Space-Born Super Hero Part 41: The End.

Here are my parting thoughts on the series I've been running on this blog called 'Space-Born Super Hero'. The recent Captain Marvel motion picture prompted me to think about the character of Captain Mar-Vell, and in particular how out-of-focus his adventures prior to the arrival of Jim Starlin were. By the time Starlin drew Captain Marvel #25, Captain Marvel had been a Marvel super hero for about six years. What went on during those six years?

Now, my own exposure to Mar-Vell's earlier adventures was somewhat limited - although I wrote for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, I never needed to delve into the character often. Heck, I'm not sure if I even had to do a write-up on the Kree. I suppose blogging about the early Captain Marvel stories interested me because it was an avenue of Marvel Comics I hadn't delved into before, likely the only 1960s super hero stuff I hadn't read from start to finish.

At the same time, I knew of the book's reputation. I knew many in fandom at the time despised the series because he had 'robbed' the moniker 'Captain Marvel' from the defunct Fawcett hero. I have some fascination with terrible comic books, as my Bitter Fruit series targeting the Shadow will attest. However, I also enjoy defying conventional wisdom. Perhaps the comics weren't that bad? So... what did I find?

Not as advertised.

Perhaps the strangest discovery I made was that the picture I had in my head of Captain Marvel's personality was all wrong. I'd based my ideas on Jim Starlin's stories (which I first read in The Life of Captain Marvel) and I had the impression that Mar-Vell came to Earth as an invader but had the heart of a hero, causing him to take a stand against the Kree. I knew he had loved Una and lost her to one of his enemies. I had this image of a noble but tragic hero who gives up everything from his upbringing to save Earth.

But... that's not really what happened. Mar-Vell is frustratingly obtuse about his motives throughout the early parts of the series. There is a sense that he's a dedicated soldier who refuses to betray his uniform, but at the same time is ordered to take hostile actions against humanity. However, he would find loopholes to avoid having to take a stand for his principles, such as in Captain Marvel #7 where he tricked Yon-Rogg into thinking he killed a town of people with a plague (they were all robots).

Instead, Mar-Vell lacks agency; Yon-Rogg despises Mar-Vell from the start and wants him dead (although strangely, not so much because of Una, which is what I thought his motivation was; he only really claims that was his motivation after Una dies). The Kree are shown as paranoid war-mongers who have it in for Mar-Vell and will execute him the moment he shows signs of disloyalty. In the end, what causes Mar-Vell to leave the military? He destroys the Organization after being told to form an alliance with them. Like, seriously, Mar-Vell is given the death sentence because he killed humans.

Once Mar-Vell is forced out of the military, he's motivated by revenge, not any affection for Earth or anyone else. His nobility is still lacking; even after bonding with Rick Jones, where Mar-Vell is frequently cast in the role of Rick's conscience, he mostly pops out of the Negative Zone to help save Rick from a problem he's gotten himself into. Again, where's the agency? What does Mar-Vell want for himself? Why does he do the things he does?

Such a limited sphere.

Part of what makes Captain Marvel so boxed-in and easy to avoid is that almost no one introduced in the pages of Captain Marvel goes on to bigger and better things. You've got Mar-Vell and his two iconic costumes; you've got him bonded to Rick Jones via the Negative Zone; you've got supporting character Carol Danvers... that's it. He is part of the Kree-Skrull War, but it goes on entirely in the pages of the Avengers, where the character with the most impact on the plot is the Vision. None of Mar-Vell's brand-new foes such as the Metazoid, Solam or the Organization went on to greater things. Heck, outside of Lou-Ann Savannah, almost no one in the first 24 issues has any bearing on Jim Starlin's run.

And there's Zo.

Yeah, Zo. So, Zo was terrible, but not quite as terrible as I'd been led to think. The idea of Mar-Vell having a cosmic benefactor is one which Starlin came back to with his character Eon. Zo, however, is just way too much of a non-character. Eon's purpose is clear from the start - he's a champion of life and needs Mar-Vell to help defeat Thanos, so gives him the power he needs. Zo doesn't explain what he wants or why Mar-Vell is the person to help him get it and grants him odd powers which Mar-Vell barely ever thinks to employ. Gary Friedrich added some minor interest to the character by bringing in trippy hippie visuals, but Zo's presence continued to highlight the problems with the series - which again and again, come down to Mar-Vell possessing a poorly-defined character motivation.

Was it all terrible?

No, certainly not. Gil Kane's issues were absolutely lovely and Mar-Vell appearances in the Avengers were all classic stories I quite enjoyed. I found much of Don Heck's art lacking, but he pulled off some very nice art in Captain Marvel#16.

There was promise, certainly. That's what I felt in the last few issues of Captain Marvel. Gerry Conway's story in Captain Marvel #22 started off well enough, but I felt Marv Wolfman whiffed it on the second half; the same thing happened with Captain Marvel #24, which had some nice art by Wayne Boring and great character designs, but became a little muddled when Wolfman had to write an ending to the story.

The nadir, I'm sorry to say, were the Arnold Drake issues. I commend him for trying to create new adversaries for Mar-Vell, particularly the Aakon. I also think his idea that Mar-Vell's other identity - Dr. Walter Lawson - was actually a villain was a fascinating idea, yet he barely glanced on it, other than using it as a means to get the world's worst robotic assassin into comics. I'm torn between which of his stories was the worst; was it the rushed and poorly-scripted Captain Marvel #10? Or was it Captain Marvel #11, where they muffed up Una's death, drew the wrong villains and introduced Zo? Wait, I take it back, #11 was definitely the worst.

I'm glad I know more about this little cul-de-sac of the Marvel Universe. And now to move on and never think of it again...

Space-Born Super Hero Part 25: Captain Marvel #21

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero'! I'm now up to Captain Marvel #21 (1970) and the story "Here Comes the Hulk!" by Roy Thomas & Gil Kane (inks by Dan Adkins). The cover blurb declares, "The Hulk Invades the Campus!" which suggests this issue is attempting to seek the kind of relevance among contemporary youth culture as comics such as the previous year's Amazing Spider-Man #68 ("Crisis on Campus").

The story picks up where last issue ended off as the unconscious Rick Jones is about to be crushed by the Hulk (we seem to open several issues looking at Rick's unconscious body). However, the Hulk lands just short of Rick, having recognized him as his old friend. Hulk is tempted to 'smash' him, but refuses to strike someone who is smaller than he and unable to fight. The Hulk lumbers off to get some water to revive Rick and in doing so, calms down, becoming Bruce Banner again. The revived Rick greets Bruce and explains his current predicament, giving Kane an excuse to retell how Rick and Mar-Vell were bound together. Bruce knows Reed Richards is the specialist on the Negative Zone, but tells Rick that Reed thinks the Negative Zone is too dangerous for the public and probably wouldn't help him (although Rick could easily get an audience with Reed by asking via the Avengers).

As Bruce leads Rick back to his cavern laboratory, he notes Reed has noticed connections between the Negative Zone, Gamma Rays and Cosmic Rays, so in helping Mar-Vell to get out of the Negative Zone, Bruce might also stumble upon research which will rid him of being the Hulk. Bruce is actually glad to have someone else's problems to focus on for a change. After a lengthy period of research, Bruce comes up with a name: Josiah Weller, "one of the top brains in relativity theory... and head of the research department at Desert State University!" Bruce gives Weller a ring, but it seems student radicals are performing an anti-war rally outside his office, complete with a giant bonfire. Apparently the students are convinced Weller is working on research for warfare; hearing Weller is in danger makes Bruce stressed and he quickly erupts into anger, transforming back into the Hulk. There's no way Rick can face the Hulk alone, so Rick brings out Captain Marvel with the lines "Justice like lightning... ever shall appear!!" (quoting the same poem which later inspired the super hero team Thunderbolts)

Captain Marvel tries to calm the Hulk down, which works as well as you'd expect; a fight breaks out. Mar-Vell punches the Hulk, but the blow has no effect: "I could have smashed a robot with that blow--but you're still standing!" Yeesh, Marv, you really do fight robots too often. The Hulk swats Mar-Vell asides then smashes out of the laboratory, destroying Banner's research on the Negative Zone as he leaps away to Desert State University.

When the student protestors hear the Hulk is coming, they cheer his imminent arrival: "That green brother's as much anti-establishment as any of us!" Er, just 'cause the Hulk fights the army, it doesn't mean he's anti-war. Captain Marvel catches up before the Hulk can do any damage. Mar-Vell hits the Hulk with his most powerful blows, but they do no good and the Hulk smashes him again; with that, the three hours are up and Mar-Vell is exchanged with Rick Jones. Rick then puts his own life on the line. Standing between the Hulk and the protestors, Rick tells him if he's going to hurt anyone, he'll have to kill him first. Unable to injure Rick, the Hulk turns and walks away. Mar-Vell is proud of Rick for ending the fight. "Perhaps--we make a better team than we thought, Rick!"

Thoughts: It's a pity that nothing comes of Dr. Weller - Bruce brings him up and he's the subject of the protest, but he's ultimately nothing more than a device to get Bruce angry about something. Even the protestors disappear once the last Captain Marvel vs. Hulk fight begins. What if Weller really was developing something for the army? What if the protestors were right? What if the protestors were seriously over-zealous and learned a valuable lesson from seeing the Hulk's thoughtless rampage? They're just a backdrop, unfortunately.

With this issue, Captain Marvel was quietly cancelled. The final panel announced: "And thus ends the final chapter of our second try-out of the sensational new Captain Marvel!" The book would eventually return with an issue #22, but this time the series would be off the racks for more than six months.

Fortunately for Captain Marvel, Roy Thomas wasn't done with him yet, and Roy was writing plenty of Marvel Comics!

Next: Sub-Mariner #30!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 24: Captain Marvel #20

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero', my look back at the hero Captain Marvel in his pre-Jim Starlin days. Today we're up to Captain Marvel #20 and the story "The Hunter and the Holocaust" again by Roy Thomas & Gil Kane (inks by Dan Adkins). It's worth noting that six months passed between this issue and the previous one; in fact, Captain Marvel is stumbling towards a long-term hiatus. This issue contains a milestone! It's the first issue of Captain Marvel to have a dialogue blurb on the cover! Hey, I didn't claim it was an important milestone.

We open in Greenwich Village (I guess Rick stuck around New York after the events of Avengers #72) where Rick is playing his guitar in a basement coffee house. Give us some mood, Rascally One: "The mood is electric... the sound is full of quiet fury... and who's to say if it signifies nothing... or everything...?" In fact, the women in the audience seem to be swooning over Rick's singing as though he were Elvis. "No doubt about it... that's the sound of the seventies!" One claims. "Boy, would I like a meaningful relationship with him!!" states another woman, woodenly. As Rick exits the shop, he finds Mordecai P. Boggs waiting for him, still trying to hire Rick as a client. Rick brushes him off again, although he admits to himself he's not sure why he doesn't get a manager.

Back at Rick's apartment, Mar-Vell's voice summons Rick to look in a mirror, where Rick sees Mar-Vell's face instead of his own. Mar-Vell has to remind Rick that they're still bound together and he needed to "shock" Rick into paying attention to him. Apparently it's been weeks since Rick let Marv out of the Negative Zone, which is a bit cruel to poor Mar-Vell. Rick seems to be having an identity crisis, so Mar-Vell reminds Rick how much he longed to be a super hero back when he first met the Hulk (specifically referencing the events of Incredible Hulk #3, where Rick had temporary control over the Hulk's mind), as well as his time with the Avengers and Captain America, then recaps how Rick donned the Nega-Bands and bested Yon-Rogg (having been 6 months since the last issue, Roy the Boy must have felt a recap was in order).

Before Rick and Mar-Vell can finish sorting out their issues, Rick hears a scream from the apartment below and he races downstairs, where he finds two men roughing up an elderly man. Rick tries to fight off the men despite Mar-Vell's insistence that they switch places. After repeatedly getting pummeled, Rick finally concedes and strikes his Nega-Bands together, releasing Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell easily bests the two men, then he and Rick have a mental conversation about how to solve their problem and release themselves from the Negative Zone. Rick suggests they look up his old pal Dr. Bruce Banner, otherwise known as the Hulk, figuring Banner would have an idea on how to liberate them. Rick directs Mar-Vell out to the deserts where Banner's secret laboratories were established so they can begin their hunt.

The search is waylaid when Mar-Vell spies a tornado, which had just ravaged a nearby town. Mar-Vell flies in to help rescued injured people, not noticing a band of green-clad men in masks who come moving into the town. They're a team of looters called the Rat Pack. The Rat Pack are not only after money and jewels from the banks and jewelry stores, they're also targeting the hospitals to get valuable medical supplies. As Captain Marvel is carrying an injured little girl to safety, the girl sees the Rat Pack below and draws the hero's attention to them; once the girl is returned to her mother, Mar-Vell flies back to confront the Rat Pack. The Rat Pack's leader (the only member without a mask) draws his gun while berating his men: "You spot a fancy costume--and you think Captain America's on yer tail! Well, he ain't Captain America--and he ain't Thor--and another thing I'll bet he ain't--is bulletproof!" Mar-Vell seems to agree, which is odd, considering his skin is tough enough to shrug off laser blasts from Kree pistols. Are Kree handguns less lethal than a Saturday night special?

Well, I guess we won't learn whether Mar-Vell is bulletproof today, as he throws one of the Rat Pack members at the leader before he can shoot the gun. With that, it seems the Rat Pack are all washed up. Mar-Vell sees more Red Cross trucks coming to help the wounded so he spends more time digging through rubble, helping them reach trapped people. "You can't hear me--but you understand, don't you, Rick? This is all that really matters--not our names in the papers--not a rock music career--but this--a chance to save a life--or dry a child's first tear! This is why I renounced my Kree heritage--my membership in a people without pity! And, this is how I'll spend the rest of my life--once I'm forever free of the Negative Zone!!" I have to say, Mar-Vell had a reputation as being a noble hero which wasn't really borne out through his earlier adventures, but with this moment it feels like his nobility has finally been made firm. When the Red Cross have things under control Mar-Vell continues on to Banner's laboratory, but his three-hour time limit runs out and he falls from the sky, then switches places with Rick. Rick, of course, is driven unconscious as he still inherits Marv's exhaustion.

From inside his lab, Bruce Banner sees Rick. The Hulk had just recently fought the Avengers and Banner wonders whether Rick is still affiliated with them and might be leading the Avengers to his doorstep. Overwhelmed by paranoia, the frustrated Banner transforms into the Hulk, who smashes his way out of the lab then takes a jump towards Rick, intending to crush him beneath his feet. To be Hulk-tinued!!!

Thoughts: Captain Marvel is becoming more comfortable with guest stars in its pages as the Hulk's involvement flows pretty naturally for the characters, whereas other guest stars like the Black Widow and Iron Man came out of left field. The Rat Pack were spotlighted on the cover, but were very easily bested in this story. Despite this, they've gone on to many more appearances in odd places, like as the primary foes of Tigra during her Marvel Chillers stories and fighting the Thunderbolts in their first issue. A team of professional looters who follow natural disasters is a pretty good fit for the Marvel Universe, considering the upheaval super hero battles usually create. They should appear more often.

Gil Kane drew the Hulk's adventures for a while and his Hulk is kind of wonderful. His action sequences continue to be energetic; Kane is the MVP of this Captain Marvel revamp.

Next: Captain Marvel versus the Hulk in Captain Marvel #21!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 22: Captain Marvel #19

Welcome back to "Space-Born Super Hero", my examination of the character Captain Marvel prior to the popular revamp he underwent through Jim Starlin. Today I'm looking at Captain Marvel #19 (1969) with "The Mad Master of the Murder Maze!" by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane (inks by Dan Adkins). Once again we pick up where we left off: Rick Jones is lying unconscious, having been overwhelmed by the accumulated exhaustion Mar-vell went through while fighting Yon-Rogg. Waking up, Rick switches places with Captain Marvel. As Mar-Vell flies to a town, he and Rick converse, mentioning that they brought Carol Danvers to a hospital in the Cape -- so, apparently the series is still set in Florida. Strange that we didn't see Carol lying nearby Rick. Anyway, that's the last reference to Carol for a while, I think. With this done, Rick asks to swap places again. Mar-Vell assents, but he's a little uncomfortable about remaining in the Negative Zone; neither of them are particularly pleased with the development. Of course, Rick must once again deal with Mar-Vell's fatigue from the swap and stumbles out of an alleyway into the city.

Rick notes that with Yon-Rogg dead, Mar-Vell doesn't have revenge propelling him forward so, what's his motivation now? "That's my problem, Rick... and one I'll face in due time." Um, yes, it would be good for the series' protagonist to have some motivation, y'know? Anyway, Rick picks up a newspaper and starts looking for work, but no one is interested in hiring him, primarily because of his age. One employer complains, "You look like one'a them hippie freaks to me...!" If anything, Rick dresses like a 1950s sock hopper. Determined he won't run back to the Avengers for a handout, Rick heads to the Minos Towers for a job. He's surprised to find the building looks like an immense fortress. The employer, a Dr. Webb, greets him through a video camera and the ground beneath Rick becomes a sophisticated elevator, lowering Rick into Webb's high-tech facility (earning a 'faaan-tastic' from Rick).

Cornelius Webb is slow to explain the details behind the job, but assures Rick that he's the exact age, size and emotional type for what he's doing. Webb is a sociologist performing an experiment and introduces Rick to his two pet lab rats, Theseus and Ariadne - aptly named, as they're both employed at running through a maze. Dr. Webb sends Rick back to the surface, where Rick gets to stay in one of the Minos Towers apartments. Rick makes friends with the other residents (such as a Mr. Weiss) in the days which follow and the building has impressive resources, such as an indoor swimming pool. Rick wonders where Webb's wealth is coming from and tries reading the book Webb wrote, but he can't understand it - it seems to be about nothing more than the social life of rats. One night, Rick hears his neighbour Mrs. Martino scream. He feels he could investigate this himself, but instead switches places with Captain Marvel. Having been stuck in the Negative Zone for days, Mar-Vell appreciates being released; Mrs. Martino says she saw a bat-like monster, but there's nothing there now.

Dr. Webb is curious about Mar-Vell as he watches him through his video feed (strangely, his cameras apparently missed Rick activating the Nega-Bands). In the days which follow, more residents see images of creatures. Rick is convinced Webb is behind this, although Mar-Vell is skeptical. Rick suggests Mar-Vell investigate Webb, but of course Mar-Vell can't - he can only see whatever Rick sees. Suddenly, a tiger-sized rat appears in Rick's room. Rick swaps places with Captain Marvel, but the rat vanishes as soon as Mar-Vell approaches it. At the same time, more problems arise in the building, as some residents are fleeing from smoke and others from a rising tide of water. When Mar-Vell tries to lead the other guests to safety, he finds a third danger: fire! As people begin to blame Mar-Vell for leading them to the fire, yet another problem arises as the walls of the building begin to close in on them. Mar-Vell saves one of the residents, then confers with Mr. Weiss, who is looking for Rick; Mar-Vell claims to have saved Rick.

It's Weiss who begins to put all of this into perspective. Watching the other people, Weiss remarks, "They are like the inmates of a concentration camp!" This comparison surprises Mar-Vell, who inquires further: "Auschwitz... 1945!" Weiss exclaims tersely. "I was one of the unlucky ones! I survived! No, do not look for scars, my friend! They are all... in my mind!" This outburst leads to an uncomfortable silence, when suddenly the building's elevator opens its doors. The frightened people file inside, but once the car is between floors, gas begins flooding the confined space! (yikes! having just make the comparison to the Holocaust, this is a legitimately terrifying development) Mar-Vell drags the elevator car to another floor and saves the people inside, but they've become despondant. "We're being herded, like lambs to slaughter!" One gripes.

At this cue, Dr. Webb appears on a video screen to taunt them all. Webb explains he gathered these particular people because of their ages, ethnic groups and income brackets so that he could perform this sociological test on them. He expects the book he'll write from this data will allow him to bask in royalties down in South America (which has a certain connotation when talking about the architects of the Holocaust). After this, immense blades strike from the ceilings, floors and walls around the captured people, but Captain Marvel defends them. Weiss is almost killed by one of the blades, but instead takes a stunning blow. Mar-Vell finally smashes the blades then breaks back into the elevator shaft, following it down below to reach Webb himself. Webb has automated defenses installed, tripped by Mar-Vell's body heat, but Mar-Vell destroys the sophisticated laser weapons before they can strike him. Rick can tell Mar-Vell is getting tired and implores him to rest, but Mar-Vell refuses, pressing on into Webb's lair.

As soon as Mar-Vell bursts in, Webb, ever confident, strikes him with atomic blasts while mocking him. "Really, my good captain, I was hoping for a somwhat more original exclamation from you! Something along the lines of 'great gamma rays!'... perhaps even 'holy molecules!' But, if you prefer a simple 'yaarrhhh! as your epitaph... so be it!" That Webb, he's a salty one. The atomic blasts can't kill Mar-Vell, but they are able to trigger the Nega-Bands to swap him with Rick Jones and Rick would be killed instantly in Mar-Vell's place.

Before Mar-vell can free himself, Mr. Weiss acts; having followed Mar-Vell to the basement and seen what Webb is doing, he is again reminded of Auschwitz. When Webb gloats, "After all, is it not for the betterment of the race... and well worth a few meaningless lives?" Weiss remembers an officer in the camp making the same expression. Shoving Webb aside, Weiss grabs the controls and tears out the wires; Webb's machine explodes as Mar-Vell and Rick switch places. Fortunately, the atomic energy has dissipated so Rick is fine, but the explosion of Webb's control panel killed Mr. Weiss. Webb is now truly insane: "He's only pretending... trying to fool me!" Webb raves as he stares at Weiss' corpse. "He'll get up in a minute and walk away... you'll see!" Webb insists. Rick finally gives us Weiss' full name - Jacob Weiss - and notes how Webb only refers to him by the number of his apartment: 6-K. A close-up on Weiss' forearm shows us his concentration camp number, making the parallel clear. "Excuse me..." Rick tells Webb, "I gotta go somewhere... and be quietly sick...!"

Thoughts: It should be noted that Gil Kane co-plotted this story with Roy Thomas; as Kane was Jewish, you can understand his personal interest in crafting a Holocaust story. This is an unusual way of looking at the Holocaust - it's not set in the 1940s, not even for a flashback scene. And yet, you'd have to be thick as a brick to miss all of the references and understand how Webb's experiments are being likened to those which the Nazis inflicted on their captives.

This is the first Captain Marvel story after Yon-Rogg's death and as Yon-Rogg had propelled much of the series up until now, it would be nice to get a sense of what our hero is after now. That element is lacking here, but as a stand-alone story this is easily the best issue of Captain Marvel up 'til now and I think probably the best pre-Starlin story.

Hopefully Mar-Vell will get a new purpose soon - like, he ought to be trying to get out of the Negative Zone, right?

Next: Captain Marvel makes his first-ever guest appearance! It's time for Avengers #72!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 21: Captain Marvel #18

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero' and my look at Captain Marvel #18 (1969) with the landmark story "Vengeance Is Mine!" by Roy Thomas, Gil Kane and John Buscema. We pick up precisely where the previous issue left off as Yon-Rogg monitors Rick Jones and decides "The moment has come for---action!" I mean, he did only just run from a fight with Mar-Vell, but sure, Yon-Rogg, 'action'. Rick is nearly struck by an out-of-control car but dodges it; Mar-Vell points out the driver could kill himself, so Rick uses the Nega-Bands to switch places with him. Mar-Vell stops the car and finds the driver is very groggy; Mar-Vell immediately concludes Yon-Rogg must have been responsible for this. It seems too cunning to be Yon-Rogg's idea (kill Rick rather than fight Mar-Vell), but I suppose he's right.

We see the Negative Zone from Rick's perspective for the first time; he's surrounded by a protective aura which defends from the weird environment, but otherwise he's simply floating in a void. When he remarks the Negative Zone "ain't about to replace Disneyland!" It prompts a reflection from Mar-Vell: "You have a sense of humor, lad... something I have yet to cultivate! Perhaps we may both benefit from the accident that has intertwined our two fates!" Indeed, one of the features which made Marvel Comics of the 1960s unique was the strong humour in every series which Stan Lee wrote - and up until the Thomas/Kane revamp, Captain Marvel had been bucking the trend. Mar-Vell flies to a nearby city then switches places with Rick again. Rick finds himself at a club where some extremely 1960s young people are hanging out, eating burgers and listening to bands. It's at this point that I suddenly remembered, oh yeah, Captain Marvel was created in the 1960s! Outside of Mar-Vell casting an illusion of protestors back in issue #12, the series up 'til now has avoided everything to do with the youth culture. Comics didn't have a particularly good track record when it came to depicting 1960s young people in comics, but heck, at least Captain Marvel's creators elected to reflect the world around them.

Rick doesn't think much of the band: "I hitched a diesel truck this morning that had more soul!" When challenged to see if he could do better, Rick offers to try; one of the musicians loans Rick a guitar and it turns out Rick has a natural talent as a performer. A waitress named Trina decides "He really does have soul!" but a club visitor named Blackie boos Rick. Rick decides to swap places with Captain Marvel to teach his critic a lesson, but Mar-Vell refuses to become involved in something so petty. Instead, Rick decks Blackie in the face! Rick decides he'd better leave, but a music promoter named Mordecai P. Boggs stops him declaring, "It's fate that has thrown us together, my boy!" Although Rick isn't interested in Boggs now, Boggs is the series' latest supporting cast member (and will occasionally follow Rick to other titles long after Captain Marvel). Boggs is meant to be a W. C. Fields-type character, to the point that Rick compares him to Fields. I guess Thomas didn't trust his audience to figure it out for themselves?

Captain Mar-Vell has given it some thought and has realized where Yon-Rogg must be: back at the Kree outpost where they last saw him. Wha--? Huh--? Whatever happened to the Helion, why wouldn't Yon-Rogg be there, surrounded by his crew? Well, Mar-Vell is right: Yon-Rogg really is back at the Kree outpost, where he's holding Carol Danvers hostage like a Republic serial villain. He has his hands on an outlawed Kree device called the Psyche-Magnitron; he bathes himself in rays of energy from the device, intending to become powerful enough to challenge the Supreme Intelligence. Yon-Rogg gains the ability to conjure up "anything ever devised by Kree science" using his mind and uses this to fashion the Mandroid (not to be confused with the SHIELD battle armour, which didn't exist at the time; we'll get there), a Kree robot used to hunt and execute traitors. So, some things never change... this series really likes pitting Captain Marvel against robots. Carol watches helplessly as Mar-Vell struggles against the Mandroid but finally flies at the Psyche-Magnitron; the Mandroid shoots an energy beam which hits the device; the Mandroid dissolves as the Psyche-Magnitron stops working.

Yon-Rogg draws a pistol to fight Mar-vell (not that his pistol did any good last issue), but as they struggle a wild shot hits Carol in the shoulder. Mar-Vell is enraged, even though Yon-Rogg protests, "I... I did not mean to hit her! My shot went astray! I was not responsible...!!" However, this only reminds Mar-Vell of how Una died because of a battle Yon-Rogg engaged. A real bloodlust enters into Mar-Vell now. "Can you give me... a girl's life, Yon-Rogg? Answer me... can you give life again to one you did slay??" But at the brink of killing Yon-Rogg, Mar-Vell pulls back; he realizes killing Yon-Rogg would be a hollow triumph.

Suddenly, the Psyche-Magnitron begins overloading due to the Mandroid's damage. Mar-Vell sees Carol is still alive and knows he only has enough time to save either her or Yon-Rogg. "Then... it must be the girl!!" The Psyche-Magnitron explodes as Mar-Vell flees the collapsing Kree outpost, leaving Yon-Rogg to his death. Feeling weak from his fight, Mar-Vell switches places with Rick Jones, but Rick inherits all of Mar-Vell's exhaustion and he collapses to the ground.

Thoughts: Yon-Rogg running back to the Kree outpost doesn't make sense and brings back bad memories of how this series used to spin its wheels, but this is, at last, the final appearance of Yon-Rogg. Yon-Rogg could have been an interesting villain as Mar-Vell's superior officer. Unfortunately, every writer - Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake - made his plots so transparent. There was never anything clever in Yon-Rogg's efforts to kill Mar-Vell. Although at this point in the series he could have been called Mar-Vell's nemesis, he wound up staying dead because better villains came along - in particular, a certain fella named Thanos.

Unfortunately, this is Captain Marvel's farewell to Carol Danvers too (aside from a few cameos). With Carol and Yon-Rogg gone, the series has definitely been completely reinvented. It's a pity Carol couldn't have a place under the new status quo, but she's a security officer with NASA and the series is now about a wandering space hero who trades places with a roving guitar player. Treating Rick like Mar-Vell's secret identity unfortunately means all of Mar-Vell's supporting cast have to be let go. Fare thee well, General Bridges, Jeremy Logan and Chester Fenton. You were a kind of lousy supporting cast, but at least it was something.

Although Carol Danvers is gone, it's in this issue that she's granted her own superhuman powers. It won't come up 'til Ms. Marvel #1 in 1977, but given how powerful the Psyche-Magnitron was, it was a pretty clever idea to use this incident as the means to give her super powers. She would have been a forgotten supporting character (like Bridges, Logan & Fenton) were it not for her eventual career as a super hero.

Now, however, we have Mordecai P. Boggs and Rick's new status as a travelling musician. It's not a bad fit for Rick and will pretty become the #2 most defining thing about him as a character (#1 is that he's a sidekick). For now, the songs Rick's singing don't make me cringe, so we'll consider it acceptable.

Next: How about a Holocaust story? No, seriously, that's what we're being served in Captain Marvel #19!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 20: Captain Marvel #17

Welcome back to my revisit of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel, specifically the stories prior to Jim Starlin's famous character revamp. We're now up to issue #17 (1969) and a lot has changed - Captain Marvel has a dynamic new costume. Unfortunately, as he flew away from Hala he was sucked into the Negative Zone. It's interesting to note this is yet another element from the Fantastic Four comics; it's amazing how much Captain Marvel relies on Fantastic Four continuity, yet Mar-Vell and the FF haven't even met.

"And a Child Shall Lead You!" by returning writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane (inks by Dan Adkins). While Captain Marvel remains trapped in the Negative Zone, he turns his eyes to Earth and Rick Jones, who at the time had recently assumed the identity of Bucky, serving very briefly as Captain America's sidekick. Unfortunately for Rick, this is during a plot in which the Red Skull used the Cosmic Cube to swap bodies with Captain America. When Rick goes up to the Skull-in-Cap, the Red Skull fumes "Captain America needs no one!" and strikes him. Dejected, Rick journeys to Avengers Mansion and packs up his belongings, informing the Avengers' butler Jarvis to tell the Avengers he said goodbye.

Rick thinks back on his earlier adventures, first helping the Hulk, then leading the Teen Brigade, on to aiding the Avengers and finally becoming Captain America's sidekick. Rick throws away his Avengers ID card and hitchhikes a ride with a truck, unaware that Mar-Vell is subtly exerting mental pressure on his decisions. Departing the truck in the middle of nowhere, a glowing image of Captain America guides Rick into a cave. The cave is full of weird machines and monstrous statues, prompting Rick to yelp, "Fan-tastic!" which will become Rick's catchphrase throughout Captain Marvel. The image of Captain America vanishes and his place appear two golden wristbands which are identical to those which Mar-Vell now wears. Rick can't resist trying them on; they shrink to fit snugly around his wrists.

In case the subtle allusions to the origin of Fawcett's Golden Age Captain Marvel have gone over your head (the statues in the cave are obviously in homage to the statues of the Seven Deadly Sins), the story gets a bit more obvious. An image of Captain Mar-Vell appears before Rick and tells him to slam the wristbands together; Rick does so and in a bolt of lightning he vanishes - the teenager replaced by the costumed hero Captain Marvel. And heck, why not? At this point, fandom hated Marvel's Captain Marvel for using the Fawcett character's name, they might as well lean directly into it. Anyway, now Rick is in the Negative Zone and this establishes the status quo going forward: at any given time, either Rick or Mar-Vell must be in the Negative Zone. However, they have a psychic link and so can talk to each other between dimensions.

Just as Mar-Vell begins to explain the wristbands are "millennia-old" Nega-Bands and that their power has nullified the radiation which blasted him into the Negative Zone. Just then, Yon-Rogg bursts in, determined to have the Nega-Bands' power for himself. Mar-Vell's reflexes have been slowed by his time in the Negative Zone and he takes a blast to the chest from Yon-Rogg photonic pistol, but suffers no injury. Terrified, Yon-Rogg exits the cave, running for a ship (it appears to be too small to be the Helion). It seems this cave was a secret Kree base and Yon-Rogg had been following Rick because his instruments identified him as being under Mar-Vell's control. Carol Danvers is aboard Yon-Rogg's ship, his unconscious prisoner. Mar-Vell pursues Yon-Rogg but states he no longer has any super powers (like the teleportation, super strength and illusions which 'Zo' gave him), just whatever the Nega-Bands provide; fortunately, that includes the power of flight.

Yon-Rogg hurls a bomb in the shape of Carol Danvers out of his ship, but Mar-Vell is apparently also superhumanly tough, as he's surprised when the explosion doesn't kill him. Yon-Rogg gets away as Mar-Vell muses about his powers, then switches places with Rick Jones. Rick senses he and Mar-Vell's merging has imprinted some of Mar-Vell's psyche on him. "He's part of me now--like I am of him! I even share Mar-Vell's desire... for revenge! And somehow, I know I'm gonna find Yon-Rogg for him... if it takes the rest of my life...!" And the story ends here.

Thoughts: I'm now at the halfway point of these posts and we're now at the third attempt to create a status quo for Captain Marvel - but this is the one that stuck. When people think back on Mar-Vell, it's usually the era where he was body swapping with Rick Jones that they recall. Although Starlin later modifies the red & blue costume a little, the costume and Nega-Bands are also what people best remember. It's not a complete reboot, as the presence of Yon-Rogg demonstrates (though Thomas intends to rectify that one quickly), but this is one heck of a Hail Mary - there are very few comic book characters whose entire publishing history had been so dull yet were given a revamp which actually worked.

Major kudos to Gil Kane, whose artwork is seriously unchained at this point. Previously the series' action scenes had been rather stiff, but Kane excels at energetic action scenes.

Although Rick Jones was brought into this comic primarily so that Roy Thomas could nudge and wink about the Fawcett Captain Marvel, he does finally give Mar-Vell a compelling supporting cast member and ties the character more firmly into the rest of the Marvel Comics titles; the simple fact that Rick had ties to the Hulk, Avengers and Captain America would thereafter provide the ready means for Mar-Vell to earn guest appearances in other titles (and vice-versa).

Although Roy Thomas had written the early issues of this series, you'd hardly guess it; this issue suggests the writer wanted to take advantage of the hero's near blank slate in order to retool the series; but Thomas simply seems to have little affection for the first run of stories he penned for this title and has no problem pushing the character into a completely different setup; the 'Walter Lawson' stuff is a justly-ignored footnote now.

Next: Let's finally put an end to this Yon-Rogg stuff with Captain Marvel #18!

Dracula Month Day 24: Marvel Classics Comics #9

In 1973 Pendulum Press began adapting famous works of literature into slim volumes which retold their stories in comic book format for an intended younger audience, much like Classics Illustrated. These works were produced primarily by Filipino art teams and unknowns and they've been reprinted by other publishers many times over the years. Strangely, one such place is at Marvel Comics where they reprinted many of the Pendulum books in their series Marvel Classics Comics. So it was that in 1976, Marvel Classics Comics #9 reprinted the Pendulum adaptation of Dracula.

The cover above was the only new addition to the Pendulum copy. The art is by Gil Kane & Tom Palmer and depicts a Dracula who is fairly recognizable as being the same person appearing in their Tomb of Dracula comics and Dracula Lives magazines. Within, however, Dracula was depicted with a full beard and a thin face. The adaptation was written by Naunerie Farr and drawn by the Philippines' Nestor Redondo, who would later work directly for Marvel in their Conan books.

This is the second-best adaptation of Dracula which Marvel has published. Yesterday's Stoker's Dracula had much more space to delve into the details of the novel, where as the Marvel Classics version runs at a lean 48 pages. The typewritten lettering gives the book a cheap, amateurish feel, but while the story races by quickly virtually all the details are kept intact - except for poor Quincey Morris, who is omitted from this adaptation. Considering Quincey makes such a great heroic sacrifice in the climax of the novel, isn't a shame how seldom he appears in the adapted versions of that work?

Iron Fist, Shangri-La, Amazing-Man, Kung Fu and the Mighty Whitey

With the debut of Netflix's Iron Fist television show nearly upon us, many people in and about the internet have been commenting on matters of race in the Iron Fist saga - that is, that the hero is, in the comics and on the show, a white guy who gained his powers from an Asian culture.

So, let's begin our history lesson - but first, we'll have to step way back and do some pop culture history.

#1: The Fabled Lost City

There is a tradition in fiction of lost civilizations, places which are kept out of reach of modern man. These places may be hidden in a distant jungle, in an underground cavern, atop a high mountain, on the bottom of the ocean or the surface of the moon. Iron Fist's homeland, K'un-Lun, is such a place; it is a city which lies within an alternate dimension and can only be accessed through a portal found in the Himalayan mountains. And so, before we can start talking about K'un-Lun as an appropriation of Asian culture, we have to acknowledge it's actually an appropriation of western culture which could be said to have been appropriated from Asian culture. Er... or something like that.

British author James Hilton wrote Lost Horizon in 1933. It tells of a fantastic city called Shangri-La which is virtually hidden in the Himalayas and unknown to the world at large. Shangri-La is a paradise of knowledge and is used in the novel (and 1937 film adaptation) as an escape from the punishing realities of contemporary times - the idea that even if western civilization perished in World War II, humanity's knowledge would be maintained in the yet-peaceful land of Shangri-La. The only truly fantastical element in the novel is that people in Shangri-La have extraordinarily-long lifespans but outside the city's borders age rapidly. And so, K'un-Lun is likewise a remote Himalayan retreat which, nevertheless, boasts a surprising understanding of the western world - Lost Horizon was an extremely popular book in its day and was remade as a (terrible) film in 1973, a year before Iron Fist's debut. Yet Hilton had himself based Shangri-La upon a pre-existing city in Asian lore: Shambhala, a Tibetan kingdom which was likewise a repository of knowledge ruled by the wise and just. But K'un-Lun owes a debt to more than simply James Hilton and Shambhala.

I suppose we also have to talk about the 1947 musical Brigadoon by the American Alan Jay Lerner. It's the story of a Scottish village which appears for only one day every 100 years. Similarly, K'un-Lun appears on Earth only once every 10 years. It feels as though one of the reasons K'un-Lun had that restriction was because the initial creators (Roy Thomas & Gil Kane) didn't believe Iron Fist would ever be returning there after his origin. Besides Brigadoon, you can see many ideas from Scottish/Irish/English folktales about fairies in the concept of a place which is sometimes there, sometimes not and where time does not necessarily pass at the same rate.

#2: The Hero Who Journeys to the East

The super hero genre owes a tremendous debt to the pulp magazine hero the Shadow, who directly inspired many of the earliest comic book heroes. In the radio version of the Shadow, he bore "the hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so that they cannot see him," which was a secret he learned "many years ago in the Orient." Well, that set off a mawkish band of imitators. According to the resources of my friend Jess Nevins, some early comic book heroes whose origins consisted of brushing up against the mysticism of "the Orient" (usually Tibet) includes: Thin Man, the Vision, Howard Thurston, the Green Lama, Wonder Man, Thun Dohr, the Human Meteor, Illuso, the Flame, Gun Master and Commando Ranger. But, most significantly, there was Amazing-Man.

Amazing-Man was created by Bill Everett and published by Centaur starting in 1939's Amazing-Man Comics #5. In that comic, we were first introduced to John Aman, an orphan who was selected for his "superb physical structure" and brought to the Council of Seven in Tibet. Said Council was comprised of men in hoods not unlike those of Iron Fist's uncle Yu-Ti (and one of the Council is a heavy, much like Yu-Ti). The Council gifted Aman with "kindness, tolerance and bravery" and set him through a barrage of tests where he had to be strong as an elephant, quick as a cobra, survive being stabbed with throwing knives and prove himself adept at various languages. Following this, one council member injected Aman with a serum which permitted him to become invisible while generating a green mist around his body (hence his other alias, "The Green Mist").

Roy Thomas, being quite the fanboy, deliberately cribbed many details from Amazing-Man's origin for Iron Fist. At the time, the old hero-goes-to-the-mysterious-east origin was mostly neglected, although the 1960s had included a few notable heroes in that mould such as Doctor Strange, Doctor Droom (later Doctor Druid) and Deadman. You might be surprised to hear that Batman was not one of these heroes at the time; it wasn't until a fill-in story written in 1989 by Christopher Priest that Batman's origin was altered to include a trip to Tibet - a detail which would subsequently become quite visible in the 2005 film Batman Begins.

#3: The Martial Arts

Next up, we have to talk about the martial arts film phenomenon. By 1974 it was a big business, coming one year after Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, which became a major point of reference for martial arts films in popular culture. More than that, there was the television program Kung Fu starring the not-at-all-Asian actor David Carradine. Kung Fu brought the martial arts craze into living rooms across the USA, including those of Marvel Comics' creators. Steve Englehart & Jim Starlin lobbied Roy Thomas to obtain the license for Kung Fu but Thomas noted the series was owned by Warner Bros., owners of their rivals DC Comics; instead, in late 1973 they debuted the new Marvel series Master of Kung Fu featuring as protagonist Shang-Chi, whose personality and ethos were roughly based on that of Kung Fu's Kwai Chang Caine.

Gil Kane said that Iron Fist came about after he saw his first kung fu movie. He was instantly jazzed about creating a kung fu comic book series himself and this led to him joining with Roy Thomas. Therefore, we can trace the lineage of Iron Fist thusly: Kung fu movies -> Amazing-Man -> Lost Horizon -> Shambhala.

However, Iron Fist faltered somewhat shortly out of the gate. Kane was interested enough in the martial arts to draw the first issue, then he jumped off. Larry Hama stepped in for four issues as the new artist, while Len Wein and Doug Moench became the writers. Tony Isabella & Arvell Jones covered only three issues, then after two issues by Chris Claremont & Pat Broderick, John Byrne took Broderick's place and the Claremont-Byrne team became the longest-lasting Iron Fist creative by a country mile.

Due to the immense upheaval, Iron Fist didn't quite gel as a series until the Claremont-Byrne days. The initial storyline dealt with Iron Fist's origin, then his quest for vengeance against his father's killer. Isabella & Jones shook up the concept a little by introducing the idea that K'un-Lun could be reached at other intervals through magic, setting the stage for many of Iron Fist's return visits to the extent that K'un-Lun's supposed disconnection from Earth would become largely forgotten.

#4: Iron Fist's Race

"But Mike," you say, "this is all very interesting and well-researched but you're dancing around the real issue: Iron Fist is just another Mighty Whitey." I appreciate the compliment, but I do prefer "Michael." I won't argue the point of Iron Fist being a Mighty Whitey; like many of those to whom the trope applies, he's a white guy who travels to some remote place inhabited by non-whites, then proceeds to be better at whatever it is the locals specialize in than any of them. Sure enough, Daniel Rand is raised in K'un-Lun from approximately ages 9-19 and succeeds at every trial placed before him (just like Amazing-Man), claiming the power of Iron Fist.

Yet if you had asked me about Danny's race 10 years ago, I would have told you he's half-Asian. And 10 years ago I wrote for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, so that would have been a rather authoritative declaration.

Here, let's go back to Danny's origin again; what is often overlooked in the origin story is that Danny's father originated in K'un-Lun. As narration in Marvel Premiere #15 puts it: " Even as a child, you knew your father had always been an enigma to everyone! Appearing out of nowhere, nearly a decade before -- becoming an instant entrepreneur, with mysterious funds" Then in Marvel Premiere #16, K'un-Lun's ruler Yu-Ti, the August Personage of Jade, reveals Danny's father Wendell was his brother - making Yu-Ti Danny's uncle. Therefore, Danny's lineage is half-K'un-Lun! That seems pretty conclusive, huh? Danny's 50% Asian, which mitigates all that 'Mighty Whitey' stuff. Danny's full name would even be given as "Daniel Rand-K'ai" on occcasion (usually in the OHOTMU). It seems as though Iron Fist's creators intended for Danny Rand to be half-Asian!

Of course, Gil Kane didn't drawn Wendell Rand to look Asian. You could chalk that up to an art error if you really wanted to. Later, in Power Man & Iron Fist #75 (1981), Jo Duffy suggested Wendell had been adopted into Yu-Ti's family but it didn't catch on, nor did it make sense based on anything previously established about Yu-Ti. But, unfortunately, Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's Immortal Iron Fist undid these little-explored fine details. Immortal Iron Fist kinda makes the 'Mighty Whitey' thing even worse by introducing Orson Randall, the previous Iron Fist, who was also a white guy who wound up in K'un-Lun. For a character who died within six issues he's actually got a backstory which is just as convoluted as Danny's. Brubaker & Fraction did at least introduce the idea of K'un-Lun possessing various sister cities which each had their own champion or "immortal weapon;" most of those immortal weapons were Asian guys (one of them was Amazing-Man, who had fallen into the public domain).

So it was that in Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1 (2007), Brubaker & Fraction established Wendell Rand as an All-American orphan kid who met Orson Randall and through him, eventually went to K'un-Lun and became a citizen. So, there was a perfectly acceptable means to firmly establish Iron Fist as one of Marvel's most prominent Asian heroes, but they went the opposite direction. Thanks for ruining it, white guys.

"If only it wasn't so far!" His Name Is Savage #1 review

The comic book business is an untamed field, its own wild west, perhaps even - savage. In the early days pioneers such as Siegel & Shuster gave away their creations, little supposing how comics would remain vibrant for decads to come. By the 1960s, matters had begun to settle - calcify, perhaps. Marvel established themselves as a major player in the business, drawing on teenage & college aged readers; between Marvel & DC, the medium was dominated by super hero action titles for all ages. Enter Gil Kane.

Gil Kane remains a star of the Silver Age, dabbling both at Marvel & DC during that era and contributing the redesigned Hal Jordan version of the Green Lantern into comics lore. Still, Kane hoped to blaze new trails. At the time, magazine publisher Warren had found success with their black & white horror magazines, taking advantage of the magazine's lack of Comics Code Authority approval in order to depict more violence and sex than any four-colour operator would permit. Kane even brought in Warren's beloved writer-editor Archie Goodwin to be his scripter on his passion project His Name Is Savage, which published its first (and only) issue in 1968.

Savage is an intelligence operative who (deliberately, on the cover) looks a fair bit like actor Lee Marvin. Serving a shadowy group called the Committee, Savage is pit against his former mentor General Simon Mace, a former war hero who is now a cyborg with ambitions to set off World War 3. There's not much else to the story - Savage looks up his former flame Sheila (Mace's daughter), but Mace's men kill her - thus eliminating the book's only female character. Mace impersonates Lyndon Johnson so he can order an attack on the USSR, but that's about as political as it gets. It's very light on plot and characters.

Where Savage comes through is in the action department; throughout the story, Savage either broke men's teeth or shot them in the chest. This sort of violence could be felt throughout the crime & horror comics of the 40s & 50s but had been scarce since the CCA's arrival. But what was rattling by the standards of 1968 is fairly tame by those of 2016. Kane pushed the envelope further than CCA comics of '68 would have gone, but today's super hero comics push much further. Such is the story of history. Perhaps the book's most lasting impact on the comics medium is that Rich Buckler evidently based his hero Deathlok's visual on that of Kane's General Mace.

Comics were on the cusp of big changes in '68, but His Name Is Savage wouldn't be the book to change it all; 70s arrivals such as The First Kingdom, Elfquest and Cerebus would eventually shepherd a place in the industry for mature storytelling outside the super hero genre.

Not So Long Ago 4: Star Wars #9

We continue our look at Roy Thomas & Howard Victor Chaykin's Magnificent Seven by way of Star Wars homage with Star Wars #9!

The cover (once more by Gil Kane) depicts Han, Chewbacca, Amaiza and - the Lepus of the hour - Jaxxon, the foursome in deadly combat with the Cloud-Riders. Strangely, Jaxxon doesn't seem to be wearing his shirt on the cover. Also, he's drawn rather more realistically than we've seen him in the interiors so far.

The story, "Showdown on a Wasteland World!" was again inked by Tom Palmer. The tale opens with Han and Chewie leading their six hired guns astride Banthas (when you absolutely, guaranteed have to be there in six to eight months) to the village they're to protect. En route it becomes clear Jaxxon has as much a gift for the gab as Solo himself:

"Yeah, I know, Chewie... I know! It's too quiet for me, too; I just didn't want to say anything."
"So now I guess yer gonna talk all day about how ya didn't wanna talk!?"
"You can be replaced on this mission, y'know, Jax."
"Yeah? Who by, Solo? Looks ta me like yer already scrappin' the bottom of a low barrel just to dig up this group!"

After a flashback sequence where Han recalls the events leading up to him becoming the leader of these rag-tag characters the group sees a flock of High-Hounds, giant feathery scavengers with semi-humanoid features. The team begins blasting the creatures out of the sky, granting them an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities to Solo and practice for the eventual fight with Serji-X. In the midst of the fight, Jaxxon begins putting the moves on Amaiza:

"Y'know Amaiza-- when this baby-sittin' mission's over, howzabout you an' me teamin' up? I got a hunch we could make beautiful blaster-music together."

Amaiza isn't interested: "No offense, but if I hung around with a guy who looks like a big green rabbit, folks might start to talk." Solo sees one of the High-Hounds diving at a local and springs into action in time to save her. The beauteous babe (on loan from one of Thomas' Conan plots) proves to be Merri, the daughter of the village's chief, Oncho. Han begins gathering up the locals to prepare defenses against Serji-X's inevitable assault.

Meanwhile in the subplot, Luke, C-3PO & R2-D2 find a planet in the Drexel system which seems appropriate to serve as the Rebels' new base, but mid-broadcast back to Leia, his message mysteriously cuts out. Leia decides she'll pursue Luke's trail to Drexel and discover what happened to him. Back on Aduba-3, Merri's grandfather, a shaman, tries to tell Solo about his mystical resources and some monster he believes has the power to defend the village, but Solo takes him for yet another senile old man and ignores him.

Jaxxon alerts the others to Serji-X's approach: "If what they say about us rabbits havin' good eyes is true-- then I suggest we get up off our fannies an' cotton tails-- 'cause I got a hunch trouble's on the way... big trouble-- an' it's comin' at us hard an' fast!" Serji-X demands the villagers turn over their tribute, and includes Merri amongst what he wants, enraging Solo. The fight begins and Effie the droid helps out by extending its arms to grab one of the Cloud-Riders' skyspeeder, bringing its rider directly into Chewbacca's fists. However, Effie then notices the Starkiller Kid is about to be shot in the back; despite asserting the Kid is not its master, Effie serves as a shield, being completely destroyed by the ensuing blaster fire.

Don-Wan also gets into the fray to defend Amaiza from one of the bandits, which he does quite well, striking him in the back with his lightsaber (proof that he's a real Jedi: he doesn't fight fair). However, another bandit shoots Don-Wan in the back; Solo believes him dead (he's not, likely because of his armour). Solo and Jaxxon share another exchange:

"Hey, Jaxxon! How's our ammunition holding out?!"
"Ain't complainin', Solo! An' if I run outta power, I can always kick those riders outa the clouds!"

However, the chaos of the fight takes a sudden turn as the old shaman summons forth the slumbering monster he alluded to - the Behemoth! It's now a three-way battle for the village!

Tomorrow: the conclusion in Star Wars #10!