Wolfpack #8 (March 1989)

It's that time again! It's time to join the Wolfpack in their greatest battle against the evil forces of the Nine! Last time, one of the Pack brawled with a gang leader, and learned a shocking truth about his heritage. What will be that fallout from that? Let's look at Wolfpack #8!

The cover is a Ron Wilson and Chris Ivy piece. It's pretty cool. It depicts Sharon getting blasted in a sniper's scope, a pair of evil-looking eyes looming over this. It makes me think this should be the cover of a horror/thriller movie.

"Power, Corruption, and Lies"
Writer: John Figueroa
Penciler: Ron Wilson
Inker: Chris Ivy
Colorist: Max Scheele
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins at Larry's Pool Hall in the South Bronx of New York City. 

Page 258, Panel 1

"This is why I call my cue Doom, ladies and germs."

The Pack are there to relax and get their mind off things. Slippery Sam is an artist on the pool table, and he likes to line up his shots, much to Wheels' annoyance. A big dude notes that they look a bit clean-cut for this place, and it naturally leads to a brawl. 

The lives of the Wolfpack are non-stop battles, it seems. Rafael is still a bit on edge regarding the revelations of his parentage in the last issue. If anything, Sam doesn't hold it against him. After all, Rafael killed Apollo Cora to save Sam's life. Rafael asks the Wolfpack to come to the reading of Apollo's will for moral support. 

Over at Bedlam Co., which is a company the Nine uses as a front to feign legitimacy, Melvin Crenshaw hires a hitman known only as "Missionary" to kill the Wolfpack. He wants the mercenary to make their deaths messy. Send a message and all that. Missionary agrees, demanding his fee of $5000 a hit.

Page 263, Panel 1

The mercenary is surprised to learn that the Pack are teenagers. Crenshaw finds it amusing that the mercenary seems bothered by the idea of killing children, but Missionary tells him to never question his willingness to do a job again. We do get a bit of his thoughts as he leaves, hinting that he is a rather tired man... Dude, go to bed.

Rafael and the group head out to the will reading, even though Mrs. Vega is none too happy with the idea. After all, Apollo's riches came from crime. The Vegas may need the money, but they aren't that desperate. Missionary watches them leave. 

The gang heads over to the law firm of Castellano and Klein. It turns out that Apollo had videotaped his will. 

Page 265, Panel 3

"Yes Raf my boy! I am ON the TV! HAHAHAHAAAA!"

In his video will, he explains that Mrs. Vega drove him away from Rafael. He could have easily had her killed, but he decided to stay away from them instead. He gives Rafael everything he owns, and leaves nothing to Mrs. Vega, because he's a petty jerk. Rafael angrily destroys the viewscreen he was watching the video will with. Hey, come on! The lawyer was going to hold a movie night with that, man!

Raf tells the lawyer to sell Apollo's stocks for current market value, and the lawyer can keep 5% for himself. Some of it can be used to pay for the screen. He angrily leaves, and Slag advises to let him go. Man needs to cool off. Wheels can't help but get the feeling he's being watched, and no, he is not pulling a She-Hulk or Deadpool and breaking the fourth wall. As established earlier, the Missionary is watching them. It seems the man himself is having some issues. He's done a lot in his time, and it's getting to him. All the killing, and the fact his targets are kids. He needs something to take the edge off.

Page 268, Panels 2-3

Yup, ol' Missy is under the thrall...of DRUGS.

Drugs do seem to be a running theme throughout the series. Which makes a bizarre bit of sense. This comic is from the 1980s, after all. Meanwhile, now that Rafael has got himself some money, he's gonna spend it! He got himself a shiny new car, and he's treating his presumably siblings to a shopping spree at Toys 'R' Us. Hey, their family never had much, they deserve this, as far as he's concerned. Can't imagine his mom is too happy with this. 

Later, he flirts with a girl at Horace Harding High. Sharon tells him they have a patrol at the Willis Avenue Bridge (a bridge that connects the South Bronx and Manhattan) tonight. He may have skipped class to hit the stores, but he'll be needed tonight. These patrols are serious stuff. He says he'll be there. Sharon worries that his newfound wealth is changing him. But the others think this won't be permanent. After all, he's been through a lot, and it's probably just something he needs to get out of his system. He'll be fine.

At the bridge, Sharon is alone.

Page 271, Panel 2

Naturally, she's not happy our man Rafael skipped out. Unknown to her, the Missionary has her in the sights of his sniper scope. He takes another hit of drugs to give himself a bit of courage. And then he pulls the trigger.

Page 271, Panel 1

After this hit, he's done. He's retiring. He's going to go to Florida. Take in the sun, sea, and sand. Maybe start a little flower shop. Later on, Rafael heads home, only to get a Mighty Punch from Slagley. The rest of the Pack update him on what happened to Sharon. Sam sneaks into the crime scene and find some of Missionary's drug paraphernalia. It was only by being high as a kite that Sharon isn't dead right now. Speaking of the hitman, he wants to see some redemption for his actions. As such, he decides to go after his employers. The Pack spot and follow him. He makes his way to the Bedlam Company's building and introduces himself to the board.

Page 275, Panel 5

"CAN I MAKE AN ENTRANCE, OR CAN I MAKE AN ENTRANCE?!"

Talk about your hostile takeovers. Crenshaw survives, reminding him that they had a contract. The Pack arrives and tries to convince him to let Crenshaw live. After all, right now, he's the only thing keeping the streets of the South Bronx from breaking out in utter chaos. Missionary and the Pack end up having a big old fight.

He doesn't really want to fight the Wolfpack. In fact, he wants to thank them. He sees them as saviors. They put him on the path to redemption. He asks if Sharon is alive. Wheels confirms she is. That convinces the hitman to let Crenshaw live. For now, at least. He tells Wheels to keep up the good fight, and he takes his leave...by jumping out a window. 

Yeah, that dude was still pretty darn high. The story ends at the hospital. Sharon's dad and the rest of the Pack are there. The doctor has good news...and bad news. Good news? Sharon will survive. The bad news? The Missionary's bullet hit near her spinal column. Because of the trauma near that area, it's possible she'll end up paralyzed. Rafael blames himself for this. Sam points out that if he was there, the hitman likely would have put a bullet in him, too. Sam is...not wrong there. Yes, Rafael did neglect his responsibilities to the Pack, but there was no way he could have saved Sharon if he was there. It could be him lying in a hospital bed now, or even in a morgue. Rafael still understandably feels guilty and decides he's quitting the Pack. 

I did enjoy this issue. Missionary is an interesting character, in my opinion. He's a haunted hitman who wants redemption. I did think Rafael's attitude change was a bit quick, though. 

The Crow Trailer, My Thoughts

In 1989, writer/artist James O'Barr created a comic book series for Caliber Comics called The Crow. Inspired by the death of his fiancée at the time thanks to a drunk driver, as well as an article regarding a young couple being murdered over an engagement ring in Detroit, The Crow told the tale of Eric, a young man murdered alongside his fiancée Shelly by a gang. A year later, Eric is returned to life by a spirit in the form of a crow. Becoming superhumanly strong and invulnerable, Eric takes brutal revenge on his and Shelly's killers.

The series would be a cult hit, selling almost 750,000 copies worldwide. The Crow would reach that mainstream thanks to the 1994 live-action film directed by Alex Proyas, and starring Brandon Lee in his final role as the titular character (He was accidentally killed during production). This film would be a box office success (It also led to Eric getting the surname Draven), and lead The Crow to become a multimedia franchise, with more stories told in comics, video games, and further movies. 

In 2008, it was announced that a reboot was in the works, with Stephen Norrington to be the intended writer and director. However, the movie ended up in development hell, with numerous directors, and actors announced to play Eric. Finally, Rupert Sanders would take on the directing duties with Bill Skarsgard portraying the character. Let's look at the trailer!

The Big City. Home of the...Baseball Team! Go Team!

Shelly thought that Eric was an amazing cook. She was correct. Eric could make a mean steak. Mmm...steak...

Is this a prison? I mean, I've never heard of pink prison uniforms. Johnny Cash would be headdesking if he saw this.

Shelly once bit a kid. But to be fair, in her defense, the little punk was asking for it. He kicked her leg!

You know, here's an interesting What If type idea. What if Shelly became the Crow? Why has no one done that? Would be a cool twist for a remake.

They also squawk the entire time they carry your soul. Real chatterboxes, those birds.

"Dude, I'm Wolverine!" 

Dude, this guy you killed came back to life and has a gun to your face! BE FREAKED OUT, MAN!

"This guy got like, bird powers!"
"Bird powers, like he can fly?"
"Ostriches can't fly and they're birds."
"THANK YOU, JERRY!" 

Hey, everything's better with a katana.

Eric got his healing factor from Temu. Logan and Wade would be back up on their feet by now! Come on, Eric!

Eric is going to need a lot of alcohol after this.

Now, I'm not one of those people who get all up their feelings regarding reboots and remakes. Never was. I look at it like this. Nobody's making you watch them, and the originals are still out there. And honestly, this remake makes me...shrug. Yeah. I may give it a looksee if it comes to the TV, but in general...I am not really interested. I don't think I ever really saw the 90s film, either. Thanks for reafing this blog entry! See you next time!

The New Wave #1 (June 10, 1986)

Before I go into this comic, have to talk about Eclipse Comics for a little bit. Formed in 1977 by brothers Dean and Jan Mullaney (the sons of early electronic musician Dave Mullaney), Eclipse was one of the earliest independent comic book companies. The brothers drew inspiration for the company's ethos from the struggles Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel had with getting recognition for creating Superman in the 1960s. The idea was that Eclipse would respect creator ownership and royalty payments over the standard work-for-hire practices of the "Big Two" (Marvel and DC). Eclipse's name was provided by Sue Pollina, a friend of the Mullaney brothers, and their first logo was designed by Mark Gruenwald.

In the 1980s, with the rise of the direct market, Eclipse published one of the first graphic novels to be sold in comic book specialty stores: Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species by Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy. The 1980s would be good years for Eclipse, becoming the third biggest comic book company behind the Big Two. They would also publish numerous creator-owned works, like Steve Englehart's Coyote, Jim Starlin's Dreadstar: The Price, and Steve Gerber's Destroyer Duck. During this time, Cat Yronwode (pronounced 'iron-wood') served as editor-in-chief. Eclipse's biggest claim to fame was publishing reprints of the Alan Moore stories British superhero Miracleman, which was Moore's first experimentation with the deconstruction of superheroes (and new stories would be written by Moore and later Neil Gaiman). They would also go on to publish manga. 

Eclipse fall would come about due to several factors. Its market share was overtaken by other companies like Valiant and Image, Jan Mullaney and Cat Yronwode's messy divorce in 1993, the collapse of the direct market post-speculator boom, and a bad contract with HarperCollins. It also did not help that the company's headquarters was damaged in 1986 by the Russian River flooding. Also, several creators, including Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, claimed that the company shorted them on royalty payments. The company would file bankruptcy in 1995. Eclipse's IPs (which were not many as much of their output was creator-owned), would be acquired by Todd McFarlane for $25,000. 

The comic we're looking at here is the first issue of one of Eclipse's superhero titles. The New Wave was intended to be the flagship book for a shared universe that would be linked by the Heap. The book's storyline came from an unfinished storyline by Dean Mullaney, two of the characters of the series (Dot and Tachyon) were created by Sean Deming as separate pitches, and the rest of the team were created by Deming, Mullaney, and Yronwode in a brainstorming session. Mindy Newell would be given the task of developing the final concept. This is The New Wave #1! 

The cover is a Lee Weeks and Ty Templeton piece. It's basically a pin-up of the team. It kind of reminds me of the iconic cover of New Teen Titans #1 by George Perez. I wonder if this was an homage to it. 

"The Man in the Corporate Booth"
Writers: Sean Deming, Mindy Newell (Deming/Newell for story, Newell for script)
Penciler: Lee Weeks
Inker: Ty Templeton
Colorist: Ron Courtney
Letterer: Lee Weeks
Editor: Sean Deming
Editor-in-Chief: Cat Yronwode

The story beings on a space station, floating high above the earth, orbiting it like an artificial moon. 

A Professor James Holmes is concentrating on the station's amperemeter. I wonder if the writer meant an ammeter, which is a device used to measure currents in a circuit.

There is a surge of power, but the station's systems seem to be able to handle it just fine. Holmes doesn't like this. You can't blame the guy. After all, it's a superhero universe, it's not like seemingly innocent power surges like this never led to anything big happening.

Another scientist, a woman named Nancy, suggests he needs some rest. He reluctantly agrees, but he'll be back in an hour. As he leaves, another scientist (a brunette woman who is not Nancy) makes a call. Who is she calling? Well, she isn't ordering pizza.

She's calling these guys. You see, this here space station is not some international cooperative between various world space agencies, it's a privately-owned corporate station. And the owners are known only as...the Corporation. Real clever name, guys.

The CEO is a Mr. Cliff Pasternak. Pasternak and the board are discussing what to do about Holmes. Evidently, they consider Holmes a bit of a problem. One of the board members, Trudy Steinberg, suggests removing him from the company...fatally. Pasternak seems more interested in the Sports section of the newspaper and adjourns the meeting to hit the health club. He's eaten like a pig the last week, and he wants to see if he can work off the calories. I know the feeling, the summer fair hit recently. So much fair food... 

Anyway, Steinberg points out that they haven't agreed on a solution to the "Holmes problem", but Pasternak points out that killing Holmes is off the table. After all, they're a company, not the Empire from Star Wars or the Mafia. Unaware of this, Holmes heads to his cabin and gets some much-needed shuteye. 

Also unknown to Holmes, a gas enters his cabin from the vent system. As this goes down, Trudy and another executive converse, implying that Pasternak is hiding something. In the lab, a sudden windstorm kicks up. 

Page 5, Panel 2

"Blast it! Did that idiot Bill turn on the wind machine again?!" 

One of the men in the lab leaves to get help but is blocked by one of the station's robotic guards. The lab techs notice something is going on in the booth Holmes was watching over. A blast of light, and something...or someone, appears in the booth.

Page 7, Panel 4

"I knew I should have taken that right turn at Alburquerque!"

This blue fellow is called Tachyon. Pasternak himself comes down to say hello to this visitor from a strange world. The CEO is overjoyed, as he was hoping for something like this to happen.

Pasternak wants a complete workup of this blue dude, but one of the scientists just wants some answers. Why all the secrecy? What is the point of all this? James also shows up, demanding answers himself.

James angrily confronts Nancy and Cliff, accusing them of trying to kill him. They claim he isn't well. Cliff tries to assuage James by saying that they've done it. They've managed to make contact with extraterrestrial life. Nancy is confused herself, as she thought they were working on technology to make a new type of engine for space colonization and exploration. James explains that there is more to it than that. Cliff wants to explore parallel universes. Cliff isn't worried about Nancy blowing the whistle. After all, their work on this new engine is legit. The government will get their engine, but they'll also get a real-life alien being. Talk about sweetening the deal. 

Also, ol' Cliffy has dossiers on everyone on this station. It's his way of keeping everyone on the station in line, as the info in said dossiers can be used for blackmail. In Nancy's case, it was because she was involved in laundering money and embezzlement. She points out that she was unaware she was committing those crimes then, but Cliff points out the courts won't keep that in mind. I don't know, I'm not a lawyer, but I can imagine she would likely at least, get a lesser sentence. 

The CEO then starts talking about how he will create a "new order" and "unify the Earth". Nancy and James realize that Cliff has gone off the deep end. 

Holmes secretly releases works the booth's controls to try and send Tachyon back home and destroy the booth. It half-works.

Page 13, Panel 1

"BORN FREEEEE, AS FREE AS THE WIND BLOWS..."

Yeah, the booth is wrecked, but as you can see, Tachyon is still on the station. Holmes tries to talk to Tachyon, but the station's robot guards fire on the blue-skinned being.

Tachyon rips a computer bank right out of the wall, and presumably tosses it at said robot guards. The being then flees the station by bursting out of it. 

Page 14, Panel 4

"The room service here SUCKS! I'm leaving!" 

Now that's a cliffhanger for you!

If you want to read this for yourself, you're going to have to hope you find in a comic shop's back issue boxes. The New Wave has not been collected in trade as far as I know. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! See you next time!

World Lion Day

 Today is World Lion Day!

In honor of this day, here's some lion facts courtesy of MSN.

1. Baby Lions have spots.

When lions are young, their fur has little spots on it. These disappear as the cubs grow up.

2. Lion manes have a purpose.

Male lions' manes look cool, but there's also a point to them. Much like glam rockers in the 80s, male lions use their manes to attract mates. However, the manes also help provide some protection for their heads and necks.

3. Lions are pretty fast.

While they're no cheetahs, lions are no slouch when it comes to speed. they can run at speeds up to 50 miles per hour for brief periods to catch prey.

4. Lions are LOUD.

Lions do not do things small. That includes roaring. A lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away, thanks to it reach the ear-splitting height of 114 decibels. This is handy as a lion's roar has a variety of purposes, including intimidating away others from its territory.

5. Lions are great leapers.

When we think of animals that can leap, for many of us, frogs and kangaroos come to mind. Which is understandable. After all, leaping is their thing. But lions can leap pretty far, too. A healthy lion can leap as far as 36 feet. A lion would be handy to have on the long jump. 

6. Lions love sleep.

Like many other cats, lions love to sleep. Sleep is their passion. In fact, they can sleep for up to 20 hours a day. 

7. Lions are big.

Lions are pretty big animals. On average, a male lion weighs over 410 pounds. The more active female lions can weight only almost 280 pounds on average. But then again, the female lions are significantly more active. 

8. Lions are big eaters.

As I said before, lions do nothing small. They are big, their roars are big and loud, and so are their meals. A lion can eat up to nearly 90 pounds of food per meal. Maybe that's why male lions are so big? 

9. Lions are nocturnal hunters.

Lions may sleep most of the day, but the remaining four hours of the night? It's hunting time. Yup, night is when the lion goes to get some food.

10. Lions are endangered.

Like the tiger, the lion is a very endangered species. It has lost almost all of its historical range, and it's believed there are only about 23,000 lions left in the world. Yeah, like the tiger, it's in big trouble, population-wise.

So, yeah. Ten facts about the lion. They are fascinating, beautiful creatures. 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 your vaccine/booster! See you next time!

International Cat Day

Today is International Cat Day!

Truth: Red, White, and Black #1 (January 2003)

In the Marvel Universe itself, it's highly regarded that Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, is one of the greatest super-soldiers in the Marvel Universe. I mean, it's not hard to see why. The man kicked Nazi butt in the 1940s, and in the modern era, is associated with the Avengers. He's a man who can command gods. 

Naturally, many stories have shown in the years since, various governments have attempted to recreate the unique Super-Soldier Serum that transformed skinny patriot Steve Rogers into the legendary hero. One such attempt resulted in empowering a man named Isaiah Bradley.

Bradley was born from an offhand comment by Marvel's then-publisher Bill Jemas. The idea stuck in the mind of editor Axel Alonso, who also drew inspiration from the horrific Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The idea would be pitched to the late Robert Morales. The concept made Morales laugh, but then he found the pitch depressing. He wrote a proposal that was so downbeat, he expected Marvel to reject it. Much to his surprise, they gave it the green light. His proposal originally envisioned Bradley as a scientist who was transformed by his own experiment in the vein of Bruce Banner. He was saddened by this change (this was because Marvel editorial wanted Isaiah's story to more explicitly reflect the Tuskegee Study), but he would find consolation in the fact that Marvel was happy to let him keep one part of his proposal: a Black marriage. Morales would conduct lots of research on the era, and be paired with artist Kyle Baker, and now we are here.  

Bradley had made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the miniseries Falcon and the Winter Soldier, portrayed by Carl Lumbly, whom you may know as the voice of the Martian Manhunter in the DC Animated Universe. He's also going to reprise the role in the upcoming film Captain America: Brave New World. So, in honor of that, I thought I'd take a look at his comic book debut. This is Truth: Red, White, and Black #1!

The cover is a Kyle Baker piece. It's a simple piece, but its simplicity makes it powerful. A silhouette of Isaiah Bradley against an American flag, the white star indicating that he is wearing the Captain America costume. It tells you exactly what you're going to get in this miniseries, a Black man being Captain America. 

"Part One: The Future"

Writer: Robert Morales
Penciler: Kyle Baker
Inker: Kyle Baker

Colorist: Kyle Baker

Letterer: Wes Abbott

Editors: Axel Alonso, John Miesegaes
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada

Before I begin, I do wish to warn this comic does deal with themes of racism and possibly suicide. So, just something to keep in mind.

The story begins in Queens, New York. The time is July 1940. And a couple is getting their picture taken.

A wholesome couple that will never experience anything tragic...

This young couple is Isaiah Bradley and his lovely wife Faith. The two are attending the World's Fair that is being held in New York City. The two head towards the amusement area of the Fair and try to buy two tickets to an exhibition of ladies from around the world. It was the 40s. However, the ticket-seller doesn't want to, well, do his job and sell tickets to the two. He says the ladies aren't comfortable with being stared at like they're "animals". It's pretty obvious what he means by that.

Time passes. It's now December 1940. The place? Philadelphia. A man is returning home, and the butler is shocked at his state.

“I broke a man’s hand with my face.”

As you can tell, Mr. Maurice Canfield got himself into...a bit of a scrap. Just a little one. He meets up with his mother, who is reading Finnley Wren. She demands to know what he did to get beat up like this as his dad will have a fit. Well, Maurice and a Jewish friend of his named Jules Edelman went to New Jersey to get some dockworkers to unionize. Yeah, form a union! Fight for better pay, benefits, paid holidays, and paid time off! Row row, fight the power!

Thing is, these white dockworkers, being dumb and racist (although "dumb" and "racist" go together), didn't take too kindly to the idea of a Black man and a Jewish man trying to convince them to fight for better working conditions. Remember, this story is set in the 1940s. One worker made some crude "jokes" about Caulfield's mother. Caulfield then responded that he heard rumors of members of that particular dockworker's lineage "associating" themselves with Black and Jewish folks, if you know what I mean.

And that's how Caulfield got into a brawl. Caufield's mother worries about him, wanting him to start a family and get his life together. However, Caulfield wants to earn his station in life, and he wants to make things better. Not just for his own people, but all people. 

Time passes. It's now June 1941. We look in on a pool hall known as Blue Nile Billiards, in Cleveland. One man in a uniform is playing some pool. 

"🎵 It's in the way that you use it...🎵"

Meet Sgt. Luke Evans. Military man, pool hustler, hard as a rock. He finds himself meeting up with an old friend: Dallas Huxley. Huxley has presumably been recently released from jail. Evans revealed he got busted down to Sergeant four months earlier. Huxley wonders how Evans got demoted. Well, the story involves another man: Frank Wilson, who went through basic training with Huxley. Wilson went on to be a Military Policeman.

Wilson and another man went to Columbus to pick up another soldier that went AWOL. Thing was, Wilson, like Evans and Huxley, was a black man. The desk sergeant at the drunk tank didn't want to hand the AWOL soldier to Wilson. Wilson had words about it. After all, he was an MP (the Military Police was formally established in September 1941, but it did have an irregular history pre-dating that time), his skin color should not be important. The cops then jumped down and beat the two MPs. Wilson died, and his partner, a white man, got sent to the hospital. Wilson and Evans' CO pointed out Wilson was wrong for his actions. Evans confronted him and shoved him. And that's how he got demoted. On that day, he learned the only place he can push white folks around was at the pool hall. 

Time passes. It's now December 1941. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and the United States now has fully joined the Allies and entered World War II. At that time, Luke Evans is sitting in a room, holding a gun in his hand. It's implied that he's planning to off himself. When he hears about America joining the war, he instead pours himself a drink, thinking "Well, all right..."

Philadelphia, January 1942. Maurice Caulfield is on trial for sedition, as he was demonstrating against the war. He could be sentenced to twenty years of hard labor for it, but there is another option. Since he has no prior criminal record, and comes from an affluent family, he can instead join the military and serve his country. 

New York City, February 1942. Isaiah is in his uniform, giving a pregnant Faith a kiss, the narration saying it was the first of one of the worst days of his life, implying the story was being told by Isaiah himself. There is a twist to it, but that's not relevant here.

I liked this issue, even though it is mostly set-up for stuff later. We do get an idea of who each of these three men are. Caulfield is the social conscience, the protestor, the man who wants to right injustices. Evans is the embittered cynic. And Bradley himself? Well, I got the impression that he's the everyman. The "regular Joe", as it were. You do get the impression that great tragedy will come to these men, and it will not be because of the fires of war.

I admit, I do have a bit of a mixed view of Kyle Baker's art. I felt it never really fit superhero titles as to it being rather..."cartoony" for lack of a better word, but it did work for more comedic stuff like Plastic Man or Damage Control. But this miniseries made me respect his art greatly for one thing: his expressionism and "acting". He's very good at showing how characters are feeling. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2021 trade paperback Captain America: Truth. Thanks for reading this blog entry! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

August!

Today is the beginning of August!

It's amazing how time flies, doesn't it? Hopefully, the temperatures will cool down a little bit, and things will be a bit more comfortable! See you around and take care of yourselves!