Mars 3

Mars 3

Mar 1984

Transformer

by Mark Wheatley, Marc Hempel, Mike Gold

20 pages

Morgana, Teezy, and Fawn arrive at a mostly abandoned city. There they meet Milos, one of the other crew members. Morgana is very tired and needs to rest. Things get weird. Morgana is still sleeping so Teezy carries her as they race through the caverns beneath the city.

Large creatures with pincer claws attempt to keep them there.  Milos seems to have set himself up as a god of sorts. Fawn and Morgana make it out of the caverns but Teezy falls from a collapsing bridge while holding back the large creatures. 

Thoughts

This flowed very quickly. The trip beneath the city reminded me of a certain section of Fellowship of the Ring. 

Is Teezy gone for good or will she survive the fall? What’s the story behind Fawn? Is she from a race of creatures that look like her or is she some sort of mutant? Where are the rest of the crew with whom Morgana lived and worked on the voyage to Mars? Was Milos always like this or did something happen to him that made him act power hungry?

I’m still not crazy about this story or sure where it is all going. 

Black Flame: The Hellequin Ride!

by Peter B. Gillis, Tom Sutton, Bruce Patterson, Janice Chiang, Mike Gold

8 pages

Demons, disguised as Susie’s parents, go to the police looking for Susie. The police officers are a bit spooked by Susie’s “parents” even though they don’t suspect what they truly are.

The Black Flame takes Susie to see Michael Robartes, a poet. They are attacked by Hellequin on her flying steed while they are en route. The Black Flame gets Susie to Robartes home safely but it looks like the Black Flame might be dead. 

Thoughts

Who is Hellequin? She talks to the Black Flame like they were once allies or comrades. Clearly that’s not the case anymore. Who is Michael Robartes and how will he be able to help Susie and the Black Flame?

I like this story better than Morgana’s story. 

Read Letters

The two letters from readers (who received advance copies of the first issue) that fill this page are both positive. There are no responses to questions posed in the letters. 

First Notes

Mike Gold issues a call to arms to save the dying continuity strip.