I'll have to check the Doctor Who classics trade I have in the to read pile.. that'd be a neat co-incidence!

The Fixit stuff is the best to me, as the grey hulk before isn't that much different than green hulk other than the nocturnal change. But I like the story as a whole, and love the two issues in the 370's where the new green hulk goes back to Vegas as Fixit and runs into the Punisher. You really got me thinking on biting off a bit smaller review thread than before and reading these issues again. I always enjoy them whenever I read them.

Yeah, I read the 1st Showcase volume a while back... the 'hip' language got old REALLY fast, but the art is always good and sometimes brilliant.

PAD: Hulk Visionaries vol. 3

Web of Spiderman #44
Crossover time! PAD writing. Of course, and Alex Saviuk on art. Peter Parker is on a book tour, and in Vegas for a talk show appearance/book signing. He stumbles into the 'war games'.. a bunch of superpowered mercs trying to kill each other for fun, creatively named Alpha, Delta, Bravo and Charlie. The signing and show go terribly, of course. Spidey and Marlo (who went to visit Mr. Fixit and was rebuked and was heading to the book signing for a revenge/jealously pick up), get caught in the crossfire. Spidey gets Marlo to the hospital as the fight moved to Mr. Fixit's hotel. He gets involved, and Spidey quickly recognizes him... to be continued!

LOTS of name dropping here for the 'book signing' including Alan Moore, Tom DeFalco, Chris Claremont, etc. The one person who is shown at the signing has a Starbrand #1 is asked Peter if he knows John Byrne. Cute shoutouts, and very PAD. Art is not great, but passible.. I do like Saviuk's Hulk, the one page we get. Off to a good start with this volume!

Hulk 349 'War Zone'
Picks up immediately after the previous issue ended.. with Spidey arguing with Hulk over letting Alpha kill Charlie. The War Gamers take their fight elsewhere while we get a Hulk-Spidey Slugfest. Purves is still on art, and draws a nice Spidey, and a nice fight scene... the cover is pretty horrible though, Hulk has a tiny head and looks like a troll. I think that's what I don't like about Purves... lousy faces. Pretty good everything else, though.

Hulk just stops the fight and leaves when Charlie is seemingly killed by Alpha, much to Spidey's chagrin.

Turns out the War Gamers are robots, or Cyborgs, or something, and they're buddies, and they're fighting over an amulet that gives the wearer superpowers (on top of already being cyborgs)... so they can't really die. Hulk saves some bystanders, at Spidey's plea, and points out that the bystanders wouldn't have been in danger if he hadn't tried to 'help', and mocks him a bit.

No mention of how Marlo's doing.. Hulk is clearly more interested in hurting Charlie than checking. Next up, Doom!

Fantasic Four #320
Doom convinces the Hulk to attack the Thing (by claiming they were buddies and he'd go to him if Hulk was scared to help him)... the rest of the issue is a good 'ole Thing-Hulk slugfest. Only this is slightly weaker Grey Hulk against self-confident, Leader of the FF spikey Thing, so Ben kicks his butt. The whole fight Grimm insists that he's not fighting the real Hulk, and even asks if he's a clone (which is hilarious now, but probably wasn't meant to be). The last page we get Green, Savage Hulk appearing to get some! To be continued! Englehart and Pollard deliver a fun,rollicking fight scene with good art and some good Ben Grimm moments. He opines how he's OK being Orange and Spikey now that he's got a girl (the Big Orange Ms. Marvel II), and he's enjoying being the leader of the FF. He even tell Hulk it's better to embrace what you are instead of changing back to a human.. very interesting indeed!.

Hulk #350 'Before the Fall'
Thing quickly realizes the green guy from last issue isn't the real Hulk, either. Meanwhile, Doom is hiding in an alley, and tells our Hulk it's a robot that ramapaged through New York years ago, and was stopped by the Eternals (nice continuity!). Grimm figures it out at the same time and takes it apart.

Meanwhile, Hulk gets smart, and runs Thing ragged around Central Park, wearing him out and then knocking him unconscious. Doom approves, and asks if he can count on his help to re-conquer Latveria. Hulk says maybe, and opines he'd likely be the one in charge in the end. The end!

I really dislike Purves art, but he does OK for big fight scenes, he just can draw up close detail. Really fun story, so I'd give it a pass for the medicore art... Can't wait until we get to a good artist!.

#351 'Total Recall'
And now for something completely different! Hulk starts off in the middle of the desert, ready to change into Banner.. the footnote mentions the Evolutionary War, which, IIRC, was one of those crossovers in the annuals Marvel did in the 80s and early 90s, but I'm not sure. Anyway, he struggles back to the casino without turning to Banner and then finds himself sucked into Jarella's World (from WAY back.. like Hulk #130) where different factions fight about who worships the God Hulk the best. Turns out the reason he survived the gamma bomb is they were trying to summon him, and used a giant Hulk-sized statue to help, which was why a hulk-loking carcass was found. He fights some giant worthogs, and we find that no all is as it seems... looks like all the factions might be bad. Meanwhile, Marlo is home, none the worse for wear. To be Continued!

Pretty decent story, if a bit jarring in the lack of transitition. Purves' art is the best it's been in this one... I'd say up to 'passable' from medicore. This volume is definitely a lot better than the previous one, the character development one expects from PAD is still largely missing, but the plots are art are on averages improving steadily.

#352 'Fervor'

The 'good guys' dress Hulk up, and they take him through the countryside to 'unite the people'. They fight some cannon fodder of the Grand Inquisitor's (the 'bad' guy), while impressing the people that he is, in fact, the Hulk. Hulk takes the castle... good guys win! The wizards promise Banner is gone for good, and get ready to send him home, but Hulk wants to stay. They double cross him, of course, and send him back... only he's Banner when he gets there! To be Continued!

#353 'Down and Out in Vegas'

Bruce is totally disoriented, and can't even walk, when the Maggia bust in to hit Mr. Fixit. He hides (which works, since how could Mr. Fixit be under the bed.. that cracked me up)... and the move on to blow of the casino owners's house, and do some other general terrorizing. Bruce calls Marlo (who's been calling for Mr. Fixit for a week) and finds out it's been 3 months since he was last 'let out'. Marlo goes out for food, and both the boss and the Maggia decend on her apartment, just in time for Mr. Fixit to return and save the day! Meanwhile, a blond guy walks a round, granting people their dreams... but only illusions. To be continued!

It's funny, it always shocks me when I see a time reference in a Marvel comic..especially when it's 3 months! And only in 6 or 7 issues! That's not going work for 'Marvel Time' The is the first time Betty and Rick have been mentioned since then, as well.. perhaps I suspect they'll be back soon.

#354 'The Sure Thing'
The Berengetti's wake up in their out of town refuge to find Mr Fixit AWOL. Mr. Berengetti heads home to find the Maggia has 'Persuaders' all over town making sure he's through, and they've called a meeting to let the whole town know they're the new game in town. Beregetti tried to rally the other owners, and they desert him, but Mr. Fixit doesn't. They start at 100-1 odds on him against the Maggia superpowered 'Persuaders', and the whole town gets in on the action. Hulk wins, Berengetti cleans up, and all seems well.. for everyone but Bruce, who did come out again during the day, and chatted with Marlo, but is clearly still no in control.

Purves' pencils are inked by Marie Severin in this one, and there's a few pages in the middle that look like they were totally re-done..which was nice, since it's pretty bad. Cool story, though.


Overall, I'm definitely enjoying Mr. Fixit... you don't see borderline criminal enforcers starring in a comic very often.. I just wish they had a better artist.

Devil Dinosaur
9 issues
1978
Written and Drawn by Jack Kirby

So, overall, I definitely enjoyed the series.   I think the alien bit was a little silly, and in fact totally derailed things... I think if issue 8 was issue 4, and more development with the small folk and the valley happened, the alien invasion angle would have been far more poignant and easier to take.  As it was, it felt like Kirby was trying to get everything in before the rug got pulled out.

I do also wonder about that.. I have quite a few other Marvel comics from this time.. this got NO promotion at all... no mentions in the bullpen page, etc.  Was this why Kirby left for DC?  Or was he already out the door anyway?  Judging by the text pages, it seems this was a bit of a vanity project, and it clearly didn't get respect from Marvel.

That said, there are several gorgeous splashes throughout... Kirby does dinosaurs just as well as weird alien contraptions.   They even mixed well, it's just that there was really nothing in the valley to care about before it got destroyed, and that made the other stories feel kind random.


My Issue by Issue thoughts:

#1

Starts off with a Dino Battle-Royal... great stuff. They we get Devil's origin.. how Moon Boy (so named because he of all his people like the night), saved him from the 'killer folk' (Gorilla-like people to Moon Boy's Chimp), who use fire to terrorize everyone else. Devil turned red in the flames, but escaped, and Moon Boy helped him heal and grow strong to take over the valley. Moon Boy tries to share his new brother with the other 'small folk', but they're too afraid, and flee in terror.

In lieu of a letters page, we get a essay from Jack Kirby about how this could really be true.. scientists are wrong sometimes, he says, and who know's what happened? He also makes it a point to say that we don't know Moon Boy's language, and that he's translating for convienence... a little too 'kay fabe' (to borrow a wrestling term), for me, but interesting.

Not a super complex story, but some awesome prehistoric art makes the book.

#2

A new leader of the killer folk, called seven scars, has a plan to use themselves as bait to get Devil into a pit trap with sharp spikes. Devil (who really likes jumping), attacks, and ALMOST clears it, but not quite. Luckily, he's so powerful he snapped all the spikes.

That was just part one of seven scars' plan, though, as next a casade of boulders rains down, knocking Moon Boy unconscious and burying Devil. The gleeful killer folk take Moon Boy to be sacrficed to a giant spider, and presume Devil dead. Devil slowly digs out, and fights off a Iguandon half buried in rocks (with some great visuals), then goes in search of his friend.

He arrives in the nick of time, though instead of just pounding through, he brings a flaming torch (held in his mouth), and uses the killer folk's usual strategy against them. Devil unties Moon Boy and they're off, and leave the killer folk to the fire and spider, but not before disposing of seven scars personally.

Kirby again opines about how he's trying to be realistic, which made me chuckle as the text page was right before the (rather silly) visual of a red T-Rex with a flaming stick in his mouth. Not as much cool dino-action in this one, and the giant spider doesn't really make up for it. Still good, but not as good as #1.

#3

A giant (who looks just like the killer folk, only is the same size as Devil) wanders into the valley, wrecking havoc, so Moon Boy tells Devil to take care of him. They fight, and Devil tricks the giant into a tar pit, only to have Moon Boy berate him, and tell him to save him. Apparently, the giant was just looking for his son, who was responsible for the destruction. Devil throws the guy a tree and pulls him out, they promise to leave each other alone, and the giants go home.. the end!

Moon Boy is starting to seem superfluous to me.. Devil is smart enough on his own without needed someone to be the 'brains' of the operation.. really, Moon Boy is just annoying him and getting him into trouble... I'm hoping that changes.

Also, still no letter column, just Kirby continuing to try to convince readers he's making legends that could exist.. say his story of Devil Dinosaur fits between 'Homer and Jules Verne'. Not sure about that.

On the plus side, the giant, who wore a Triceratops skull for a helmet, was awesome, and we got back to lots of dino-goodness art wise.

#4
Alien invasion! Yup. Moon Boy has a dream about spirits from the sky (which leads to an AWESOME splash page), and sure enough, they appear, aliens right out of a New Gods comic. They're pretty cool, but totally random and jarring.

Still awfully pretty. Moon Boy is still annoying. Still no letters page.

#5 - #6
While Moon Boy is a prisoner of the aliens, Devil hangs with two other 'small folk' an old timer named white hair and a young buck names stone hands. He helps them escape, then goes to the 'tower of death' which is really an ant hill for giant ants, and stirs them up, so they stampede the aliens.

The aliens, meanwhile, have decided Moon Boy's people have great potential, and thus must die, so they won't be a threat. They're just about to vivasect him to see how best to kill the others

Devil's plan works, and the aliens are all killed, except for the prime computer, which has it's own AI, apparently. Moon Boy escapes in the chaos, after dodging many released predators, but has yet to hook back up with Devil.

Meanwhile, white hair and stone hands find Eev (Ugh!) fighting the ants, and save her. Stone hands tries to claim her, but she refuses, they notice the 'demon tree' (the computer from the aliens) and go to investigate.

Finally a (small) letters page, but it's all about issue 1, and all general praise.


#7
White hair and the other has embraced the computer, and it fights Devil off. They then get their very own garden of Eden, but within a small force field dome. Eev and white hair are happy, but Stone hands is not... he gets 'more' tranquilizer gas for his trouble.

Meanwhile, Devil and Moon Boy find each other, and head straight for the 'tree', just as Stone Hands attacks it. Apparently, a radiaton lead killed white hair, and the others realize it's bad news. With Devil attacking from without and Stone Hands withim, they destroy the computer. Stone Hands is (finally) down with the Devil, and Moon Boy rejoices that things will go back to normal.

No letters (for the rest of the series)... so i'm thinking, with lead time, it's already cancelled.

#8
Easily the best issue of the series! Human-ish guys the size of the killer-folk, but riding dinosaurs, come to the valley, and are greatly covetous of Devil when they see Moon Boy astride him!

Meanwhile, Moon Boy finds his small folk cowering in a sad little cave, and again encourages them to join him and Devil in the valley.. they're still afraid (no sign or mention of Eev or Stone Hands). While Moon Boy is doing his sales pitch, the dino-riders capture Devil, and commence their usual procedure to break a dino's will. Moon Boy delivers a pep talk to the small folk, in a last attempt to get them to help, and they at last agree.

Devil refuses to be broken... continuing to pine for his little brother. Moon Boy leads the small-folk in an attack, and it does enough damage to allow Devil to get in the fight and crush the Rider's leader... the end!

No mention of whether the other small folk accept them or not, though... and that doesn't get resolved because...

#9
Devil decides a mysterious old hag that lives in the pits needs to go, but she speaks to the spirits, and sends Devil to the present (1978), where he tears up Arizona.

As the military close in on Devil, Moon Boy pleads with the hag to bring his brother back, and she finally agrees, and just in time. Devil and Moon Boy leave the pits, defeated, and ride off into the sunset.

Strikeforce: Morituri




Strikeforce: Morituri #1-31
Strikeforce: Morituri - Electric Undertow #1-5

Overview:

There's just no other series out there quite like Strikeforce: Morituri. Essentially, the premise is that we're on a future Earth that has spent a generation under the thumb of an invading alien oppressor. In response, the world government puts its resources into a project that gives humans superhuman powers with which to resist the invaders, but the catch is that the process kills you within a year (sometimes sooner) and only works on the young. As a result, this series follows a rotating cast of teenagers who have made the ultimate sacrifice to save their world, any of whom can spontaneously explode in the middle of any given issue. Creators Peter B. Gillis and Brent Eric Anderson handle this with extreme taste, never taking the predictable route, and always pouring complete realism and emotion into each and every one of these frightened teens, confronting their own mortality for their own reasons and having their own unique reactions to the experience. Some characters hang around for ages; others are gone in a single issue, and yet the replacements are almost always as interesting and well developed as those whose shoes they now walk in.

The series does hit some "blah" streaks in the middle, but just when the series is feeling a bit tedious and repetitive, replacement writer James Hudnell ends it with one hell of a bang, even if he makes the mistake of replacing Gillis' rotating cast of compelling protagonists with a single Marty Stu around whom all the other underdeveloped new characters now hover. Still, it's otherwise well written stuff and absolutely worth following until the end.


Worth noting: The series was followed with the five issue premium format Electric Undertow limited series, set two decades after the final issue of the regular series and similarly written by James Hudnell. Though slow to start, it ends up being just as compelling as the regular run. It was left open-ended, presumably so that another limited series could follow, but none ever did.


Worthwhile to read?: If you enjoy strong continuity, constant surprises, a sense that nothing is sacred/permanent in a series, deep characterization, and high human drama, this is a series you absolutely must try.


Key Issues / Highlights:

#6: If you aren't utterly fascinated by the close of the sixth issue, then it's time to give up on the series. Otherwise, you pretty much need to read the whole thing.

#20: Final issue from the original creative team.

#28: Just when you thought you'd lost the ability to feel something in reaction to the death of a character in this title...

#31: The final issue, and boy is it worth it.


Worth re-reading?:

Yes. In its entirety.


Grade the run as a whole: A-

I've heard good things about this series for years but never wanted to pull the trigger. Any TPB 's or other collections of this series ?

I gotta finish that at some point... I really liked the first, oh, say 10-12 issues, but I hit one of those slow spots and didn't end up finishing the series.