Shazam". As part of DC's Multiverse system, the Captain and his adventures took place on the alternate Earth called "Earth-S".

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Big Red Cheese was fully integrated into the DCU, making his first appearance in the 1986 miniseries Legends, and then he would join the 1987 incarnation of the Justice League. Roy and Dann Thomas with Tom Mandrake would produce the miniseries Shazam: The New Beginning, an attempt to update the Captain Marvel mythos. This, alongside his appearances in Action Comics Weekly, were meant to pave the way for a new ongoing. However, it never went to print because of disputes between Roy Thomas and DC editorial. This new ongoing would have introduced a black Freddy Freeman and a punk Mary Marvel.

In the 1990s, DC purchased the characters outright. In 1994, Jerry Ordway would release The Power of Shazam!, a critically-acclaimed painted graphic novel that would which led to an ongoing series of the same name in 1995. This series would last for four years, putting out 47 issues, a 1996 Annual, and a tie-in to DC One Million. The Captain would keep on truckin' through the 2000s, joining the JSA for a while, and in the leadup to the Infinite Crisis event, the wizard Shazam was killed off, causing Billy Batson to take his place.

When the New 52 reboot hit, Captain Marvel was revamped by Geoff Johns. He was officially renamed "Shazam", and Billy Batson was revamped as a cynical foster child, which got mixed reactions from fans. More recently, it has been announced the Big Red Cheese will be coming to live-action film. About time, considering he was the first comic book superhero to be adapted into film (A Republic Pictures serial called Adventures of Captain Marvel).

Captain Marvel has become one of Fawcett's, and then DC's most beloved characters. Besides the serial, he's appeared in a 1970s live-action show, and in various cartoons.

So, with that little primer out of the way, let's take a look at DC Comics Presents Annual #3!

The cover is really awesome. You got what looks like Dr. Sivana with the power of Shazam, holding up a defeated Captain Marvel, with Superman flying towards him. Supes looks ready to avenge his fallen friend. It's a great cover. I love it.

"With One Magic Word"
Writer: Roy Thomas (Story alongside Gil Kane and Julius Schwartz), Joey Cavalieri (Script)
Penciler: Gil Kane
Inker: Gil Kane
Letterer: Ben Oda
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Editor: Julius Schwartz

The story begins with Superman in New York City. He's not there to sightsee or try some of the City that Never Sleeps's famous pizza, he's there to do what he does best: save the day. And he does so here by laying a Super-Smackdown on a robot.

The robot is on a rampage, and Superman uses his X-Ray vision to find out who is in charge of this thing.

Yup, it's Captain Marvel's old nemesis, Dr. Sivana! The World's Wickedest Scientist is not a fan of Supes either, as he sees him as even more of a clown than the Big Red Cheese. The Sivanabot smacks Superman, sending him flying through a building. Superman gets up from the rubble. He takes the fight to the robot, reminding Sivana that the mad scientist is on Earth-One, and Superman is to this Earth what Ric Flair is to pro wrestling: The Man! Whoo!

Superman wrecks the robot, and Sivana tries to flee by using its head as an escape pod. The Man of Steel almost has Dr. Sivana, but he then hears a cry for help. A building is about to fall on a woman and her child. The Man of Tomorrow is forced to let Sivana flee to save their lives. After saving them, Superman remembers that he has some other business at the Daily Planet, so he heads back there and resumes his life as Clark Kent.

Sivana's headship flees to the Rock of Eternity, the home of the wizard Shazam, the sorcerer that empowered the Marvel Family. It's revealed that the World's Wickedest Scientist had used his brilliance to put the Wizard into a trance...somehow.

I'm guessing that Sivana used some kind of device. However, Sivana is aware of another problem for him. The wizard Shazam won't stay incapacitated long. Also, Billy Batson can still use the magic lightning to become Captain Marvel. But he found a solution for that problem. He heads out to a city (I wanted to say it was Fawcett City, but that was a post-Crisis concept, and this is a pre-Crisis story), the home of Billy Batson. He announces that unless the World's Mightiest Mortal shows himself, he will start vaporizing cities...starting with this one. Billy Batson is able to slip away, and change into the Big Red Cheese.

Sivana puts his little plan into action. He causes the bolt of magic lightning to split into two. The split bolt hits both Billy and a device on Sivana's shuttlecraft. The World's Mightiest Mortal flies up to investigate...and he's in for a shock.

Thanks to his collecting some of the magic lightning, Sivana now has the power of Shazam as well. As such, he decides to take on a new moniker: Captain Sivana. Using his newfound power, Sivana thrashes Captain Marvel, leaving the Big Red Cheese to wonder if his powers are failing on him. As he falls, Sivana catches him, saying that he doesn't intend for the death of Captain Marvel to come this quickly. Billy's sister Mary and friend Freddy Freeman witness this and rush to help, transforming into Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr. The two Marvels rush to help, but Sivana distracts them by throwing his shuttlecraft at the city.

While the two other Marvels save the city, Sivana takes Marvel over to the Rock of Eternity. Captain Marvel is feeling a bit grumpy, and Sivana chuckles at that. He shows the Captain the mesmerized Shazam, but that isn't all. Evidently, when Sivana split the lightning bolt that empowers Billy Batson, Sivana got the good qualities of Marvel's patrons, leaving Billy with the bad.

These new values do make me scratch my head. I keep feeling it should be like this:

Solomon - Stupidity
Hercules - Weakness
Atlas - Lack of Stamina
Zeus - Powerlessness
Achilles - Cowardice
Mercury - Slowness

It makes more sense to me as these are the actual opposing values of the patron beings Marv gets his powers from. Sivana thrashes Cap some more, and he asks if Sivana is going to kill him. Sivana tells him that he is not going to kill the Big Red Cheese...the Rock of Eternity is. He carves a hole in the base of the Rock and tosses the good Captain in it. He then replaces the rock, hoping to suffocate the Captain in the air-tight hole. Marvel tries to move it, but finds his strength is gone.

Mary Marvel and CM Jr. spot Sivana and engage him. The superpowered scientist easily wrecks the two, promoting himself to Major Sivana. The two try to use their numbers advantage over the newly-named Major. Wait, if Sivana gaining powers causes Captain Marvel's to weaken...why isn't it happening to them as well. Heck, CM Jr's powers come from Captain Marvel himself, so he especially should be affected by this!

Anyway, Sivana's intellect is boosted by the Wisdom of Solomon, so he comes up with a plan. He spins the Rock of Eternity around really fast, hoping to do a little time-traveling. At least, that's what he wants Mary and Freddy to think. Freddy heads to the future to find him, and Mary heads to the past. But it was a trick. Major Sivana is still in the present. He somehow creates a storm around the Rock to keep them away from it. He promotes himself to Colonel Sivana. Inside the rock, Billy realizes to his horror that Mary and Freddy have no idea of his current situation, and keeps trying to free himself.

Colonel Sivana gloats over his victory, but realizes that Superman could also pose a problem for him. I can also imagine he also wanted a rematch with the Man of Steel. The storm he created somehow prevented time travel, but it does allow travel to alternate Earths. But, he goofs up.

You see, Colonel Sivana fought the Earth-One Superman earlier. He accidentally transported himself to Earth-Two. Blog readers got to visit Earth-Two in my review of America vs. The Justice Society #1 (January 1985). Sivana is confused by the presence of the Daily Star, but shrugs it off when he spots a helicopter and decides to trash it. Kal-L, that world's Superman, overhears this with his super-hearing and flies into action. Sivana tosses the helicopter, forcing the Original Man of Steel to grab it and place it down. He engages Sivana, Sivana thinking Superman has aged since they last fought earlier. Kal-L punches him out, then Sivana gets it.

As such, he decides to use Kal-L as a practice dummy for fighting the Earth-One Superman, figuring that since this Superman is aged, he is weaker than his younger counterpart. I think it also helps that Sivana's power comes from magic lightning, and Kal-L shares Kal-El's weakness to magic. Sivana figures that somehow, he still can't kill this Superman. Because reasons. Instead, he attaches the Original Man of Steel to a meteor of Kryptonite. He then carves off a piece to use on Kal-El.

Uh, Sivana? That should not work. Earth-Two Kryptonite has no effect on the Earth-One Superman, and vice versa. *checks* Oh, I see, that was established in Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006)...decades after this story was published. I see. Never mind then.

Sivana is so proud of himself he decides to promote himself to General Sivana. That is...actually accurate. In the US Army, at least. Generals do outrank colonels.

Inside the Rock of Eternity, Captain Marvel gives up, having no strength left. He has so little strength, he can barely move. On Earth-One, Clark Kent and Lana Lang are preparing to broadcast another edition of the WGBS news program. At the time, the Daily Planet was bought by Galaxy Communications after a 1971 storyline, and Clark Kent ended up in a new role of anchorman. Later on, his old friend from Smallville Lana Lang would join him as a co-anchor. But they're about to get an uninvited guest.

Clark saves Lana by taking some debris to the head and feigns getting knocked out. Sivana takes over the broadcast, declaring that he is now the ruler of the Multiverse, and no one can stop him, especially not Superman. Sivana gets a tap on the shoulder, then eats a fist from Kal-El, the Earth-One Superman. The two brawl through the city, the fight going to a locomotive. Sivana cracks a meta joke about the Man of Steel being "more powerful than a locomotive". The train is laced with Kryptonite, the Kryptonite Sivana stole from Earth-Two. Sivana reveals that he set a trap for the Man of Steel. Even worse, he made some Kryptonite "brass knuckles", which he proceeds to use to beat the holy tar out of Superman.

Captain Marvel is watching this...somehow. I'm guessing it's because of his connection to the wizard Shazam and the Rock of Eternity. He laments that he can't help Superman. The Big Red Cheese falls into despair. However, he starts to hear the six beings who give him his powers.

You know, I just realized this, but Gil Kane's take on the World's Mightiest Mortal here is rocking some serious Duke Togo eyebrows.

Duke Togo does NOT approve of Captain Marvel stealing his eyebrows.

Maybe Gil Kane was a fan of Golgo 13. Either way, Billy Batson should watch his back, lest he gets an custom M-16 cartridge to the head. The six elders assure the good Captain that he still has his power. Sivana may be able to siphon power from the magic lightning, but he could never truly take them away. So, why were his powers failing? I get it could explain why CM Jr. and Mary were unaffected, but it does feel a bit like they were trying to fix a plot hole with another plot hole.

Bolstered by the elders' assurance, Captain Marvel breaks out of his prison.

Back on Earth-One, Colonel Sivana is getting ready to deliver the deathblow to Superman, but Captain Marvel spears him. As the two brawl, Marv tells Superman that Sivana left his Earth-Two counterpart to die on a Kryptonite meteor. Superman uses his power to break the vibrational barriers between dimensions, and finds his alternate elder self. A meteor is heading towards the meteoroid that the Earth-Two Superman is trapped on, and between his weakened state from the Kryptonite and his age, the collision could kill him. The Man of Steel then uses his body as a battering ram, smashing the meteor to pieces, and knocking the Earth-Two Superman free from his deathtrap.

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel has gotten the upper hand on Colonel Sivana, and the wizard Shazam finally wakes up from his forced nap. Using his wizardly powers, Shazam sees Sivana and Billy brawl, and sends out a magic bolt of lightning. The lightning strips Sivana of his powers, reducing him down to merely being the World's Wickedest Scientist instead of being the World's Wickedest Superhuman Scientist.

The two Supermen arrive, alongside Mary Marvel and CM Jr. The two Marvels grab Sivana and head back to their Earth, the Earth-Two Superman doing the same. Superman notes that the two nearly didn't make it that time, but if fighting evil was easy, anyone can be Superman. The story ends with Superman flying off, Captain Marvel saying anyone can be a Superman, when they have the courage, wisdom, and perseverance of the elders.

And for some reason, the elders appear there as well.

This issue...could have been better. I personally felt that the jaunt to Earth-Two was rather pointless. You could have taken out that battle with the Earth-Two Superman and it would not have changed a thing. And also, I felt that Mary Marvel and CM Jr. were only there just to acknowledge their existence. I think the story would have been better if it just focused on the superhuman Sivana going for a rematch with the Earth-One Superman, and Superman getting some help from Mary and Freddy.

Captain Marvel's escape is rather...odd. It seemed that Sivana splitting the magic lightning bolt that gives him his powers had a negative effect on him, but it turns out that Sivana couldn't truly take his power. So, why was Captain Marvel so weak? Was it a mental thing? It's not really handled very well, in my opinion. I get why it went the way it did, but I think it could have been done better. I would have gone with CM Jr. and Mary also being weakened thanks to Sivana siphoning off the Captain's power. Would have made more sense in my opinion.

It's a shame, because the concept of Dr. Sivana getting the raw power of Captain Marvel would have made one heck of an awesome story. I just don't think we got that here.

Gil Kane's art is interesting. I have read some of the Silver Age Green Lantern stuff he worked on in the 1960s, and twenty years later, his art here looks a bit...rougher is the best word I can come up with for it. There's a lot of hatching in places, and it does look odd in others. It's really the best part of this comic. I don't think this comic is terrible, it could just have been better, especially in the story.

Next time, we're celebrating Superman's 80th birthday! And we're going to do so in style, by asking one question: What's so funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way?

Venom Trailer, My Thoughts

In February, Sony released a teaser trailer for their solo film focusing on Venom, the Lethal Protector, and one of Spider-Man's greatest foes. I didn't remember thinking too highly of it. But now, there's a full-on trailer for this thing, so let's take a look at it.

The trailer begins with a bunch of cop cars and ambulances everywhere. Man, Thanos can throw one heck of a party, can't he? Those who can remember it will be speaking of it for all time. And you can bet Star-Lord and Iron Man will be nursing the mother of all hangovers.

There's more than one symbiote in those cans. Which one is the other? Carnage? Scream? Would be cool if it was Scream.

Ah, good they set it in San Francisco. That was Venom's stomping grounds during his Lethal Protector days. And nice to see Eddie is a reporter. And I like the idea of him investigating human experimentation.

The Life Foundation?! God, the film's writers are digging deep into the Spidey mythos! That's good, though. Shows the writers did do their research somewhat.

Oh God, the pronunciation. The word "symbiote" is pronounced sym-bee-oat.

Okay, that part with Eddie's symbiote throwing around the mooks is pretty cool.

I do kind of like the idea of Eddie and the symbiote talking to each other. Can help give a bit of a horror feel to this movie. This guy is sharing a body with a powerful creature that does not like him or other people very much. Oh, the fun that one could have with that idea...

And here he is, at last. I think he looks alright. I chuckled at they way the line "We...are Venom." was delivered. It was still cool. And Venom is really proud of that tongue. In my mind, Venom was all like, "Hi. We're Venom. And we will be consuming your brains tonight." I have seen someone joke on Twitter that he looks "rubbery", and I can see why. He is rather...shiny. Maybe the special effects are incomplete. I hope that's what it is. This take on Venom does remind me of Todd McFarlane's original take on the character a bit.

I have to admit, this trailer was more interesting than the teaser in February. I just have two reservations. One is, I fear we won't see much of Venom in the movie. Also, I still am not really fond of them doing a solo Venom film without Spider-Man. The thing about the early days of the Eddie Brock/Venom combination was he was obsessed with Spider-Man. Spidey accidentally ruined his career. Eddie had gotten a story on the secret identity of a killer known as the Sin-Eater.

Brock had published a series of articles about the Sin-Eater, but Spider-Man caught the real Sin-Eater. The one Eddie was writing the articles on was revealed to be someone wanting attention. As such, his career was ruined and he wanted revenge on Spidey. Also, Spidey was using the symbiote suit for a while before this, but rejected it when he discovered it was trying to take over his body. The suit didn't like that. The symbiote sensed Eddie's hatred for Spidey, and the two of them bonded together, becoming Venom.

Venom was Spider-Man's worst nightmare. All of his powers, stronger than Spider-Man, undetectable by Spider-Man's spider-sense, and also aware Peter Parker was Spider-Man. That's what Venom should be starting out. He should start out as Spidey's boogeyman, the one regular villain that can actually frighten him. The one that makes him look over his shoulder constantly. A more monstrous, ruthless dark mirror to Spider-Man.

Do I think this film could be good? I think they'll do their best to make this film good. And I'll give it a fair shot. It might actually be a good movie. I just wish this was connected to Spider-Man...

Deadpool 2 Final Trailer, My Thoughts

Deadpool 2 is coming! Considering the success of the first solo movie starring the Merc with the Mouth, it was a no brainer they'd do a sequel. Does the trailer bring the hype? Let's find out! Also, I do want to warn you. This trailer does have some NSFW language, so keep that in mind before you play this. Thank you.

We got a truck. Even better, we got a convoy! Cue up the C.W. McCall!

So, Deadpool is going to rescue a kid in trouble, huh? Well, this version of Deadpool does see himself as...kind of a superhero, so he would rescue a kid, as that is something superheroes do.

Yeah, we should watch out for Cable. He does not seem like a nice neighborly dude.

"Pump the hate breaks, Thanos!" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Evidently, Cable's after the kid too, huh? Considering time travel is part of the character's story in the comics, I'm guessing the kid is significant to the timeline.

I do like Negasonic's new hairdo. I can imagine how it came about:
Colossus: New hairstyle, Ellie?
Negasonic: Yeah. I saw this old video of this dude named Elvis Presley. He's pretty cool. He freaked people out by shaking his hips!
Colossus: The 50s were a more...paranoid time, Ellie.

I wonder who her new friend is. I don't think she's from the comics.

Bedlam. That's a deep 90s cut right there. I wonder if he'll display his ability to create electromagnetic pulses from the comics. And him being played by Terry Crews makes it better.

Oh GOD, Shatterstar! HAHAHAHAHA! You know Deadpool will be poking fun of the craziness surrounding him. He looks better here than he did in the 90s.

Wow. Cable must be packing some heat if he's able to send Colossus flying like that.

That DC universe joke got me laughing so hard.

Oh God, Cable got Wade's crotch to the face. Truly a fate worse than death.

Heh heh, One-Eyed Willie. Because Josh Brolin, who plays Cable in this movie, was in Goonies.

Heh heh, Peter's going to be the break-out character. All the poor man wanted was a job...

Well, this trailer got me hyped. I loved the first Deadpool, and I think this one is going to be pretty good, too.

Wild Guns Reloaded Switch Launch Trailer, My Thoughts

Wild Guns. Originally released for the Super Nintendo in 1994, this shooting gallery game from Natsume is considered one of the Super Nintendo library's greatest hidden gems. Set in the Wild West with some aspects of steampunk and science-fiction, the game follows the adventures of the venegeance-seeker Annie, who teams up with the bounty hunter Clint to take down the bad men who killed Annie's family. Basically, your standard Western revenge story...with robots.

In 2016, the game was given a remaster: Wild Guns Reloaded. An enhanced remake of the game, it added new levels and two new characters: Doris, a grenade-throwing cyborg and Bullet, a dog with a mech/drone. This version was released originally as an exclusive for the PlayStation 4. The madness of Wild Guns would not stay restrained to one console, though. In 2017, Reloaded hit the PC, Natsume's first PC release. And now in 2018, it's come to the Switch. And here's the launch trailer!

I love the remix of the Boss theme. It never fails to make me bang my head. I also do like that they kept the original 16-bit graphic style. No need to make it 2.5D here with a more "realistic" palette, folks. It knows it's from the 90s, and it is not ashamed. It has no reason to be.

This trailer really isn't much, just gameplay footage. But it is glorious gameplay footage.

When this game was first announced, I remember being saddened this game was seemingly PS4-exclusive. I wondered why it was this way, considering the original Wild Guns was on a Nintendo console. But now, that's no longer a problem. I am so happy it's able to come to the Switch. Having two new exclusive game modes is a very nice bonus, too! I can't wait to play this on the go!

Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (July 1985)

The Crisis on Infinite Earths rages on! The anti-matter wave has been consuming more Earths left and right! It's eaten more Earths than a starving man at a buffet! We've seen heroes fight to save the universe, and we've also seen the first real casualties. And it's only going to get worse from here.

Previously on Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Monitor did some testing on Alex Luthor, Jr. The New Teen Titans and Outsiders fought to save Earth-1's New York City from the anti-matter wave. Geo-Force and Dr. Polaris protected a tower in WWII Markovia alongside DC's wartime characters, and we saw the death of the Losers. Members of the Harbinger Group met DC's Western heroes in 1879, and Nighthawk got consumed by the anti-matter wall. The Legion of Super-Heroes valiantly fought to save 31st century Metropolis from the anti-matter wave, and they got their first casualty in Kid Psycho. The Monitor found himself facing a murderous Harbinger.

So, with that out of the way, let's take a look at Crisis on Infinite Earths #4!

The cover is pretty cool. You got the Monitor lying on what looks like a platform of some kind, his chest smoking from a blast wound, Pariah just standing there like, "The fudge just happened?!" And then there's Harbinger floating above them, her hands glowing. The cover promises "The Death of the Monitor!" Based on that cover...he seems pretty dead.

"And Thus Shall the World Die!"
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Mike DeCarlo
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Letterer: John Constanza
Editors: Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Robert Greenberger

The story begins with Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, flying over Gotham. At least, I think it's Gotham. She is there to meet Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. The narration notes that the universe itself has seemingly gone mad. The weather is exhibiting crazy patterns, the stars are no longer in their proper places. And the anti-matter wall is slowly eating the city.

Batgirl is looking out at the wall with her Bat-Binoculars, and remarks that the city seems so empty. Everyone is huddled in their homes, waiting for the end. Batgirl thinks the end is here, and she has given up. She's willing to let the wall consume her like it has so many before. Supergirl is not willing to give up so easily. The Maid of Might believes there is a way to stop this. Batgirl admits that she is scared out of her wits. Not hard to see why. Unlike her Kryptonian compatriot, Barbara Gordon does not have powers and abilities beyond the powers of mortal men. She's just a really smart woman with martial arts skills and some gadgets. How can she fight something like this?

Supergirl assures her that she's not alone in being scared. Everyone is scared. It's believed Flash is dead. Other heroes and some villains have vanished. Supergirl herself is scared, but she can't let that stop her from trying to help people now, when they are more needed than ever.

Barbara isn't convinced. It's easy for Supergirl to say that because she has actual powers. Again, Barbara is just a smart woman with martial arts skills and some gadgets. Supergirl tries to tell her that there are lots of people trying to help like she is. And like Barbara, they have no superpowers. Police officers, firefighters, soldiers, EMTs, they're all trying to help people, and none of them have the power of a Kryptonian under a yellow sun. The Girl of Steel then spots a plane careening towards the anti-matter wall, and goes to stop it.

Batgirl watches Supergirl in action, and notes that despite Supergirl's own fears, she still is risking her own life to help others, and it makes her feel guilty. It doesn't help that the pilot of the plane is hinting that he was trying to commit suicide as he felt the world was ending and there was no hope, and Supergirl tells him that was nonsense.

In Steve Dayton's manor, the member of the Doom Patrol is getting good and soused while talking to an old friend. His friend tries to assure him that they will not die, and neither will the Earth. Dayton notes that it's rather unusual for his friend to have such...naiveté. And it's not an unfair assumption, considering that friend is (making one of his earliest appearances) one John Constantine, the Hellblazer.

He didn't quite adopt his iconic trenchcoat look yet at this point, I think. But yeah, that's an early appearance by the anti-heroic trickster sorcerer. He takes a drag of his cigarette (Silk Cut, no doubt), and thinks about Swamp Thing.

The anti-matter wall is slowly sweeping over Earth-1, and it's almost finished consuming its way through Earth-6. Pariah finds himself there, wailing that he has to witness another Earth die. This Earth unusually lacks any of the standard DC heroes (The wall never got to reach Marvel's end of the Omniverse), but it is ruled by a family of powerful superheroes. One of them, Lord Volt, spots Pariah and demands to know why he is here...and why he is attacking their world. Pariah tries to explain that he's got nothing to do with this, but Lord Volt doesn't believe him. The electric monarch tries to grab Pariah's shoulder, but...

Evidently, Pariah's body has a built-in defense system. It's stopped by Lady Quark, who uses a blast of nuclear energy to seemingly vaporize Pariah. It doesn't work, as Pariah cannot die. He pleads for them to listen, saying he wants to help stop this...if he can. Another member of the family, Princess Liana, uses her powers over nature to attack Pariah. So, Volt has electrokinesis, and Quark has nuclear-based powers, but Liana got...nature-based powers. However, the anti-matter wall consumes the vines she has created...and Liana herself.

Enraged and grief-stricken, Lord Volt and Lady Quark blast at the wall, but it's no good. The anti-matter advances, consuming Lord Volt. Pariah feels himself being drawn away, but he can still save someone. He grabs Lady Quark as he fades. Quark pleads with him to let her die with her family, but Pariah refuses and apologizes. But if he can save just one life, he feels it will ease his eternal damnation. I have a bit of a theory about Lady Quark, but I'm saving it for later. Trust me.

Back in the Monitor's satellite, the Monitor observes the enemy is coming closer to being unstoppable. If he consumes Earth-1, then there is no hope. Thus, the Monitor arranges for his one last weapon to rise. A beam of energy towards the Earth. On Earth-1's Japan, a group of scientists are observing the anti-matter wall, noting there's no way to avoid it. One admits he is terrified. Another figure walks in, calling the scientist a coward. The woman has no time for fear, there's science to be done. One of the scientists, an elder man, tries to convince the woman that in this situation, fear is understandable, and her being so cold is not going to help. Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi...doesn't take this well.

The elder man is her father, and she basically calls him a weakling. The furious scientist tells everyone to go home, saying if she will die today, she will not die amongst cowards. Yeah, Kimiyo is not exactly showing herself to be one of the best people to work with, huh? I'm guessing she got it from her mother. The scientist observes some of the phenomenon from her telescope. She then spots a light coming from the star Vega (thanks to the events of Omega Men #26 (May 1985)). The light fills up the telescope's viewfinder, and Kimiyo realizes to her horror...it's coming to her. The light engulfs the screaming scientist, destroying the room. When the light fades, the room is wrecked...and Kimiyo Hoshi is gone. Her father realizes that something took her.

Harbinger observes the Monitor, and notes that the enemy is making her hate him...and she must kill him. The young Alexander Luthor watches this, and notes that well...the Monitor knew this would happen. Yeah, he knows what happened to Lyla, and he knows she will kill him. Luthor also knows that the Monitor's death will only help him. He thinks "Do what you must", making me wonder that maybe Luthor's heel turn in Infinite Crisis makes a bit more sense than one thinks. Yeah.

In the enemy's lair, he notices the Red Tornado flying around on a screen. The enemy then makes the android appear in his lair. The Justice Leaguer demands to know why he is there, and if he is the cause of the madness all over the world. The enemy confirms it, and it's not just on the Tornado's earth.

In Earth-2's medieval era, Firestorm and Killer Frost head towards the Monitor's tower. Killer Frost is still under the Psycho Pirate's love spell, which the Nuclear Man is finding rather tiresome. The immortal villain Vandal Savage observes them and is curious as to who they are and what they're doing here. He vows to get some answers. The two modern Earth-1 metahumans have more company:

The Shining Knight, aka Sir Justin! Knight of the Round Table, mighty defender of Camelot! Riding against evil on his winged horse Victory. The Knight assumes that Firestorm and Killer Frost are evil sorcerers. A group of Shadow Demons emerge from the tower, and the Knight thinks they're the evil spells. Vandal Savage is shocked by this, and think that he needs to figure out what in the name of the Presence is going on here if he's going to have any shot at conquering the world. The two metahumans battler the Shadow Demons, noting that they...are not that tough. Thankfully, the Shining Knight gets the hint and helps out with kicking some Shadow Demon buttocks. The three heroes more Shadow Demons, and something is happening. Every era, every site of a tower, the Demons are merging, combining into some new dark beings.

In modern day Earth-1 New York City, another tower appears. Starfire and Halo head out to destroy it, but the tower has a guardian of its own.

It's Kimiyo Hoshi, clad in a costume similar to the supervillain Doctor Light. Hoshi screams at them to not attack the tower. There's one problem. Neither Starfire nor Halo know Japanese, and Kimiyo doesn't speak English. Halo not being able to understand any Japanese is kind of funny considering that at the time, she and fellow Outsider Katana had a whole mother-daughter thing going, and Katana was Japanese. You'd think she'd have picked up a bit of Japanese from her. As for the status of that with the New 52 and Rebirth, it's both canon and non-canon at the same time because that is how DC continuity currently works.

Anyway, the new Doctor Light expresses that she's protecting this tower in the classic superhero way: Blasting the two heroines with a beam of light. Superman and Katana get the other heroes to stop as they understand Japanese. Superman asks Doctor Light what is going on. She explains, in her classic warm way, that hundreds of alternate worlds have been destroyed, and she can help save them. Superman understands, and he asks what he needs to do...even if it costs him his life.

On Paradise Island, the home of the Amazons, Diana has a bit of a problem. Evidently, she and her mother have some problems going on between them, and the Amazons are...reluctant to help with this big crisis. Evidently, Athena, one of their patron goddesses, has told them that Olympus has problems of its own, and can't help them. I get the Amazons are having a bit of a crisis of their own thanks to their Gods having problems, but...there is a giant wall of anti-matter consuming the universe. It's NOT GOING TO LEAVE YOU GUYS ALONE. PICK UP YOUR SWORDS, SHIELDS, AND SPEARS, AND GO HELP OUT.

We then switch scenes again to the Monitor's satellite, where the Monitor feels himself growing weaker. He laments that things aren't ready yet, but he mustn't give up. Pariah finds himself on board the Monitor's satellite. Where did Lady Quark go? When he was last seen, he had grabbed Lady Quark and vanished. Did he drop her off somewhere? The Monitor greets Pariah, and explains that he's the reason why Pariah has his abilities. Pariah takes it well.

He calls out the Monitor for watching the heroes fight to protect their worlds and seemingly not doing anything to help. The Monitor explains that those towers (Pariah saw one in Atlantis) are him doing something about the problem, but he needs the heroes to protect them so they can do their job. Earths 1 and 2 are next on the enemy's Earth hit list. Pariah exclaims that they'll die anyway. He demands to know why he cursed him, why he made Pariah be forced to watch an uncountable amount of Earths get consumed, witnessing uncountable amounts of deaths. The Monitor is doing what he can, but it's not much due to his getting weaker.

The Monitor makes an unusual request of Pariah: To not harm Harbinger. Pariah is rather confused by this, as he has no idea who he is talking about. She introduces herself.

Under the control of the Monitor's enemy, Harbinger blasts the being she has loved like a father, Harbinger herself screaming for the Monitor to stop her. She then...falls. I have no idea. And neither does Pariah. He asks the Monitor what is going on...but, he's dead. And he hears he's just witnessed the end. He spots something, and it makes him shed tears. The story ends with that looks like the anti-matter wave consuming both Earths 1 and 2, leaving nothing but darkness in its wake.

This issue was...enjoyable for what it was. It does not advance things much, but we do get a big moment at the end, and we learn a bit more about how Pariah became the being he was. There is something that does bother me, though. The last issue ended with the Monitor facing a corrupted Harbinger, but in this issue...he first appears in his satellite seemingly calmly waiting for Pariah. Did he manage to escape her off-panel? I also liked the birth of the new Dr. Light paralleling the death of the Monitor. Shame Kimiyo Hoshi is such a jerk. George Perez's art is awesome as always.

Next time, we stick around in the DC Universe, as the Man of Steel battles one of the great foes of the World's Mightiest Mortal...

Text Play: Pokemon Mega Adventure #6

Welcome back to the Akiba Region! Please enjoy my sixth entry in my journey through Pokémon Mega Adventure!

I have been preparing, making some adjustments to my team to take on Trung in his Gym. But first, my egg I got at the Pokémon Fan Club's...clubhouse, for lack of a better term, hatched!

It was a Togepi. Yeah, figures it would be something like that. Cute little guy, though. Maybe I can do something with it in the future. I am excited to take on the second Gym. This is the team I plan to bring in.

To battle a Water specialist, bring Grass and Electric Pokémon. Man, it's nice to have the Shinx line in a team again. Underrated Pokémon if you ask me. Since I got Rowlet as part of a Mystery Gift, I figured I could bring him along, too. As for Betty the Butterfree, well...Butterfree is a surprising powerhouse of a Pokémon. I wonder what it's going to take to get Sparky to evolve into a Pikachu.

According to the game, I have played ten hours so far. That is rather surprising. In ten hours, I caught a ton of Pokémon and beat a Gym. I'm not sure if that is slow or quick for me, I'm afraid.

I headed to the Koriyama City gym to fight Trung, as well as any other trainers there, but there was a bit of a problem. It's behind a big tree. One that I have to use Cut, a technique from a Hidden Machine, to go in there.

Okay, I have to go on a bit of a rant for a bit, so please bear with me. I hate Hidden Machines. I really hate Hidden Machines. You see, some of them are moves that are required to beat Pokémon games because they allow the player to move around on the map. Cut, Fly and Surf, for example. The problem with this is...these moves cannot be deleted. A Pokémon can only learn four moves at once, and these moves cannot be deleted by the normal method, mainly leveling up to a point a Pokémon can learn another move naturally. It forces you to permanently waste one of those precious move spots.

It annoys me because there is a better solution: Make special items instead. For example, instead of Cut, give a player a machete or axe. In the Pokémon universe, ten-year-olds are allowed to run around unsupervised and try to catch and train monsters that can do all sorts of crazy things, I think they can be trusted with axes. Instead of Rock Smash, a grappling hook and climbing rope. Dive, scuba gear. Flash, a flashlight. See what I mean? Man, am I glad that Sun and Moon ditched them. So anyway, I taught my new Treecko the move, and used Cut to get to the Gym.

I fought the two trainers inside. The one on the left had a Poliwag, and the one on the right had a Remoraid. Rowlet and Pichu easily dealt with them. I'm hoping this team I built can take on Trung. I stepped on the circle behind my player avatar in the picture, and I warped into another area.

I encountered another trainer, armed with a Shellder. Treebi the Grovyle took him down with one Absorb easily. It also quickly took down his Buizel. He did not take it very well, ha ha. Said he hoped I got kicked out of the Gym. Yeah yeah, whatever. Jerk. After going into another Warp Zone, I found myself in this room.

I have to admit, I like the design of this room. It feels like I'm standing next to a cruise ship. I expect that if I saw into those portholes, I'd see a big dining area with nice music playing. Hey, check out the Pokéball! There was a switch on it, so I figured I'd better press it. And I ended up in Trung's battlefield.

And now, for the man himself.

Look at him. Pretty good cosplay there. I think the image of him was a hand-drawn picture, then scanned and converted into an image file. He started out with Poliwag, I brought out Treebi. Absorb hit the tadpole hard, but Treebi got confused thanks to Poliwag's Water Pulse. Despite that, another Absorb took it down, and Treebi went up to level 17. Treebi had the opportunity to learn Pursuit, but I decided against it. Pursuit is not really a great move in my opinion because you have to predict when an opponent will switch out their battling Pokémon. A bit too unpredictable for me.

Trung then sent out a Totodile...which makes sense. He seems fond of that Pokémon line. I switched out to Biollantus the Ivysaur. Totodile was at level 17, so I decided to hit it with a combo of Leech Seed and Poison Powder. I nearly had it beat, but Trung used a Super Potion. However, it didn't cure the Poison Powder or Leech Seed. So, I was able to beat it and win the second badge: The Aqua Badge. It looks like a blue waterdrop.

This badge allows a Trainer to use Flash outside of battle. Also got TM96 (Water Pulse). It's a cool move. Hard-hitting water attack, with an additional benefit of possibly causing the opponent to suffer from confusion. Awesome. Wait...the Aqua Badge, it looks just like Cascade Badge from the original Pokémon games.

Yeah, look at that. And the previous Badge I got was called the Boulder Badge, but it looks just like Red and Blue's Marsh Badge. The first Badge one could win in the original Red and Blue was called the Boulder Badge, too. Yeah, I really think this fangame started out as a fan remake of Red and Blue. Makes a lot of sense, considering these two Badges I got.

Next time, I think we'll start exploring Route 6! Join me then!

Pokémon Obtained:
- Togepi (Hatched from egg)
- Ivysaur (evolved from Bulbasaur)
- Grovyle (evolved from Treecko)

Double Cross Announcement Trailer, My Thoughts

If there is one thing that Nintendo is known for, it's platformers. Heck, Nintendo helped save the video game industry with a platformer. So, it's rather appropriate that this little indie game I found coming to the Switch is a platformer. Say hello to Double Cross, the latest game from the team behind Runbow!

RIFT has to stand for something. And based on what I see here, they are essentially like SHIELD for the Multiverse. And I wonder why this game is called Double Cross?

I take it Zahra Sinclair is our player character. I like her, she looks adorable.

I wonder if she got that Grapple Beam from Samus Aran. Brings back memories of Metroid Prime.

I do like the art style of the game. So bright and colorful. Music isn't half-bad either.

I take it these other characters will help you investigate things and power Zahra up in some way. Heh heh, Sam Squatch. Get it?

And we have our villains. Neat. I'm guessing they'll be out to conquer the Multiverse, that sort of thing.

This game looks like it will be a bit of fun. I'll give the demo a try once one comes out.

Happy Friday the 13th!

As the header says, I hope everyone had a great Friday the 13th today! I hope you all managed to stay away from this guy.

He's got this weird thing for hacking people up with machetes. I don't know. This guy's got some real problems. He just can't go to therapy for his mommy issues like a normal person...

Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 & 2 Trailer, My Thoughts

When it comes to Mega Man, the original series is not the only one that's getting collected for the Switch. The Mega Man X series is coming to the Switch, too. This series, focusing on the adventures of the robot called X in the far future of the Mega Man universe, was a very popular little spin-off, spawning 11  games from 1994 to 2001 (In the US). And some of them are coming to the Switch! Let's take a look!

That Mega Man X title screen music is so catchy. I still play it in my head every so often. Yeah, I've only played the first Mega Man X. I remember getting frustrated over the difficulty.

The first collection has Mega Man X 1-4. I do like the music playing in this part. Is it from the first stage of Mega Man X? Before the stage select screen.

And the second is collecting 5-8. I wonder why it's not including Command Mission and the two Xtreme games. They're part of the series as well. And I heard X7 is not very good.

I don't really see the point of the hi-res filter mode.

I do like the Gallery and Music Player features, though. Those are neat.

We get a film focusing on Sigma's origins, huh? That's neat. And OLD COMMERCIALS, too?! AWESOME! I love that idea! I want to see those old commercials and trailers!

I also think we'll get a look at all the various official merch of the X series. Action figures, t-shirts and the like. I would not be surprised if there was quite a bit of it.

X-Challenge, huh? A new mode is always a nice addition. I do like that you can fight two Mavericks (The X series' Robot Master bosses) at once. I can imagine some of them would help make it easier.

If you ever played the first Mega Man X game and fought this guy, you'll get what I mean. If you do not get the joke, Spark Mandrill here was regarded as a rather easy boss to beat if you got the proper weapon to beat him (Shotgun Ice from Chill Penguin).

Well, I think this is pretty neat. I've never really played the X series, but I think it looks like it will be a great primer for those who want to get into it. It's not really complete, but it does have most of the games. I'll give it a looksee myself, if only so I can play Mega Man X on the go. I'll give the others a try, though.

Daredevil #233 (August 1986)

Daredevil. The Man Without Fear. First appearing in Daredevil #1 (April 1964), he was created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett. Daredevil is Matthew "Matt" Murdock, an Irish-American Catholic lawyer from Hell's Kitchen in New York City. As a boy, he saved the life of a man from an oncoming vehicle. However, a radioactive substance fell from the truck and splashed his eyes. He would end up blinded, but there was a side-effect. The substance mutated him, causing his other four senses to become superhuman in acuity, and also causing him to gain a "radar sense", which helped him compensate for a lack of sight.

In the late 1970s, writer Roger MacKenzie took over the book. Using his background in horror comics, he started to take the book in a darker direction. Halfway through the run, McKenzie would be paired with a young artist named Frank Miller. Miller had a dislike for McKenzie's scripts, so he would be fired off the book, leaving Miller to write it as well as art.

With Miller in the driver's seat, the 1980s would see Daredevil be transformed into a dark anti-heroic character. The run would have aspects of film noir, and ninjas (It was the 80s, everything was better with ninjas in the 80s). Sales of the book would rise rapidly, and Miller's run would be regarded as one of the greatest runs for the character, if not some of the best comics Marvel was putting out in that decade. It would be an iconic run that would influence Daredevil's portrayal for decades. Miller was responsible for much of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen's modern mythos, introducing the Hand, Elektra, establishing Murdock's Irish-American heritage and Catholicism, and revamping Daredevil's radar sense to make it more realistic.

One of those stories in that era was called Born Again. Basically in this story, Wilson Fisk, aka former Spider-Man villain the Kingpin, arranges to have Matt Murdock's life be destroyed and for him to descend into madness after he learns of his secret identity as Daredevil. Despite this, Murdock survives. He finds a new job as a diner chef in Hell's Kitchen. Desperate to kill the former lawyer, Fisk sends a super-soldier named Nuke to Hell's Kitchen to draw him out, assaulting Hell's Kitchen itself. Murdock suits up as Daredevil once again to take the fight to the super-soldier, and that's the point we'll take a look at. With that out of the way, let's take a look at the final Daredevil issue by Frank Miller: Daredevil #233!

The cover is an interesting one. The placement of Cap and Nuke makes some sense, as they both are super-soldiers. However, I do think that Cap should have been placed on Daredevil's side as he was hardly on Nuke's side in the actual story. Still, it's a good cover.

"Armageddon"
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: David Mazzucchelli
Inker: David Mazzucchelli
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story beings with...well, what else should a story called "Armageddon" begin with? An explosion.

I see the issue is dedicated to Jack Kirby. I wonder why, Daredevil wasn't a Kirby creation. Anyway, The Man without Fear himself is trying to find cover from Nuke. The super-soldier is hanging on a helicopter/gunship, firing at him with his custom-made weapon. The pilot tells Nuke that they're pulling out, as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen has vanished. Nuke refuses and leaps down, saying he'll find him, ranting the entire time about "our boys". Daredevil's super hearing picks up Nuke's heartbeat, noting it's too fast, wondering if he's on amphetamines.

Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, watches this joyfully. Wesley, his assistant, tells the crime boss that Nuke's rampage is all over the news, and pleads with him to stop it. Kingpin does not, as he is enjoying the show far too much. Daredevil tries to engage Nuke, but it's no good. The super-soldier is able to easily shrug off a kick to the jaw, and Daredevil gets a gun butt to the face in response. The gunship fires at him as well.

The Devil of Hell's Kitchen tries to use his marital arts skills to paralyze Nuke, but it's no good. There's something rather wrong with Nuke's body, like there's something artificial about it. He can't seem to hurt Nuke...but Nuke can hurt him. In desperation, Daredevil tries to break Nuke's arm, but he can't. He decides to stop "being clever" and kick him off the building. Ben Urich spots this and gets a photographer, an Irish woman named Glorianna O'Breen to capture the fight on film. On the way down, Nuke lands on some power lines, getting electrocuted. He then lands on a police car.

That kind of fall would have killed a normal man. But Nuke is anything but a normal man. It barely phases him. He continues firing his custom gun at Daredevil. However, the devil is able to take a leap and smashes Nuke further into the police car. Ben Urich notices the car is on fire, and tries to get Glorianna to safety. If that car fire hits the gas tank...

BOOM.

The car blows up, but Daredevil is able to leap to safety, getting Nuke's gun. Ben's coat catches fire. Nuke emerges from the fiery wreck, his body ablaze, but refuses to go down. Glorianna tries to help Ben while Daredevil breaks the gun's butt trying to give Nuke a broken face. The gunship fires, causing Glorianna to get shot. Enraged and saying "No more", Daredevil fires the gun at the helicopter, blowing it up.

Then out of nowhere, they appear. A man dressed like the American flag calls for a medic for Glorianna. He then yells for the fires to be put out, as they could hit a gas main. The scene falls to silence as a Norse God of Thunder, depicted almost covered in shadows, calls for the rain. The only ones speaking are Daredevil and Nuke. Daredevil has his hand on Nuke's throat, demanding he confess he was sent by the Kingpin. Nuke is begging for a "white", a pill that calms him down. However, a man in an iron suit demands that Daredevil hand him over, as he's got federal authority. Matt backs away, and Captain America looks away from Nuke in sadness and shame.

I do like the way the Avengers are shown here. Born Again was a street-level story, and it makes sense to portray the Avengers as these almost god-like figures that tower over Daredevil. Thor, being an actual god, being shown as almost completely covered in shadows is a nice touch. It's also a nice touch that the "Big Three" of the Avengers: Cap, Iron Man, and Thor are the ones used. Their appearance here also makes sense. With Nuke on the rampage, this has become more than just a street-level story. Nuke is a big problem, an enhanced super-soldier on the rampage that Daredevil can't beat on his own. His regular tricks don't work. He can't injure him with his martial arts skills, and I doubt his billy club would have been helpful to him, either.

Anyway back to the story. In another building, the Kingpin is having a conference with some other gangsters in the sauna. One of them, a Mr. Glazer, is furious about the rampage. It caused a lot of damage, which really hurts the organization's drug trade. He then goes on to rant that the Kingpin is screwing up and letting his obsession with Murdock overcome him. He thinks that Fisk's losing his wife Vanessa may have unhinged him a bit...then Glazer realizes with horror that he just pressed one of Fisk's Berserk Buttons. Fisk explains this to Glazer by grabbing his throat and choking him to death with one hand.

Dawn then breaks. Foggy Nelson races to a church, not realizing Matt Murdock is right behind him. The nuns in the church are caring for some of the victims of Nuke's rampage, including Glorianna. Sister Maggie, a nun at the church who helped nurse Matt Murdock back to health earlier (And is also Daredevil's mother, long story), tells Matt that he needs to go get some rest. Matt finds Karen in the church, and the two share a kiss. In the background, Foggy and Glorianna are conversing about the pictures she took for Ben Urich. Matt senses something outside, and heads up to the roof.

Yup. Captain America has been tracking him. Matt wants to know what the Sentinel of Liberty wants. Cap just wants to know who Nuke is, but Matt retorts he should ask the military, his employers. Cap explains that he doesn't work for them, and that all he was told was that Nuke was a terrorist. Matt doubts that, as he was too well-made. There are plastics in Nuke's skin, his body doesn't burn easily, and he's only partially human. Whatever Nuke is, he is not human. Matt does wonder what the big deal about him is to Cap. Cap's answer? "He wears the flag", referring to Nuke's American Flag facial tattoo. Matt leaps away, remarking he hadn't noticed. Get it? Matt is blind.

Ben Urich looks at the Daily Bugle copy, happy with the headline and Glori's photo of Nuke on the front page. And the scene shifts again to...this building.

Yeah, a big black building with a big eagle-and-shield logo on it. You'd think the military would want to house themselves in a building less obvious. Inside, the Kingpin is talking to a general that is on his payroll. The general assures Fisk that the Nuke problem will be handled. Captain America bursts into the office, holding up a copy of the Daily Bugle. He demands to know who Nuke is. The general tries to use flattery on Cap, saying that Cap isn't cleared to know about Nuke, and going on about how Cap is held in the highest regard because of his commitment and loyalty, yada yada yada. Cap, being Cap, has no patience for the general's butt-kissing, and reminds him of one thing:

This moment here has become a bit of an iconic one for the Star-Spangled Avenger. It really does help encapsulate the character. Back with Daredevil, he has another problem. The diner he worked at was one of the buildings wrecked during Nuke's rampage, and the insurance company refuses to pay on the policy. Insurance shenanigans are still a thing in a superhero universe, sadly. I would not be surprised if shadier companies did stuff like this more often. Matt suggests suing them, but the owners are reluctant as they think it won't help anything. Thanks to this, Matt and Karen are unemployed. Karen notes that Matt has something in mind.

Meanwhile, back at the big black military building, Cap is in an elevator with a guard. He tell the guard to take him to the vault. The guard tells him that Cap doesn't have the clearance, but gets KO'd. Up above, Nuke is being given a blue pill. You see, Nuke is given different pills for different things. When he's given a red pill, he's amped to fight. A white pill calms him down, and blue pills keep him calm. The pills would be retconned as placebos.

Anyway, Nuke is constantly demanding a red pill. The general tells him that he's got to stick to whites and blues for now. The general tries to pacify Nuke by telling him that he's being relocated for his own protection, not because he did anything wrong. Nuke begs to stay, as he is an American, and America is his home. The general tells him that Nuke can serve his country better overseas, where the enemy is. Nuke insists the enemy is in America.

Down in the vault, Captain America is hacking a computer to find out more about Nuke. He tries not to get resentful at the computer, as that's something old men do. He pulls up some files on Project: Rebirth, the government experiment that made skinny sickly Steven Rogers into the All-American Super-Soldier he is today. He discovers there were attempts to revive the program after him, and one of them turned a man named Frank Simpson into Nuke. Meanwhile, Nuke is getting...rather antsy.

He's ranting about how the press is making people feel ashamed of "our boys", and attacks a guard. A doctor tries to tranquilize him, but it doesn't go well. He shoots the doctor and the guards and breaks his cuffs. The general tries to calm the super-soldier down, but Nuke tells him he won't let the general down. He opens up the doctor's medical bag, and finds a container of pills. He downs a bunch of red pills. In the vault, Cap is still processing what he just learned, when he hears alarm klaxons. Daredevil suits up. He said he had a plan...

We also see the Kingpin accepting an award from a Businessmen's Association, the narration revealing that he obtained it through...rather insidious means. Despite this, Kingpin still feels haunted by Murdock. His assistant Wesley alerts him about Nuke. Speaking of Nuke, he's fighting his way out of the big black government building, but he runs into the unstoppable force: The Mighty Shield of Captain America.

Nuke proves to not be a very good immovable object, as Cap sends him through the building's wall. The two super-soldiers then full through a nearby building's roof. Meanwhile, Daredevil had beaten up some of Fisk's goons. They were running a gambling scam, that funneled money into the "technically legitimate" side of the Kingpin's financial empire. Daredevil also takes the money, planning to use it to rebuild the diner. Yeah, Daredevil showing more of his anti-hero side here, folks. And based on the last panel of the story, he may have given the money to the diner owners. You'll see what I mean. He then hears a phone ring. Daredevil listens in and learns that Nuke has escaped.

As he goes to check it out, Cap wakes up and starts thinking about life before WWII. He finds Nuke, clearly injured by the fall. The dazed super-solder mumbles he'll hold the line, but Cap picks him up. Daredevil hears some helicopters...and the radio chatter between them. Cap tries to take Nuke out of the building, but one of the helicopters fires at them when they get out in the rainy night. Daredevil tries to save them, but Nuke gets shot. As Cap stops the soldiers, Daredevil steals a cab and tries to drive Nuke to a hospital. However, Daredevil is blind, and the windshield and rain are making his radar sense useless. He picks up Nuke's heartbeat...and it's not good. He tells Nuke that he's going home, and the super-soldier dies in the back of the cab.

Daredevil realizes there is still one purpose the now-deceased super-soldier can serve. In a helicopter, Cap spots Daredevil's cab...and something else on a roof. The Kingpin is alerted to Daredevil's making off with nuke. Kingpin realizes Daredevil is heading for the Daily Bugle. He thinks Nuke must have overcome the Man Without Fear, and calls for his gunmen on the Bugle's roof. However, Cap dealt with them. And Daredevil delivers a present to Ben Urich.

"Oh hey Ben, how ya doing, buddy? Got a dead body here for ya." Thanks to this, the next few weeks do not go well for Wilson Fisk. One of the hitmen on the Daily Bugle's roof names Fisk as the responsible party for Nuke's rampage. He is under legal assault on various sides, from disgruntled ex-employees to even the Senate. His lieutenants obey his orders much more slowly, realizing Fisk has lost much of his fearsome unstoppable aura thanks to Daredevil. He's also become seen as a villain by the people thanks to this. As he works out, he plots revenge on the blind lawyer who brought this on him.

As for Daredevil himself? Well, he may have to deal with Fisk again in the future. But for now, he has found himself a moment of genuine peace and happiness. The story ends with Matt and Karen happily walking down a street in Hell's Kitchen, his inner monologue basically stating who he is. He is Daredevil, and he protects Hell's Kitchen.

Hey look, Mazzucchelli signed it. That's pretty cool. And as I said, I think we can assume that Matt gave the money he stole from Fisk to the diner owners to rebuild, so he and Karen can have some regular work.

This issue is awesome. It is an amazing climax to one of the best Daredevil stories ever written. It's action-packed, and like a film noir, there is a tragic element to it. Nuke is a bit of a tragic character, as it is clear that despite his rampage, he is also not quite all there in the head. It's what helps make his death powerful. Some may not like the idea of Cap playing such a big role in this issue, but it does make sense for his character here. Cap would not stand for such corruption in the military himself (Remember, he himself is a military man), and considering the context of the story, his role is rather minor. The ending is very nice. This was Frank Miller's last Daredevil issue as writer, so it has the feeling that he's cleaning up some final stuff, and preparing a new status quo for the next writer. Reading Born Again does make me feel a little sad in retrospect, considering how far Miller has fallen in quality as a writer nowadays.

Mazzucchelli's artwork is very well done. He was a good choice for this story, as his art has a grittier style that fits it very well. If you want to read it yourself, Born Again was collected in trade paperback form.

Next time, join me as we return to the DC Universe, as the Crisis on Infinite Earths rages on...