The Return of Son of Update to Index of "The End" Week:

Urg, I hadn't updated this in like four years? This'll be fun...Behind the break, links to "The End" posts, going back to 2009!



Action Comics Weekly #642

Adventures of the X-Men #12

Agent X #15

Alf #50

The All-New Batman: the Brave and the Bold #16

All-Star Squadron #67

All-Star Western #34

Alpha Flight #130

Alpha Flight #20


Anarky #8

Aquaman #13

Aquaman #63

Aquaman and the Others #11

Area 88 #42

Arrgh! #5

Astro City #52

Atari Force #20

Avengers Arena #18

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #7

Avengers West Coast #102

Aztek #10

Babylon 5 #11

Badger #4 (Capital)

Batgirl #24

Batgirls #19

Batman #713

Batman Aventures #17

The Batman Adventures #36

Batman and Robin Adventures #25

The Batman Chronicles #23

Batman Confidential #54

Batman: Gotham Adventures #60

The Batman Strikes #50

Batman '66 #30

Battlestar Galactica #23

Black Cat #10

Blackhawk #273

Black Widow #12

Blood of the Demon #17

Bloodhound #10

Blue Beetle #24

Blue Devil #31

Bongo Presents Futurama Comics #81

Booster Gold #25

The Brave and the Bold #200

Buck Rogers #16

Cable & Deadpool #50

Captain America #19

Captain America #454

Captain America: Steve Rogers #19

Captain Atom #57

Catwoman #82

Chase #1,000,000

Claw the Unconquered #12

Challengers of the Unknown #87

Champion Sports #3

Cloak and Dagger #11

Conan #11

Conan the Barbarian #275

Conan the King #55

Contest of Champions #10

Creatures on the Loose #37

The Creeper #1,000,000

Crystar #11

Daken: Dark Wolverine #23

Daredevil #18

Daredevil #380

Daredevil #512

Daredevil #36/LEG #648

Dazzler #42

DC Super-Stars #18

Dead of Night #11

Deadpool #63

Deadpool #69

Deadpool Team-Up #883

Deathlok #34

Death's Head II #16
Defenders #152, #12

the Demon #16

the Demon #58

Detective Comics #881

Doctor Doom #10

Doctor Strange #81

Doom Patrol #22

Doom 2099 #44

D.P.7 #32

Drax #11

Dread of Night #2

Dreadstar #64

Eclipso #18

Edge of Spider-Verse #4

Elektra #19

Eternals #19

Excalibur #125

Exiles #4

Exiles #100

Extraordinary X-Men #20

Extreme Justice #18

Fantastic Four #416

Fantastic Four #611

Fantastic Four #16, 645

Fear #31

Fell #9

Fillerbunny #3

Firearm #18

Firestorm #5

Firestorm #100

Flash #52

Flash #230

Flash #350

Flinch #16

Force Works #22

Freedom Fighters #15

Gen 13 #77

Generation X #75

Ghost Rider #81, #94

G.I. Joe Special Missions #28

Godzilla #24

Goofy Adventures #17

Gotham Central #40

Gotham City Sirens #26

Grave Tales #3

Green Arrow #50

Green Lantern #67

Green Lantern #181

Green Lanterns #57

Green Lantern Corps #63

Green Lantern: Mosaic #18

Grimjack #81

Guardians of the Galaxy #27

Guardians of the Galaxy #62

Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (LEG #180)

Guardians 3000 #8

Guy Gardner: Warrior #44

Harley Quinn #75

Hawk & Dove #28, #8

Hawkgirl #66

Hawkman #17

Hawkman #33

Hawkman #49

Hawkworld #32

Herc #10

Heroes for Hire #19

The Hulk #27 (magazine)

Human Torch #12

Immortal Thor #25

Impulse #89</>

Incredible Hulk #474

The Intimates #12

Invaders #15

Invaders #41

Iron Man #332

Iron Man #89/434

JLA #125

JLA Classified #54

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #28

Jonah Hex #92

Jonah Hex #70

Journey Into Mystery #521

Judge Dredd #18

Justice League Odyssey #25

Justice League of America #113

Justice League Task Force #37

Justice League Quarterly #17

Justice League Unlimited #46

Justice League 3001 #12

Justice Society #10

Kamandi #59

Ka-Zar #20

Ka-Zar the Savage #34

Kobalt #16

Kull #10

Kull the Destroyer #29

Legends of the DC Universe #41

Legion Lost #16

Legion of Super-Heroes #23

Legion of Super-Heroes #63

Legion of Super-Heroes #50

Major Bummer #15

Manhunter #24

Marvel Adventures #18

Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four #48

Marvel Adventures: Spider Man #24

Marvel Comics Presents #175

Marvel Fanfare #60

Marvel Spotlight #33

Marvel Super Action #37

Marvel Super-Heroes #15

Marvel Tales #291

Marvel Universe #7

Master of Kung Fu #125

Masters of the Universe #13

Micronauts #11

Micronauts #11 (IDW)

Micronauts #20

Micronauts #59

Mockingbird #8

Moon Knight #12

Moon Knight #17

Moon Knight #38

Moon Knight #30

Moon Knight, Fist of Khonshu #6

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #15

Motormouth & Killpower #12

Mutant X #32

Mystery in Space #117

New Mutants #50

Nexus #80

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #47

Nightcrawler #12

Nightstalkers #18

Night Thrasher #21

Nomad #25

Nova #25

Nth Man #16

OMAC #8

Orion #25

Over the Edge #10

Outsiders #28</>

Power Girl #27

Power of the Atom #18

Power Pack #62

Punisher #103/Punisher War Zone #41/Punisher War Journal #80

Punisher #18 (1997)

Punisher #12 (2023)

Punisher War Journal #26 (Not #29, I had to edit that!)

PunisherMAX #22

Quasar #60

The Question #36

R.E.B.E.L.s '96 #17

R.E.B.E.L.s #28

Red Hood/Arsenal #13

Red Lanterns #40

Red Sonja #2 (1983)

Robin #183

Robocop #23

Rune #7

Sam Slade, Robohunter #31

Savage Avengers #28, #10

Scavengers #14

Secret Defenders #25

Secret Six #36

Sergio Aragonés Funnies #12

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #167

the Shadow #19

the Shadow #25

She-Hulk #15

Shogun Warriors #20

Silver Surfer #14

Silver Surfer #146

Solo #12

Spider-Man 2099 #46

Spidey #12

SpongeBob Comics #85

Starman #45

Star Trek #56

Star Trek #60

Star Trek #80

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #15

Star Trek #18/Star Trek: the Next Generation #80/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine #32

Star Wars #107

Star Wars #20

Star Wars #50

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #42

Static #45

Stormwatch #50

Strikeforce Morituri #31

Suicide Squad #66

Suicide Squad #15

Superboy and the Ravers #19

Superboy #100

Superior Foes of Spider-Man

Superior Iron Man #9

Superman Family Adventures #12

Superman: the Man of Steel #134

Super-Villian Team-Up #17

Tales of Suspense #104

Tarzan #29

Team Titans #24

Teen Titans #100

The Terminator #17

The Thing #36

Thor #502

Thunderbolts #32

Thunderbolts #81

Thunderstrike #24

Transformers: Generation 2 #12

The Twilight Zone #4

Unbelievable Gwenpool #25

Uncanny Origins #14

Unexpected #222

Unknown Soldier #25

Unknown Soldier #268

Valor #23

Vigilante #50

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #42

Warlord #16

Warlord #133

Wasteland #18

Web of Spider-Man #129

Weird War Tales #124

Werewolf by Night #6

What The--?! #26

The Witching Hour #85

Wolverine #13

Wonder Woman #329

World's Finest Comics #323

Xander in Lost Universe #8

X-Men #41

X-Men: Evolution #9

X-Men: Gold #36

X-Statix #26

X-51: the Machine Man #12

Young All-Stars #31

Young Justice #25

Young Justice #55

2000 A.D. Showcase #54

2099: World of Tomorrow #8

And the rest! There are still somehow a few that weren't blogged year-end.

Double ugh: the next task, besides maybe clearing a few extra line-breaks, would be putting the year behind each entry; to justify things like why "Suicide Squad #66" is ahead of "Suicide Squad #15." Although you can just click through and figure it out, so...

Read more!

The Twentieth Annual! Random Happenstance, Year in Toys!

Twenty years seems like an absurd amount of time to be doing about anything, but here we are! Another year, another...big pile of action figures assembled seemingly at random. Let's get into it! 

 For new readers: For years now, I have been keeping a running total of every action figure or toy I buy. Hopefully, each entry has the figure's name, the line, the price, and where I bought it; and possibly a link to a cartoon or strip that toy was used in. (Unless that figure's unloved or unphotogenic, I guess. Or I'm lazy...) Totals will usually include postage and tax. Usually. Any prices or totals listed in parentheses were purchased with store credit or points instead of paying money, and aren't counted towards the actual total spent. This is by no means a "Best of" list or anything, just what I bought. For reference, here's links for 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. 

1-4 Super 7 Transformers Megatron (chrome), Optimus Prime (dead); $7.99 each, total $17.27, Ross. 

 Star Wars Black Shin Hati, $7.49, Target.

1-8 SWB Osha Aniseya, $8.22; Nite Owl, $6.00; G.I. Joe Vincent R. Falcon and Quarrel, $29.27; total $47.40, Wal-Mart. 

1-25 McFarlane 1950's Batman/Ace, $17.09, GameStop. 

1-29 Indiana Jones Temple of Doom Indy, $14.93; Professor Indy, $6.99; Marvel Legends X-Force Deathlok, $15.99; total $36.84, Amazon.

2-10 World's Smallest Star Trek set (Kirk, Spock, Enterprise) $21.95, Amazon. 

2-12 ML Kaine, Spider-Man Unlimited, 27.99 each; total $60.62, the Comic Book Shop.

2-15 McFarlane Superman, $12.00, Wal-Mart. 

NECA Enterprise Hoshi Sato (spacesuit), Nausicaan, $4 each; total $8.00, EntertainMart. 

ML Ghost Rider, $42.74; Nightcrawler, $23.74; Simpsons Radioactive Man, $23.99; total $94.46, GameStop.

2-23 McFarlane Batman '66 Robot Batman, $4.99; Power Rangers in Space Turbo Invisible Phantom Ranger, $5.99; total $12.00, Ross. 

3-15 Another Phantom Ranger, $5.99, Ross.

3-22 ML Fabian Cortez, Husk, Marrow, AoA Gambit, X-Factor Cyclops, 2 AoA Nightcrawlers, $24.99 each; total $157.98, Amazon. 

4-17 Still another Phantom Ranger, $6.99; SWB Indara, Sol, $5.99 each; total $20.84, Ross. 

Funko Pop GITD Nightcrawler, $10.43, GameStop. 

4-24 2 ML ROM, $24.99 each, total $54.12, Amazon. 

4-27 ML Adam Warlock, $26.89, GameStop.

5-3 FCBD! McFarlane DC Multiverse Camouflage Tumbler ($25.01), Amazon. 

ML Egghead, $27.99, Comic Book Shop. 

ML Banshee, $11.12, GameStop. 

Transformers Blok-ees Optimus Prime, Ironhide, $8.99 each; total $14.71, Go! Calendars. 

5-10 Toy Show! SWB test pilot Andor, $15; 12" Chewbacca, ML ToyBiz Destroyer, $20; ML Hallow's Eve, $12; DCUC Kalibak, $25; total $72.

5-13 Red Sonja arrives, Entertainment Earth. (She was on last year's total!) 

5-24 ML Spider-Man 3 'emo' black Spidey, $33.68, GameStop. 

ML AoA Magneto, Sleepwalker, Crossfire, DCUC Parademon, Clark Kent, Skallox, Wildcat, other Parademon; total $66.33, Never Enough Toys. 

5-31 ML Falcon, $10.49, Target. 

Spinmaster Superman, $7.94, Wal-Mart. 

6-6 McFarlane Adam Strange, Batman Year Two, $14.99 each; total $32.71, Best Buy. 

6-12 Superman Spinmaster Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, $7.94 each; total $17.19, Wal-Mart. (ML ROM, $24.99.)

6-28 ML Superior Iron Man, $10.80, Ross. 

Superman Spinmaster Metamorpho, $10.80, Target. 

Superman Spinmaster Hawkgirl, $7.94, Wal-Mart. 

Street Fighter Guile, $29.99, GameStop. 

  Transformers Shockwave (6-step), $11.99, Fred Meyer.

7-3 ML Future Ant-Man, $6.99, EntertainMart. 

7-11 Sectaurs Stellara, Dargon, $8 each; total $16.00, Wal-Mart. 

7-12 ML Gamerverse Felicia Hardy (Black Cat) $30.39; Batman '66 Commissioner Gordon/Bat-Mite, $11.97; total $40.38, GameStop. 

7-13 ML Wasp, ($24.99), Crossfire, ($14.42); total $5.82, Amazon. 

7-18 ML (movie) Silver Surfer, $24.99; Amazon. 

ML Professor X (Savage Land), Ultimate Iron Man, $12.49 each; total $24.98, Target. 

8-8 Post-vacation catch-up! ML (movie) Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm, the Thing, $24.99 each; total $99.96, Target.

Biker Mice from Mars Vinnie, Throttle, Modo, $8 each; bike, $20; total $44.00, Wal-Mart. 

SWB K2SO (re-issue) $5.99, Ross. 

And ML Dragon Man, $92.63, Hasbro Pulse.

8-14 SWB Jod Na Nawood, $5.99; G.I. Joe 60th Anniversary Marine Sniper (female), $16.99; total $25.08, Ross. 

SWB Imperial Royal Guard (Halloween edition) $24.99; Target. 

9-5 2 ML Spider-Man '77s, $29.97 each, total $65.39, Wal-Mart. 

9-7 ML Spirit Spider, SWB Night Trooper (Halloween), $24.99 each; total $49.98, Wal-Mart.

9-13 McFarlane Metron, Monarch, $34.99 each; Super Friends Superman, $21.99; total $99.60, GameStop. 

SWB Mandalorian, $10.83, Wal-Mart. 

9-22 ML Shanna, $77.62 shipped, Mercari. 

10-7 Superman Spinmasters Luthorcorp Lab set, $13.19, Target. 

10-9 ML Man-Wolf, $39.99; ML Mephisto, $79.99; total $130.90.

10-10 SWB Holiday Astromech (Santa!), $17.99; Stormtrooper (reindeer), $24.97; total $42.96, Amazon. 

10-11 2 ML loose Tracksuit Mafia, $5 each; ML Collector, $12.99; total $22.99, Never Enough Toys.

Super 7 Dungeons & Dragons Shadow Demons, $24.99, Ross. 

10-16 ML Gargantos (Shuma-Gorath!), $71.24; ML Morph, $19.99; total $91.23, GameStop.

10-18 NECA Sesame Street Bert, Ernie, $17.99 each; total $39.25, Best Buy. 

11-1 G.I. Joe Classified Search & Rescue Firefighter, $24.99; WWE Billy Gunn, $7.49; total $32.48, Target.

11-2 Toy Show! ML Maximum Deadpool, $50; Savage Land Rogue, $25; Toad, Paladin (Madcap head!), $10 each; SWB ghost Kenobi, $10; Mara Jade, $15; Mandalorian Nite Owl, $8; Toy Biz 10" Thing, $10; total $138.00. 

11-7 DCUC Cyborg Superman, $8; ML Melina Vostokova, $10; total $20.54, Never Enough Toys.

11-13 Mondo X-Men '97 12-inch Nightcrawler, $323.98. 

11-28 AEW Cody Rhodes, $3.99, Ross. 

11-29 Fortnite Siona, $3.99, EntertainMart. ML Enchantress, Warbow, Werewolf by Night, Dark Avengers Spider-Man, Phantom Rider, Iron Man Mark 72, $29.99 each; total $174.94, GameStop. 

12-5 McFarlane Anti-Monitor, $10.80, Ross. 

12-7 ML Daredevil (Man Without Fear), Phoenix (Rachel), $27.99 each; Silver Surfer, $24.99; total $74.96, Amazon. 

12-8 2 Masters of the Universe Origins Sharella, total with membership $45.81. 

12-11 ML Chameleon, $5.99; SWB Dedra Meero, Moff Gideon, $7.99 each; total $23.77, Ross. 

Street Fighter Cammy, $29.99, Wal-Mart. 

12-17 G.I. Joe Cover Girl, $8.20, Amazon. (With ML Uncanny Spider-Man, $8.20) 

12-30 SWB Dash Rendar, $27.99; ML Cardiac, 2 Uncanny Spider-Man (Nightcrawler) $27.99 each, total $122.16, Hasbro Toy Store.

And I know I missed a five-points style Superman, $7.99, Target. 

Total $3075.40.  2024: $2483.11. 2023: $3565.82. 2022: $3604.09.  2021: $3449.00. 2020: $2345.67. 2019: $2472.30. 2018: $1752.31. 2017: $1968.71. 2016: $1753.72. 2015: $1895.35. 2014: $1523.25. 2013: $1101.93. 2012: $706.32. 2011: $564.71. 2010: $966.10. 2009: $558.16. 2008: $555.16. 2007: $426.00. 2006: $620.00.

Usually, right about here would be maybe the Build-a-Figures (and such) completed during the course of the year; but some of my stuff is in storage right now. This year we finished the Cassie "Stature" Lang BaF, as well as new ones Nemesis (aka Holocaust) and Executioner; as well as the more basic/lower price point Spinmaster Superman-Robot. That's a pretty light year for that! Although there's a few like Dragon Man and Gargantos (Shuma-Gorath!) that maybe could've or should've been.

Next, what have we learned? I don't know if this is because of limited time or space, or eyeing future resale, but there's a fair chunk on this list that has not been opened yet. I'd say about half of the McFarlane figures I bought, sure; but there are still several Marvel Legends unopened: Kaine, Spider-Man Unlimited, that Ghost Rider set, even Maximum Deadpool. And Bert and Ernie, and the new Star Wars Black Holiday figures: those last two were definitely for time, but still. 

There's also some figures that, frankly, I got a bit gouged on. That Mondo Nightcrawler is so fancy, and well done; but also way overpriced, even compared to earlier figures in that line: I think there may have been some tariff on it, or somebody maybe thought there was going to be some tariff on it and baked that into the price. (Previous figures in the line maybe also got free shipping!) I bought a couple Masters of the Universe figures that were marked down, but I still had to buy a membership to get...that was dumb. And I was on vacation and missed the Marvel Legends Savage Land set, so I overpaid for Shanna on the aftermarket--Savage Land Rogue was a steal by comparison. And Wal-Mart cancelled my preorder for Spider-Man '77, to gouge ten more bucks outta me. 

And what does the future hold? I was pleasantly surprised to get the Uncanny Spider-Man early: I wasn't expecting it until February. Probably some more Marvel Legends, certainly, although with a little luck we'll get some cheaper, rather than brand-new fear-of-missing-out figures. Pretty sure there's a Mezco 1:12 Nightcrawler coming later, so that'll run me a few bucks. I should try to remember: I think I've enjoyed about every G.I. Joe Classified figure I've picked up, but McFarlane is running 50-50 at best. 

As always, best of luck for all of you next year; toy hunting, living, whatever! 

Read more!

"The End" Week: Nexus #80!

Every year, there's always one issue I'm surprised we haven't hit before! We might have mentioned it, but time to dig in: from 1991, Nexus #80, "Prelude to a Kiss-Off" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Hugh Haynes, inks by Arne Starr. Cover by Les Dorscheid. 

Dragon lady-type (not literally!) Ursula is torturing her kids' nanny, former interim Nexus Lonnie Loomis, to see if she still had powers: she decides no, but then finds her young daughters Sheena and Scarlett spying on her, and drags them off for punishment. Lonnie did have at least some powers left though, and manages to escape, accidentally killing a guard in the process. Meanwhile, on Ylum, Horatio Hellpop was Nexus again, and kills a corrupt businessman who was buying a condo there. (That seems like a poor choice of location for a murderer to buy a place!) Horatio is a little put off that he had to snuff a guy in front of his wife, but honestly, that was how he rolled: he wasn't going to wait and kill him in the bathroom or anything. Sundra tries to comfort him, but also light a fire under his ass, since they had to go a museum opening, since Horatio had donated most of the exhibits.

A ton of fun cameos there, from Badger and his supporting cast, Grimjack, Skeevo from Dreadstar (a great character I wish could still be used!), Space Ghost, Bruce Lee, and Elvis...Unfortunately, at the opening Horatio has to deal with the new ambassador from Earth and her husband, but when he and Sundra leave, Lonnie is in their car, and warns them the ambassador was actually a spy for Ursula, who was building an army of women. (The women were treated as second-class citizens by their religious zealot men, but were now fanatics themselves for Ursula, who trained them and gave them opportunity to prove themselves.) It's bad news, but then Horatio has to tell Lonnie that when he had to kill the replacement Nexus Stanislaus Korivitsky, Lonnie's little sister Michana had been powering him, and Horatio had been forced to kill her as well. Lonnie says no, she couldn't tell how, but Michana was still alive...

Somewhere, deep in an asteroid belt, Michana has a tea party with a stone copy of her stuffed animal Otis, and fantasizes about her mother and sister Stacy coming for her, and not that rat traitor Lonnie. (The Loomis sisters all got powers in the Next Nexus limited, to avenge their dad, who of course had been killed by Horatio.) Michana's mom doesn't come for her, but Ursula does; which might be biting off more than she can chew. Michana was a formerly spoiled little girl turned stone psycho-killer, with all the Nexus fusion-casting powers and zero compunction against killing...to be continued? 

Eventually! As we mentioned when we looked at Grimjack's last issue, First Comics was trying to transition from monthly comics to squarebound one-shots or limited series. On the creative side, that seemed like a good idea: less burnout, more time to make something a special event. But on the sales side, that sounds like a nightmare: unless you have a lot of books in the pike, you don't have the steady stream of income like you would with monthlies, and pre-internet First would've had to maybe spend more to get the word out? Sadly, First Comics would go under in 1992. But Nexus would return, with original artist/co-creator Steve Rude for the Origin and Alien Justice in 1992 at Dark Horse, although it felt like a much longer gap. The letters page for the last First issue also mentions Nexus the Liberator as a two-issue deluxe, but it would instead also be released by Dark Horse in 1992 as a four-issue mini. Nexus continues, sporadically, to this day: the most recent was Nexus: Scourge from 2024. Oddly, both Baron and Rude are still working on Nexus, but separately! I don't know if there was any animosity, or if they both just wanted to do their own things with the character, or maybe their schedules didn't line up to keep working on it together.

Read more!

"The End" Week: Death's Head II #16!

I've said before, talking about Marvel UK; that there was an unfortunate stretch in the 90's, I think pre-bankruptcy, where the once expansive and all-encompassing Marvel universe was more siloed off, broken down into little subgroups like the X-books, the Spidey books, Marvel Edge or the Ghost Rider/magic type books, etc. The intent was to maybe keep some of the more popular guys from being used all willy-nilly, but it also seemed like if you wanted to use Spider-Man for a guest-spot then you had to go hat in hand down to his editorial office. I mention that because this feels like a silo that was closed off unnecessarily; or maybe a field left to go to seed. From 1994, Death's Head II #16, "Origin of the Species" Written by Dan Abnett, art by Henry Flint.

Death's Head II gets dragged to a distant, distant future, by the alien Chronozone: humanity had destroyed all other life in the universe, so he wanted DH II to go back to the late 19th century, and kill humanity while still in its proverbial cradle. DH II resists, and while freaking out a little over being so far in the future, alone; he discovers Chronozone's bone depository, which included his own skeleton! (Why Death's Head II has a skeleton...or horns for that matter...I couldn't say. Also, while some of the skeleton doesn't appear organic, that doesn't explain the serrated edges on his pelvis, which looks painful as heck, for him!)

Activating "syphon configuration," which resembles Dreadstar's sword to me, DH II sucks his own memories out of his skeleton, and realizes the truth: humanity wasn't the bad guy there, Chronozone and his race had tried to conquer the universe, and only those pesky humans stood up against them--those pesky humans, and Death's Head II. It ended with everyone dead, except Chronozone. With his past memories to guide him, DH II is able to beat Chronozone down, and force him to send him back: those memories would also prevent that future from ever coming to be, since he would make sure the humans weren't taken by surprise. Chronozone is left, crying and alone, the last living thing in his universe.

Holy--per the Wikipedia for Marvel UK, when Death's Head II was cancelled, "distributor Capital only sold 7,400 copies." (This copy in hand was, of course, from a dollar bin; and not so minty that I feel bad about putting it in the scanner.) One, of probably several errors of the period, was that while the X-Men and other Marvel characters guest-starred in most of the Marvel UK books, how often did Marvel UK characters get to guest in regular Marvel titles? Like maybe once: Motormouth and Killpower's guest spot in Incredible Hulk #409. (And that's largely because their original artist Gary Frank was the current Hulk artist!) This is why you need a proper Marvel Team-Up or even Marvel Comics Presents, to keep characters out there even if they can't carry their own title at the moment. Death's Head II and Dark Angel probably would be far better known today, if they had maybe got a reciprocal visit or crossover with proper X-books. A ball dropped, probably. Read more!

"Encounter."

Last strip of the year! 

I had to go make a correction--and it took me a couple tries--but Bearface really is a Canadian whisky that's supposed to be pretty good. And thematically appropriate for Logan, since the bottle appears to have claw marks on it! Except I keep wanting to call it 'Bearclaw,' which hopefully is a knock-off version a couple of shelves down in Canadian liquor stores. 

Have we ever seen Howard the Duck go all Ghost Rider-y? It definitely feels like something that would happen to him, and he'd get like the most embarrassing flaming vehicle possible, like an electric scooter. Anyway, this isn't based on any actual continuity, I just thought maybe it's tough to put out hellfire once it's lit. Can Wolvie tamp down the rage, or even the general annoyance? Or will extreme measures be needed...?

Read more!

"The End" Week: Atari Force #20!

Like hopefully a couple of other "The End" posts, I'm writing this in the summer, where we've had what feels like more 100-degree days than usual, and more than a few days where it was far too hot to go biking when I usually would've. Which left me, too many days, staring into space and not accomplishing much. One thing I could've done, that I still haven't as I type this, is look at some runs I've been putting together on the cheap and figure out what issues I actually need; maybe prevent myself from buying the same books multiple times. I've got a much longer stretch of Kamandi than I would've figured, almost all of Strikeforce: Morituri, but have recently stalled out on getting Slapstick or Arion. Oh, and as of now I have four of this series, although there are some more to track down besides: from 1985, Atari Force #20, "Trial...and Verdict!" Written by Mike Baron, pencils by Eduardo Barreto, inks by Ricardo Villagrán.

As the title implies, this issue the team faces judgment: they had defeated series big-bad the Dark Destroyer, but had committed a few crimes to do so. The authorities still don't seem to believe there had ever been a 'Dark Destroyer,' despite testimony from lawman Rident, and later psychic evidence from Morphea. The team organizes a small-scale jailbreak, walking out of court, the verdict no longer mattering to them. In a "multiverse shuttle" that resembles a larger version of the Legion's time bubble, the Atari Force heads from New Earth to old...and whatever adventures they might have in your imagination. Oh, and the Atari Force Special, which maybe hit stands in 1986! Collect them all, unless somehow DC or somebody has announced a trade collection in the four months since typing this. (The editorial page from Andy Helfer tries to paint this last issue as merely the natural conclusion of the story, as opposed to losing the license or being unwilling to shell out to maintain it; but I'm pretty sure Atari Force sales were well above cancellation level even in the end, so they aren't horribly difficult to find. The special and mini-comics, maybe.)

But, like we mentioned last time, this issue also features "Hukka vs. the BOB," from Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming, and Karl Kesel, a slapstick masterpiece! Tempest buys "Personal Pal" robot Bob, to keep the Hukka company while he studies. But, when Hukka ignores (or, probably can't read) the warning "Do not immerse in water" Bob stops playing nicely. Hijinks ensue! Read more!