Captain America #248 (August 1980)

We're going back! Back to the time of War and Remembrance! Yup, for this review, I decided to revisit one of my favorite Captain America runs, the Roger Stern/John Byrne run. The last comic from this run I reviewed was Captain America #250 last month, in which Captain America was asked to be a possible candidate to be President of the United States. I am not kidding. Anyway, let's take a look at this issue with Captain America fighting...the menace of the Dragon Man!

The cover is pretty neat, Dragon Man chomping down on Cap's shield, which is still attached to Cap. Cap lies beaten on a pile of bricks. Well-done cover here. One glaring issue here: Dragon Man is supposed to be purple.

"Dragon Man!"
Writer: Roger Stern (alongside John Byrne)
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubenstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter

The comic begins with Captain America, Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and a SHIELD robotics expert named Gaffer examining a robot in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

The robot is a simulacrum of Baron Von Strucker. You see, in the last issue, SHIELD was preparing to and over Baron Von Strucker to Israel to be tried for war crimes (Von Strucker was a former Nazi), however, Von Strucker tried to escape, but Captain America, Nick Fury, and Dum Dum Dugan was able to stop him. However, he turned out to be a robot.

Gaffer remarks that this robot is incredibly advanced, sophisiticated enough to fool prison doctors into thinking he was human. Fury tells Gaffer to analyze the robot, and Gaffer says it would take a few days. He wants to know if this robot has connections to some troubles with robots and LMDs that Cap and SHIELD have had to deal with Captain America #342 and Defenders #54.

That's something I love about the Marvel Universe of this time, the references to other issues. It gave the feeling that the Marvel Universe was truly connected, and that events in books mattered and had impact.

Cap notices the robot's eye is moving. It leads him to wonder why such a sophisticated robot would be left to be freely examined when it hits him.

The robot had a self-destruct feature, reducing it to slag. A small sphere flies from the remains. A soldier tries to shoot it down, but it manages to get away.

Fury, well, furiously admonishes the soldier. Shame he didn't call the soldier a "goldbrickin' yahoo". Cap tells him that they'll get another lead on the mysterious robot maker. Fury insists this whole thing is SHIELD's problem, and Cap reminds him of SHIELD's handling of a government plan to take over Stark Industries (It happened over Iron Man #119-129). Fury explains he wasn't proud of that, but even the Director of SHIELD has to follow orders. Cap understands and tells Fury to let him know if SHIELD has any leads. Fury tells him he'll let him know. Dum Dum's arm is patched and slinged up, so he offers to give Cap a lift anywhere he wants to go. Cap decides to go to the Avengers' Mansion.

Meanwhile, the robot's builder, one Samuel "Starr" Saxon, aka Machinesmith, is happy to see his gadget make its return to his lab. He then has the gadget analyze all the data it captured from its time inside the robotic simulacrum of Strucker. Hmm, I wonder what data the gadget was collecting, and why Machinesmith wants it... Anyway, Machinemsith comes to a loading dock in his lab, where he has obtained something...big.

He removes the tarp to reveal... the Dragon Man! And Machinesmith is clearly overjoyed.

While Machinesmith is jumping in joy, Captain America is looking for work. In his civilian identity of Steve Rogers, he's looking for illustration work. Didn't the Avengers give out weekly stipends for members? I'm guessing Cap turned them down or donated them to charity. He encounters Josh Cooper, who plans to treat Cap to dinner alongside Mike Ferrell. They're celebrating an old college friend of Mike's moving into the building. And who is the new resident?

Yup, it's the first appearance of Bernie Rosenthal! She and Steve hit it off, while amusingly noting they both have clefts in their chins. Back at his lab, Machinesmith is examining Dragon Man, and discovered the robot can be reactivated. "Starr" Saxon prepares to reactivate the Dragon Man, but then shows a bit of pathos with some great panel storytelling by John Byrne.

The Dragon Man roars back to life. And he's angry. In its rage, Dragon Man trashes the place, which annoys Machinesmith, but then he realizes he is essentially dealing with a powerful robot with the mind of a child. He summons of his golden spherical gadgets to calm Dragon Man down with a nice little dose of soothing ultrasonic noise.

I'm just including this panel because I just love Dragon Man's face in this panel. He looks so delightfully derpy. "Hee hee, Dragon Man like pretty glowing ball." But then it's revealed why there was a gadget inside the Strucker robot. It was collecting data on Captain America. He orders the gadget to hunt down and get the robot to attack him.

Back in the borough of Brooklyn (alliteration!), Steve, Mike, Josh, and Bernie are discussing music when the radio announces a newsflash. Seems some flying object has been buzzing a group of buildings, which Cap realizes were buildings he visited that day. Bernie hopes it's not a UFO scare. It's the Marvel Universe, Bernie. It probably is an actual UFO. Steve goes to the window, and sees...

The Bat-Signal! Nah, it's the Dragon Man in the Moon. Yeah, the Marvel Universe has the Dragon Man in the Moon. Seeing this means that the were-Dragon Men will rampage, so Steve has to take care of that.

Josh remembers he had to give something to Cap, but when he gets to Steve's apartment, the Sentinel of Liberty has already suited up and left. Steve finds the Dragon Man, playing with the gadget. Cap approaches the monster very carefully, as he knows how powerful the monster-like robot is. He then realizes the gadget looks like the same one that was in the Strucker robot. I like to imagine that it is.

However, when Cap draws near, the gadget erupts with another ultrasound noise, one the Dragon Man does not like. It causes the Dragon Man to go on a rampage, and Cap gets worried. He's not comfortable with the idea of fighting a super-powerful robot in the city, as people could get hurt.

In an apartment, a couple are grumbling about a lack of excitement in their lives, and they get more than they bargained for when Dragon Man decides to bust in, and he's not there for a cup of sugar. The woman's scream distracts the robot, which allows Cap to escape his grip, and get the couple out of the apartment. Cap sees the gadget that is causing the mess, and tries to destroy it with his shield. However, the gadget dodges the shield toss, and it flies right into Dragon Man, and the robot tries to eat the shield.

It's a good thing the Dragon Man is a robot, otherwise I'd be worried that Machinesmith didn't bother to feed him enough. Anyway, because the shield is pretty much indestructible, a frustrated Dragon Man tosses it in the air. And a little funny moment.

Heh heh, they can see the shield, but think it's a weather balloon. Cap dodges a fire blast from Dragon Man, who is trying to blast the gadget. Cap is able to put out the fire by making the robot careen into a water tower. The powerful robot gives chase to Cap. Cap's shield then lands on the roof they're on, which is actually pretty convenient.

Cap is briefly distracted by the shield landing, which allows Dragon Man to grab the Sentinel of Liberty and give him a big ol' bearhug. The issue ends with Dragon Man trying to crush Cap's midsection.

This issue was pretty good. It had a nice fight scene, a couple moments of humor, and we got to see a little bit of Steve Rogers in his civilian life at the time. John Byrne's art was in great form here, and Josef Rubenstein's inks, like Terry Austin's in X-Men, compliment his pencils well. I enjoyed this issue, and I think you will, too. If you find War and Remembrance in a comic store, pick it up. It's nine issues of good comics.

You know, I just realized something. Except for the Back to the Future comic review I did last time, I've been reviewing mostly Marvel stuff. I'll have to relieve that. So next time, I'll take a look at something from the Distinguished Competition, as it were. Not to mention, March is Women's History Month. So you know what, I'll kill two birds with one stone. Next time, we'll take a look at an adventure of the Amazing Amazon! That's right! I'll take a look at Wonder Woman next time!

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment Trailer

Shovel Knight is back! Well, sort of. The game's latest expansion, Specter of Torment, is coming to the Switch. I love Shovel Knight, and I was very happy to see the game get an expansion. And here's the trailer for it!

First of all, I love the music they use in this trailer! It's the right mix of spooky and bombastic. Did Jake Kaufman make this?

From what I understand, Specter of Torment will be an expansion that focuses on Specter Knight, one of the members of the Order of No Quarter, the villains of Shovel Knight. The expansion is essentially a prequel to Shovel Knight, explaining how Specter Knight helped recruit knights to form the Order of No Quarter, and the game even promises to reveal how Specter Knight died and was resurrected by the Enchantress.

I like this idea. I really like that this expansion is...well...for lack of a better word, expanding upon the mythos and world of Shovel Knight. I also like that we get to learn more about one of the members of the Order of No Quarter. I know there was a previous expansion focused on Plague Knight called Plague of Shadows that was set concurrent to the main Shovel Knight game, which does make me wonder. Will we get more expansions focusing on the other members of the Order?

A part of me hopes so, as I would love to learn more about the other members' pasts and origins, but at the same time, I can imagine that would be a rather tall order for Yacht Club Games, as there are eight members of the Order.

We get to see some gameplay, and I do like the look of it. Specter Knight looks cool in motion. The color palette and the general look of the game have taken on a more...well, spooky vibe. It's been a while since I played Shovel Knight, so I can't quite remember Shovel Knight's play style, but I imagine Specter Knight can do some stuff Shovel can't. I did see him cling to walls, so that's cool.

The blue bird puking a rainbow platform made me raise an eyebrow.

We do get a brief glimpse of the game being in black-and-white. I think those are supposed to be flashbacks. I thought that having them in black-and-white was really neat. It gives off this feeling of the classic Universal Monster movies. You'd almost expect Specter Knight to meet Dracula or the Wolfman.

I hope this comes to the 3DS. This sounds just as much fun as the original Shovel Knight. I want to grab my 3DS and play it again now...and get that Plague of Shadows expansion...

Blaster Master Zero Trailer, My Thoughts

The Nintendo Switch is here, and there are a whole bunch of games coming for it, and in this case, for the 3DS, too! One of them is a blast from the past! Considered one of the greatest games of the NES era, Inti Creates and Sunsoft are bringing out Blaster Master Zero! And here is the trailer!

I have to admit, I never played the original Blaster Master. I did play friends' NESes as a kid, but the first console I owned was an SNES. Despite this, I do want to give this game a try. I love the look of it. The tank parts look like the original 8-bit graphics with better coloring, and the 3-D parts where the guy walks around on his own look like they were upgraded to 16-bit style to me.

I like the sound of the music. It's great enhanced chiptune work. Kudos to the composer on that. It was wonderful to listen to.

It's kind of funny that one of the presumed bosses is called Mother Brain. I would theorize that Blaster Master and Metroid may somehow be a part of the same universe, but Blaster Master isn't a first-party Nintendo game.

The coolest-looking boss is Central Gear. I mean, come on. It's a giant gear with crocodile teeth, veins all over it, and atomic breath that would make Godzilla proud.

The tank looks like it has a nice variety of weaponry, which is good. I am curious about the character of Eve. Something tells me that there is more to her than meets the eye. Usually is in stories like this.

Now, I do have one question? Is this an enhanced remake of the original? It sounds like it is. I like enhanced remakes of old games.

I can't wait to play this game! It looks like it'll be so much fun!

Samurai Jack Season 5 Trailer, My Thoughts

Jack is Back!

That's right, folks! The time-tossed samurai is returning for a fifth and final season, ten years after the original end of season four. I loved this series back in the day, and I was so happy to see it return! And here's the trailer!

The trailer starts with Jack standing in various places, and remarking that 50 years have passed since the last episode. Jack himself, though...has not aged. I have heard that was because of his being tossed through time like a football in a football game.

It appears that here, Jack is in a bit of a funk. Which makes some sense. The man has been fighting Aku for half a century, and it seems that for all his efforts, Aku is still in control of the world. Not to mention that time and time again in the series, Jack has found a way to get back to his own time, but the way keeps getting taken from him. Imagine that going on for FIFTY YEARS. Jack is a strong and noble man, but even he can be worn down by all of it.

We see some scenes of despair, and then something interesting. A group of women, being given orders to kill Jack. They were given orders by another woman who wears a mask with the head shape of Aku. I'm guessing that Aku will naturally be the Big Bad, while these women will be his elite mooks.

Speaking of Jack, I have heard that since Mako, Aku's voice actor, passed away, they did find someone new to voice him. I wish the new actor luck. They got REALLY big shoes to fill.

We do see the women engage Jack, who got himself some cool samurai-style armor, and what looks like a new sword. I wonder what happened to his old one? He also tries to shoot them with a machine gun. That's new. Again, it's been 50 years, this ain't the Jack of old. Seeing him shoot that gun like that combined with his new facial hair makes me think he's started to channel Mr. John Rambo a bit.

These Aku-helmed women are tough! They move like the Flash on speed, and utterly WRECK Jack. We also see he takes a wound during his battles, and it's bleeding. We even see him leave a trail of blood against a wall. It gives the feeling this show has matured with its audience, but it's also a clear showing that the creators are taking advantage of this season being on adult swim.

I also have to say, I love the music in the background. I've gotten into Retro New Wave recently, and the music is great to listen to.

I do like that this trailer tells a little story itself, the women stalk Jack, attack, he hides out and regroups, and then gets ready to deliver some pain. The trailer then ends with footage of Jack kicking butt, and announcing that the season will arrive on March 11.

I LOVED this trailer! I actually watched it several times, that's how much I love it! This new season is going to be fun to watch! I hope this season does provide a proper ending to Jack's story, but I think the creators are going for that, so I can't wait to see how Jack finally ends Aku's reign of terror.

Back to the Future #1 (October 2015)

Back to the Future. One of film's most beloved franchises, the tale of a 1980s teenage boy who travels back to the 1950s and nearly ends up hooking up with his own mother, and then travelling to a dystopian future and then the Wild West has entertained generations of fans.

The film would end up creating a small little franchise, which extended to film sequels, video games, an animated series, a stage play (No joke), and yes, even comic books. Harvey Comics published a comic based on the animated series for a short time in 1992, which lasted about seven issues. However, I'm going to look at a more recent BttF comic, one that IDW published in, appropriately enough, 2015.

Some time back, I got a trade paperback of the series known as Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines, which collects the first five issues of the series. The issues do what the trade title says, tells some untold stories of the BttF universe. The first issue, which we'll look at here, tells an origin story of sorts. What of, you may ask? Essentially, how Doc Brown and Marty first met. Let's see how it went down!

I have to admit, I love the cover here. Dan Schoening does some fine artwork here. He doesn't quite use the likenesses of the actors, but the characters are still recognizable. Luis Antonio Delgado's colors are nice. They are a bit more subtle than I expected, but I don't think that's a bad thing. The cover may be seen by some as a bit crowded, but I think the nods make up for it.

"When Marty Met Emmett"
Story: Bob Gale (Co-scripted with John Barber)
Art: Brent Schoonover
Inker: David Witt
Colors: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Shawn Lee

The issue begins with Doc Brown working in his shop in 1885, working on an experiment. What is he trying to do? Well, generate the 1.21 Gigawatts of electricity he needs for time travel. It doesn't work. He's then visited by his wife Clara and sons Jules and Verne.

I think we can assume that this takes place before the ending of Back to the Future III, when Emmett and Clara reunited with Marty in 1985 in their time-traveling personal locomotive, and introduced him to their sons.

A confused Verne (Verne was the blond son) asks about the future, and Doc Brown explains that out there would be the future home of the Brown family (formerly the Von Braun family, per BttF III.) Doc then goes a little bit into his history with Hill Valley, including recalling when he first came up with the flux capacitor, the burning down of his family home, and his residency in his garage.

The scene then goes to October 2, 1982 at 1:16 PM, where we meet a young Marty McFly is in his family's garage, playing some guitar.

For some reason, I can imagine that he's playing Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode". Get it? Anyway, Marty finds himself accosted by a certain flea-bitten (get it?) punk named Needles and his two mooks.

I wanted to say the mooks were a nod to Griff Tannen's mooks in BttF II, considering one of his mooks is a blonde female, like Griff had, but Griff didn't have a fat mook with him. Anyway, Needles wants an interocitor tube for his amp, as his got broken due to "rockin' too hard", and he figured his "friend" Marty had one. Needles's band, the Tabascoes, have a gig that night.

Needles takes what looks like a vacuum tube out of Marty's amp, and I wondered what an Interocitor tube was, and I got this in response. It's a fictional device that was capable of just about anything from a 1949 science fiction story. Odd place to put that homage, as I think that tube has an actual name.

Marty offers to rent the tube to Needles for five bucks. Needles tells him he'll pay it back when he returns it. Marty grabs his wrist and demands the money now, but this causes Needles to drop the tube, shattering it. Needles is not happy about this, and demands Marty get a new one for him  and get it to him at the Hill Valley Clocktower by four o' clock. Marty says he can't buy a new one, as he has no money. Female Mook (I'll call her Cindi. She looks like a Cindi) makes a suggestion.

Marty refuses to steal it, and Needles calls him chicken. And since this was a couple years before the events of the BttF trilogy...

Marty hasn't gotten over that little issue with being called "chicken" yet, so he accepts. Needles taunts him some more, and takes Marty's guitar as his own form of collateral.

At 2:02 PM, Marty is at a music store, and to his frustration, the store is out of tubes.

Hey, it's that bum who called Marty a "drunk driver". Marty is shocked, as the store usually has lots of them. The shopkeeper looks up who bought them, and it was ELB Enterprises at 1640 John F. Kennedy Drive. Marty then realizes that's the address of Doc Brown. The shopkeeper jokes that he needed them for his Death Ray, and working on it was how his house burned down back in '62. Brown himself never bought the parts personally, just ordered them by mail. He warns Marty not to go over there, as it's asking for trouble. Shopkeeper, you have no idea...

At 3:17 PM, Marty goes over to the house. He was holding a skateboard, which must've resulted in quite a long journey. Although, considering the first movie showed that Marty when he skateboarded would hang on to cars when he needed speed, so maybe Doc Brown's house was further away from Hill Valley than we thought. Marty approaches the house's intercom, but an automated message tells him to go away. Marty grumbles about warnings today, and tries again.

The intercom warns the next shock will not be comfortable, taunting him that he was not one to foresee that his actions would have consequences. Marty, gets a strange burst of inspiration out of nowhere. Realizing the wordplay in the phrase "One to foresee", he types in a code on the keypad: 1-2-4-C. The fence opens, letting him enter. I wonder, how did he figure that out?

Marty then knocks on the door, but no answer. He then finds a garbage can and climbs on it, peering through the window. He sees the box of tubes, but the window is padlocked. Marty considers smashing through it with his skateboard, but decides against it, saying that's not who he is. In a bit of a funny nod to BttF II, he tells himself to "Think, Marty, think!". He then realizes something. The "No Entry" sign on the fence said "Know Entry" instead. He goes back to the sign and finds the key behind the sign.

Marty unlocks the padlock and climbs in, only to end up activating some Rube Goldberg-like device.

The device drags Marty into the air thanks to a net on the ground. A visible net that Marty could have easily seen and figured out that it was there to trap him. I can imagine Needles falling for it, because he seems like an idiot, but not Marty. Anyway, Marty shows his brains again and uses his skateboard to somehow open the net and free him. How did he know where to send the skateboard?

Finally freed, and the time being 3:42 PM, Marty finds himself getting attacked by a dog.

It's Einstein, Emmet Brown's dog in 1985! Luckily, instead of ripping Marty's face off, he gives Marty doggy kisses. Doc Brown emerges, congratulating Marty for passing his test. Marty introduces himself, and Doc is asking if he's inquiring about the assistant job. Marty is unaware of a job opening, and Doc explains that he's looking for an assistant to help him out around the lab and run errands.

Marty says he can start right now if Doc needs him. Doc is happy about this, complimenting Marty's resourcefulness and Einstein's judging of character. Marty admits that he really came because he wanted an interocitor tube, and Doc had them all. Doc asks worriedly if Marty had intended to rob him, and Marty explains that if Doc would've just answered the door, he would have asked.

Doc blames himself, saying his work required him to be rather reclusive, and it's caused him some problems he didn't foresee. Marty asks what exactly he does, but Doc says he doesn't discuss it. Marty's cool with it. Doc then admits that he wasn't advertising for a job, he was doing a bit of an experiment to see how Marty would react. Is this another test of character?

However, Doc says he can give Marty a job if he wants one. Basically, running errands, keeping inventory, stuff like that. Marty eagerly takes the job, and asks about the tubes. Doc admits that he just needed the boxes and threw out the tubes.

It's a funny moment, but I can't help but think, wouldn't Doc have kept the tubes? He could've used them for a gadget he was working on. And Marty could have crushed them when he was climbing on the garbage can, and he would've been screwed.

It's 3:58 PM. Marty takes one of Doc's tubes to Needles (I can imagine he also got another one for himself to replace the one Needles broke), and there's another funny moment when Marty explains where he got it.

That panel is funny, I love it! We then go back to Doc in 1885, explaining that that was how he met Marty for the first time. Verne falls asleep in his arms, and Clara explains he couldn't expect a child who hasn't reached three yet to stay awake through that story. The comic ends with Doc Brown saying he's got more tales to tell, and all the time to tell them. Get it, because he's a time traveler?

This issue did have some head-scratching moments, but you know what? It still was really good. It was really neat seeing how Doc Brown and Marty met for the first time. The coloring is nice and bright. The art had a bit of the same problem I felt Bob Hall had with Squadron Supreme. The art is very good with close-ups, but it does suffer when it comes to drawing at a distance, especially in the faces. However, it's not as bad here, as even from far away, I could still get facial expression. Maybe it was improved technique, technology, or a mix, I have no idea.

Despite this, I really enjoyed this issue. It was a fun read, and if you are a BttF fan, pick this up if you find it. If you find the trade Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines at a shop, pick it up. I got it for only twenty bucks, and it was worth every penny.

Yoshi's Woolly World - Let's Get Adventuring Trailer!

Yoshi's Woolly World is coming to the 3DS! I saw the Completionist's video on the original Wii U version of the game, and I have to admit, the game looked like a lot of fun. Now that I own a Wii U, I wanted to pick this game up. Buuuuuuuuuut, Nintendo announced a port of the game is coming to the 3DS.

This actually got my interest. I LOVE my 3DS. Most of my gaming is done with that these days. I've been enjoying Pokémon Sun and Dragon Quest VII. I also want to get Dragon Quest VIII. The 3DS port will be referred to as Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World. Here's the Let's Get Adventuring Trailer!

I have to admit, the game does look good on the 3DS. The gameplay features seem to be the standard mechanics for a Yoshi game: Yoshi can eat enemies, make them into eggs, toss eggs, that kind of thing. There are collectibles, including this thing called Wonder Wool (Which is something Wonder Woman would use to knit), which can be used to knit Yoshi's fellow Yoshis back together. Was that from the Wii U version?

There are many patterns of Yoshis which are playable. I know in the Wii U version, Amiibos can unlock unique Yoshi patterns based on the characters...well, except for the Pokémon ones. Maybe this version will have unique patterns for those Amiibos.

Every level from the Wii U version will be in this port? Well, that is really awesome. I wonder how they managed to fit all that on the 3DS cartridge.

This version has a feature called Mellow Mode, which is a mode that allows the player to "take it easy", as the trailer said. Basically, the levels are altered to make them more relaxed to play, and you can use Poochy Pups, who are ADORABLE, to find secrets. That's pretty neat.

This version also apparently allows levels to be played by Poochy. The levels appear to become bead rushes, in which you have to collect as many as you can. That's a neat extra feature. Hope you get something cool for beating all the levels like this.

There also appears to be a new feature to the game: Designing your own Yoshis. Yup, you can create your own unique-looking Yoshi, play as that Yoshi in-game, and use the StreetPass feature to share the design with others. That's pretty cool. When I get this game, I think I'll be able to cook up some cool designs...

You can also watch little stop-motion videos with Yoshi and Poochy. I wonder how they can be unlocked. Nintendo put a couple up on their YouTube page. Give them a watch, they are cute. My favorite is the one with the cake.

The game retains its Amiibo features. That's neat. The Poochy one gives some new time-trial challenges for the levels. Beat them, and Poochy gets some new skins. Cool! I wonder what new looks the little dog will have.

I love this. I love that the port has some new features and stuff put in. It really amazes me that they could take a WHOLE WII U GAME, and stuff it, AND EXTRA STUFF, into a 3DS cartridge. I think I'll pick this game up.

Squadron Supreme #2 (October 1985)

It's that time again! It's time to return to the wild world of Earth-712, home of the Earth's Greatest Heroes, the Squadron Supreme! Last month, I reviewed the first issue of their twelve-issue maxi-series, and I thought it'd be fun to try taking a look at one issue every month. As such, here's #2 for you!

Previously on Squadron Supreme: Thanks to a pair of powerful villains, Earth-712 was left in ruins, despite the efforts of the Squadron Supreme and the Defenders. After the crisis, the Squadron come to the conclusion that the only way to solve this Earth's problems is to essentially take charge of the world. If they don't fix everything in one year, then they shall return power to the world's governments. Nighthawk quits the Squadron due to his reservations about the plan, and vows to find another way to save the world and stop the Squadron...

The cover depicts Hyperion facing off against the Scarlet Centurion, threatening to kill him, and the Squadron Supreme watching around a table in shock. Hyperion's pose makes me shake my head, though. Why is he kneeling in the air? Is he on an invisible floating platform? Oh, I know what's going on here! Scarlet Centurion threw his back out again, and Hyperion is accommodating him until he can get to his chiropractor, and the Squadron Supreme is just shocked about the whole thing.

"A Small Sacrifice"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Bob Hall
Inker: John Beatty
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter

The issue begins with Doctor Spectrum, Golden Archer, and Tom Thumb carrying loads of boxes towards a crowd in a city thanks to Spectrum's GL-esque abilities.

The boxes are filled with food, and the people of this city are all too happy to finally get a decent meal after a while. However, poor Tom Thumb gets teased a bit.

The mayor expresses his gratitude towards the heroes, an let's them address the crowd. Doctor Spectrum and Golden Archer reassure everyone that the roads have been cleared up and the food industry is working to feed the country again. However, poor Tom Thumb gets passed over when it comes to speaking to the crowd.

Yeah, this was something that was minorly touched on in the last issue with Thumb's interactions with the computer, Aida. It gives the impression that Tom has been struggling with feeling lonely and well, small for the long time. It also gives the impression that the other members of the Squadron don't directly ignore or disrespect Tom, it's something they don't realize they do.

A group of men claiming to be city councilmen get up on the improvised stage and take the mayor hostage.

The men demand that Archer and Spectrum drop their weapons. Considering the risk to the mayor, Archer and Spectrum do so. The men call themselves Freedom Force, and state they find the Squadron guilty of their actions under the control of Over-Mind. One of the men reveals his brother died during that time. As such, they sentence the Squadron to death by execution.

More men appear, surrounding the Squadron members. Archer thinks that they'll never be able to convince them that the Squadron were under mind control. You know, Archer, it wouldn't hurt to at least try. You might be able to convince someone. After all, even in a world like this, with superheroes and magic, being controlled by an alien can't be that inconceivable to people.

The men march the three Squadron members to the big pile of crates, and improvise a firing squad. The leader obtains Doctor Spectrum's Power Prism and announces his intent to use it to make the Squadron pay for their crimes, but the thing is...Doctor Spectrum doesn't need to actually hold his Power Prism to command it. He can do it by remote.

Spectrum is able to disarm the holder of his Prism, and he and Archer make short work of the wannabe firing squad. And Tom Thumb is left sulking, thinking that no one treated him like he was even there.

Meanwhile, Whizzer and Nuke are racing across a bridge. Nuke tells Whizzer he has some business up north, and flies off. Whizzer thinks that he knows Nuke was really bothered by something, but won't tell him anything. Nuke changes to civvies, and visits his sick parents. Since they don't have much longer, they admit to him that they know what is killing them: They're suffering from radiation poisoning.

They have cancer caused by radiation poisoning. Nuke has powers based around radiation. Put two and two together. Later, the Squadron hold a meeting to discuss their progress in repairing America. Hyperion reports that the U.S. Mint is operating again, and the banks will reopen Wednesday. Power Princess reports that 75% of the food processing plants on the East Coast are back in business, and she and Arcanna will start on the West Coast tomorrow. Whizzer and Nuke managed to evacuate all the internment camps and get food to all the prisons. Tom Thumb reports that 95% of all the power an natural gas likes have been restored. A lot has been done in only one month.

Doc Spectrum tells Hyperion about the incident with the wannabe firing squad, and Hyperion remarks that after the food crisis is over, they've got to work on the disarmament program. Oh yeah, the gun-worshipping rednecks will love that one, Hype.

Lady Lark remarks that the Squadron should look into expanding their membership, as there's still a lot to do, and only 12 Squadron members. However, they get interrupted by a surprise guest.

It's the Scarlet Centurion! Well, a hologram of him at the very least. He does the typical supervillain thing, announcing that he has a legion of ten thousand temporal warriors who shall invade the Earth. Hyperion...warns him that's not a good idea right now, considering the Earth is still not in the best of shape.

Surprisingly, the Centurion agrees, stating that it's no fun conquering a world that is a ruin. He then says the Squadron haven't seen the last of him, that old cliché. The hologram vanishes, and the Squadron cheer Hyperion's scaring him off. With that out of the way, he and Power Princess announce that they will meet with the new President tomorrow...which reminds them of Nighthawk, which leads them to wonder where he went off to. Hyperion states that he went by his home, but he wasn't there. You think the Squadron would be looking for the guy, at the very least to see if he's alright. Although they probably were very busy fixing the world.

In a mirthful moment, Doc Spectrum reminds everyone that it's poker night, and the Squadron, sans Hyperion and Power Princess, play some cards, except for one.

I love the layout of these panels. We see Tom Thumb quietly leaving the table and going off. And we get some dialogue from Amphibian. Poor Amphibian never really got any spotlight in this issue so far. I get the feeling Mark wasn't quite sure what to do with him.

Anyway, Tom Thumb mentally grumbles about feeling left out again...which does make me scratch my head. In this case, I didn't see then outright letting Tom out, even unintentionally. Maybe that's just me. Anyway, Tom does have a friend: Aida. They talk for a bit, and then Nuke appears, wanting to ask Tom a favor. Nuke fears his energy powers are increasing in strength.

He fires a blast at an energy analyzer, and Nuke's fears are confirmed. His energy powers have increased 52% in strength. He then realizes that his general radioactivity has increased as well, which means it's getting dangerous to be around him for long periods of time.

Nuke explains that his parents have cancer from radiation poisoning, and he thinks it's because of him. He's the youngest of the Squadron, and he still lives with them. They also have no idea he is Nuke...this makes me scratch my head. Nuke was with the rest of the Squadron when they unmasked in the last issue. Didn't his parents see that on TV? And if they did, wouldn't they have also figured out that being around him is why they're ill?

He doesn't have much besides them, as he doesn't really have any friends, and he's occupied with his Squadron duties. Much like Tom himself. Nuke is desperate to save his parents, and makes a very big request of Tom...

Tom admits in his mind it's a tall order. After, how many scientists over how many decades have puzzled over this problem? Tom, however, fears that if he doesn't do it, Nuke will hate him. He then agrees to try. Nuke is overjoyed, and leaves to go see his parents. Tom realizes that he messed up. He then becomes determined to do what some say may be impossible.

The next day, Hyperion finds Tom asleep at Aida's keyboard. He wakes him up and Tom requests to be taken off field duty for a while as he's got some projects going. Hyperion agrees, as Tom is the smartest guy in the Squadron, and he can decide where his brain is needed most. Tom then tells Aida to not let him sleep again. Yeah, that's not smart, Tom. Even you need sleep. Your body and mind will be hurting if you don't get sleep.

Later that morning, Blue Eagle, Lady Lark, and Nuke are flying over what I think is the GW Bridge connecting New York and New Jersey. The comic calls it the George Orwell Bridge, which connects New Wesley and New Troy. Yeah, Earth-712 has many of the same places that "our" world does, but given new names. For example, Washington, DC is known as Capitol City, Magelland. It's a neat way of paying homage to DC using fictional cities for their characters, but it can be confusing as I have a tough time sometimes figuring out what each place is supposed to be the counterpart of at times. There's also another nod with the bridge's name: George Orwell wrote 1984.

They got word of mobs blocking the trucks bringing food to Cosmopolis, aka Earth-712's New York City. Lady Lark inquires about Blue Eagle's new name and suit, and he explains it was a gift from his father, who recently passed on.

Nuke signals them, indicating he found the mobs. They're storming the trucks, demanding food. Lady Lark uses her powerful voice to try and calm people down, but the mobs are angry, they're hungry, and they are fed up with waiting. Nuke decides to take action himself, and...

His fireworks display causes a panic, and Lark and Eagle chastise him for it with help from her voice. Nuke asks them not to report this to Hyperion. That evening, the Squadron have a meeting, and Nuke realizes he's off the hook. Tom tells Nuke he has something for him.

It's a brand-new radiation suit. Much to Nuke's chagrin, he's going to have to wear it around people because of his increasing radioactivity, and considering he's around people almost all the time...yeah. A downcast Nuke decides not to join the other Squadron for a poker game, and with the problem of Nuke's increasing radioactivity supposedly solved, Tom can concentrate on finding a cure for cancer. Eight days pass, and no luck on that front for Tom. Nuke tells him his parents are getting worse, and he's really scared. He's begging Tom to hurry on that cure. Tom gets frustrated about the lack of time he has, but is hit with a bolt of inspiration.

Tom grabs an object from a crate. Basically, it's a backpack and helmet that would allow him to travel through time. Tom uses it to visit the 40th Century home of the Scarlet Centurion. And Tom wants to make a bargain with the future-born warlord.

The Scarlet Centurion has a little something called a Panacea Potion. The potion supposedly does right what the name says: It can cure any disease, heal any wound, even reverse aging. But there's a price. The Centurion will give him the potion, if Tom uses an argonite capsule to poison Hyperion. With Hyperion weakened, the Scarlet Centurion will be able to defeat the Squadron and conquer the world.

Tom ultimately decides that the price is not worth the potion. He can't betray his only friends, the Squadron Supreme. He goes back home and the Scarlet Centurion laughs. A heartbroken Tom cries himself to sleep. Nuke finds him the next day, and Tom tells him the truth: He couldn't do it. He couldn't find a cure for his parents' cancer. Nuke is totally understanding about it. After all, Tom did try his best, and many before Tom have tried to tackle that problem...

See? Nuke is totally understanding! Yeah, I like to think that Nuke's increasing powers are also affecting his mind on top of his own fears and desperation to not lose his family. Tom apologizes to Nuke, saying heroes shouldn't betray each other for any reason. This is a theme that was seen often in Gruenwald's work, from this to Captain America and even his work on the New Universe title DP7: The idea that one should always stick to their principles. It may be the harder thing to do, but ultimately, it's the right thing to do. The Captain America No More storyline he wrote is a great example of this theme being prominent in his work.

Anyway, Tom quietly reveals that Nuke's parents won't be alone in meeting the Grim Reaper soon.

Tom has cancer, too. And his prognosis is not good. I think we can safely assume he got sick from hanging around Nuke all the time.

Squadron Supreme #2 is really good. Again, Mark Gruenwald shows his skills at balancing a large cast (Well, except for Amphibian, guy never really does anything), and he manages to keep the story packed in a good way. Bob Hall's art is serviceable, but it still has the same flaws that I pointed out in my look at the last issue: His close-ups are fantastic, but his art does seem to suffer when it comes to drawing characters at a distance. Although I'm thinking it may be more of the inking rather than the penciler's fault.

If you find this issue in the back issue bins, get it. Heck, get the whole mini! After looking at this heavy issue, I feel the need to look at something more light-hearted and fun. Ah, I know! Next time, we'll look at a Back to the Future comic!