Space Jam: A New Legacy Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1996, the film Space Jam hit theaters. Directed by Joe Pytka, it starred NBA legend Michael Jordan. Set after his first retirement from the NBA in 1993, Jordan is called upon by the Looney Tunes gang to help them win a basketball game to keep a team of aliens from enslaving them as attractions for their theme park. The film received mixed reviews on release. However, the film was given praise for its blending of live-action and animation, as well as for the Looney Tunes' comedic timing. 

The film would be a box office success, and it retains a cult following to this day. The film is also notable for introducing Lola Bunny to the Looney Tunes canon. It also was one of the first productions to be made on a virtual studio, and was one of the first animated films to use digital technology. It's quite ahead of its time in some ways. 

A sequel had been planned as far back as 1996, and went through various evolutions, but it never came to be. Until now. It was announced in 2014 that a sequel was greenlit, with NBA player LeBron James now being the basketball star meeting the Looney Tunes gang. It's kind of appropriate that he be in the sequel. LeBron James is considered one of the greatest basketball players of his generation, if not all time...he's often compared to Michael Jordan when it comes to his impact on the hardwood. So, does A New Legacy look like a fun ride? Let's look at the trailer!

Man, that's a big house. 

Is he playing a Nintendo Switch?! I love the Switch!

Ah, so this is the classic "father tries to connect with son" story. Simple, but effective at the heartstring-tugging.

Eh, I bet Will Smith's family is...a bit weirder.

Evidently, these servers have some Tron tech in them.

Oh, it's not so bad. Don Cheadle is in charge...I spoke too soon.

This is Don Cheadle's world, LeBron. You might need to tread carefully here, my friend.

Hey, be glad you got to be a cartoon, LeBron. You would be dead if you were still flesh after that fall.

I wonder if this'll call back to the original Space Jam in the story.

...why would LeBron have Yosemite Sam on his team if he can have friggin' Superman?!

Get it? He shot the ball.

This film is just Warner Bros. saying "LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF WE OWN, FOLKS! AND YOU ALL ARE AFRAID OF THE MOUSE?!"

Wait...was that BlackArachnia?!

Ooh, that'll hurt!

Heh. Senior discount.

Well, this looks like it'll be a fun ride, especially for kids. I remember really wanting to see the original as a kid, and thinking it was the coolest thing ever. I hope today's kids get that feeling from this movie. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 (February 1984)

Before I begin this blog entry, I do have to apologize. Last week, I said I was going to talk about a comic story focused on Northstar for Pride Month. However, I made a goofup. I thought May was Pride Month, that was actually in June. I do apologize for this error, but I will look at that story next month, so that's something to look forward to. As such, this week, I thought it would be nice to focus on a character that's never really appeared in this blog before, and I wanted to review more DC stuff, anyway. Enjoy! 

Once upon a time, there was a man named Alec Holland. He was a brilliant doctor, working on a formula to help promote crop growth alongside his beloved wife Linda. The two hoped their formula would basically be a panacea for starvation. But this endeavor would end in tragedy. The two would end up getting attacked by agents of the criminal organization known as the Conclave. The Conclave blew up his lab, saturating Alec with the bio-restorative formula and knocking him into the swamps. He would emerge transformed into a living hybrid of man and plant. He would be known from then on...as the Swamp Thing. At least, that's what seemed to have happened...

Created by the both sadly missed Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (July 1971). Wein came up with the original idea for the Swamp Thing while riding on a subway train in Queens, New York. His basic sketch of the character would be refined by Wrightson, leading to the monster we know today.

The Swamp Thing would become quite popular in the 70s through the 90s, appearing in a cartoon, a couple of movies, and a live-action TV show in 1990. The character would get another short-lived show in 2019. He's also gotten numerous series over the years. 

The comic we're looking at this week is from the Swamp Thing's second series, which had started in 1982. Issue #19 saw the beginning of the character's adventures being chronicled by British writer Alan Moore. Moore was not the famous figure in comics he is now back at this time. Having been given free rein to do as he saw fit with the book, Moore took the book in a more mythic and monstrous direction. He wanted to make the Swamp Thing a true monster, and this issue would seal that fate for Mr. Holland. Let's look at Saga of the Swamp Thing #21!

The cover is a Tom Yeates piece, and it's pretty awesome, depicting the Swamp Thing menacingly walking towards a man. My only complaint about it is that the building doesn't quite match the building in the actual story. But maybe the change was done for atmospheric purposes. It does a good job selling the idea of the Swamp Thing as a horrific monster.

"The Anatomy Lesson"
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciler: Steve Bissette
Inker: John Totleben
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Len Wein
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins with a man standing in a building, staring out in the sky on a dark and stormy night. He's enjoying a little wine, and contemplating some things. Life, the universe, that kind of thing. This man is Jason Woodrue, aka the supervillain known as the Floronic Man. And what he is actually contemplating? He's thinking about an old man. An old man who will be calling for help soon. And there will be blood. Lots of blood, likely. 

So, how did the Floronic Man end up here? Well, we've got to go back a bit. The Old Man, a General Sutherland, had hired him for a task, releasing him from jail in the process. The Old Man had shown Jason around his building. The half-man half-plant noticed that the building was empty, but that's because everything here is automated. Sutherland shows him a special surprise.

"We told him to chill out, but this is ridiculous!"

 Our man Swamp Thing, frozen and seemingly dead. Yeah, he got shot up in the last issue. And now that the Swamp Thing has joined the choir invisible, Sutherland wants an autopsy done on him. Why's that, you ask? Well, it's here we get a bit of a recap of Swamp Thing's origins.   

Sutherland explains that his men had exhumed Linda Holland's corpse. She was the only other person in the world that was exposed to the formula as much as Alec Holland was. The corpse was examined, and nothing was found. That was expected. It was in her tissues, but it wasn't supposed to have done anything to her. The formula was supposed to work only on plants. So, if that was the case...why was Alec transformed?

That's where Woodrue comes in. Being basically a human-plant hybrid himself, it's hoped he could provide some insight into Alec's transformation. Woodrue agrees to examine the body of the Swamp Thing. After all, he's got a "Get out of Jail Free" card out of this. The next day, the Floronic Man gets to work on the Autopsy of the Swamp Thing.

Page 43, Panels 4-6

Woodrue admits that he was excited to examine our hero's body. It's not often that the plant-powered villain gets to examine another being like himself. Maybe it will allow him to undergo a bit of self-discovery of his own. 

Weeks pass. Woodrue discovers that Swamp Thing does contain organs, but they seemingly are made of vegetable manner...and don't work at all. The next few weeks are rough ones for the Floronic Man. He has made no headway in solving the mystery of the Swamp Thing's body. His employer is growing dissatisfied with his lack of progress. The Floronic Man won't be stumped for long, though. One night, while tired, he read an essay on planarian worms...and it hits him.

Meanwhile, the Swamp Thing is regrowing.

Page 46, Panel 7

You see, there was an experiment done with planarian worms. One worm was taught to run a maze. It was then chopped up and fed to other worms...that were able to run the maze. Somehow, the worms were able to obtain the knowledge of how to run the maze from their comrade after eating him.

Yeah, it disturbs me, too. Evidently, this was a real experiment done by James V. McConnell in the 60s. The results he found were considered the product of observer bias. But this is the DCU. And this is the big answer to how Alec Holland was transformed into the Swamp Thing. His body was saturated with the bio-chemical compound he was working on. The compound couldn't have transformed him on its own. If that were the case, Linda would be a She-Swamp Thing. Huh. Imagine that. Somewhere out there in the DC Multiverse, Linda became the Swamp Thing. Anyway, what if the explosion had already killed Holland, and sent his corpse into the swamp?

The plants there get altered by the biochemical formula in Holland's body. They consume his corpse, getting Alec's conciousness, much like the planarian worms inheriting the knowledge of running a maze. They form themselves into a body, trying to imitate his old organs. A new being is born out of this, unware that he is no longer even human...and can never be again. Sutherland finds this...ridiculous. ...Dude, you are literally talking to a plant-man!

Anyway, because the old man is a dope, he fires Woodrue. Thing is, Woodrue is a supervillain, and supervillains do not like being slighted. Using the knowledge of the building (Sutherland had showed him the automated defenses while he was working on Swamp Thing), the Floronic Man unfreezes the Swamp Thing, allowing him to complete growing back from his old body. 

Sutherland comes down to look at the frozen body, and discovers that ol' Mr. Holland has managed to finish regrowing himself. He flees back to his office, and finds ol' Alec waiting for him.

Page 54, Panel 7

The files on Alec are on the man's desk, and our man/plant has had the opportunity to read through them. Further showing how dumb he is, Sutherland asks if Alec likes what he read. Woodrue predicted as he told this story that Alec would...not take the revelation well. The Swamp Thing pursues Sutherland all over the building. He tries to flee, but Woodrue messed with the security system. Again, the general slighted a supervillain. An it allows Swamp Thing to catch up to him and basically give the old man the Hug of Death.

The story ends with Woodrue sitting back in his apartment, having some wine...and plotting. Doing lots and lots of plotting.

Apologies for the lack of pictures, it's been a busy week for me, and I had no chance to get scans done. I'll have to get on that...and last week's, too. Sigh... 

This story is a classic for a reason. It's the story that blew up everything we thought we knew about our swampy hero, turning him from a tragic man into a tragic monster. In the 80s, Alan Moore was in a bit of a mood to deconstruct and blow up the superhero genre, for better and for worse. We see a bit of that here, taking a bit of plot hole in Swamp Thing's origin and turning it into something that utterly redefined that character. Bissette and Totleben's work on art is moody and helps give the comic the vibe of a horror film. It's really good.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, get vaccinated, and wear a mask! Join me next time, when we return to the New Universe and meet a new generation of heroes, harnessing the power...of psi... 

Happy Mother's Day!

 Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

I hope this day was a wonderful one for you!

Avengers Forever #5 (April 1999)

It's that time again! It's time to join the Avengers in their epic battle against Immortus, the Master of Time! And funky headgear! Last time, our heroes went to three different points in time to investigate a series of anomalies: The year of 1959, the Old West, and a possible future featuring a rag-tag group of Avengers desperately fighting to save a devastated Earth from the Martians. All three groups ran into trouble, so how did it work out for them? Let's take a look at Avengers Forever #5!

The cover is a Carlos Pacheco piece, and it's pretty neat. It depicts the members of both the "present" and "1950s Avengers" reacting to what is clearly Immortus's hand. He just did a magic trick involving a bunch of calendars, and our heroes are far from impressed. Come on, Immortus! Where's the "A" material? Where's the rabbit from a hat? The "saw-in-half" trick? Make an effort, man! You're better than this!

"Past Imperfect...Future Tense"
Writers: Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern
Penciler: Carlos Pachego
Inker: Jesus Merino
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterers: Richard Starkings, Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins with Rick Jones basically watching Temporal TV.

Page 1, Panel 2

The long-time sidekick is feeling a bit of frustration. Thanks to the Destiny Force within him, he's gotten back his ability to walk. He wants to help out. He does understand why he has to stay in the big ol' Time Sphinx. Immortus wants to kill him. And since the Time Sphinx is currently outside the timestream, the temporal tyrant can't touch him. But still, he does want some action. 

From here, we join Captain America and Hank Pym in the future where the "Martians" invaded the Earth. The two have joined up with this time's version of the Avengers, presumably the last remaining superheroes in the world. Pym points out that one of their members, a future version of Jocasta (who appears to have the powers of the Vision), is rather pregnant. 

Page 3, Panel 3

Thing is, she's chosen to fight since her husband Machine Man had been killed. Hank Pym's curiosity has been piqued by the idea of two artificial sentient mechanical beings were able to reproduce like humans, but there's tripods to take down. So, that's the priority for now. 

(priorities)

The heroes have gotten the Skorpsmen on the run. The retreating alien cyborgs flee to their spaceship, and fly off. The Black Panther is infuriated, because he wants to end this war. And the only way to do so is to bring an end to the Skorpsmen and their Martian Masters. Rick decides to check in on Genis and Jan in 1959. It's not going well.

page 7, panel 4

Wasp and Genis try to explain to the 1959 Avengers why they're there, but the group is convinced they want to kidnap Nixon for the Chinese. They fight, but Venus ends it with the power of love. Huey Lewis would be proud. It allows Wasp to explain why they're there, with Marvel Boy confirming it with a telepathic probe. Could have done that in the first place, Bobby Grayson.

Let's check in on 1873, shall we? It's revealed that Kang took Clint, Melissa, and Yellowjacket's time sphere. Since this is Kang from before this story, he has no idea how they got one of his time-spheres, or even who they are. You'd think a master of time would be aware of this stuff. Either way, he blows the mountain, seemingly trapping our heroes. However, much like the supervillain Klaw, Songbird can create constructs of sonic energy, which gives the group a way out.

Page 13, Panel 7

Yellowjacket tries to flirt with Songbird, but Hawkeye puts a stop to that. After all, he's Hank Pym and he's from a point in time when he's about to get married. It's here that we get a visit from some more heroes of the Marvel Universe's Old West era.

Page 15, Panels 1-2.

Meet the Matthew Masters, the Black Rider! Reno Jones and Kid Cassidy, the Gunhawks! The Black Rider first appeared in All Winners #2 (December 1948), created by Syd Shores. The Gunhawks first appeared in Gunhawks #1 (October 1972), created by Syd Shores and Gary Friedrich.

However, Hawkeye is able to convince the gunslingers they're the good guys, too. That night, the six hang out over a roaring fire. Clint is all too eager to jump into the fight against Kang. Songbird tries to talk him out of it out of fear of altering the timeline. Yellowjacket points out that that's impossible without the Heart of Forever.

You see, imagine the Marvel Universe's history is like a river. When a time traveler tries to force it to go in an different direction, all they'll end up doing is creating a tributary to that river. In the MU, trying to alter the past just creates an alternate timeline, basically.

Ultimately, what our three time-tossed Avengers need is Kang's chronosphere back, and Kid Cassidy has a plan for that. The Black Rider and Reno Jones can distract Kang. Cassidy wants to come along with the three Avengers, make sure everything's on the up-and-up. Hawkeye is honored to have him come along. There's just one thing. You see, they're in the year of 1873. Kid Cassidy should be dead now. Kid Cassidy had been killed in Gunhawks #6. The next and final issue of their series would be titled Reno Jones, Gunhawk. Because of this, Reno became the second Black character to have a self-titled series (The first was Luke Cage). 

The Avengers ambush the three cowboys and tie them up. Hawkeye figures that they couldn't have known this much about Kang...unless Two-Gun Kid spent a lot of money on telegrams. It's then we make another discovery.

Page 17, Panel 5

They're Space Phantoms! One of these guys first appeared in Avengers # (). It's especially odd to this trio as, well, as far as they know, there was only one Space Phantom. Back in the 1950s, a pair of FBI agents arrive to alert the agents they are aware that Richard Nixon is not really Tricky Dick. They want to confer with the 50s Avengers on how to handle this quietly. Gotta avoid alerting the public, after all. 

The group goes to a tent, but then Genis-Vell's Cosmic Awareness goes nuts. The son of Mar-Vell...blasts the G-Men with sparkles, I think. And they turn into Space Phantoms. The 50s Avengers brawl with the impersonators, while Rick Jones warned Wasp and Genis that a crazy time . Meanwhile, Immortus, disguised as a 50s-era US Army General, he shakes his hand with "Richard Nixon", and exposes that he is a Skrull. He then wipes out the timeline with the Forever Crystal.

(Page 21, Panels 3-4) 

I can't help but observe a bit of a Crisis on Infinite Earths homage with that imagery. Everything fading to white and all that. The story ends with Genis-Vell and Wasp trying to escape in their chronosphere as the wall of white bears down upon them...

This was a rather enjoyable issue, in my opinion. I can see why it would come off as a bit slow to others. It can't be helped in a miniseries this long. I enjoyed the character stuff here. Hawkeye fanboying over the Western heroes, Cap and Giant-Man fighting a more ruthless makeshift Avengers in a dark future, Wasp and Genis trying to get through to the 50s Avengers that they weren't Communist agents. It's neat stuff. 

I wish I was any good about talking about art, because I have so much trouble talking about Carlos Pacheco's. It's very good, but I wish I could go into more details into why I like it.

Sorry about the lack of scans here. I never had a chance to make them. Hopefully, I'll be able to fit them in in the future. If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2011 trade paperback Avengers Forever. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! Join me next time, when in honor of Pride Month, we look at a major moment in the life of Northstar... 

Cinco de Mayo

Two years ago, I explained the holiday known as Cinco de Mayo. Since it's that day again, I figured it was time for a refresher as to what Cinco de Mayo is. As such, please forgive the copy and paste from then.

You're probably asking yourself, what is Cinco de Mayo? Well, it's a holiday celebrated in both the United States and in Mexico on May 5, Cinco de Mayo literally meaning "May 5th" in Spanish.

Both countries celebrate the holiday rather differently. In the US, the day is seen as a celebration of Mexican-American culture. In fact, it's often mistakenly seen as the Mexican Independence Day, but that's not accurate. The actual Mexican Independence Day is September 16th, which celebrates the Cry of Dolores, the event that triggered Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.

The American version of Cinco de Mayo is believed to have started in 1863, among Mexican miners in California. They were overjoyed that their home nation was standing up to the French Empire, that they broke into spontaneous celebration. The American Cinco de Mayo would mainly be celebrated in California up into the 1940s, when the rising Chicano Movement would help spread it to the rest of the United States. In the 1980s, many marketing firms, especially beer companies, sensed the celebratory nature of the holiday and used it to promote various products. This would help make the holiday much more popular in the US, and further evolve it into the modern celebration of Mexican-American culture it is.

In Mexico, it's a minor holiday. There, it's the day where the Mexican Army, led by Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated the French Army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. In 1860, the Mexican Civil War, aka the Reform War, had ended. The war had wrecked Mexico economically. As a result, then-President Benito Juarez had been forced to suspend payments of interest on foreign debts for a couple of years, which angered Spain, Great Britain, and France. The three countries formed the Tripartite Alliance, the goal to basically invade Mexico and force them to make the payments.

The three nations would invade in 1861, occupying the port city of Veracruz, and marching to the city of Orizaba. Mexico was able to negotiate with Britain and Spain, and the two countries withdrew from Mexico. But France, under Napoleon III at the time, wanted a war. France wanted to rule Mexico. France wanted to make Mexico part of its empire.

At the Battle of Puebla, 4,000 Mexican Army soldiers stood up against 6,500 Frenchmen. The French were much better-equipped than the Mexicans, but the Mexicans managed to defeat the French. 87 Mexicans died in the battle, 131 got wounded, and 12 went missing. They managed to capture 35 Frenchmen, wound 304, and kill 476. The Battle was a big political victory for Mexico. It was a big morale boost for the people and defenders of Mexico.

In 1862, Juarez had declared May 5th a national holiday in Mexico, where it's called "Battle of Puebla Day" or "The Battle of Cinco de Mayo". It's mainly celebrated in Puebla City, where the battle occurred, with limited celebrations throughout the rest of Mexico.

And that is Cinco de Mayo. I hope you have a wonderful day!

May the Fourth be With You!

 As it says on the header.

I hope your May 4th was a good day!

War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #1 (April 2019)

When the War of the Realms hit the Marvel Universe, it naturally would involve every major Marvel character active in the universe at the time. Thor needed all the help he could get to stop Malekith, after all. However, despite the chaos, even Thor still had to deal with family drama. To protect his newest sibling, the God of Thunder's close ally, friend, and half-brother Balder the Brave had to assemble a crack team of heroes and take them...on a Journey to Mystery.

Journey to Mystery is a title long associated with the Thor mythos. Journey into Mystery started in 1952 as a horror anthology. As the 1950s went on, it would start telling science fiction and monster stories. But with issue #83 (August 1962), Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby would introduce the Marvel Universe's take on Thor, the Norse god of thunder. The title would be Thor's regular home. When #166 (March 1966) hit, The book would be renamed for its superhero star.

The title would be used again a couple of times over the years. The 1970s would see a brief revival, going back to its roots as a horror anthology. In the 1990s and the 2010s, the Thor title would be given back on its old name when it focused on characters from Thor's mythos.

So, it's rather appropriate that the name be used again with a Thor-centered event. This Journey to Mystery is a five-issue miniseries. Did it start strong? Let's find out by looking at War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #1!

The cover is a Valerio Schiti and David Curiel piece, and it's pretty cool. You got the heroes of this story doing poses on the Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge between Asgard and Midgard, aka Earth.

"Chapter One: With the Will to Protect"
Writers: Clint, Griffin, Justin, and Travis McElroy
Penciler: Andre Lima Araujo
Inker: Andre Lima Araujo
Colorist: Chris O'Halloran
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editors: Will Moss, Sarah Brunstad, Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

The story begins with what looks like a not-Winnebago racing down a highway with explosions erupting around it.

So, how did this end up happening? Well, we first have to go back about a month earlier. Balder the Brave has learned that he has got himself a new sister who is in the care of Gaia, Thor's mother. Balder's missed a lot, since he became King of Hel in Angela: Queen of Hel #5 (February 2016). As such, he's not been able to keep up with things on Midgard. But enough about that, let's meet Laussa Odinsdottir!

Look at little Laussa. Ain't she cute? Balder swears to protect his new little sister with his new life if he has to. A month later, the War of the Realms hits. The Queen of Cinders (this is before she battled the New Agents of Atlas) is after little Laussa. And the Queen of Cinders knows where she is. After all, having a big ol' Asgardian castle in Oklahoma is...kind of an obvious hiding place.

Lady Freyja basically tells Balder and Thori to get their butts to Oklahoma and protect Laussa. Thori, who first appeared in Journey into Mystery #632 (December 2011), is a Hel-Hound. He originally belonged to Loki, but was hanging around with Thor at this time. Loki gave him the name Thori. It's here we join the Miles Morales Spider-Man, who is trying to fight off some monsters in Times Square. Balder saves the young hero's life and introduces himself.

Thing is, he thinks Miles is the Peter Parker Spider-Man, just with a new suit. Again, Balder as been trapped in Hel for a long time. He's missed a lot. A SHIELD agent named Roz Solomon takes them to Oklahoma. They arrive as Thor's castle is about to be attacked. Upon their arrival, Balder and Miles meet Skuld, the Silent Norn.

Skuld has to do the talking now as her sisters aren't around to interpret her visions. Gaia entrusts baby Laussa to Balder. Skuld then tells Balder that fate will provide him with a party of companions to aid him on his journey. 

The Man of Spiders and the Dog of Gods is here, but that's not all: He'll be aided by a Brave Archer that Never Misses, He Who Would Be Sorcerer Supreme, The Half-Machine Warrior, and the One of Wonders. 

We check in on a certain archer in action in Amarillo, Texas.

Not Clint Barton, but the Kate Bishop Hawkeye. The Young Avenger, private investigator, and future Marvel Cinematic Universe star (Hailee Steinfeld will be portraying her in the upcoming Disney+ series Hawkeye) is after a mercenary called Slaughter-Man. It's a play on "manslaughter". Get it? 

Anyway, she easily subdues the merc and serves him some divorce papers from the future former Mrs. Slaughter-Man. Miles and Balder pick her up there. Next, we travel to Alberquerque, New Mexico. It's here that Death Locket is seemingly holding a party. Death Locket, aka Rebecca "Becca" Ryker, first appeared in Avengers Arena #1 (December 2012). She is the daughter of Harlan Ryker, the lead of the Deathlok program. Deathlok's history in the Marvel Universe is rather complicated, and worth a blog examination of its own. Basically, a Deathlok from the future exploded in an attempt to kill Harlan, and left her in need of cybernetic reconstruction. Her name comes from her being referred to as a "Deathlok-ette", and she misheard it as "Death Locket". 

Anyway, the young cyborg is actually partying with a bunch of Life Model Decoys. Life Model Decoys, LMDs for short, are a type of advanced android often used by the spy agency SHIELD for purposes of infiltration and subterfuge. Balder tells her he seeks Deathlok, but she's just as good. Next, we head to Flagstaff, Arizona. It's here we join another member of this party.

Meet Sebastian Druid. First appearing in Mighty Avengers #13 (July 2008), he's the son of the late ex-Avenger and mystic Doctor Anthony Druid. He's found himself a job as a nanny since the disbanding of his Secret Warriors team in Secret Warriors #28 (July 2011). He tries to get his wallet out of his magic coat to pay for his crying charge's candy, but accidentally pulls out a wild magic wand that blasts the shop. He ends up in jail and fired. Balder and Thori get him out, and he eagerly is up for whatever they're doing. Next, we head to Los Angeles, California.

It's here we meet up with Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. The veteran Avenger and Hollywood hero is being pitched a TV show to star in, but he's taken up pacifism since the events of Uncanny Avengers #7 (April 2013). As such, he does not feel comfortable doing a series in which he'd have to fight. Uh, Simon? You can still be a pacifist and play a character that fights.

Anyway, this is where Balder and his party come to pick him up. It's here we come to the present. Balder and Simon argue over Simon's refusal to fight the truck. Simon, it's a demon truck. I don't think anyone will think you're being a hypocrite for protecting your teammates from a demon truck. Kate Bishop convinces him he can stop the truck without fighting...by wrecking the bridge they're on so the truck can't pursue them. Simon does so, and the plan works.

Death Locket wants to take the fight to the truck's driver, but Simon reminds her their mission is to keep Laussa safe away from the war. And it would not be a good idea to pick a fight with the truck's driver anyway.

Especially if that driver is one Ares, the God of War. He invented it, and perfected it in the field of battle!

I really liked this comic. You could tell that the McElroys were having a blast writing this. I did also like that a couple of lesser-known characters (Sebastian Druid and Death Locket) get to majorly shine here. I also appreciated the 'thrown-together' nature of this group. These are a group of heroes that normally don't get to interact very much, so there's a lot of wonderful potential here. The comic has plenty of hilarious moments, you have to read this for yourself.

When it comes to the art, I have to say this. Andre Lima Araujo's art has this vibe to me. It has this vibe of European comic books. I think it does a fine job carrying the comedy of this issue.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the trade paperback War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! Join me next time when the Avengers continue their battle against Immortus...