Oct 1978
The Deadly Ally!
by Steve Ditko, Michael Fleischer, Jerry Serpe, Ben Oda, Jack C. Harris
Dr. Z.Z. continues to execute his plan to take over the Earth Zone. Lieutenant Emp (aka Kempo) returns, kills one of Wizor’s agents, and makes plans to regain some of what he lost and more. Shade teams up with Xexlo and together they battles Zeckie, another villain who seeks to conquer. Xexlo turns on Shade after they have defeated Zeckie thus forcing Shade to deal with him too.
Thoughts
Shade’s story does not have a satisfying ending. It feels like one battle has ended but the war is still in progress.
Where would the story have gone from here? I don’t know but Shade’s story was later picked up in the pages of Suicide Squad starting with Suicide Squad 16 (Aug 1988) and running through Suicide Squad 37 (Jan 1990). He also appeared in Suicide Squad Annual 1 (1988) which was published the same month as Suicide Squad 20 (Dec 1988). I have some of those issues but I have yet to read them.
Notes
The cover date above is based on the date on the unpublished cover to this issue. This comic was never published as a single issue. It was published in Cancelled Comics Cavalcade in 1978 and then in Volume 1 of the Steve Ditko Omnibus in 2011. It was never colored, to my knowledge, and only exists in black and white even though it was drawn with the intention that it would be published in color.
The Pharaoh and the Mummies!
by Steve Ditko, Gaspar, Saldino, Jerry Serpe
Clay Stoner, aka the Odd Man, tracks down the thief who has been stealing rare Egyptian jewels.
This is the back up story that was originally going to run in Shade, the Changing Man 9. This story was published in Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, in Detective Comics 487 (Jan 1980), and in Volume 1 of the Steve Ditko Omnibus. This is the first and only appearance of the Odd Man during the 20th century.
No comments:
Post a Comment